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Oriana clamped her jaws shut rather than explain she had never been able to see into Egan’s future any better than her own, but until that moment, she had failed to consider that might be precisely why Egan’s path lay shrouded in mystery. Perhaps their destinies were as closely interwoven as the golden threads in an elegant tapestry. That tardy realization only added to her dismay.
She tapped her finger against Albyn’s chest as she scolded, “With your imagination, and claim of fine voice, you ought to create epic poems from your fanciful notions and set them to music. Now you must go before Egan begins to suspect how greatly you’re annoying me with your amorous attentions.”
Albyn caught her hand and brought it to his lips. “You, my lady, are the one possessed of the fine imagination, but because Egan truly does need me, I’ll go. You must heed my warning, however. Unless Egan is by your side to defend you, do not allow your suspicions about Adelaine’s death to go any further.”
Oriana pulled her hand free of his gentle clasp. His hands were warm, his touch pleasant, but it failed to evoke the same tingling thrill as Egan’s slightest caress. “Aye, I recognize the danger. The fortress is rife with it.”
Albyn moved aside to allow her to escape him, but he still feared she posed as great a danger to Egan’s life as Kieran’s challenge.
Egan noted Albyn’s arrival in the bailey with a casually raised brow, but he was disappointed not to find Oriana with him. After issuing such a serious demand, he was puzzled as to why she had not come to watch him make a great show of fighting Kieran without actually killing him. He intended to win the first two challenges. There would be no need of a third.
“You’d do well to emulate Oriana’s single-mindedness,” Albyn cautioned. “Don’t allow your focus to stray.”
Egan nodded grudgingly, but although they were apart, he still felt the haunting beauty’s presence. She lingered not merely in his mind, but in his body with the tenderness of a lover’s caress. He had never become attached to another woman, but Oriana had easily captured his heart.
Kieran was testing the weight of a spear, and Egan gathered his resolve to prod him along with his selection. “Grab whichever one is closest, and let’s hunt wild boar. They’re more dangerous than any man, and much more difficult to kill. It will be a far truer test of our courage than if we were to fight each other.”
That suggestion caught Kieran completely off guard, but after a moment’s pause, the idea took on an immense appeal. Once they left the crowded fortress, the dense forest would provide an abundance of thick cover for an attack. He might even succeed in herding a boar toward Egan. Then he could watch in feigned horror as his half brother was gored by the vicious beast.
“Aye, that’s a splendid idea,” he agreed with a grin, and then, after selecting a spear with a fancy bronze inlay in its iron tip, he gestured
toward the stable. “To the horses, then.”
A murmur of confusion rumbled through the crowd, for clearly the whole assembly could not ride out. “Let’s each take a half dozen men,” Egan said.
Kieran responded with a sweeping wave toward their kinsmen. “Can you find that many to side with you?”
“Aye, and a great many more, but six will do for today.”
Albyn feared that might prove an empty boast, but a sufficient number of young men made their way to Egan’s side for him to choose among them. Albyn took note of their families, and just as Oriana had claimed, those with ties to Ula’s clan overwhelmingly backed Kieran, while those more closely related to Cadell stood with Egan. There were powerful families on both sides, but the real battle would still be between sons who had both inherited Cadell’s size and strength.
Albyn whispered a warning. “Keep a closer eye on Kieran than the boar.”
Despite the tension of the morning, Egan laughed. “Aye, I intend to.”
With the imminent approach of autumn, the forest was gloomy and cool. An occasional noisy flurry of crows swept overhead but the hunters were curiously silent. While still within a few yards of each other, Kieran and his men rode to the left; Egan and his followers kept to the right.
Still debating the wisdom of agreeing to Oriana’s plea, Egan made a concerted effort to drink in the calming influence of the woods, but before long, he began to curse his own stupidity in not recognizing the obvious fact of how well the wily Cadell had trained both his sons.
While impetuous in the past, Kieran’s present cautious restraint made it clear he had skillfully mastered their father’s lessons. That made the challenge impossible to dismiss as a tedious chore rather than a sincere attempt to seize power. Egan had been convinced his skills were far superior to his half brother’s, but for the hunt at least, the two young men were apparently an equal match.
An adept observer, Albyn read Egan’s doubts in his slight frown. “You underestimated him, didn’t you?”
Egan always preferred the truth to a lie, but this admission hurt. “Completely,” he murmured.
Nearing the heart of the forest, they left their mounts to continue on foot. Egan plucked a fallen branch from the leaves padding the forest floor and hurled it after his half brother. “This is more time than I’ve spent with him in years,” Egan confided softly.
Albyn might have lost track of Kieran’s age, but his memory was clear on one point. “He idolized you as a lad, but you ignored him.’ Tis no wonder he’s issued a challenge.”
Egan studied the angle of the sun overheard to judge the hour and cursed the day for creeping by much too slowly. He then raised his hand to signal stealth, and his party halted in midstride to listen for the low grunting snort of a boar. All they heard, however, was Kieran’s group filing by on their left.
Egan paused to consider a change of direction, and Albyn again came to his side. Frustrated, Egan spit before voicing his confusion, “I’ll fight Kieran in ways he’s never even heard of, let alone seen, but I can’t understand why it is so important for me to keep him alive.”
Oriana’s desperation had also weighed heavily on Albyn’s mind, but he had come to only one conclusion. “Perhaps there is simply too much of you in Kieran for Oriana to wish him any harm.”
“She is not overly fond of me,” Egan scoffed. “Why should the close resemblance matter?”
Not trusting their lives to the hounds, Albyn squatted down to scan the forest with a watchful eye. Relieved to find no sign of danger, he rose and spoke freely. “I fear you have also badly underestimated Oriana. Such a remarkable young woman would not give her love lightly, and her affection would surely spill over to include Kieran as well.”
