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Fiona possessed the pale beauty of moonlight, but while she had foolishly revealed her true reason for offering her friendship, Oriana was so grateful for the distraction that she refused to complain. “I’ve heard of love charms,” she revealed, “but did not use one on Egan. Now, tell me, who it is you admire, Fiona?”
“I thought you meant to sew,” Myrna chided.
“Aye, that I do, but it won’t hurt us to converse as we work.” Oriana smiled at Fiona, who blushed deeply, and she was greatly amused by how completely her unique talents had been misunderstood.
When Egan returned to his chamber late that night, he found the banner draped across the foot of his bed. He picked it up and carried it to the hearth to study it closely in the warm glow of the fire. He had thought only of a hawk with widely spread wings, but Oriana had captured the instant before the handsome predator caught his prey.
It was not only a regal banner, but one that proclaimed a king’s might. He hoped to be worthy of it and folded it neatly across the chair.
The day had been endless, but the head of each clan had sworn his allegiance to him. Now the challenge would be to continue the alliances his father had forged, or Oriana would have to fashion a hundred such terrifying banners for him and his men to carry into battle. He was too tired to consider that likely possibility tonight, and he absolutely refused to burden Oriana with it.
He had stopped by his father’s chamber to rinse away the day’s dirt before approaching his bride, but on the morrow, they would move into those more spacious quarters. As he took a step toward the bed, he took off his shoes and his clothing, and then slipped beneath the furs to join Oriana in bed. He was exhausted, but he longed for the thrill of her love rather than an escape into lonely dreams.
Kissed awake, Oriana hugged her husband with a desperate passion. “What a wretched day. I feared it might never end.”
Egan gathered her close. “I thought it a remarkably good day, although it pained me to hear Ula admit that she had poisoned my father. Even if I was robbed of the pleasure of killing her, I have the immense satisfaction of knowing that she’s dead.”
Oriana leaned back slightly to study his expression. Fatigue shadowed his gaze, but he appeared at peace. Still, she wondered if he had begun to agonize over his mother’s death. “What of Ula’s damning accusation?”
“Not even Kieran believed that preposterous lie. No, Ula wanted only to defame the memory of a fine man who deserves nothing but praise. I told you, I doubted that my father had ever loved her. Ula must have hated him for that. I am so sorry that you will never know him, Oriana, but he would never have harmed the woman he loved, and no vicious lie will rob me of the comfort of my memories.”
With all involved dead, Oriana doubted they would ever learn the truth, but she would not question Egan’s faith in his father. Unfortunately, her uncharacteristic silence only served to pique his curiosity.
“What are you thinking?” he asked. “That my mother must have been murdered by a man who was welcome here in the fortress? A man my father regarded as a friend? A man who was so obsessed by my mother’s beauty that he could not bear to share her, and thought her better off dead than in my father’s bed?”
Shocked that he had come to the same conclusion about the murderer’s motives as she had, Oriana sat up and drew the thick furs to her chin. “Do you know his name?”
Although weary, Egan sat up to face her. “No, but I’ve seen the hunger in Albyn’s eyes when he looks at you, and I’m glad he and Kieran are leaving at dawn.”
Oriana had eaten little that day, but she did not believe it was lack of food that caused a wave of dizziness now. “I know Albyn admires me, but he’s not a man who would swear he loves a woman with one breath, and kill her for being another man’s wife in the next.”
“Do you want him to stay? Do you wish to become as inseparable a pair as Garrick and Ula were?”
“You needn’t shout,” Oriana scolded.
“I am not shouting. Give me an honest answer.”
Oriana con
sidered distracting him with affection, but after they had made love, his doubts might remain. “You want the truth, of course.”
“Aye, that I do,” Egan assured her, although he nearly choked on the words.
“Albyn is appealing, but after I’d met you, I could not have become interested in any other man, no matter how handsome or charming. It is fortunate that you wanted me for a wife, or I would have continued to wander the world alone, and loving you as desperately as I do, refusing all other men’s attentions. Rather than break Albyn’s heart, I would have encouraged him to seek his destiny with another. Indeed, I have already done so.”
Egan stared at her incredulously. “Just what did he say to prompt that piece of advice?”
Oriana dipped her head to consider her reply. “I don’t recall. Perhaps it was merely the pain of his loneliness that spoke to me, but I assured him he was meant for another. He didn’t believe me, but one day he will.”
Egan had been holding his breath, and now released it slowly. “I didn’t even know I was lonely until I met you.”
Relieved he was no longer angry, Oriana snuggled into his arms. “I knew only that one day, I would have a husband as fine as my mother’s.”
“You mustn’t liken me to a god; I’m merely a king.”
“You are better than a god, my darling, for you neither glow with a blinding light, nor vanish for years at a time.”
Oriana smothered Egan’s chuckles with a deep kiss, and then allowed him to catch his breath. “What did you think of the banner? Will it do?”
