Eternal Shadows (23 page)

Rhys took me by the elbow and stood. I had no choice but to do the same. “We’ll leave you two to catch up and work out the details,” he said. “It’s good to see you again, Bartolome.”

“And you, Rhys. And it was a pleasure to meet you, Kassandra.”

Rhys nudged me in the ribs when I didn’t answer right away. “Yeah, you too.” I hoped that was good enough.

Rhys tugged me out of the room, so I assumed so.

We headed down the hall towards the stairs. “How long will it take to call the council together?” I asked.

“It will take Aurelia a little more than a week just to inform them all. Unless she sends messengers ahead, which she might. After that it’s just a matter of assembling.”

“When you say it like that it sounds so simple, but I have the feeling it’s not.”

“You’re right.”

“So Malachi has a few more weeks of safety for himself.” I bounded up the stairs then stopped at the top to watch Rhys stroll the rest of the way.

“Yes, in theory. But he shouldn’t be a problem. Don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried.” I walked backwards down the hall towards my room, keeping my eyes on Rhys. “So what’s up with Madge?”

That little wrinkle appeared on his brow again. “That’s not for me to tell you.”

“Oh.” I tried to remember what he had told me before, when he’d explained Malachi’s situation. The last time they had seen him was about the same time Millie and Madge had been turned, so she couldn’t have known him all that well. “Did she know someone else who’s been executed?” My back bumped against my door.

“Not quite.” He reached around me and opened the door.

I stumbled into my room a couple of steps. “Are you trying to give me go-to-bed signals?”

“You do have school in the morning.” The door slipped shut silently.

I’d forgotten about that. “Darn. I don’t suppose I could skip?”

“Not with finals next week. If you don’t pass high school Julius might kill you. Literally.”

I shoved him. “He would not!”

Rhys’s amusement coated the air. “You never know. So far everyone else has graduated.”

“You are so mean.”

“I know.”

“Fine. You win. I’ll be a good student. Come with me, and I’ll go to bed.”

“Once again, you’re awfully demanding.”

“You were gone all day.”

“True.” He brushed my hair out of my face. “I supposed I could accommodate you.”

“You know, you could at least pretend you missed me as much as I missed you.”

“Oh, you were missed.”

“Hm
m.” I turned my nose up at him. “Doesn’t seem like it.”

“Shall I show you?”

I grinned. “Showing would be good.”

Chapter Nineteen: Cuimhne

The sun shone against the most brilliant blue sky. Everything was green and vibrant, speckled with small yellow flowers and gray shale. The sun warmed the grass beneath me and the air around me. My dress blew lightly in the wind, twirling about my legs. I almost couldn’t believe it wasn’t raining. It had rained for the past five days.

I leaned back against the warm stone wall and closed my eyes. It was nice to be away from all the noise. So much had happened in the past few days I thought I might go mad if I couldn’t find time to get away.

I heard his footsteps against the grass and smiled. A few steps more and he would spring onto the stone wall at my back as he always did.

Right on schedule.

“I knew you’d find me.”

“How could I not?” He sat, and I heard his heels slap against the stones beside me. “Being the prettiest thing in all the country, you’re rather hard to miss.”

“You flatter me, but what will it get you?”

“A kiss, at the very least.”

“How bold to assume such a thing.”

“I can’t think of a time when you’ve denied me that one small thing.”

“Then perhaps I should make a habit of doing so, just so you do not become over confident.”

“You’re cruel.”

I couldn’t help it. I laughed and opened my eyes. Handsome as ever, the sunlight reflected off his dark hair, glossy as the night sky. His eyes matched the blue that hung above the world now. The mischievous smile on his lips made my heart flutter. I reached for him. “Forgive me.”

He took my hand and slid down to sit on the ground at my side. “Of course.”

“How long can you stay?”

“As long as I need to.”

That was unusual. “Don’t you need to be getting back?”

“Not today.”

I drew my legs in, turning to face him. “What do you mean? What are you up to?”

“Nothing.” He folded his hands behind his head and looked out over the field. “Why would you think I’m up to something?”

“Because your father relies on your help and you’re never able to be away for very long.”

“I did my work early today. My father knows where I am. Don’t worry.”

I knew he wouldn’t lie to me, so I let his words assure me. “All right,” I said. “Then what shall we do?” I pulled myself closer to him and leaned against his side.

He slipped his arm around my waist. “We don’t have to do anything. I’m happy just like this.”

