Susan King - [Celtic Nights 03] Read Online Free PDF Page B

still quick. A few moments of passion had become a little thread of fire in the weaving of her heart.
    The oars dipped, and the boat pulled onward. The world shrank, in that inky darkness, to the pool of light cast by the lantern. Alpin rowed, and her brothers were silent as the water rocked them toward home.
    Once again Eva looked over her shoulder. This time she saw only blackness. Lachlann was gone.

 
     
     
    Chapter 3

     
    "Wine." Colin beckoned, seated in Iain MacArthur's customary chair beside the hearth in Innisfarna's solar. Holding a bowl of hot stew, he spooned it steadily into his mouth.
    Eva refilled a goblet and handed it to him. Waiting while Colin drank with gusto, she wondered again what brought him here. Upon his arrival, she had informed him that Iain MacArthur had left weeks earlier with Donal for Inverness, where King James had called a meeting of the Highland chiefs.
    Colin seemed to know that, and as yet had said nothing of his errand at Innisfarna. Eva had offered food and drink first out of courtesy, and waited with as much patience as she could muster.
    She studied him as he ate. He was a fair and ruddy man, large-boned and thick-bellied, blond even in his fifth decade. He dressed like a Lowlander, in a knee-length tunic, hose, and leather boots, and his cloak was cut from a Highland plaid in red and green. On his shoulder, a wide pewter circlet set with a green stone gleamed like a cat's eye.
    Green Colin, most called him, and Eva wondered if it was because of the brooch he always wore. Had she felt more comfortable in his gruff presence, she might have asked.
    For months, she had stayed insulated but embattled at Innisfarna while stubbornly resisting her father's wish that she marry Colin. Though she had managed to keep her freedom so far, she knew her father was not ready to give up—nor, she thought, was she.
    Although she had never told anyone of her hope that Lachlann MacKerron would return to pledge with her, as he had hinted might happen, she kept that bright dream close in her heart. Colin's arrival did not bode well for her secret cause, and she knew it.
    Beside her, the little terrier Colin had given her barked and pulled at the hem of her dress. Eva lifted the dog to pet her. "Hush, Grainne!"
    "Perhaps she smells a rat," Colin said. "Her breed is good at catching rodents, and they go after foxes too, right into their dens. She will be useful if you do not spoil her into a lap dog," he added, scowling.
    "She is young yet," Eva said. Grainne licked Eva's chin as she spoke, and she giggled, turning her head. "I thank you again for the gift of her. She is delightful."
    "The pup was my son's idea for you," he mumbled as he ate.
    "How kind of him," she said, smiling, and looking at him with new interest. "You have never mentioned a son before. Is he young yet?"
    "If you long to be a mother, I can oblige you with better sons than that one," he growled. Eva blinked at such coldness. He waggled his fingers. "He is too old for mothering, and he is an odd boy. I will send him out to be a page, but he lacks the wherewithal to become a knight."
    She felt immediate sympathy for a son so harshly criticized by his father. "I am sure he is a worthy young man, and I look forward to meeting him. What is his name?"
    "Ninian. His mother died bearing him, and a good thing she never saw him. He is an oaf and an idiot."
    Unsure how to respond to that, Eva cuddled the dog closer. Grainne yelped then, as the solar door opened. Eva looked up to see her brother enter.
    "Simon!" She set Grainne on the rush-covered floor, and her brother crouched to greet the pup with a friendly pat. He stood, remaining by the door while Grainne scurried away.
    Sunlight sheened his dark, braided hair, and brightened the reds in his belted plaid. With lanky grace, he leaned against the doorjamb and crossed his arms. A frown settled on his dark brow and marred the pleasant balance of his features. His blue-green eyes