Enchanted Cottage (Avador Book 3, Books We Love Fantasy Romance) (5 page)

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 shrugged. “Then clean it.” She sat at a table, reading a book.
Of witchcraft?
Goddess, he hoped not.

“Clean it?
That’s your job. And just so you know, I’ll be leaving for Sligo in a few days. Another house to work on.”

“Sligo?” she whined.
“We’ve just married, and you’re leavin’ me.”

“Too bad I can’t leave tomorrow.”
He grabbed a clay statuette from a table, an image of a woman with exaggerated breasts and wide hips. “What is this?”

“A statuette.”
She threw him a smug look.

“I
know
what it is, but who is it, what does it signify?”

“Endora,” she said, a look of defiance on her face.

“The demoness!”
He hurled the object across the room, where it hit a wall and broke into dozens of pieces.

She jumped up from her chair and pounded his chest.
“Look what you did! Who do you think you are!”

“Your husband, unfortunately.”
He stalked out of the house, slamming the door behind

him.
Why in the name of the Goddess had he married her? Oh, she was a tiger in bed, he’d give her that much. But if sex was all he wanted, he knew willing women in Sligo, or the many pleasure women who plied their wares in Moytura. He’d thought he was getting a sweet, loving wife. How wrong he was.

If only Alana had waited for him.

Chapter Six

After Alana left for Moytura, Colin drained his mug of sassafras tea and shoved his book aside.
Enough studying for now. Mindful of the care Alana had given him during his feverish illness, not to mention the tasty meals she’d prepared, he wanted to repay her for her many kindnesses. He felt much better now; no more idling about. By tomorrow, he should be well enough to return home.

He dropped his mug into a tub of soapy water, grabbed the ax by the fireplace, and headed outside.
Squinting in the bright sunlight after all his time inside, he wove his way among the surrounding trees to chop wood for the fireplace. Although summer hadn’t arrived yet, Alana would need wood for heating when winter brought freezing temperatures.

He reached a copse of
craobhs
, small but sturdy trees, their wood suitable for heating. Sunlight filtered down through the trees, a cool breeze tossing branches. Swinging the ax, he thought about Alana and wondered what had caused the blemishes on her face. And what would she look like without those splotches? She surely had the most beautiful hair he’d ever seen, those glorious auburn tresses that fell down her back. Her soft voice and gentle smile came to mind.

He swung the ax again and again, building up a goodly supply of logs.
The poultice that Alana had applied just this morning continually slipped down his arm. Glancing sideways at it, he saw that the tie was loose but could hardly tie it with one arm. He stopped to wipe the sweat from his brow, then returned to his task.

His thoughts switched to his older brother Leith.
He missed him and his father so much. Leith, he mused. Despite his love for his brother—and he did love him, no question about it—he recalled their younger years with a mixture of sorrow and envy. Leith, an expert horseman, could always outrace him. Leith, who always made better grades at the Academy, and who always attracted the women like hummingbirds to flowers. He could never quite measure up to his older brother, no matter how hard he tried. And Leith, of course, would inherit the estate upon the passing of their father, may that day be long in coming.

The sun rose higher as he worked; enough for today.
Tomorrow, he would add to the pile of logs. And after that? Way past time to return home. He missed his family.

Making several trips, he carried the logs up to the house and set them by the fireplace.
Well aware that Alana would need a far greater amount of logs to see her through the winter, he would talk to her later, see if he could enlist the help of a young man from any of the outlying villages.

He grabbed an apple from the bowl on the counter, munching on it as he headed back outside for a walk to the river.
He trod the rocky, tree-lined path down to the river, swatting at branches along the way. Along the way, he noticed that his poultice had fallen off. Retracing his steps, he looked frantically for it among the bushes but couldn’t find it. When Alana returned from Moytura, she could apply another.

He heard the river in the distance, the sound like a waterfall.
Sunlight glimmered on the river, its swift-flowing waters gushing over thick boulders and sending out misty sprays.

Close to the shore, he tossed the apple core aside.
He sat down on the cold, wet ground to remove his boots and socks, then rolled his trousers up. When he glanced again toward the river, he saw an old man perched on a tree stump. Where had he come from? His long gray hair fell past his shoulders; a thick beard wreathed his chin. He wore a brown robe that looked as though it had seen better days.

Colin waded in the cold water and greeted the man.

The man spoke in a gravelly voice. “I don’t see many people in these parts.”

Sitting on a boulder, he let the water wash over his feet.
“No? Where do you live?”

The man pointed vaguely toward the distant hills.
“Over there, at the foothills of the Orn Mountains.”

By himself?
Colin wondered.

