Her chest tightened as a feeling of dread enveloped her. “Wh-what?”
“We’ve decided it’s for the best of the clan,” he added heavily.
“What’s best for the clan?”
“As you have the ability to return to a safer time, I give you the order to return to your home, and you are to leave posthaste. A full guard stands ready to accompany you back to the east.”
Her heart pounded in her chest. “No. No no no, Nioclas, I don’t want to—”
“This is an order from your laird!” Nioclas barked. He immediately softened his tone. “He will never stop hunting you, Bri. He’ll hunt our children. It’s not safe here. You must go back.” He bowed his head, determination evident in his countenance. His hand rested lightly on his sword, the sapphire shining dully in the thick mist. He looked older…older than even two hours before when he’d left her in the kitchens with Keela and his strict instructions. She could feel the tension radiating from him.
“We’ve done what was needed to ensure the clan lives on, but you must return with your cousins.” He was stoic. Serious. “Clan first, Lady MacWilliam.”
“No,” she replied firmly. “I won’t go. You can’t make me. I love you!”
His expression shuttered, and Nioclas shook his head. “You deserve to be loved in return, Brianagh. You can find that in another time…and perhaps with another man.”
The breath left her body in a whoosh, and she stared at him in shock, her heart shattering. “You don’t mean that,” she whispered.
He nodded once.
And suddenly, Brianagh saw her dream:
…his head was bowed, his determination evident from his countenance. His hand rested lightly on his enormous sword, which held but a single sapphire in its hilt. He’d shown it proudly to Brianagh the day his clan leaders had presented it to him. He looked older than he’d ever appeared to her before, and she could feel the tension radiating from him. He was stoic. Serious.
The last time she had dreamed of him, he had loved her sweetly. He was relaxed, happy, as in love with her as she him. She watched as he nodded once, and it was done.
He grasped her hand and placed…
He slid the brooch into her hand, and she saw the flash of a sword, swinging in an arc from behind him.
“No!” Brianagh screamed, grabbing his tunic and pulling him as hard as she could toward her. “No, no! Behind—”
He landed on the ground, gaping up at her. “What the—”
“My men didn’t beat you enough,” Burke snarled, standing just outside the alcove where Nioclas had been standing.
Nioclas’s guardsmen came running into the garden, and Burke grabbed Brianagh. She struggled until he put his sword against her belly and she froze.
“Clever little wall you have here,” Burke said conversationally. “Keeps the wind and rain out nicely.”
“What do you want?” Nioclas growled.
“You had it right,” Burke replied. “I want your wife. And her control of time.”
The guardsmen looked to Nioclas in concern. He ignored them and focused on the sword at Brianagh’s belly. One false move and Burke would kill her.
“I’ve nothing to lose by killing her,” Burke said as if he’d read Nioclas’s thoughts. “I’ll be dead before moving an inch, with all your guardsmen here. But I think you want the lady to live, so you’re going to call off your guard.”
“Guards, leave us,” Nioclas said without hesitation. When they balked, he shot them a glare. “I command you to leave us!”
They backed up until Nioclas, Burke, and Brianagh stood alone.
“Let her go free, and you can have me,” Nioclas said in a low voice. “You can kill me and take the clan for your own.”
“Just so your woman can travel back and kill me before I have a chance to kill you? I don’t think so,” Burke replied with a sneer.
“It doesn’t work that way,” Brianagh ventured. “I can’t time-travel.”
“Shut up,” Burke growled, wrapping his fist in her hair and pulling her head back. “I know you can. I’ve seen you do it.”
“No,” she choked. “You’ve seen Reilly do it. And Colin…but not me.”
Burke’s eyes narrowed.
“Enough,” Nioclas said in warning to Brianagh. Nioclas tossed his sword to the ground, then removed his daggers. When finished, he stood with his arms outstretched, completely unprotected. “She can’t help you, Burke, so take what I offer. My life, for hers.”
Burke didn’t loosen his hold on Brianagh, but he inched them closer to Nioclas. “Lay on the ground.”
