Holding her breath, she couldn’t believe she’d allowed Faolan to convince her that Keagan was old enough to try and ride the dark MacDubh.
The impatient stallion had a monstrous temperament. The largest horse in the MacKay stables, MacDubh was also the most feared. His coat dark and shaggy, it was the perfect package for his surly, unpredictable temper. He delighted in throwing every rider and for a vicious stomp and a bite once he had them down.
Ciara envisioned her baby on the huge beast’s back and her heart nearly hammered out of her chest. She must be insane to have listened to Faolan. What did a father know about protecting his son? If that horse so much as hinted at hurting her Keagan, she’d sift him into Brid’s personal stables so fast his shaggy head would spin. She didn’t care if the entire clan realized she was an immortal Fury. No one would hurt her baby.
She knew the horse had only respected Faolan in the past; never once had he challenged Faolan’s authority. MacDubh grew as meek as a newborn kitten whenever Faolan held his reins. Ciara prayed MacDubh would know Keagan as Faolan’s son and thereby, respect and protect him as well. She also hoped Keagan would remember what she’d taught him about dealing with unpredictable beasts.
Keagan. Her baby was already five years old. The son of an immortal and a Highlander with magical blood, Keagan wasn’t the average lad.
She strained to decipher the sounds coming from the stables, trying to pick words out of the encouraging laughter and shouts from behind the double doors. She couldn’t make out what they said. Why didn’t they come out where she could see them?
Ciara worried for Keagan. One of his gifts was communicating with animals. Therefore, she’d done her best to train him to listen to all animals and treat them with the respect they deserved. She taught him he must never use his abilities to exploit them or cause them any harm. However, she’d also taught Keagan it was safest to keep his gifts secret, unless he absolutely had to use them.
The doors to the stable suddenly burst open as Keagan and MacDubh exploded out into the yard. Faolan, Maxwell, and several others followed close behind, shouting instructions to the lad.
Ciara rushed forward on the steps, reminding herself that Keagan had known horses since before he had walked. As a toddler, Faolan had often steadied the boy on the saddle in front of him for slow rides through the fields. When he’d reached the ripe old age of three, he’d received his very own mare. He’d soon graduated to riding alone under the stable keeper’s watchful eye. However, as he’d grown a bit older, he’d become bored with the obedient, sweet-natured mares.
Ciara had held strong against his pleas to ride a larger horse but with the endless determination of the headstrong young, he’d worn his father down. Faolan consented to allow his son to ride old MacDubh.
His brilliant blue eyes snapping with excitement, Keagan beamed from atop his lofty perch. His silvery blond hair whipped in his face as the horse bucked its way through the doors. His ecstatic smile stretching from ear to ear, the young boy clung to the back of the beast as though he was a mere fly hitching a ride.
As Keagan’s gaze met with the anxiety etched in his mother’s face, he laid a small hand to the snorting behemoth’s neck. In an instant, MacDubh settled down, and the bucking diminished to a slow purposeful trot. It was done. MacDubh and Keagan had bonded. MacDubh would do him no harm.
With a proud nod, Faolan folded his arms across his puffed chest and beamed around the yard. He turned a blinding smile on Ciara, his eyes sparkling with joy. “Could there be a better son than ours? Only five and he’s already mastered our clan’s fiercest stallion.”
“No, my love. He is more precious than you could ever know.” Ciara whispered the words under her breath, ignoring the silent, painful reminder of all she would soon lose. She swallowed hard and forced a return smile for Faolan.
Pulling in a trembling breath, she shifted her attention back to her son. The snorting horse slowed to a trot about the yard. The clop of his hooves rustled so calm and fluid, the dust barely stirred in the lot. Keagan grinned down from his lofty perch, as he brought the horse to a halt in front of his father. “See, Da? He’s a kindly beast. He’s nay the devil everyone says he is. He just doesna like it when people canna understand him. All he wants is their respect.”
Faolan nodded and took hold of the horse’s reins as he patted Keagan’s leg. “Aye, Keagan. It seems ye have found a true friend in MacDubh. He is yours now. See that ye treat him well.”
Keagan crowed to his mother who waited on the steps. “Mother! Did ye hear Da? He said MacDubh can be mine!”
Ciara smiled at the excitement she heard in her young son’s voice. As she walked across the courtyard, she peered deep into the horse’s eyes and sent her thoughts of thanks to the beast for his cooperation. “Remember, Keagan. You must earn MacDubh’s friendship and loyalty. Treat him with respect. If you treat him like he’s just a piece of property, you will find yourself without a friend.”
Keagan nodded as he puffed up his tiny chest. “I know, Mother. I shall not treat him badly. I’ve already told him…” He clamped his mouth shut when his mother made the slightest shake of her head. “Sorry, Mother. I almost forgot,” he muttered, ducking his head.
With an encouraging smile and a nod of her head, Ciara connected her mind with his.It’s all right, Keagan. Just try to remember. It’s safest not to speak openly about the special things Da and I know you can do.
Faolan glanced between his son and his wife and knew they communicated without speaking a word. A twinge of jealousy pulled at his heart at the bond they shared. Faolan almost wished he could control the energies enough to join them. He was powerful in many of the Ways. Magic flowed in his blood. He hadn’t quite decided if this was a blessing or a curse.
“Can I ride MacDubh across the bridge and out into the heather?” Keagan sat atop the horse, nearly bouncing in the saddle as he waited for his father to decide.
Before Faolan could answer, Ciara stepped between them, to shake a warning finger at her son. “Only if your father and Maxwell come with you. You are too young to ride the fields alone upon a horse as large as MacDubh.”
With a shrug at Maxwell’s smug grin, Faolan inclined his head toward the stables. “Come, Maxwell. The lady has spoken. Shall we go for a ride with the lad?”
One brow quirked as he headed toward the stable, Maxwell’s shoulders quivered with silent laughter as he shook his head. “Aye. Let’s head for the open field and thefreedomto be found in the Highland air.”
* * *
“Concentrate,Keagan. You must control the energies surrounding the object with your mind. That will keep the water tightly formed into a ball and hold it suspended where you want it.” Ciara stood behind her son, her hands resting upon his shoulders.
The peaceful sanctuary of the wooded copse surrounding the goddesses' pool provided the perfect classroom for Keagan’s daily lesson. Ciara’s heart swelled with pride as she noticed the level of improvement in Keagan’s ability to tighten the whirling sphere of water. She had brought him here daily since Keagan had turned two years old to introduce him to the many wonders flowing throughout the realms.
Beneath the sheltering branches of the whispering pines, Ciara had opened her son’s eyes to the mystical universe and the many planes of realities just waiting for him to explore. With a shuddering sigh, Ciara tried not to think about all he had yet to learn and conquer before he reached seven years of age.
She had to ensure Keagan was prepared in case the goddesses kept their word. Her heart ached as dark thoughts of losing those she loved once again shadowed her mind. Swallowing hard against the ache closing off her throat, she forced herself to put the thought aside and concentrate on her son.
