Celtic Rain (The Battle Raven Series) (20 page)

“As I was saying.” Eion said.

“It came to pass that Illian’s father, Lord O’Leary, overheard Illian telling a friend about his plan to marry another while out saddling his horse in the stables. Lord O’Leary was furious and decided not to confront Illian right away. He came up with a plan and paid a couple of burly serfs that farmed his land to grab his son when he reached the stables the night he planned to leave and lock him in the wine cellar. He arranged it that one of their servants would go to Badbsheba and tell her that he changed his mind and did not love her.”

“Now the war goddess had kept a close eye on the happenings around Illian and Badbsheba and even visited the Ronan estate from time to time. She knew of Illian’s fathers plans and was frustrated knowing that her sisters would strongly disapprove with her interfering with mere mortals. If they felt her do so they both would gang up and stop her. Badb decided on an alternate method and sent the Fairy Queen to help Badbsheba and Illian out. The goddess told the queen that Badbsheba’s and Illian’s love was the purest she had seen in centuries and couldn’t stand by and let it fall to ruin.”

“Before the tiny queen reached the girl the servant had told her about Illian’s plans to marry the other girl and he didn’t love her. Badbsheba was distraught and fled to her room grabbing a jewel encrusted dagger from under her bed. As she was ready to end her life she felt the dagger being lifted out of
her hands and it floated away from her. Badbsheba saw one of the most beautiful and tiniest of creatures she had ever seen. The fairy queen introduced herself and told Badbsheba in her little bell of a voice that Illian had been locked in a cellar and that she must get to him before it was too late.”

“Badbsheba ran to the stables and grabbed her horse and sent it into run as she followed the Fairy Queen’s light. As they grew close to the O’Leary estate Badbsheba stopped her horse and tethered it to a nearby tree. She tip toed through the forest with the queen directly in front of her and after a few heart pounding minutes she reached the wine cellar.”

Eion stopped with his tale and looked down at Annie to make sure she was still awake. Her eyes were drooping as she fought to hold them open.

“It looks as if our little miss is close to falling asleep. I believe I will end this story as quickly as possible. Those who have not heard the tale before deserve to at least know its end.” Eion said as he looked at Kedryn and Lara.

“Badbsheba and the little Queen forced their way into the wine cellar and found Illian sprawled out on the floor of the wine cellar barely breathing with wine flasks all around him. It appeared that Illian tried to drown himself in wine by drinking as much as he could. However, he was a light weight and ended up passing out on the floor. Badbsheba had immediately run to his side placing his head in her lap. Shaking her head the fairy used her powers to sober him up and he woke in Badbsheba’s arms.”

“Badbsheba and Illian gazed lovingly into each other’s eyes. The fairy fluttered over the pair impatiently finally getting their attention. She told them that Badb has a plan and they must do whatever it takes to get both of their families to meet in the small glen just outside of the city where Badb’s temple of worship was. The couple was to stand at the foot of the statue of the war goddess in front of the fountain and profess their love for each other. Illian expressed his concern that both sides would most likely start a riot and kill them both.”

“The Fairy Queen assured them to trust in Badb and have faith in their love. She questioned them both if either of them doubted their love. Both shook their heads no. Sheba ordered them both to get up, clean up and to leave the cellar. As Illian hurried off the Fairy Queen yelled after him. Dress in your best young man! She also informed Badbsheba she was to dress in the palest blue dress she could find. Then flew off to the glen.”

Eion let out a huge yawn. “Apologies. This isn’t my best night for stories tired as I am.”

“No worries. We are all exhausted.” Kedryn said.

“I will skip over the bickering of the families and get to the good part, the ending.” Eion said.

