Dawn Of Desire
Page 33
Because Egan had already suffered so terribly, Oriana hoped Myrna’s faith in Cadell was justified. “I’m relieved to hear it. Still, someone caused Adelaine’s death. Rather than an enemy, she must have had an admirer who could not abide being rebuffed. Perhaps he chanced upon her alone and merely wanted a kiss, but she fought him, and her death was a regrettable accident.”
“What an imagination you have,” Myrna murmured, and she sorted through her needles without looking up. “Adelaine would never have gone up to the battlements on her own.”
“Then perhaps her killer carried her body up there and tossed it to the rocks to cover the horror of his deed. I wish it hadn’t been so long ago. Did any of the men who admired Adelaine seem particularly stricken by her death?”
Myrna delved deep into her faded memories before supplying a name. “Innis, Albyn’s father, made no secret of his fondness for Adelaine. When she died, he sat and wept with Cadell for days. All thought him a great friend, but could guilt have prompted his tears?”
Long before Ula’s hateful accusation, Oriana had hoped to solve the mystery of Adelaine’s death, but she dared go no further if in seeking to prove Cadell’s innocence, she cast suspicion on Albyn’s father. Not when such a terrible possibility would destroy the already troubled young man.
“Please tell me Innis is long dead,” she begged.
“Aye, he was killed in a battle soon after Adelaine died. That very year it was, or maybe the next. That is how Albyn came to be raised here with Egan.”
“We will not speak of this again,” Oriana insisted with an anguished shudder. “Perhaps all we will ever know is how deep Ula’s hatred ran. She may have murdered Cadell, but we’ll not allow her wicked lies to diminish his memory.”
Eager to escape the bloody horror of the morning, Oriana reached for a length of black silk. “Now, let’s put our minds to more wholesome thoughts and work on the banner. This would be good for the eagle, and the brilliant blue for the field.”
A light tapping at the door drew Oriana from the bed, but she could scarcely believe she had a visitor. Fearing it might be Garrick come to say good-bye, she opened the door only slightly and found a tall blonde on the other side. She was positive Egan had introduced her, but she could not recall her name.
“I am Fiona, my lady, and while it has taken me a while to find you here in Adelaine’s chamber, I’ve come to offer my help with the banner.”
“Thank you, Fiona. Won’t you come in?” But as Oriana gestured toward the bed, she glimpsed Myrna’s disapproving frown. “We’ve not yet begun, but is there something we’ve forgotten, Myrna?”
“A queen is expected to keep better company,” Myrna murmured under her breath.
Oriana thought she remembered seeing Fiona with Kieran, but that was no reason to disqualify her as a friend. After all, Fiona was the first woman to approach her, and she deserved a fine welcome as a reward for her courage.
“I will choose whatever company I please,” Oriana announced proudly, and plucked the black silk from the bed.
“Egan requested a hawk in flight, but I wish to show the bird with his talons outstretched swooping down for the kill. I can see it so clearly in my mind, but I’m not certain I can cut it from cloth. Do you think you could help me?”
“It would be my pleasure,” Fiona insisted. “I’m very good with fabrics and a needle.”
“Thank goodness, for I am not,” Oriana confessed, and she ignored Myrna’s sour expression to make room for Fiona to join them on the bed.
“Others should have come,” Fiona apologized. “But they are all afraid of you.”
Oriana nearly gaped in surprise. “I thought they merely disapproved of my lack of family. Why are they afraid? I’ve done nothing to harm anyone here.”
“Perhaps not, but any woman who could captivate Egan so completely quite naturally commands awe. If you can cast love spells, I do wish you would make one for me.”
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?”
“Aye, it is both beautiful and terrifying, exactly what a warrior king requires.”
“You are all that I will ever need,” Oriana whispered, and, inspired, she began to sing Lugh’s lilting melody to welcome another night of unforgettable loving.
PRAISE FOR NEW YORK TIMES
BESTSELLING AUTHOR PHOEBE CONN!
MANGO SUMMER
“…The setting is so beautiful and the characters so likable that it’s easy to lose yourself in this sensual fantasy.”
—RT BOOKreviews
MIDNIGHT BLUE
“Midnight Blue is a wonderfully endearing novel. Ms. Conn masterfully commandeers your attention and abducts your imagination to the high seas…A fast-paced and pleasing read. I recommend it to anyone looking for a real love story—it will make a lasting impression in your heart.”
—Romance Reviews Today
“Midnight Blue entertains with stimulating dialogue between the hero and the heroine. I smiled all the way through the story, wondering which of the two would get the last word in. You might be surprised to know which one does.”
—Fresh Fiction
WILD DESIRE
“A great Western romance…[that] will capture your heart. For a Western with action, romance, and a little sensuality mixed in, this is a book fans and all readers will have to try.”
—Romance Reviews Today
“Phoebe Conn has done it again with her novel, Wild Desire. This historical romance is a pure delight to read from cover to cover.”
—Roundtable Reviews
“Ms. Conn packs quite a wallop with [Wild Desire].”
—Midwest Book Review
Also by Phoebe Conn
Other books by Phoebe Conn:
MANGO SUMMER
MIDNIGHT BLUE
WILD DESIRE
LOVESCAPE (Anthology)
Writing as Cinnamon Burke:
RAPTURE’S MIST
LADY ROGUE
RING OF FIRE
Copyright
LOVE SPELL®
May 2008
Published by
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Copyright © 2008 by Phoebe Conn
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