“What ye are made of remains to be seen, but I’ve a mind to take a look.” With a hacking motion, Marcán brought his sword down, aiming for Pádraig’s unprotected side, but the man twisted out of harm’s way and the tip of the blade just caught hisléine, ripping it.
“Making mending for my wife, are ye?”
Anger flooded Marcán’s brain, pushing out any reasonable thoughts, the noises of those around them, and his immediate surroundings. His eyes focused on Pádraig, keeping him in his sights. The man’s mouth moved again, but Marcán did not hear him this time. As he pushed him back, one of the large rocks came into view, and Marcán steered the man backward toward it. High enough to sit upon, it would send the man tumbling.
Pádraig’s eyes were red-rimmed and his mouth continued to flap. Just shy of the target, Pádraig’s sudden halt and thrust forward caught Marcán off guard. The man charged him with the impetus of a mad bull, then locked swords with him. The clash of steel rang through the trees. They’d turned about, so the boulder was at Marcán’s back when Pádraig came swinging for his head, a wide arc of the blade. Marcán dropped down, the point of his own sword piercing Pádraig’s leg, causing him to stumble against the obstacle. Too late for Pádraig to stop the momentum that slammed his head against the rock. His body dropped dead beside it, his hand releasing the sword upon contact.
Epilogue
No one objected when Diarmuid united the two clans under his kingship. Ian, in particular, appreciated the change of leadership as he matured. His new king was more than willing to train him, where his father had not been. By day they battled, attacking nearby clans, and by night they spoke of the Greeks and Christ, sparking the lad’s imagination as well as building his confidence in his own abilities.
Astrid believed Diarmuid’s friendship with the lad was helping Diarmuid heal from the great loss of their brother, Fergus. She certainly did not miss the fact that Ian and her younger brother would have been of a similar age had Fergus not died. No doubt they would have been very good friends.
Tucked tightly in bed between the wall and Marcán’s warm body, Astrid could not be happier. They lay belly to belly, and she was hoping for the baby to resume the violent motion that had awakened her, the little elbow or knee even visible as it rubbed along the inside of her womb.
“There! Did ye feel it?” Astrid asked.
“No.” Marcán’s disappointment tugged at her heart. She adjusted herself a little more, pressing her belly flat against him again.
They waited.
“There! That time?”
Marcán beamed. “A strong child.” He cupped her cheek. “And a beautiful wife. I am a blessed man, indeed.”
The snow continued falling outside as it had for two days now. The supplies in their little longhouse dwindling, this would be the last day they’d be able to stay within. The thought of leaving their intimate cocoon, where no one mattered but the three of them, made Astrid sad.
“Do ye believe ’tis a boy?” Marcán asked, his palm reaching beneath herléineto slide over the bare skin of her stretched abdomen.
Astrid’s eyes closed at the pleasant sensation, the baby again moving about.
“I felt him,” Marcán offered without being asked.
She smiled. “’Tis a girl.”
“Ye sound quite certain.”
Her eyes flew open, a look of fear there, but he stroked her cheek.
“Do not fret. No one questions yer source. Ye are a good guesser.”
“Or God makes these things known to me.”
“Does He?”
Astrid frowned. “I do not know where else I would get the knowledge from.”
Marcán kissed the tip of her nose. “As I said, ye are a good guesser.”
“I am a good guesser, and I am always correct.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Always?”
She gasped and slapped his chest. “Aednat had twins! And I was still correct.”
Shrugging, he pulled her close against him, urging her head against his shoulder. “Ye were not correct, or ye would have known ’twasbotha boy and a girl, but Diarmuid and Aednat did not mind.”
When she tried to escape his hold, he pressed his lower body closer to hers, leaving no question of what he desired, and she stopped resisting.