“And you, young man?
What brings you to this lonely spot?”

He explained about his injury and how he’d found the cottage in the forest.
“Only a temporary residence, then I must return home.”

“When you get home, what will you do?”

Why all the questions? “Visit my family, then return to the Elegian army, if they’ll have me,” he muttered under his breath.

But the old man heard him.
“Why wouldn’t they have you?” His robe billowed around him, the breeze stronger now.

Colin turned away for a moment, watching a long-legged sea bird strut farther down along the shore.
It flew off with a flapping of wings, then dived down in the water to capture a fish. Sighing, Colin turned back and related the events of the recent battle, as he had told the tale to Alana.

“Ah.” The man nodded knowingly.
“So you left the field in a fit of bitterness, after telling your commanding officer he didn’t know any—“

”Don’t put words in my mouth!”
Resentment stirred inside him. His head pounded. Who did the old man think he was, scolding him as if he were a naughty schoolboy? “And what do you do?” he countered. “Sit by the river all day?

He smiled.
“Perhaps. I sit here and watch the world go by.” He folded his arms across his thin chest. “It may be difficult for you to believe, but I was young once, just like you.” He gazed off into the distance, as if looking back in time. “Oh, how I hated to be told what to do. I knew everything!” He paused and cleared his throat. “In my younger days, I served as an aide for an Avadoran general … this was long before King Tencien. One day, I was charged with escorting over one hundred refugees from Avador back to their home in Elegia. They had come to Avador to escape the fighting between Elegia and Fomoria. Now, a truce had been declared. You see, young man, that war has lasted for a long, long time. Anyway, I was to escort these people back to their country and was told to follow a certain route. But I knew better, oh, yes, I knew everything. That route would have taken the group ten miles out of our way. So I took a shortcut. All went well at first, until we were ambushed by a Fomorian cohort. Nearly everyone was killed. Only five of us escaped.” He heaved a deep sigh. “I was dishonorably discharged and banished to the Orn Mountains, where I must live for the rest of my days.”

Speechless at first, Colin found his voice.
“And if you tried to leave, to return to your former home—?”

“If caught, I would suffer a painful death.
No, I’m reconciled to my life in isolation. And as you may have guessed, I have one foot in the mortal world and one in the Otherworld. I am in Otherwhere and must remain so.” He gave Colin a long look. “Yes, I suppose I could try to escape, but now, in my old age, I’m determined to live honorably, even if by myself.”

“But you are here, talking to me now.”

He chuckled. “You may not believe this, but in all the time I’ve spent in this spot—years and years—I’ve seen only you and one other person in the last nine-day.”

What other person? Colin wondered.
Alana? He remained silent for a long time. He had heard of the
immortal people but had never before accepted their existence.

The old man waved his arm, as if ridding himself of his past.
“Now tell me more about this battle. What made you think you should have led the charge?”

“Because I was the better soldier!”
His voice rose. “Bolder, more aggressive. We might have won the battle, had my officer listened to me.” Yet even as he said the words, the old man’s story came back to taunt him. But he would walk one hundred miles naked in the freezing snow before he’d admit he might be wrong.

“Yes, you might have won the battle.
Then again, maybe not. Has it ever occurred to you to accept the judgment of others and to realize you might not always have the answers? And might not always know best?”

Colin stood to leave.
“I don’t need a lecture from you, old man.”

“But maybe you need to learn humility.”

Colin scoffed but sat back down. “Humility is for cowards.” His wound itched, but he resisted the urge to scratch it. “When I return to the army, I expect to have my previous rank restored. Surely my commanding officer has seen his mistake by now.”

“Time will tell.
I wish you nothing but good.” He stared off across the river, then turned back to Colin. “Enough about battles and demotions. Do you live alone in this cottage?”

“No, there was a woman already living there.
It … it is quite an innocent relationship,” he explained, fearful to give the wrong impression. “She has tended to my wound, done much for me.”

“Ah, yes.
I met her one day when she came down to the river, but I didn’t get her name.”

“Alana.”

“A pretty name for a woman who must have been pretty at one time.” He sighed deeply. “An evil witch put a curse on her.”

“A curse?”
Chills raced down his arms.

“Her face, young man!”

“Ah, no, that she should suffer from an evil spell.” He thought for a moment, recalling all the times Alana had taken care of him and listened to his mutterings, but not once had she complained about her tragic misfortune. “How can the curse be lifted?”
Poor lady, how she has suffered
.

The old man raised his hands.
“Who knows? Possibly she must live with the spell for the rest of her life. But I hope not. By all the gods and goddesses, I pray that the curse will be defeated.”