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“Aye, that we are, but I want you to sit down and rest while I think how best to use this beautiful tree in our construction.”
Oriana was happy to comply with his request, but even with her back resting against the mountain, she was in agonizing pain. Even her scalp hurt where Egan had caught her, and her gratitude failed to ease the pain.
Firmly rooted, the oak grew out of the rocky soil, and Egan was quickly satisfied it was there to stay. “What if I create a platform over the lower branches to give us a floor, and then slant a roof over the branches in the center of the tree. Does that sound good to you?”
“It’s a splendid idea, as I’m certain all your plans must surely be.”
Egan broke into a loud guffaw. “Did you strike your head as you fell?”
“No, I’m simply striving to be an agreeable wife.” Oriana’s smile swiftly turned mischievous.
Egan laughed with her but started to work on fashioning a secure shelter. His side no longer bothered him, and he chopped through the oak’s sturdy branches with a methodical rhythm. As their shelter took shape, he began to look forward to passing the night there with the woman who made all his days and nights memorable.
Albyn kept his gaze focused upon the mountain until the sun’s last rays were swallowed by the sea. The guards had already lit their lanterns, and he moved aside so he could sit in full view of the gate. He had not thought he was hungry until Kieran brought him a platter heaped with roasted boar and warm bread.
Kieran sat down beside Albyn and began to devour the meat on his own platter with undisguised gusto. “I don’t want you falling asleep tonight, Druid, for should Egan suffer any misfortune, I mean to call upon you to vouch for my innocence.”
In the muted light, Kieran resembled Egan so closely that Albyn had to remind himself to remain guarded. “I welcome the food, if not your company, but I wish you’d brought some ale.”
Kieran immediately sent one of the guards to fetch them some, and the fellow returned with a pitcher and two tankards. “Anything else you’d like? I can highly recommend Fiona’s company.”
Albyn could only vaguely recall which woman she was. “No, I’d not want the unfortunate lass to become dissatisfied with you.”
Rather than take offense, Kieran was highly amused by Albyn’s attempt at humor, and he paused before taking another bite. “You should try Egan’s wing. Even dangling briefly from mine has changed my whole view of the world.”
Albyn shot him a skeptical glance. “Have you come to regret the attempt on your brother’s life?”
Kieran shrugged. “I still believe I’d make the better king.”
“Then pursue a crown elsewhere,” Albyn advised before breaking off a bite of bread. “The day of Egan’s coronation, I mean to set out on my own journey. You’d be wise to travel farther than a wing could take you.”
Kieran continued to eat until he had satisfied his appetite. He then set his platter aside and took a long drink of ale. “I’m too curious about how the morrow will end to begin making plans tonight.”
“It will end with Egan king of the Dál Cais, with Oriana by his side.”
“She is a pretty thing, isn’t she?” Kieran admitted under his breath.
Albyn did not trust himself to respond with more than a distracted nod, but he still suspected Kieran meant to do Egan grievous harm and intended to keep him in sight.
It was very late when Garrick made his way to Ula’s chamber, and the wind was howling down off Mount Royal and fluttered the tapestries lining the corridors. The diminutive beauty had left the feast early, and the Druid had delayed his arrival to make certain she would be thoroughly bored and eager to welcome him. Unfortunately, she was pacing her chamber and gestured with a wine goblet as he entered.
“Cadell never loved me. Oh, he took his pleasure with me, and often, but all the while he closed his eyes and pretended that I was Adelaine.”
Garrick removed the goblet from her hand and set it aside. He bent to whisper in her ear. “I never pretend with you.”
Ula continued to pace as though he had not spoken. “To Cadell, I was never as beautiful as Adelaine, never as charming, never as wise. I was merely the woman in his bed, never the woman in his heart. She was alive to him every minute we were wed. I was nothing more than a flickering lamp compared to the brilliance of Adelaine’s fire. Kieran is twice the man Egan will ever be, but Cadell never once thanked me for giving him such a fine son.”
Disgusted she would brush aside his affection, Garrick sat down upon the end of her bed, but though he was accustomed to her vindictive tirades, he had little patience tonight.
Ula’s dark eyes glowed with a malevolent light as she turned toward him. “Cadell truly deserved to die, didn’t he?”
If not high regard, Garrick and Cadell had shared mutual respect, and he had been as shocked by the king’s untimely death as the rest of his household. Ula’s grief had been profound, or so it had appeared when she had sought refuge in his arms.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
Ula cocked her head slightly. “Why do you look so perplexed? Last year, when I asked you for poison to rid my chamber of vermin, did you actually believe I meant to use it solely on mice?”
Ula had always been prone to violent fits of temper, but he had never even imagined that she might kill her husband. He rose to his feet and struggled to understand what had actually happened. “Were all who fell ill victims of the poison?” he asked.
