Born of Fire by Kella McKinnon

Author:Kella McKinnon [McKinnon, Kella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-01-20T18:00:00+00:00

Bridei walked back to the broch, his arms full of soft, unconscious woman. He hadn’t been able to do it. He hadn’t even wanted to. Did that make him weak? Maybe. But nearly all of his people had cheered when he’d called mercy. For some reason unknown to him, they hadn’t wanted her to die, either. Perhaps the gods really did have a hand in it. What purpose could they have for this lass, that they would not let him take her life?

He was almost to the broch when she jerked awake with a sudden scream. He tightened his arms around her to keep her from falling.

“Shhh…you’re all right. I have you.”

“Am I dead?” she whispered, still not fully aware of her surroundings.

“No. You are very much alive.”

He held her just a little bit closer and his body hummed where it touched hers. How had he ever thought he could have seen her dead at his hands? It would have devastated him to do it. He would have never been the same, if he had had to carry the memory of her blood on his hands. Still, he had been prepared to do his duty, even as the deepest part of his soul cried out against it.

“I just wanted to find Angus”, she mumbled softly, her eyes closing again, then squeezing tight. “He’s all I have…”

Sten was behind him, following closely at his heels all the way up the stairs of the tower. “You should have killed her, Bridei. Nothing good can come of letting her live”, he said, but Bridei ignored him.

When he reached his chamber, he laid Nessa carefully down on his bed, and Sten was still there, annoying fly that he was. This wasn’t the first time Sten had challenged him, and it likely wouldn’t be the last.

“I beg you to reconsider, my King. She stole your horse!”

“Borrowed.”

Sten threw up his hands in a gesture of irate disbelief. “Borrowed? No one borrows the King’s horse!”

Bridei sighed and threaded his fingers through his hair. He had enough to consider without this bothersome man plucking at his conscious. A conscious that was already eating at him from all directions. By rights, Nessa should have died this night, and he knew it. But in his heart of hearts, he also knew she was meant to live.

“Leave, Sten. I will not defy the wishes of the gods. To do so would be foolish. Do you want their wrath to come down on us?”

“But…”

“Leave!”

As the door slammed loudly in Sten’s angry wake, Nessa sat up suddenly, drawing in a sharp breath and finally fully conscious. “What happened?”

“You fainted, Ashta.”

“No, I couldn’t have. I never faint.”

“You were about to die. A good enough reason to faint. Don’t worry, I don’t find you weaker for it.” No, she had stood there like a warrior, head held high and ready to die among strangers with all the honor she could muster, even though he could feel the frantic pounding of her heart beneath his hand. Brave lass.

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