Susan King - [Celtic Nights 03] (42 page)

He turned the blade in a downward arc until the tip pointed to the earth. The blade caught the light again, flashing like a jewel. His hands trembled, and he felt as if the light entered him somehow, filled him. He closed his eyes, and saw the brightness still.

Then he handed the sword to Eva, who took it in her hands and held it as he had, reverently, still as a statue, charging self and sword with the power of the light. The sun soared higher, a red-gold disk above the mountains.

"Now," Lachlann said, "it is finished."

When she offered it to him, he shook his head and took her hand to walk down the hillside, while she carried the sword.

* * *

Veiled in mist, the morning felt gentle, peaceful, not like a day for warring—though it might come to that later, Eva thought. She stood on the shore of the loch, wearing a belted plaid and shirt, trews and boots, her hair neatly braided. Still and quiet as the fog itself, she waited for Alpin. She could hear the
plash
of the oars in the water as he came toward her.

She rested her hand upon the sword sheathed at her side, feeling its power and its magic like a thrill. Sadness filled her too, a loneliness in her quest, the only sort of courage that she could find in herself, finally, when she knew the time had come. She had slipped out of the bed they shared in the house without waking him, readying herself quiet as a breath, closing the door without a sound. She had her own secret to keep.

Soon the prow of the boat appeared through the mist, and then she saw Alpin, head still bandaged, white hair wild about his head, shoulders bowed.

Somehow she had not realized how old he had become, she suddenly thought, how he had aged in the past few years, with care and strife, and with the burden of his love for the island.

She was going to win Innisfarna today, for him as much as for anyone else. For them all.

Alpin stilled the boat and she stepped inside, wordless. Equally silent, nodding to her, he took up the oars and pulled, and the boat skimmed over the loch toward the island, over the place where the Sword of Light was said to lie scabbarded in the water. Eva stood, her foot upon a cross bench, her hand upon the sword hilt, her face lifted to the wind.

* * *

Lachlann slid his sword into the scabbard with a whistling sound, muttering a curse under his breath as he strode toward the lochside. He turned to see Angus hurrying along behind him, followed by Margaret's five brothers with Iain Og and the rest of the MacArthur rebels-—a handful of men, but all they could manage on short notice.

"Did you see her?" he asked as Angus caught up to him.

"Nowhere," Angus answered. "She has gone over the water and no doubt about it, just as you thought."

"She went over to save Simon, and her island," Fergus said, his lanky legs bringing him into stride with Lachlann.

"I am sure of it. You said the sword you made was gone, along with her plaid and boots."

"She knew we were gathering men and arms," Lachlann said. "She knew we were making plans to take the island and win back Simon as quickly and safely as we could. Why the devil did she not wait? This is hardly something she should attempt on her own. She could be killed over there."

"Smith," Iain Og said, huffing along behind him. "You know the girl. You could not truly believe she would wait for us!"

"I did not think she would go over so soon, without a word to me or anyone. I thought she knew we needed time to gather our forces and make our plans, and that she would be leading us."

"If Alpin came for her, she would go," Iain Og said. "The old man has been wanting her to do this for years. He has trained his warrior princess. No one believes in that legend more than Alpin MacDewar. He is part of Aeife's line, too."

Lachlann ran over the sand, the others keeping up with him. "Footprints," he said, as he neared the water's edge. "Hers, I am sure—smaller boots than any of ours. She waited here, where Alpin would have come for her. Damn," he swore. "Where is another boat?" He turned, paced down the beach, came back.

"There," Fergus said, pointing toward the water.

"What?" Lachlann looked and saw a boat emerging out of the mist on the loch. One small ferryman was at the oars. "For love of God... Ninian!" He splashed into the water, ankle-deep, Angus with him, and stretched out to draw the boat inward. "Ninian!" He lifted the boy out, setting his feet on the sand.

Ninian spoke to him, breathing hard and pointing madly, saying Eva's name again and again. Unsure what the boy said, Lachlann dropped to one knee to look at him on the same level. "Tell me," he said. "What happened? Where is Eva?"

"And how did you get all the way across in Alpin's boat by yourself?" Iain Og asked. "Quite a lad!" He beamed.

"Can he speak?" Andra asked. "I have never heard him talk, though we have seen him about with you and Eva."

"He does well, given the chance," Lachlann said, and kept his hand on Ninian's arm as the child spoke again.

"What is he saying?" Iain asked doubtfully.

Ninian pointed over the water, his words distorted, until Lachlann got the rhythm and the sense of it. "Eva," Ninian was saying. "At the castle, with her sword! She came with Alpin. I took the boat. Come, you must come!" He hauled on Lachlann's arm.

Within moments, Lachlann and a few of the others stepped into the boat, and Iain Og took up the oars. As they skimmed over deep water, Lachlann watched until the castle and the island appeared through the mists. What he saw on the rugged swath of ground that spread between the narrow beach and the massive stone castle made his heart hammer with dread.

A figure stood there alone, slight and straight. In her hand was the glint of bright steel.

"Hurry," he told Iain, and the man pulled with all of his strength.

Chapter 30

She stood before the castle, her lifted sword gleaming like a white torch. "Green Colin!" she called. "Come out to me!"

Alpin stood nearby, motionless and watchful, his hand on the hilt of his own weapon. Eva's heart beat like a drum. She did not feel like Aeife the Radiant One—but she felt angered, and purposeful. Perhaps that was enough.

