Page 18 of Why Broken Wings Fray

“Yes.”

He looked far too humoured in comparison to how dreadful I felt.

“I, Raegan Righ’Fiodh’Faiche’Rugadh, offer a ceadan oath to Olivia Loughty. Such an oath will bind her loyalty to me, ensuring a shield across my back and a sword at my side. From henceforth, no lie shall fall between us and no deceit shall strain this oath. Do you wish to be oath-bound?”

His hand was so… so warm. The skin along the padding of his fingers and the peak of his palm was thoroughly calloused, brash and scarred just as he was. But the heat that emanated from his flesh, the way that it transferred in to me and settled some ancient, rowdy darkness within me, left me transfixed. So much so, that I did not hear him talking to me.

It was only when his free hand pinched at my chin and tilted my head up, our eyes meeting once more, that I realized.

He had a tight grin on his face as I stuttered out, “Y-yes.”

Heat flared between our hands, coming from that near-black ring that sat between our flesh. It burned and tempted the outer layer of my skin, until it dulled completely and Raegan snatched away from me, sliding it back on his thumb.

I thought we were done, but Raegan pressed impossibly closer to me, his lips near my ear. Moisture skipped over the sensitive skin around my neck as he leaned against me.

“I have dreamed of seeing the real you again for far too long.”

Swallowing, I took a small step away from him and heeded the mischief in his eyes.

“Let me ask you once more, Olivia. Why are you back in Saoghal?”

I thought back to Rory, to his explanation of this very oath and my ability to manipulate it.

“Because I lost the light.”

His eyes wanted to pinch, his face starting to flip into a frown, but he managed to snatch his resolve at the last moment.

“Were you sent here?”

“I made the decision to come.”

Another twitch of his brows, followed by a large draw of breath.

“Do you wish me any harm?”

The answer, honest and damning, came from me before I could stop it. “Never, Raegan.”

“Good,” he hummed. Stepping towards me once more, his face melted into the young Prince that basked beneath a high sun, a version of him that I thought had died the day his title changed. “Good, Olivia. You just might be the only person I can trust, then.”

I said nothing as he led me out of the throne room.

9

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Raegan halted us in the hallway.

“There will be dinner in the dining hall in a few hours or so,” he said, turning to face me. “You can use the time to reacquaint yourself with the guest chambers you stayed in when we were here. No one has touched it since you left. A certain male has been overly possessive and wanted the room to hold your scent for as long as possible.”

Raegan didn’t give me a second to think about that, simply offering me a respectful nod of his head before he departed and left me lingering in that strange revelation. Chewing on the inside of my cheek, forever a terrible habit of mine, I moved through the overly bright hallways of the Cluaineach castle.

The winding stairs of cracking stone and twisted ivy led me up three flights, where I finally veered off to the right and adapted to an increasing heat brought forth by the numerous windowed-walls on either end of the stretch. After walking past three doors on my left, I stopped at the fourth.

The last time I was here was with Raegan, when I was convinced that he was going to lock me in this room for the entirety of our short stay. Instead, he had taken me to meet Gliocas and Urram. And, well, the rest was history.

With a smile born of nostalgic melancholy, I pushed open that door and released a deep sigh as I planned to move straight for that bed and collapse for an hour.

While that had been my plan, I was harshly interrupted by Urram. An African-Grey parrot with a body full of silver feathers and a few notoriously cherry-red ones cocked his head at me. Even though he was a bird, I was sure I could see a scowl on his face even from this distance.