“Oh aye, and she will. That is all part of it, and ye ken it is. Stop wi’ the pretending ye hav’na a clue. I’m on yer side, if ye remember. No need to paly coy wi’ me.”
“My niece is part of what, old man?”
“Bloody hell, will ye no’ listen? The prophecy, I told ye. Three sons of three sons and all that.” He waved his hand impatiently.
Leon shrugged.“She’s no’ here at the moment, but I expect she’ll be back.A week at the most, given that she’s a strong willed lass.”
“Ye let her go, then?” The sorcerer frowned as if this was unexpected. It wasn’t.
“Aye. And she’ll choose to come back. For him, the man chosen for her.”
Dirc tapped his fingers on the hard oak. “Ye’re so certain.”
“Aye, I am.” Leon smiled, looking very much like a man who had an ace in his pocket. “I’ve seen them together ye ken, and it’s far too late for the both of them.”
Hours later, Eian rode back with the rest of the guard, defeated. They had looked for miles in every direction, through forests and fields, but there had been no sign of Allia. Since there were no horses missing from the stable, she couldn’t have gone far… and yet it seemed she had completely disappeared. After leaving Dair to the care of one of the grooms, Eian made his way to the hall. He had hoped to find that the lass was still here at the castle after all, perhaps hiding. Maybe it had all been a mistake. But now that he was here, he could feel that she was not. He hadn’t even realized until now that he had begun to feel when she was near, but now he noticed her absence like a glaring hole.
He didn’t know why he even cared; she was just a pretty lass, after all.
And my mate.
His gut clenched tightly at the thought, demanding he admit the truth.
Mates can sense one another in ways other cannot…
Eian felt like he was walking a fine edge, and was about to fall over it, on one side or the other. He sat down in the nearly empty hall and poured himself a cup of ale from the pitcher on the table. When he looked up, a familiar yet entirely unlikely figure in a dark robe was walking through the door. Surprised, he rose out of his chair.
"Dirc? What the bloody hell are ye doing here?"
"And it's good to see ye too, lad, so glad I've come all this way.Ye look like hell, by the way."
Eian glared at him, but sat back down in the chair, reaching for his ale. He was probably going to need it. He downed half of it and slammed the cup back down on the table. "So why are ye here, old man?" If Dirc showed up unexpectedly, it usually meant trouble. Eian braced himself.
Dirc took a seat opposite of him, and Eian reached for the jug of ale, pouring some into an empty tankard and shoving it across to Dirc, who lifted it and took a much more refined and gentlemanly sip than Eian had.
He swallowed, then put the tankard down on the table before he spoke. "I have word of yer brother. I though ye'd want to ken."
Eian sat up straighter, suddenly alert. "Bren? What’s happened?"
Dirc shook his head, then nodded. "No, the other. I meant I have word on yer other brother."
Eian leaned forward, his heart speeding up. Bren had presumed Drust had died in a cave with Mored, when he had gone after the ring that would bring Bren’s mate back to him... Bren's soul mate Faith had been returned to the future she had come from by the evil sorcerer Mored. Eian and Dirc had played a part in bringing her to Bren in the first place when they stole the Mac Coinnach family's Dragon Ring from under Bren's nose. The ring had brought her through time, but when Mored got hold of it, he sent her back. His proud, strong brother had fallen apart without her, and though he and Drust had done everything they could think of to help, Eian secretly thought Bren was a little touched in the head to be that lost over a woman. These days... he wasn't so sure anymore. Could Drust have survived? Or perhaps they had only found his body, after all. Then he could at least have a proper burial…
"What is it? Tell me before I come across the table and choke the life out of ye!"
"Och, lad, then ye'd never find out.At least not until ye travelled all the way back to Creagmor."
"Dirc!"
Dirc sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "Verra well. Drust is back... and..."
"What? Drust is back? He’s alive? How?" Eian didn’t think he’d ever heard such good news. It had weighed heavily on his soul that Drust might be gone, or at least lost. But to have his brother back again…
“Och, lad, he was saved by the love of a good woman. His mate.”
“What?”
Try as he might, and hewastrying, Eian could not imagine his troubled, stoic brother mated to a woman.Any woman. Drust had always done his best to avoid the fairer sex, to the point that Eian had actually worried about how it might be affecting his health. It couldn’t be good for a man to go that long without a woman. A man had needs…