Ahead, the castle gate had opened, and Colin stepped out of the shadows to stand in the angled gap, wearing a steel cuirass over his quilted tunic and hose. "Eva," he said. "What is this about? Why are you dressed like that?"

She walked forward and raised the blade tip, which caught a pale light. She saw the surprise register in Colin's face as he looked at it.

"That is a beautiful sword," he said. "Incredible craftsmanship. Where did you get such a weapon?"

"Faery make," she said again. Rotating the round pommel in the palm of her hand, turning her wrist, she brought the point upward again. Colin raised a brow.

"You seem to know what to do with it," he said.

"Of course I do," she said. "I am the descendant of Aeife the Radiant One, the first keeper of this island. You have no claim here, and you must leave this place."

He did not shift his gaze from the mirror-bright blade. "Is that Aeife's own sword? Where did you get it?"

"It is of faery make," she said again. "Its metal came from a fallen star. You can see it is no common weapon." She drew arcs in the air, and the blade seemed to trail a banner of light.

"Give it to me," Colin said. "I paid for that sword."

Eva stilled the weapon. "You have my brother. Release him, and we will talk about bargains."

"He is a horse thief and a rebel."

"Simon did not steal your horses." That, at least, was true; her cousins had taken them. "And he has a king's pardon now. You cannot detain him."

"Our marriage was the condition of the pardon. If you will not honor that, I will not honor the other."

She watched him evenly. His gaze went again to the sword, and she swayed it back and forth slowly. "You want the faery blade, do you not?"

"We can barter, you and I," he said. "You want Simon, and I want the sword, and the right to this island undisputed. I suppose there is no point in saying I want you for my own." He narrowed his eyes. "You gave yourself to the blacksmith and betrayed our vows, and so your isle is now forfeited to me."

"You cannot lay claim to Innisfarna. Leave here."

"I see we will not easily come to an agreement." He stepped back into the shadow of the door and began to close it.

"Green Colin," Alpin said. "She is right. You must give this place back into her keeping."

Colin glanced at him. "Why should I listen to a ferryman?"

"Do you think that holding this island will put all of Scotland in your grasp? It is not so. Only Aeife herself has guardianship of this isle, and the privilege of protecting Scotland. For anyone else, this place invites only disaster."

Colin gave a short laugh. "That is ridiculous."

"Unless she and her kind hold it, there will be ruin for Scotland. A bargain was made long ago between the dark faeries and humankind that the isle would be held in peace by Aeife's own, and the Sword of Light protected. But since you breached that agreement, what has happened? Think of the Highland chiefs, and all the rest. The ruin has begun." Alpin nodded sagely.

"You cannot blame that on me, old man!"

"The faeries are not pleased, Green Colin. Do not risk making an enemy of their kind."

"You are a madman," Colin said. "Eva, shall we bargain?"

"Bring my brother out here," she answered.

"Come inside and see him."

"I am not a fool, Colin."

"Foolish enough to face me alone, with only a lunatic old man for your servant!"

She waved the sword a little. "But I have this."

He watched her for a moment. "Simon will come to the gate, but no farther. Then we bargain." He spoke an order to someone behind him, and moments later Simon appeared in the shadowed vault beyond the door. His hands were tied behind him, and his face was bruised. A few men stood with him; Eva did not recognize any of them.

"Simon!" Eva stepped forward. The sight of him, so battered and weakened, tore at her heart. She glanced past him, expecting to see the familiar faces of the king's men she had seen so often, but these were unfamiliar Highlanders.

"Where is Robson?" she asked. "Where are the king's men?"

"Gone," Colin said. "Innisfarna is mine by deed now. I sent the garrison back to Perth yesterday."

She remembered hearing men at the stable the night before, bringing out horses; she and Lachlann had not gone out, assuming that they were forming another patrol. "Surely they will be back when the king gets word of this."

"That may be. But for now we can solve our troubles in private, you and I." He smiled. "Give me the sword, and your brother is free. You can both leave the island alive."

Eva frowned, glancing first at Simon and then at Alpin, while she kept the sword point ready. Beyond, out on the misty loch, she saw a boat skimming over the water, with several men inside. Within minutes, she knew Lachlann would set foot on the shore.

But she did not have time to wait. Colin stepped back into the shadows of the door, prepared to close it.

"The sword is yours," she said, "if you can win it from me."

He laughed. "Eva, I always admired your spirit. Now you want to fight with swords like your rebel kinsmen. I am not surprised. There was a girl in France like you, brave and foolhardy. She rode and fought and dressed like a man, and tried to accomplish what only men can achieve."

"She achieved much," Eva said. She twirled the sword again, and it sparkled. "Win it from me, if you can."

"That would be too easy, and unchivalrous." Colin shook his head, smiling. "And how am I to know that is a true faery sword, and not just a good weapon?"

"You must take that chance."

"Hand it to me and let me look at it."

"Win it," she said. "This sword needs combat, not surrender. Even I can feel the power in it, and I am just a woman. Think what it would feel like in your hand." She saw his eyes glitter.

Colin stepped out of the doorway, gripping a sword as he walked toward her. She backed along the grassy incline toward a wide, flat area. The Highlanders came to the doorway with Simon to stand and watch. Colin's men looked tough, amused, and disinclined to interfere.