“I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself earlier,” he said quietly, keeping the conversation between just the two of them. “I hadn’t realized I’d made such an oversight. Though, I have to admit, I do enjoy theatrics. I thought your father might faint for a moment.”
Niamh giggled. “You should have seen him when I told him I wanted to come to the hall,” she whispered back. “I thought his eyes would fall out of his head.”
A scratching noise beneath the table caught Niamh’s attention. She looked down, spotting an odd box between them on the ground. Before she could ask Dallan about it, he reached and pulled it into his lap.
“I hope you don’t mind,” he said gently, his voice like honey, “I took the liberty of getting you a gift.”
Niamh opened her mouth to protest, but she shut it the moment he opened the box. The little grey kitten hissed wickedly at Dallan before leaping into Niamh’s lap. Once again, the fierce creature brought a laugh to her lips.
“Your face lights up when you look at her,” Dallan told her. “She’ll need a name, though.”
Niamh thought about it. Fierce and protective, utterly fearless. The wee thing was a born warrior. Many might see her as aggressive or even fearsome one day, but Niamh sensed a good heart, if a somewhat belligerent one.
“Morrígan,” she decided aloud, testing the name. “Let’s call her Morrígan.”
“An apt choice,” Dallan agreed, trying to pet Morrígan, only to be swatted at again.
As Niamh smiled for the hundredth time that day, she looked into Dallan’s warm, brown eyes.
And she knew she was in trouble.
Chapter Two
Spring, AD 994
He was goingto marry her.
Dallan had always believed that romance would never be a part of his life, that real love simply wasn’t in his stars. He was the nephew and grandsire of kings. His marriage would be an act of strategy, and he had long ago come to terms with it. Or believed he had.
Then he met Niamh.
Year after year he’d teased and tormented the lads who pined after lasses, making spectacles of themselves only to have their hopes and dreams shattered. How foolish they’d seemed.
But one morn near midsummer, when he had only just celebrated his nineteenth nameday, Dallan became one of those lads he’d believed so foolish. On his way to the training field, he heard her laugh. The music of it sent a tickle down his back and compelled him to see who had made such a joyful, infectious sound.
The moment he saw her, he knew.
He would marry that woman.
And today, exactly one year after he began courting her, Dallan would ask for her hand in marriage. He’d already spoken with both their fathers and all that remained was her acceptance before a formal contract was drawn up.
The past year with Niamh had flown by in a flash of joy and discovery, a whirlwind of emotions he’d never thought possible, breaking down every barrier within him until all that remained was his truest self. And he meant to give that to her.
Dallan couldn’t imagine life without Niamh. Indeed, it hardly seemed worth living. He waited for her in the meadow just outside Dún Ailinne, pacing anxiously. Normally he had nothing but confidence, but so much of his future hinged on this moment. It was difficult not to feel nervous.
In his closed hand, he grasped the ring he’d had made for her like a talisman.
She loved him; he knew she did. She’d said it many times and he’d seen the truth of it in her eyes. In the way she kissed him. In the way she’d melted into him as they lay in this very field many a night.
He was being ridiculous. Of course, she’d say ‘yes.’
Dallan heard her soft footfalls and turned to watch her walk toward him in the fading daylight. Her hair fell about her shoulders, liquid gold turned to fire in the brilliant sunset. Her hips swayed as she moved, her grey eyes fixed on him.
“Niamh,” he began, ignoring his absurd misgivings, “I have something for you.”
She swallowed, worrying her bottom lip.
He took her hand in his, turning the palm up and placing the golden band in it. “It has sprigs of lavender etched along the outside,” he explained. “I know how much you love them in the spring. The smell of them always makes me think of you.”