I set my head against his shoulder, content. My father’s sheep were visible from this point. I had nothing to worry about. “I didn’t see you yesterday. Did you go somewhere?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to tell me where?”

“No.”

I laughed again and looked up at him. “It’s not like you to have so little to say.”

“You usually speak enough for the both of us.”

“Perhaps. But still. Why are you so quiet?”

“I’m not quiet.”

“Then talk to me. Where did you go yesterday? Why can’t you tell me?”

“I could tell you. I’m just not.”

I punched his shoulder lightly. “You’re a tease.”

“No.” He flashed a smile, then stood, offering me his hand. “Walk with me.”

I took his hand and let him pull me up. “I can’t go far. I’m expected home for dinner.”

“It’s only midday. I won’t keep you out that long.”

We walked across the field, hand in hand. He chatted with me about his sister and her new baby, and the linens his mother had bartered for a new silver dish. When he had run out of stories to tell me I pulled him to a stop and kissed him.

He stood there, surprised, but pleasantly so. I released his hand and ran after a lamb that had wandered away from its mother. Plucking it from the ground I cuddled it close to my chest.

“My brother has decided to marry Maeve,” I said, petting the lamb as it cried in my arms. “He’s planning on asking her father for permission before the week is out.”

“Is that so?” He came closer to me, but his hands were wringing together in front of him. Odd. He never fidgeted. “It’s about time, I suppose.”

“Why do you say that?”

“He’s been courting her for some time, hasn’t he?”

I thought for a moment. “Yes. He has. Maeve had all those other suitors though. He had to compete.”

“And now he’s sure her father will agree to him?”

“Oh yes. That and Maeve seems to have picked him as well.” I set the lamb down and watched it run off to one ewe. She accepted him, so I didn’t worry.

I did worry about the man behind me, however. He stared at everything except me. The sky, the flowers, the sheep, the grass. He kicked at a stone with one foot, then toed at something else.

“Rhys,” I said. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he answered far too quickly. His eyes met mine and I could see the conflict raging behind the beautiful blue.

I walked to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “You’re lying. I can see it. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

“I’m perfectly fine.”

“Then stop twitching.”

He froze. Still as a statue, he even stopped breathing. I had to stifle a giggle. “Don’t be so on edge.” I reached up and touched his face, brushing his hair back and tracing his cheekbones. “Whatever it is, I won’t make fun of you.”

He put his arms around me. “I’m not worried about that.”

“Then what?”

He fidgeted again and broke eye contact.

“Rhys.”

“Marry me.”

It was my turn to stop breathing. I didn’t think I’d heard him right. “What?”

“Marry me.” He looked at me again. The amount of apprehension I saw in his face surprised me. Did he honestly not know how I would answer?

“Really?”

“Yes.” He’d gone pale.

“Did you ask my father?”

“Yes! God, please just answer me before I die.”

I didn’t know if I could actually form the word. I was so happy. So elated. “Yes.” I had to say it twice before it got further than the top of my throat. “Yes, yes. Of course, yes.” I threw my arms around his neck and held him close. I’d been waiting for this all summer. I’d been jealous of his sister and my brother for months. I wanted my life with Rhys more than I wanted air in my lungs.

I kissed him until I couldn’t any longer. Until those lungs I had disregarded began to burn in warning. I gasped for breath, smiling so hard my face hurt. I felt tears collecting in my eyes.

Rhys looked euphoric. His breathing was just as labored as mine and I was strangely pleased to see how swollen his lips were. I’d been holding back for so long. Soon there wouldn’t be a need. Soon everything would be perfect.

“Did you really think I would refuse?” I asked him, touching every inch of his face, hardly able to believe he would really be mine.

“Not really, but there was this tiny fear in the back of my mind. You could have anyone you wanted.”

“I want you.”

“I thank God every day for that.”

“Rhys O’Shea, I plan to love you for a very long time.”

He pulled me close, embracing me so tightly I thought we might actually become one person. “For as long as I live, you will be the only one to possess my heart, Bryn.”

I sat up in bed, eyes so wide I could feel them stretching in my head. My heart beat wildly against my ribs, then stopped abruptly. I touched my chest where the rhythm of my pulse had been in my dream, but felt nothing. My skin had gone cold, so unlike the warmth I had felt as I sat in the sun-covered field. I searched my room, but it was dark with night, and Rhys, while he had been so close only moments before, was nowhere to be found.

Another dream, but so real. More so than the others, and far, far longer. He’d been so warm, so alive, so human. His heart had beat in his chest, and his skin had been the pale cream color that only existed within Ireland. He’d breathed out of necessity, and his pulse had raced with his nerves.