“Not until you release my wife,” Nioclas replied calmly.
“Nick, please, don’t do it,” Bri cried. “Please—”
“Release her, and you may kill me. Claim the babe as your own, have your clan back. All of it is yours, Burke…but only if she lives.”
Burke tightened his grip in Bri’s hair, then rubbed his jaw along her neck. He smiled. “I love the unwilling ones,” he said. She shuddered, digging her fists into her skirts.
Nioclas took a menacing step forward, and Burke twisted Bri’s head away from his and tightened his grip on his sword.
“I think the revenge is best if I just kill her, then you,” Burke said with a smirk.
Nioclas shook his head in disgust. “Coward.”
Burke’s eyes narrowed to slits, and he threw Brianagh to the ground. He rushed at Nioclas, his sword pointed at Nioclas’s chest.
Burke’s face suddenly contorted, and he halted, then staggered. He dropped to his knees, his eyes wide, as Brianagh stood behind him, her face colorless and her arm extended.
A knife protruded from Burke’s back, buried to the hilt.
Nioclas wasted no time. He grabbed his sword and leapt to his writhing sire.
“She’s the devil!” Burke choked. “Witch!”
“You will not speak of my wife as such,” Nioclas snarled. “Go to hell, Burke,” he said and drove his sword into Burke’s belly.
Wrenching the sword free, he left his sire to die alone—and to ensure his wife lived.
• • •
“I’ll be fine, Nioclas,” Brianagh said, placing the cold cloth on her eyes. She took a deep breath.
“I can’t believe you hid a knife against your leg,” Colin said with admiration. “Brilliant, Bri. Just brilliant.”
Nioclas looked at Colin. “And you’re certain she’ll be all right?”
“Absolutely. She’s in shock, but eventually she’ll be back to her old self,” Colin said confidently.
“Why did you risk your life like that, Brianagh?” Nioclas asked, his face still twisted with worry.
“Because, I was tired of being the victim.” She pulled the cloth off and sat up, still a little shaky. “I decided that death by Burke was not how my life was going to end, so I made an executive decision.”
“You and the damn executive decisions.” Colin sighed.
“You were almost skewered on the end of that sword!” Nioclas exclaimed. He broke out in a sweat again just thinking about it.
“But I wasn’t,” she replied calmly. “I have a barely nicked finger. That’s all.”
“We need to address the issue of your guardsmen,” Colin said seriously. “They heard what Burke said, and they saw his face after you killed him. And they saw Brianagh’s eyes too.”
Bri bit her lip. “You’re sure they won’t want to burn me at the stake?”
He grimaced as what Colin said struck home. He knew his guardsmen heard everything Burke said about Brianagh’s time-traveling. They crossed themselves and murmured to each other, but they did not hesitate to follow his orders to dispose of Burke’s body and locate her cousins.
His cousins.
His grandchildren?
Nioclas rubbed his forehead. This was all too complicated after the day he’d just lived.
Brianagh was nodding at him from her bed. “My family can be overwhelming,” she said knowingly.
He put his head in his hands and laughed.
Donovan knocked on the open door, then entered and raised his eyebrows at Nioclas. “Has he gone daft?”
“We think so,” Reilly affirmed. “He does seem a bit overcome.”
“Distressed,” Colin agreed.
“The MacWilliam does not get distressed,” Nioclas announced through his hands.
“Uh oh,” Bri murmured. “He’s begun to refer to himself in the third person. That’s never a good sign.” She watched her husband through blurry vision, then brightened when she looked at Donovan. “Hey! When I squint a little and turn my head just so, you look like a Viking!”
He gaped at her for a moment. “The herbs you doused Burke with…did they addle your mind as well, my lady?”
“Herbs?” Reilly asked.
“Aye. The guardsmen said Burke spoke such nonsense, that he must’ve eaten some sort of herb to produce such alarming thoughts.” He gave her a conspiratorial wink.
“Well, I think that solves the question of what to tell them,” Nioclas said with a smile.
