Susan King - [Celtic Nights 01] Read Free Page A

when the dog shifted in response. "The blood of Clan Laren will live on in our sons."
    "I want no sons with your name."
    "Lovely girl, but troublesome. They say you are strong, too. Trained as a stonemason, like some others in your clan. They say you use a hammer and chisel like a man." He skimmed her body with his gaze. "I have a hammer and tools you can handle whenever you like." His smile grew wicked.
    "Go away," she snapped. "My strong arm tires from holding back this great hound."
    Cold anger flickered in his brown eyes. "Maiden of stone, heed me well—when spring comes, your safety ends. Who will protect you and your clan then? Not a girl with a mallet. Not a few old men."
    "We can fend for ourselves."
    "Can you? I could take you now if I wanted, at the foot of that stone. Neither hound nor faery could stop me. Or I can bide my time until spring. Either way, you would have no choice."
    Alainna lifted her chin. "I will not wed you, and neither king nor Highlandman can force me."
    "I will give you until Saint Brighid's day, when the faery spell ends, to agree. By then the king will have given his approval. Wed me, Alainna—or watch your clan die." He shrugged. "One way or the other will end the feud."
    He turned away before she could reply, and strode up the misted hill to disappear over the top. Alainna watched, her heart pounding. The dog stayed beside her, his body taut.
    She flattened her palm on cool granite and closed her eyes, wishing fervently for a solution, a savior. A miracle. She bowed her head to pray, and whispered an old Gaelic blessing to please both her Christian and her ancient heritage.
    Then she turned to walk toward Kinlochan. Finan ran ahead of her through long brown grasses as she rounded the end of the loch, where the water shushed peacefully over pebbles and stones.
    The morning sun had burned off the mist, and the wooden tower of Kinlochan, inside its surrounding timber palisade, glowed earthy red in the dawn light. Beyond it, dark mountains soared into the distance, their rugged crests ringed by clouds. The long, narrow loch spread like a pool of silver at their base.
    The fortress gate swung wide and three men ran out, plaids flapping over bare legs. They waved and skirted the loch along the path she had taken earlier.
    She waved back and walked ahead, then nearly tripped when her toe struck a stick in the ground. Bending, she picked up a discarded arrow that lay deep in the heather. The arrow was weathered and shabby, although the iron point was still sharp.
    She wondered if this was the omen she sought. If so, it was a poor one, for it must mean more war.
    She began to toss it away, then stopped, remembering her recent dream of a golden warrior whose shield bore the design of a single arrow. He had offered to save her distressed people. Entranced, she had been willing to go with him, even to the Otherworld.
    She sighed, thinking of that strong, beautiful warrior. But dreams were of no use to her now.
    Finan barked and ran toward her kinsmen. She followed thoughtfully, the arrow clasped in her hand.
    "Alainna!" Her foster brother, Giric, ran toward her through the long grasses, ahead of her elderly cousin Niall and Lulach, one of her two great-uncles. The dog bounded toward them. Giric touched a hand to Finan's head in passing and received an adoring look in return.
    They came toward her, Giric moving with agile grace despite his tall, large build. His brown hair blew loose around his handsome head, and a belted plaid fluttered over muscular legs.
    "We saw you with Cormac," he said. "What did he want?"
    "We will slay the man! Where did he go?" Niall asked. His cheeks were sunken and whiskered, his thin lips tight with anger. A breeze fluttered his silvery hair over his face. He pushed it back with the scarred stump of his left wrist.
    "Are you hurt, girl?" Lulach stepped forward, his hair iron and silver, his blue eyes angry. "I would have killed Black Cormac myself if I had seen where he