“Badbsheba and Illian met in the glen. She had put on a pale blue ball gown that she had bought to wear to the next coronation ball. They both stood and faced everyone and both at the same time declared their love for each other. As the crowd was about to protest Badbsheba and Illian turned to each other and kissed. It was the most passionate and pure kiss anyone had ever seen and the war goddess blessed the moment. A bright bluish white light surrounded the
couple and fell like feathers over the crowd. Any animosity that was felt by both sides slowly flowed away. Illian’s father and mother came up to them and greeted their soon to be daughter-in-law with much love as did Badbsheba’s mother and father. The feud between the two families fell away and they all lived happily ever after. The End.”

“That ended much better than Romeo and Juliet.” Lara said giving Kedryn a knowing grin.

“Romeo and Juliet?” Aodhan asked

“A tragic love story from my realm. I’ll tell it to you sometime. I’d love to hear the whole version of this story though.” Lara said.

“I believe we have a copy of the whole tale in our library in Quenith. I will have a servant pull it for you to read.” Aodhan said as he absently pushed a strand behind her ear.

Shortly after finishing up their pie Annie lay fast asleep on Eion’s lap. Shanna picked her up. Lara leaned to the side and watched her walk past the fireplace into a small hallway that led to a wide and winding staircase that she hadn’t noticed before. As Shanna was putting Annie to bed Lara sat around listing to the conversation around her not really paying attention to anything until she heard Eion bring up Bevin. She listened trying not to look too interested.

“I am surprised that you are betrothed. How did your father talk you into that one? It was not by your choice I am assuming.” Eion said as he looked at the annoyed look on Aodhan’s face.

“Bevin is
how
much younger than you?” Scanlon teased.

Aodhan glared at him and glanced Lara’s way. He sat forward on the cushioned bench he was sitting on and stretched his arms out in front of him. He stole a quick glance at Lara.

“It was not my choice. Not Bevin’s either. She was pretty upset I heard she tore her whole bedroom up. She has had her eye on someone else for some time now.”

“I think it was me.” Scanlon said laughing and added “When I heard you were betrothed to Bevin, I was breakin’ myself laughing. You might as well be marrying your sister. If you had one.” Scanlon ducked as Aodhan reached over to smack him on the back of the head.

“What was Blaine thinking?” Eion asked

“Father thought that if I married one of the Milesian noble’s daughter’s that a truce could be agreed upon with himself and Tormey and the strain between the two territories would be lessened. That’s politics for you. I went along with for father’s sake since I had not found anyone who had won my heart. I suppose I just gave up.” Aodhan said still giving Scanlon an annoyed look.

Scanlon raised his arms palms up as if giving him a peace offering and gave Aodhan the most innocent look he could muster up.

“What did Orla think about this?” Eion asked.

“Mother was not too thrilled at first. She has been giving me grief for years about getting married. She says she is not growing any younger and would
like some grandchildren. She supported my father and his plan in the end.”

Eion grinned at that and decided to change the subject. He turned the conversation over to Scanlon.
“How are the negotiations going with Liam?”

“When I had left camp runners had been already sent out to Liam’s camp but had not returned yet. I guess we will find out when we get there tomorrow.” Scanlon said.

Lara looked at Kedryn as he yawned and watched as it became contagious with the men around her. She yawned herself and stood.

“I think it’s time for bed boys. We have a big day tomorrow.”

Lara bid everyone good night and headed out the front door taking the small cobblestone path that led around the garden and back to the cottage. Kedryn followed her out with Scanlon, Aodhan and Eion behind him. He heard footsteps walking away on the dirt and hit the cobblestone path. He glanced over to see Aodhan catch up to his mom before she got to the cottage door.

Kedryn overheard Aodhan ask his mom. “Lara, can I have a word?” and watched his mom as she eyed Aodhan suspiciously. He heard her say “Ok” and he watched as she turned and walked into the cottage followed by Aodhan.

Kedryn paused for a second and Scanlon stepped up beside him. Scanlon followed his eyes and looked at the worry on Kedryn’s face. He clapped him on the shoulder.

“Do not worry about your mother. Aodhan is ever the gentlemen. That is probably why he’s not married.” He joked.

