The Warrior's Salvation (Warriors of Eriu Book 1)
Page 28
She shook her head. “We were so very scared for her. Eoin was out of his mind with worry. We all were. But when we found her, she was hale and happy. You cared for her, protected her, and when it mattered most, you killed your own father to save Eoin. Not only that, but you won the war for my husband. You saved all of Ériu. We all owe you our fealty. To our family, you are our hero. You are so welcome here and will be honored at a feast tomorrow night.”
“Nay, Queen Leannan. I am not worthy of such praise.”
“My husband feels otherwise and you will soon learn that what Tuathal wants, Tuathal gets.” She giggled and rubbed her flat belly. “I learned that the very day I met him. I birthed our first child ten moons later. Do not tell him, but another wee babe is on the way. What Tuathal wants…”
“Tuathal gets,” Jeoffrey laughed and congratulated her on her new child. She walked away, giving them privacy to explore their new home. Opening the door, Jeoffrey’s heart beat wildly at all the new furnishings. A large central hearth lay in the middle of the circular room with an iron cauldron suspended above by a chain. Colorful wool stuffed cushions surrounded the hearth, making it an inviting place to sit. The furthest wall had a row of small beds for children or guests and each bed had a red linen curtain to pull across for privacy. One large wooden bed was on the other side with bright yellow curtains. That bed must have been meant for them and he approved of its placement away from the others. He could make love to his beautiful wife all night, every night, and still have lots of privacy.
A large stone slab was on the other side of hearth, clearly meant to be a place to prepare food. Clay bowls and cups were stacked neatly to the side and wicker baskets for food storage stood close by. There was a ladder near the row of beds that led up to a loft area for storage. Already he could see this home filled with more babes, laughter, and love.
“I never knew I could be so happy, Clarice. I could live in the forest with nothing but the trees for shelter and berries to eat, and still be happy, because I have you.”
“Och, I believe that to be true, husband. But I do believe the farmhouse pleases you a bit more?”
He grunted and pulled her closer. “Aye, that it does.” He gave her a sweet lingering kiss and rested his hand on her backside, squeezing the firm flesh in his palm. She groaned and, as always, responded immediately to his touch.
“Wee Jeoff will most assuredly be occupied with the chickens in the byre for a long while. Mayhap we have time to break in our new bed?”
Clarice began to slowly walk backwards, dragging him by the front of his tunic toward their new bed. “I do believe we can manage that, husband.” She turned and shoved him onto the bed.
“Thank all the gods for those strange creatures called chickens,” he groaned as Clarice climbed onto him and pulled the curtains shut, enclosing them in the darkness.
“Och, thank all the gods for curtains,” she responded with a laugh before descending her mouth onto his.
Author’s Note
I really hope you enjoyed The Warrior’s Salvation! If you have read my first series, The Sisters of Danu, then you met Jeoffrey in book three: Forgotten Fate. He started off as a villain but for the life of me, I just could not keep him so. He called to me, in a way. It is strange when I create a character to serve one purpose and then he goes on to serve a much greater cause. I knew after finishing Forgotten Fate that I needed to write a spin-off series for many of those characters, and Jeoffrey was first on my list!
This book, unlike most, started off in Alba, which is modern-day Scotland. This is where Jeoffrey and Alastar fled after Forgotten Fate once they were no longer welcome in Ériu, or modern-day Ireland. Alba was also the home of Tuathal Techtmar, High King of Ériu, who I had so much fun writing more about in this story. You will see him throughout the Warriors of Ériu Series.
Whether Tuathal truly existed, we may never know, but he certainly exists in the stories and folklore of the first century Irish. Without a written language of their own and the Romans ignoring them for centuries, Irish history was passed down orally. This means that by the time their culture, history, stories, etc were finally put to paper, they had been passed down in story-form for hundreds of years. This makes this time period very interesting to study and write about because so much of it is uncertain. It does, however, give me wiggle room to fill in gaps as best as I can, based on similar cultures in their area.
Once Tuathal Techtmar defeated Elim Mac Conrach, Jeoffrey’s father, he did become High King of Ériu. But no High King ever goes unchallenged. In the scene where Jeoffrey and Eoin are reunited, you hear mention of the name Mal Mac Rochride. According to records, he quickly becomes on of Tuathal’s greatest threats. Was he truly a friend and warrior for Elim? I have no idea! But I decided to make it so, for the purposes of my story. So, remember his name because Mal will become part of the next books in this series to come.
I had so much fun writing this story, and reuniting Jeoffrey with the Sisters of Danu was such a blast! Watch out for the sparks flying between Alastar and Aislin! They will continue to fly in the next book of this series, The Warrior’s Wager, releasing Winter of 2017!
Thank you for choosing my books! I know you have so many choices and I am glad you chose mine. Reviews are always welcome! Feel free to follow me on social media and I always love hearing from my readers!
Cheers,
Mia
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Acknowledgements
As always, I have to thank my husband who is always so supportive and patient with me. Sometimes entire days pass while the kids are in school where not much besides writing or editing get done and he never says a word! Thanks to my editors Liz and Bethannee who always take time out of their own lives to help me with my writing! I love you ladies! And of course, to my reader! Your encouragement and support are the reasons I keep on truckin’!
About the Author
Mia is a full-time wife and mother of two rowdy boys, residing in the SF Bay Area. As a child, she often wrote stories about fantastic places or magical things, always preferring to live in a world where the line between reality and fantasy didn’t exist.
In High school, she entered writing contests and had some stories published in small newspapers or school magazines. As life continued, so did her love of writing. So one day, she decided to end her cake decorating business, pull out her laptop and fulfill her dream of writing and publishing novels. And she did.
When Mia isn’t writing books or chasing her sweaty children around a park, she loves to drink coffee by the gallon, get lost in a good book, hike with her family and drink really big margaritas with her friends! Her happy place is the Renaissance Faire, where you can find her at the joust, rooting for the shirtless highlander in a kilt.
Check out more books from Mia!
The Sisters of Danu Series:
Forsworn Fate - prequal novella
Forbidden Fate - book one
Foretold Fate – book two
Forgotten Fate – book three
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Author’s Note
Acknowledgements
About the Author
More from Mia
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