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She was frantic, but she had given Egan her word to hold her tongue in front of his kin. Filled with a terrifying sense of impending doom, she could not bring herself to return to t
he courtyard where all were gathered as though for a bit of sport. When the day could so easily end in a gruesome death for either Egan or Kieran, she had no wish to be a party to the spectacle.
Perhaps her presence had generated some controversy, but she knew Albyn was correct in assuming a challenge required more than the few days she had been in residence to foment. She leaned against the cool stone wall and doubted this horror had anything whatsoever to do with her.
It was not, however, something Egan had brought upon himself with his penchant for travel. This was an insidious plot, and her suspicion Cadell had been poisoned returned in a sickening wave. With her next breath came the stunning knowledge that Adelaine had not fallen to her death in a terrible accident; her untimely death had been part of a much grander plan.
Albyn did not follow the guards, but remained in the entryway with Oriana. She was so lost in thought that his presence went unnoticed, but he studied her with a rapt gaze. Even wearing a preoccupied frown she was lovely, but there had always been something remarkably distant about her. Finally he felt justified in intruding upon her thoughts.
“When I mentioned a magical child named Oriana, I failed to consider that she must now be grown. You do possess the gift of prophecy, don’t you?”
Oriana had completely forgotten about him, and her head came up with a startled snap. “No such gift is required to recognize a king bathed in his brother’s blood will surely have a blighted reign.”
Albyn took a step toward her. “That was not my question.”
Oriana was nearly as frightened as she had been the night he had walked out of the shadows. With no appreciation of the knowing, the Druids would demand she prove her gift, and when she failed their test, they would kill her. Of course, if she did succeed in correctly foretelling the future, they would still put her to death for disproving their supremacy.
“Isn’t one challenge enough for the day?” she asked pointedly.
Albyn’s deep laugh echoed off the cold stone walls. “I’ve no wish to fight you. I merely want the truth.”
“The truth is many things,” Oriana confided softly. “Now, wouldn’t you rather be with Egan? He’s in dire need of a trustworthy friend.”
Albyn glanced toward the doorway. “I’ll stand with him, but now they’ll still be discussing terms. I’d much rather speak with you.”
Oriana, however, had never felt less like talking. “I’d mistaken you for a gentleman who’d not force conversation from an unwilling woman.”
“In the interest of truth, I’ll admit to wanting to force a great deal more, but you are Egan’s lady and worthy of respect.”
Earlier in the day, Oriana would have argued that she was her own woman, but she felt in no way diminished by her latest bargain with Egan. She just wanted him to live to fulfill it. “You must not allow your curiosity about me to distract you from the real issue, which is Egan’s right to rule. Do you know where Adelaine fell to her death? I wish to see it.”
Albyn cocked his head slightly to observe her even more closely. “You give yourself away every time you open that pretty mouth of yours. ‘Do this, do that,’ and you do not even bother to say please.”
Oriana’s nails raked her palms as she folded her hands into tight fists. “I am unused to speaking with anyone, my lord, so you must forgive my lack of manners.”
“I must?” Albyn replied mockingly. “There, you’ve done it again. I’m not your servant, Oriana, no matter how much I’d like to be.”
“You’re flirting with me,” Oriana cried.
Albyn shrugged. “Aye, I’ll not deny it.”
Oriana stepped close and responded in a vicious hiss. “This is neither the time nor the place for such frivolity. Nor am I an appropriate choice for your affections. Now, do you or do you not know where Adelaine stood when she supposedly fell to her death?”
Not in the least bit chastened by her stinging rebuke when it served only to enhance her beauty, Albyn needed a moment to realize what she had actually asked. “By the gods, do you doubt her death was an accident?”
Oriana glanced down a moment. She closed her eyes and drank in the spirit of the cold, dank fortress. Rather than the calm voice of the knowing, she heard the echo of a heartrending scream. She looked up to find Albyn again studying her far too intently.
“There was no inquiry when she died, was there? Not even a thought that her death might have been due to anything other than a tragic misstep? You were a child, as was Egan, but someone here knows the truth.”
“Are you able to see into the past as well as the future?” he murmured in awe.
“I see nothing more than an obstinate Druid who’s blocking my way. You must excuse me, my lord. I need to find the one person who may remember exactly how Adelaine died.”
“Myrna?” he replied. “She’s a dear old woman, but rather forgetful now.”
“She’s not forgotten Adelaine. Now you should be with Egan.”
Albyn shifted his stance to block her way to the winding stairwell. “When we found you on the bluff, you were worried about Kieran even then. Why didn’t you warn Egan that there was treachery afoot?”