He’d asked me to marry him.

No, not me. Bryn. Whoever that was.

Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t been me. My skin hadn’t been the same shade of pale. I’d been freckled. And I couldn’t be positive, but when the wind blew I thought I remembered red hair, instead of my auburn brown. I’d felt different, too. Skinnier, maybe. And I’d been wearing an incredibly old fashioned, hand-made dress.

I scrambled out of bed and banged my knee on the corner of my desk as I searched for my
it in the dark. I could see just fine, I just wasn’t concentrating. I opened my laptop and sat down, squinting as the monitor illuminated my room. Immediately I pulled up a search engine and typed in
Irish clothing of the sixteenth century
, then I clicked on the image search.

My answer was instant. From top to bottom on the page, pictures of men and woman’s clothes greeted me and made my hands go clammy. Outfits nearly identical to what I’d been dreaming of Rhys wearing stood out with pictures of dresses with crisscrossing laces up the bodice, short sleeves, and an apron. Working class clothes, of course. The other images were what I recognized
immediately as the Tudor style, extravagant embroidery and tight bodices. I thought back to my dream, trying to remember. The hem of my dress had been stained and dirty, the white apron had been grass-stained and dust-covered.

Couldn’t I dream in cleaner clothes?

But something didn’t feel right about calling it a dream. It had been far too real, far too common—until the proposal. Wouldn’t I have dreamed about a more exciting and action-packed day if my mind had just been making it up? Maybe I was on action overload. We had been dealing with a lot in real life recently.

Then I remembered. Weeks ago, on the day I had first met Aurelia, she had cornered me and demanded to know what I knew of past lives…

It couldn’t be possible…Could it? Rhys might know. But then again, Rhys didn’t remember his human life. If I had dreamed of spending time with him back in the 1500s, he wouldn’t be able to confirm anything, anyway. I sighed and slammed my forehead down on my desk. Better to wait and figure things out before I involved him. No reason to possibly upset him over nothing.

My door swung open and Millie’s sweet scent of fresh laundry
and lilacs came flooding in. What the heck was she doing here? I was sleeping. Well, I had been.

“You’re awake? Good. I need to speak with you.”

I heard her cross the room. “I’m not awake. Go away.”

“You’re out of bed.”

“Doesn’t mean anything.”

She didn’t say anything. I lifted my heavy head from the desk to see what had distracted her.

She was staring at my computer screen.

“Millie?”

“What is this?”

I ran a hand through my sleep-tangled hair, glancing at the familiar brown color that hadn’t been there in my dream. “Nothing really. I just got curious.”

Her eyes were still trained on the images. “About sixteenth century fashion?”

I shrugged. “Sometimes I dream of Rhys in clothes like that. I just thought I’d check and see how accurate my imagination is.” There, the truth without the whole of it. For some reason I didn’t want to spill the beans about the dream I’d had that night.

Millie’s gaze snapped to me. “You dream of Rhys? Dressed like that?”

“Only once or twice. I spend so much damned time with him it’s only natural, right?”

Her normally red lips were pale. Hadn’t she eaten lately? Or was it something else? “Right,” she said. She reached over me and closed the internet window so quickly I couldn’t even think of stopping her. “I really did want to talk to you. Come for a walk with me?”

“I have my math final in the morning.” I’d used studying as an excuse to stay away from Cordoba and his initiates all weekend. My World Cultures final had been this past morning. I thought I did fairly well. Math was another matter. At least I’d had a reason to spend the remainder of the day with Rhys—Millie might have been the math genius, but Rhys was still better than me. He made a good tutor, and I had a lot of incentive to get the practice questions correct.

Millie didn’t seem convinced by my excuse, though. “It’s three in the morning. You have enough sleep to get through the day tomorrow.”

“That’s what you think. Are you going to explain it to the general if I fall asleep during my exam?”

She pursed her lips and pouted at me. “I only need a few minutes or so, then you can go back to sleep. You’re awake anyway.”

“Fine. Jeeze, you’re pushy.” I forced myself out of my chair. “I take it I don’t need to get dressed.” I waved a hand at her bright blue nightgown.

“No. I just want to walk around the back yard.”

“Let’s go
, then.” I pulled my pajama pants up higher on my hips then checked to make sure my tank top wasn’t out of order either. Satisfied, I followed Millie downstairs and outside.

“I’m worried about Madge,” she said once we were out of earshot of the house.