Enchanted Cottage (Avador Book 3, Books We Love Fantasy Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page B

witchcraft aside. Dust balls gathered in the corners, and cat hairs coated the furniture. A golden cat with green eyes sat in a corner, delicately licking its paws, a half-eaten rat at its feet. The place reeked of cat urine and incense, a stench that would have revolted anyone else, but Morag was used to it.
    Cupping the crystal ball close to her stomach, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. She imagined the crystal growing, growing, growing until it filled the room, then the whole village. In a half trance, she opened her eyes. Faint images swirled inside the ball, gradually coalescing into a figure. Brendan! She saw him hurrying along the Royal East-West Road as he pushed a cart ahead. Why, he’d arrive in Cairn before sundown. No time to lose!
    She raised her brown cotton dress over her head and threw it aside. Rummaging through a wooden chest, she pushed aside candles and incense, tucked among blankets and towels and other items she’d filched from neighborhood houses. She found a red silk dress at the bottom and jerked it out. She held the dress in front of herself, admiring the play of colors in the silk moiré fabric. The dress and gold dangling earrings she’d stolen from Maude Mulligan—after turning her into a dog—would surely tempt Brendan. She slipped the dress over her head and fastened the gold earrings, then headed for the door, eager to meet Brendan.
    Past the cottages, the well, the farrier’s and the blacksmith’s on the far edge of the village, she rushed down the road as the sun was sinking toward the horizon. She slowed her steps when she saw Brendan in the distance. He mustn’t suspect her eagerness to meet him. How handsome he is, she thought, as she closed the space between them.
    “Well, hello, Brendan,” she called. “What a surprise to see you here, walkin’ along the same road as me.”
    He stopped next to her, looking puzzled. “What brings you out this way, Morag?”
    “Oh, I came to gather herbs from the field. One of the old ladies—you know Ciarda Trwyth—has suffered from a bad cold for a long time. Thought I’d get a few cornflowers for her, make her feel better. I hate to see anyone suffer so.”
    He looked down at her and smiled. “Why, that’s so thoughtful of you.” The smile faded, his face serious. “Please tell me how Alana Cullain has been. I don’t write letters much and haven’t had a lot of spare time. But I must admit, I’ve thought of her every day since I’ve been gone.” He walked on, matching his step with hers.
    Morag affected a look of sorrowful regret. “Oh, Brendan, that I should have to be the one to tell you. I don’t know how to say it—“
    He halted and stared down at her. “What is it? What happened?”
    She heaved a deep sigh. “I just don’t know how to say it.”
    He shook her by the shoulders. His voice rose. “What happened to her? Is she sick?”
    Morag took a deep breath. “She married a man from Ros Creda.”
    “Ros Creda! That’s miles to the south. But why did she marry him? I thought we had an understanding—“
    ”Well, if you must know, he stopped by the farrier’s last nine-day to have his horse shod. A fancy horse, too, so he musta been rich. He swept her off her feet,” she said, snapping her fingers, “just like that!”
    His face crumpled. “That she would do this to me … marry another man when she surely must have known how much I cared for her.”
    “Then it’s just as well you found out now how flighty she is.” She slipped her hand into his calloused one. “I heard there will be an Earrach festival in Moytura next nine-day. A spring festival sounds like fun, dontcha think?”
     
    * * *
     
    A druid from a neighboring village handfasted them two days later, Brendan unaware that Morag had cast a love spell on him. Since he had lived in his parents’ house with five brothers and sisters, he moved in with her. It took him but one day to regret his decision.
    “This place is a pig sty!”
    She