“I suppose mom’s a big girl. She will deal with Aodhan how she thinks best. I just don’t want to see her get hurt again. She’s been through way too much.”

Eion looked at them both and yawned. “Orla always thought you would never get married Scanlon. She said you were the rascal of the group.”

“I was the first to get married and then Devlyn.” he said.

“Who ended up winning yours and Devlyn’s heart?” Eion asked as he stopped them before the barrack door.

“Serina O’Connell caught my heart.” Scanlon said as he grinned at the thought of his wife and couldn’t wait to see her again. His face turned to a frown as his thought of Devlyn.

“Caitlyn O’Riley caught Devlyn’s. She was a nice enough girl. I think he was settling. You know as well as I do that Devlyn has always been way too competitive. It was mainly just with Aodhan. I never thought he’d do it with me.”

“Now what did Devlyn do? Not another practical joke. Was it?” Eion asked and Scanlon let out a small laugh.

“Nothing like that. He tried to set his wedding date before mine and Serina’s. Caitlyn and Serina were best friends and caught onto what he was doing. Caitlyn told Devlyn she wouldn’t have her marriage turned into a competition. She talked Devlyn into having their wedding later in the year.”

Eion looked at Scanlon’s face and realized he used the past tense with Caitlyn. “Why the long face? What happened?”

“Caitlyn was riding to town one day and her horse got spooked. She fell off and was killed. Serina was devastated. She was supposed to ride into town with her and decided to stay at home. I never thought Devlyn would ever get over it. Then Fand showed up.”

Eion let out a yawn. “I am sorry to hear about Caitlyn. I dislike leaving a story unfinished although I believe we should head to bed.” Eion glanced at the cottage. “Do not fret about your mother. We are all grown up’s here. Even you.” He winked at Kedryn as they said their good nights before heading off to bed.

At the cottage Lara stepped through the door with Aodhan following close behind her. She walked over to the fireplace to warm her hands and heard the click of the door as Aodhan shut it. Annoyed she pushed some hair behind her ear.

“Bother it all.” she said and gave up pushing her hair back and pulled out her hair pins.

Lara turned to speak to Aodhan and stopped when she saw the look on his face. Aodhan stood transfixed as he watched her Auburn hair fall against the green of her dress. He looked from her hair to her face as the firelight made soft shadows that surrounded her.

“Oh God help me.”
he thought to himself. This might have been a bad idea.

Lara stepped to the overstuffed chair in front of the fire place, looked at

Aodhan and watched him as he studied her. Even though she had noticed him before, in the firelight she couldn’t keep her eyes off of him. The crackling fire’s shadows danced on his face highlighting every strong angle. He looked even more handsome. The way his eyebrow rose and blue eyes squinted a bit when he was serious or annoyed. His good strong chin and that accent. Why was she always a sucker for a good Irish accent?

Aodhan was struggling to get his emotions under control. He took in a deep breath to steady himself and his thoughts.

“I would like to talk to you about the situation with Bevin . . . and with us.” He looked at her and raised his eyebrow.

Lara moved around the chair and took a couple of steps to get closer to Aodhan. She put her hand on his forearm and looked up at him.

“We cannot change it.” she let out a sigh. “I truly dislike politics.”

Lara stepped closer to him and moved her hand from his arm to over his heart. She felt his heart start to pick up and she was getting that feeling in her gut. The feeling that she had only felt once before with a man. And also, she had to admit to herself, earlier that day. She knew that she was in some serious trouble. Lara looked up at him as if struggling with her thoughts and couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Bother with it.” she said and reached grabbing the back of Aodhan’s head pulling him to her and kissed him. She felt herself let go and gave into him as she felt his lips grow from unmoving surprise to slanting his mouth to meet hers. Aodhan drew back with their noses barely touching. He was a looking at her with a confused smile on his face. Lara kissed his chin.

“We leave tomorrow to head out to battle and I think we both have to at least get this out of our system.” she said with her lips just a breath away from his.