Ciara slipped her hand into his chilled palm and gave Faolan a reassuring squeeze. “Are you all right?” she asked, peering up into his face.
Faolan felt a numbness creep across his body that didn’t come from the cold. He felt no emotions right now and that was just the way he wanted it. He squinted his eyes and stared out across the land. Every muscle in his body tensed as he braced himself for his wife’s answer. “Why are ye here, Ciara? What the hell do ye want of me? What is it ye expect to do?”
Edging closer, Ciara leaned into his chest and peered up into his face. “I am here to be your wife and the mother of your child. Is that such a terrible thing?”
“Who are ye, Ciara? Are ye a witch? Or are ye some sort of punishment sent to me from the goddesses?”
Ciara backed away a bit at the harshness in his tone. She sensed a growing uneasiness. Faolan had hit uncomfortably close when he supposed her as sent from the goddesses. Perhaps she should allow him to believe her a witch. After all, his mother had been one of the most powerfulbana-buidhseachshis clan had ever known. If she didn’t tell him something to satisfy his infuriating stubbornness, he would never lower his guard enough to allow her into his heart. It would be so much easier for her to get pregnant if she could snare the man’s emotions.
With a decisive nod, Ciara shrugged. All she could do was try. “I am sorry, Faolan. I lied to you before because I feared you would have me imprisoned or maybe even burned at the stake. I didn’t know you and I knew of what happened to Dierdra’s mother. I was afraid to tell you the truth.” Ciara took a deep breath and ignored the twinge of regret at having to tell a lie. “I am a witch. I’ve been a witch since birth. The magic flows through my blood just as surely as magic flows through yours.”
Faolan ground his teeth but remained silent as he brought his plaid closer around his shoulders.
Ciara watched him; she pushed back the nagging temptation to join her mind with his. His aura still swirled the darkest shade of blue she had ever seen but the edges sparkled a bit lighter. She hoped that was a sign his frame of mind was improving but until she knew his thoughts, she couldn’t be sure.
Reading his thoughts was too much of an invasion. Especially when she knew he would sense her presence in his mind. No. She needed to give him his space. He’d seen a lot today. At least he hadn’t denounced her outright. He hadn’t yet ordered her taken away to await their annulment at the keep. She knew Faolan struggled with all he’d learned. Life lessons were sometimes difficult to swallow.
“Ye are truly a witch? Ye swear to me that ye are telling me the truth this time?” Faolan turned from glaring across the hillside to scowl down into her face.
Ciara paused.Dammit.She hated lying but she couldn’t tell him the absolute truth. She shoved her conscience to the back of her mind and forced an innocent nod of her head.
His expression darkened while thunder rumbled in the distance. Faolan jerked his head toward his men standing at the bottom of the hill. “Go to your horse, woman. Leave me with m’thoughts. I canna bear much more this day.”
* * *
At this rate,the only way she would ever get pregnant was if she mounted the man in his sleep. Ciara glared at him, training her eyes on the middle of Faolan’s back as he rode at the head of the group.
When they had finished at the last village and started the long journey back to the keep, he had ordered her to ride in the middle of the cluster of clansmen. She’d never seen such a fearsome scowl when she tried leading her horse to the front of the pack to trot along at his side.
When she had opened her mouth to argue, he’d raised his hand in the air. His dark look had silenced any further discussion. Faolan had informed her it was for her own well-being. One never knew when there might be a highwayman about.
Ciara was no fool. She could sense any threat long before the men or Faolan knew what stirred unseen alongside the roadway. The only thing she sensed in the air right now was the distinct smell of Faolan’s fear. Ciara knew he was more terrified of her then any foe he had ever faced in battle.
She scowled down as she knotted the reins in her hands, not bothering to guide the horse. She’d connected her mind with the beast when they’d first set out. The horse knew what she wanted it to do. Therefore, she had reduced the leather straps to worrying beads while sorting through her current dilemma. She thought for sure she had convinced Faolan with the visions from the spring. If that hadn’t convinced him, then she’d made it even clearer when she introduced him to Death.
Expelling a huffing sigh into the frosty morning air, she glared at the back of his head. He had to be the most worrisome beast she had ever met in all her centuries of existence.
Cutting her eyes over to the rider by her side, she caught Maxwell spying on her beneath his ruddy brows. Now, there was a possibility. She urged her horse closer over to his side, so she and Maxwell might share a private word. “Maxwell, tell me. How long have you known Faolan? The two of you seem quite close.”
Maxwell returned his gaze to the view just above his horse’s ears and inhaled a deep breath before he replied, “Faolan’s father agreed to foster me when I was but six years old. Faolan had just turned six himself. I guess ye could say I am closer to Faolan then he is to his two brothers who shared his mother’s womb with him.”
Ciara mulled over Maxwell’s words to the steady rhythm of the horse’s clopping hooves. “So, you’re the one most familiar with just how impossible he can be when it comes to accepting what’s best for him?”
With a chuckle, Maxwell shot her a lopsided grin as he visibly relaxed in his saddle. “Aye. Faolan takes some convincing at times. He thinks it must be his way or no way at all.”
“I can make him happy, Maxwell. Tell me what I need to do to gain his trust?” As she spoke, Ciara projected an enveloping aura of comforting energy and stroked Maxwell’s subconscious with the power of her own wishes.
Maxwell blinked hard as though trying to stay awake and shook himself as he sat taller in the saddle. Ciara suppressed a smile. Mortals often felt as though they were about to nod off when she seeded their mind with her desires.
“Be true to him, m’lady. Just give him time. He doesna trust the idea of love or the mysteries that make life worth living. Somewhere along the way, Faolan grew unable to withstand the bitterness that sometimes makes life difficult to bear.” Maxwell scrubbed his face, stifled a yawn, and nodded toward Faolan as he continued. “He loved his family more than life itself. He’s never known the type of closeness his parents shared with each other. He’s never known a true love of his own. So, when he lost his parents, he felt abandoned. Then he felt even more alone when his brothers and baby sister disappeared. Faolan has always been a bit of a loner. So, it was nay a stretch for him to forsake ever falling in love.”
“Help me, Maxwell. Work on him from the inside out while I try to gain his trust.” Ciara peered at Maxwell; positive her words took hold as his eyelids drooped with weariness. “Help him realize becoming a husband and father would be a blessing instead of a curse.”
Not even trying to stifle another jaw-cracking yawn, Maxwell shook himself as he nudged his horse to a faster trot. “I shall help ye all I can, Lady Ciara. But there is one condition I place upon my assistance.”
Ciara smiled with self-assured satisfaction, as she gifted Maxwell with a nod. “Name it.”
Maxwell returned Ciara’s smile with a smug grin and a jaunty wink of his own. “Stop tryin’ to seed my mind when ye’re asking me for your favors. Ye will find it ne’er takes full hold on me. Faolan used to try bespelling me so much when we were lads, I finally learned how to block his energies. ’Tis been a long while since I’ve had the wool of suggestion settle inside m’head but I can still recognize it when it’s done. But I promise ye, m’lady. I’ll help ye all I can. Even though ye havena been able tosuggestyour way into my head.”
