“Even soiled by your hand, the Lady Keirah is a prize beyond compare,” Lord Kollungr stated, then taunted, “As intoxicating as this mulled wine, is she not?” He raised his goblet her direction in a toast-like gesture. “Always three steps from the king.”
Aonghus remained still as stone at the tormentor’s fixation, eyeing the enemy from his periphery while Kollungr sloshed the wine down before grotesquely wiping his tunic sleeve over his lips and vowing in a dark tone, “I will not be leaving these shores without her,SirAonghus.”
Aonghus’s voice thick with rage, he vowed, “Lord Kollungr, you are not goin’ to leave these shores atallonce I have finished with you.” Callum slapped him on the back with approval.
The tallest Scotsman in the room met the Northman’s determined gaze before he turned. Preparing to move back to Keirah’s side, he spotted her eyes closing for a long moment.Shadow-glance!
“MacCade,” she called out to him on the opposite side of the hall. “Bring Edina at once! She must see thebluein these blaeberries, they are beyond compare!”Blue, oh hell, the signal word!Keirah’s eyes darted toward the massive chandelier hanging directly over…the innocent lassie.
It is going to fall and kill her!In a breath, his feet found the granite floor as he charged toward Edina.Scoop her up on the run, do not halt for a moment!
The breeze slapped his damp brow as the wee one saw him approach then raised her arms higher at him with a grin after hearing Keirah’s order. Nabbing the miniature frame, who gave a hearty giggle thinking it a game, he charged forward.
Ten steps to go!
Snap!In his periphery, the rope holding the mighty iron chandelier broke.
Whizz!The rope sizzled through the thick metal rings along the wall like snakes racing toward prey.
“It is going to collapse!” a Scotsman yelled.
CRACK!The chandelier crashed the same moment a spark hit the back of his ankle from a wayward candle slamming the ground. A rush of gasps with screams filled the air as the candles, which did not extinguish from the stiff wind, rained the hall, landing on the tables or chairs, with all bolting to extinguish them before they turned into roaring fires.
“Protect the king!” Sir James bellowed when flames began to try to sprout up like flowers in a devil’s garden.
Edina wailed from fright as he tucked her close, but his eyes never left Keirah’s terrified expression at the torment unleashed. She nodded toward something behind him; he glimpsed over his shoulder at the entry beyond the fallen chaos, which thanks to Keirah’s efforts had not claimed any lives. What had she motioned to?
A face whose expression seemed unfazed by all the chaos – Lord Kollungr. That extraordinarily evil piece of swine shite!
Chapter 29
“Unbelievable! He had to be at the root of it!” Keirah punched the air in their chamber as the great hall was being straightened.
“Agreed,” she heard MacCade concur. “The Lord Constable is summoning those to check into the source of the incident.”
She covered her face. “This is cast by my hand.”
Warm palms gripped her shoulders. “Never declare this, Cluaran.”
Looking up at the intense eyes which saw straight to her soul, she murmured, “’Tis. I am the cause; if not for me being in the feast with that vile creature, the wee one would never have been placed at risk.”
“It was cast by his hand – alone,” Aonghus said vehemently. “You stayed the disaster.”
Her gaze dropped toward his hands. “You are kind, MacCade.”
“You are too hard upon yourself, Cluaran.”
His grip tightened a moment. He was touching her – strongly. “You are still holding me.” Her voice was lined with disbelief. “The disgusting event Kollungr threw at you regarding my…” Raging hell, she couldn’t even say it. Breasts! Sex goddessshe wasnot, but had she hoped to possibly fall into a wee bit of the temptress category in her knight’s eyes? Aye.
“Keirah, not a word could be spoken by him” – she raised her eyes, finding his face blurred from her tears – “which would ever make me think less of you, of us, or make me turn from your touch. You areallto me. Never doubt this.”
His lips crashed over hers. Salt and her knight. As she threw her arms around his neck, he dragged her close and claimed her mouth for his own. His palm found her backside as a groan took her tongue as much as her knight did. A feverish want claimed them. The tension of the day’s past, it had to be the cause. Her fingers feathered his hair as he deepened their kiss while his hand began seeking under her skirt, aye…
What was the tapping sound? Her heart? No, that was pounding her ears. A growl vibrated across her breasts from MacCade before he pulled back. The tapping was a knock. No!
“Sir Aonghus and Lady Keirah, the king summons you both directly to the solar with the Northern delegation!”
Aonghus kept her pressed against the wall; a brisk sea breeze tickled the air and their faces from the arrow slit. “We shall continue this later.”
