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Annoyed by her continued eagerness to depart, Egan leaned against the trunk and folded his arms across his chest. “I believe I’ll ask Albyn to recite our complete history. It will not only enable you to foretell my relatives’ futures more confidently, but the undertaking will undoubtedly require several years’ time. By then you may have finally ceased threatening to leave me.”
His expression was as dark as his taunt, but unafraid, Oriana set aside the shift to rise and face him. “It isn’t a threat, my lord. I am not your mistress, and I will leave just as soon as the danger to you is past.”
As Egan saw it, the challenge was to again make her beg to stay. He glanced toward his mother’s bed, but swiftly decided that rather than now, the coming night would present a much better opportunity to bind her to him. He waited, half expecting to be called a fool for defying the gods, but the only sound was the familiar distant roar of the sea.
He flashed a charming smile. “We will have to agree upon a mutually satisfactory date. Now come and select a few gowns, while I burrow through all these clothes to find the shoes.”
Oriana breathed deeply. Egan, with his quicksilver moods, was adept at brushing problems aside rather than facing them, and she instinctively knew the habit would not serve him well as king. She scanned the chests and pointed to a small square one.
“I believe Adelaine must have kept her shoes separate from her gowns. Why don’t you open that one?”
“Whatever you say, my lady,” Egan responded with a deep bow. He found the lid a bit difficult to raise, but with increased effort pried it open. Inside there were several pairs of soft suede slippers, some obviously never worn.
As he removed a new pair, out fell a long necklace fashioned of delicate wooden beads linked together by a fine silver chain. A small heart-shaped yellow agate was suspended from the unusual piece. He recognized it instantly and scooped it up from the floor.
“My father carved these beads for my mother when they were courting. They found the pretty stone while walking along the shore. He gave her such beautiful jewelry, but this was her favorite and the only one I recall her wearing.” Without a moment’s hesitation, he dropped it over Oriana’s head.
“You must keep it,” he insisted. “It’s the perfect adornment for a princess from the forest.”
Oriana ran her fingers over the small barrel-shaped beads. They had been cut from slender twigs and surely it had been Adelaine’s touch which had worn the bark smooth. The pretty necklace weighed no more than a feather and would be a joy to wear.
“Thank you,” she murmured without looking up. “I’ll wear it now, but return it so that your wife may treasure it and pass it along to your first daughter.”
Egan swept her with a perplexed glance. “Are you telling my fortune, or just wishing me a good one?”
“The latter, I’m afraid,” Oriana admitted with an embarrassed laugh.
Egan had always expected to wed, but he had never set his sights on any particular lass because there were so many comely possibilities. He was stunned that the mere mention of a wife now sickened him and, annoyed by the uncomfortable sensation, he continued his perusal of the chests’ contents.
He hoped he would find other trinkets that would prompt pleasant memories. Since he had not seen the necklace in so many years, he was amazed he had recalled its story. Perhaps his father had told it often, or only once wit
h such fervor Egan had been deeply impressed by the love with which the small wooden beads had been carved.
Oriana sat down to try on Adelaine’s slippers. To her immense surprise, like the beautiful gowns, they were a perfect fit. She knew the fact they shared the same size and coloring was merely a coincidence, but in the forbidding fortress, any comfort was most welcome. If the gods had led her there to learn of Adelaine’s existence, though, she wished they would reveal why soon.
That night the great hall was ablaze with the light of a hundred torches. More than a dozen low tables had been set out for the evening meal, and Egan’s kinsmen were streaming around and through them in a careless shuffle. Their many animated conversations produced a low, rolling hum and an occasional burst of raucous laughter carried above the bard’s lively tunes and the crackling hiss of the enormous fire.
As they neared the wide doorway, Oriana felt crushed by the noise and clung even more tightly to Egan’s arm than she had the previous evening. She recognized Bevan standing with three younger men who resembled him closely, and she assumed they were his sons. She watched them part and join other groups. Indeed, the whole hall was a churning mass of visitors.
Kieran was perhaps twenty feet away and leaning close to speak with a striking young woman whose raven tresses were braided with strands of golden cord. She was clothed in a rich emerald green and stood so close to Kieran that she appeared to rub against his whole length each time she whispered a confidence.
Egan followed Oriana’s glance and explained softly, “That’s Madi. She’s a cousin to Ula and visits often. She’s adored Kieran since they were children.”
Oriana noted the width of Kieran’s grin and thought his feelings for Madi were equally plain. “He appears to return her affection,” she replied.
“Aye, he does. They may wed soon, although I’d rather not have more of Ula’s insufferable kin in residence here. But with Madi so intent upon seducing Kieran, he’s unlikely to seek a wife elsewhere.”
Hoping to ease her dread, Oriana sought out other familiar faces, and Ula quickly caught her eye. Some might have described the tall, slender man by her side as handsome, but while he looked vaguely familiar, it wasn’t at all reassuring. “Who’s that with Ula?”
Egan dipped his head so close to answer, his lips brushed her ear. “That’s Skell; he’s Madi’s father and Garrick’s younger brother.”
Shocked, Oriana’s breath caught in her throat and strange patterns began to form in her mind, but they scattered before she could make sense of the tumbling colors and shapes. “Something is dreadfully wrong here,” she moaned.
Fearing she had taken ill, Egan slid his arm around her waist to steady her. “You didn’t sleep well. Perhaps all you need is an ample meal.”
“No. I can’t stay.” Oriana turned away from him in a vain attempt to avoid his grasp but he caught her arm in a confining hold before she could take a hasty step back through the doorway. “Please, you must let me go. Be on guard tonight, and we’ll speak later.”
At that instant, Egan’s entry was acknowledged with a hoarse shout. A fresh ripple of motion rolled through the hall as the crowd swung toward him. The conversation tapered off to a low hush that became a startled silence as they noted both Oriana’s presence and her obvious reluctance to remain.