“They’re powerfully fond of you,” Donovan said to Brianagh. “They’re all hovering like small lasses, waiting for word. May I tell them you are well-recovered?”
“Please,” she replied happily. “That’s just so nice of them.”
“You’ve turned my guard into a bunch of simpering fools, and you think that’s nice?” Nioclas snorted, but inwardly, he was more than pleased. It was a good day after all.
• • •
A few days later, Colin and Reilly stood in the bailey, shaking hands with Nioclas and Donovan. Brianagh stood by their horses, gently stroking their noses and holding back her tears.
She hated goodbyes.
“Hey,” Colin said, joining her. “You promise he’s what you want?”
She tried to smile, but she was pretty sure it looked as though she’d just received a shot of Novocain. “I’m sure,” she said, her voice strong. “I’m going to miss you, Col.”
“I’ll miss you, too.” His eyes were suspiciously wet. He sniffled as manfully as possible. “I love you, cuz. Don’t worry—I’ll keep the business afloat. You need to work on this branch of it, though. With just one successful match in two and a half months, you’re falling behind schedule.”
She slid something into his hand, and he glanced down at it, surprised.
“It’s got everything you’ll need on it. I took the password off,” she offered, as Colin shielded the phone from anyone’s view.
They both looked down at it, and he swiped the screen. It lit up, then blinked twice.
“The battery’s about to die,” Bri said, swallowing hard. She looked into Colin’s brown eyes, nearly undone at the understanding in them. They both looked back down and watched silently as the screen dimmed to black.
“I’ll make it even better than you can imagine,” Colin promised. “We’ll be the best in the business. Smashing success.”
Brianagh placed her hand on his arm. “I hope so, Colin. If for no other reason than I want you as happy as I am—”
Colin coughed. “We’ll see what the Fates have in store for me. Don’t hold your breath.”
“I always hold my breath,” she murmured. “It’s the only way to have that happily-ever-after sigh.”
They both looked at Keela and Kane, who were clasping hands and watching the goodbyes together. They’d been married the day before, and Brianagh gave them a smile.
“The weddings are always the best part of a match,” she murmured.
“Keep it up,” Colin said, giving her a bear hug. She buried her face in his tunic and breathed him in. His laugh rumbled in his chest. “And just so you know, I’m moving from your couch to your bed.”
“Remember to change the sheets,” she said. “No, seriously. Dirty sheets are disgusting.”
“How dirty can they get?” he asked with a cheeky smile.
She made a face. “I’m absolutely certain I do not want to know the answer to that question.” She kissed him on his cheek, then smiled wistfully. “Stay safe, Col. Don’t time-travel unless you have to.”
“I don’t plan on it, but then again, it’s not really up to me, is it?”
She smiled sadly. “No, I don’t suppose it is.”
Reilly walked over to her and held his arms open. Colin released her, and she fell into Reilly, tears pricking her eyes.
“He’ll take good care of you,” he whispered.
“And I’ll take good care of him,” she whispered back. “Ry…thank you.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I knew you’d see it my way. Eventually.”
“You’re an ass.” Brianagh smacked his shoulder. “Be safe. And if you can swing a visit now and again, you’ll always be welcome here. You won’t even have to be the taster.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to keep my chamber ready, just in case,” he said with a wink. “Who knows what fate has in store for me next?”
Nioclas approached them and handed Reilly a piece of parchment. “If you come across Aidan and Cian, please give them this.”
Reilly nodded and tucked it into the leather pouch at his hip. “Trust me yet, MacWilliam?”
“Not even a little,” Nioclas replied. “But my friends call me Nick.”
Reilly inclined his head, then gave Bri one last squeeze. “Take care of yourself, and your family.”
“Always,” she said, unable to see his face through her tears. “Clan first.”
Nioclas wrapped his arms around her as Reilly and Colin mounted their horses and rode across the bailey, then over the drawbridge, disappearing into the forest.
“No regrets,” he murmured.
“No regrets,” she echoed.
“I do wonder,” he said as they walked up the castle steps, “if my clan believes I love you.”
