“Ta.”
“Despite him being the sole reason for me and my brothers saving Ireland, to begin with?” He frowned. “Why would they do such a thing? Why would they let Raghnall be reborn if he was destined to cause all this strife?”
“I cannot say,” Oran replied. “Other than to speculate that things might not be as they seem. That there is more to all this than the damage King Raghnall is determined to do.”
“Which, in my opinion,” Madison said, “leads right back to Siobhán and her role in all this.” She shook her head. “Because she definitely plays a bigger part than Raghnall wants us to believe.”
Cian nodded in agreement.
“Yet only four of us Unnamed Ones are meant to reunite with an unknown king?” she went on.
“’Twas what was said,” Oran confirmed.
“That’s strange.” Madison narrowed her eyes. “Unless...”
“Unless two kings loved one druidess,” Cian said softly. “And both were punished for it.”
“Which means there would be a particularly strong hatred between Raghnall and one of your brothers,” Madison surmised.
“Or mayhap a particularly strong bond,” Oran said.
When she looked at him curiously, he went on.
“When people are reborn, they oftentimes reconnect with souls from previous lives. ‘Tis sometimes a natural draw and others times something left unresolved from their previous life.” He flickered around the tree again. “Enemies can come together as easily as allies. Until they start to remember. Then nature must take its course.”
Cian narrowed his eyes, thinking about it. Could what just occurred to him be possible? “Might one of my brothers be aware of this bond without Raghnall being the wiser?”
“’Tis certainly possible,” Oran granted. “Though ‘twould only be a matter of time before the enemy king became aware of it too.”
Cian grinned at Madison, certain he was right. “Which might give my brother just enough time to gather valuable insight as to what’s going on behind enemy lines.”
Madison’s brows shot up. “Declán?”
“’Twould make sense,ta?”
“It would.” Worry brought her brows together. “Which, assuming Riona is connecting with Declán, would mean she loved both your brotherandRaghnall in her previous life?”
“Or,” Oran countered. “They loved her, and she but loved one in return. ‘Twould be the man’s power to love the Unnamed One that made him so worthy of becoming an unknown king.”
“Well, here’s hoping.” She shook her head. “Because that would seriously stink if Riona had a thing for the bad guy.”
Even worse, if Raghnall had a thing for her, Cian thought but kept it to himself. No need for Madison to worry over her sisters more than she already was.
“We need to figure out what Declán was trying to ask Riona,” Madison said. “What secret she might know.”
He felt her emotions when she eyed the tree. Her sadness over leaving this place. All of eleventh-century Ireland, for that matter.
“We need to go back soon and find out,” she went on. “We need to—”
“Take a wee bit more time together on our wedding night.” He caressed her cheek. Tried to comfort her. “I don’t think a few more hours will change much, will it, Oran?”
“I cannot see how.” Oran flickered Aisling’s way when she appeared above. “But then I’m no psychic nor an Unnamed One.”
“Do you feel any immediate danger, then,mo dhraoi?” Cian asked her.
“No.” She shook her head. “Then again, I haven’t had any visions of the future since I arrived. That I know of, anyway.”
“Then a few more hours shouldn’t hurt anything.” He swept her up in his arms and winked. “A few more hours to sleep, of course.”