Her breath hitched, and she looked up at him in surprise. “Um…”
“Clan MacWilliam!” he boomed across the bailey. Heads turned, children stopped playing, and the general daily chaos died down. He grasped Bri’s hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed the inside of her wrist. Her lips parted in surprise—and something deeper.
Nioclas grinned wickedly at her, then turned back to their clan. “I am grateful for the peace we’ve earned this day. I’m grateful for your loyalty, which is the strongest in our beautiful Ireland. But most importantly, I’m grateful that Lady Brianagh chose me for her husband.” He smiled at her. “She found me through the mist, and my soul has found its mate. May you all be as lucky in love as I.”
He kissed her, and she melted into him. He pulled back and gave her another wink.
“Take me to bed already,” she said with a grin.
He swept her up to the cheers of their clansmen. “I live to serve,” he replied, his own grin mirroring hers, and carried her over the threshold.
Epilogue
Ireland, 1465
Brianagh MacWilliam whole-heartedly believed in happily-ever-afters. Hers was currently standing at the water’s edge, holding the hand of their two-year-old toddler.
The sounds of children’s laughter joined with the call of seagulls. Brianagh hugged her knees and watched as Claire and Nioclas cautiously approach the water’s edge. The day had been unseasonably warm for May in Ireland.
The water came crashing back to shore, and a moment later, the toddler stood in the sand, soaking wet, and let out a wail.
“Poor Claire,” Nioclas said with a laugh as he brought the crying toddler to Brianagh. She held out a piece of linen and Claire snuggled in. Nioclas dropped onto the blanket next to them.
“Sire, please have speech with Rian,” Austin, their five-year-old son, whined as he trudged over. “He told me the water beasties will get me in my sleep, but I say I’ll slay them before they even cross the drawbridge!”
“Our peace and quiet lasted longer than I thought it would,” Brianagh said as Austin elbowed her out of the way to get closer to his father. Brianagh waved their eldest
son over to deal with the latest round of teasing.
As he often did, Nioclas watched his son amble to his mother, a look of complete innocence etched on his face. He felt the familiar pang in his chest. He and his own brother had often used that same look as they attempted to deny whatever Erin claimed they’d done to her.
“Go on and slay the water beasties together,” she said, ushering them from the blanket. “We’ve only a few more minutes until we must leave. A storm is coming.” She pointed to the gathering clouds over the sea, and the boys ran off, friends again.
Nioclas watched them wistfully.
“I miss him too.”
Nioclas glanced down at his wife. Brianagh knew his thoughts better than he himself. Aidan had never returned from the mission Nioclas sent him on eight-and-a-half years prior. It still grated daily, but the pain of his brother’s loss lessened with each passing year.
“Aye,” Nioclas said, tousling Claire’s hair. She smiled beatifically at him, then popped her thumb in her mouth and closed her eyes.
“Perhaps a visit to Aunt Erin and Uncle Donovan’s is in order,” Bri suggested. “We haven’t met their newest child yet, and I know the boys love to play with Gwendolyn.”
“Mmm, aye. But does Gwen like to play with the lads?”
“If you and Aidan did even half of what ours do to that poor child, then you truly were the Devil’s spawn.” She laughed.
“They haven’t hit their prime yet,” Nioclas replied, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “Just wait until Austin is a bit older and can climb trees as well as Rian. Then they’ll discover the beauty in a well-placed bucket of worms.”
Brianagh shrugged. “Remember who Gwen’s mother is, my love.”
“There is that,” Nioclas agreed.
“Let’s visit sooner rather than later,” Bri said softly. She smiled her secret smile. “I don’t think I want to be riding in about three more months.”
Nioclas threw back his head and laughed. “Another bairn?” he exclaimed. He gave her a smacking kiss on the lips, then smiled softly, his eyes full of love. “If this one’s a lad…”
“I think we should name him Aidan,” Brianagh agreed. Lightning struck in the distance over the water, and Brianagh placed her forehead against his.
The Winter Laird Page 25