Consuming Fire by Kathleen Morgan

Author:Kathleen Morgan [Morgan, Kathleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Like the shepherds searching for the newly born baby Jesus, some unexpected visitors arrived late on Christmas Eve. Janet soon found Adam in the library, where he was ensconced by the fire reading St. Luke’s account of the Nativity story. He glanced over his shoulder when the maidservant knocked then thrust her head around the door.

“Aye, lass?” he asked wearily. Despite it being Christmastide, the work and various problems needing immediate solutions hadn’t subsided. What with the past few days filled with snow and besieged by freezing temperatures, there had been problems aplenty. As it was, Adam had only been back in Achallader’s massive haven a little over two hours this eve, and had just sat down before the fire a scant ten minutes ago.

“Ye’ve guests, m’lord.” Janet smiled brightly. “Yer friend, Ruarc MacDonald, and his family have arrived. They were chilled clear to the bone, though, so while I came to fetch ye, I had them taken to the Lion’s Hall to warm themselves before the fire.”

Excitement filling him, Adam closed his Bible, stood, and laid the well-worn book on the seat. “I couldn’t have asked for a more delightful surprise, and for Christmas, no less!”

Janet nodded and smiled. “Aye, m’lord.”

He strode past her, reached the door, then paused. “While I greet the MacDonalds,” Adam said, turning back to the maidservant, “roust enough servants to prepare two bedchambers, will ye, lass? The ones across the hall from Lady Robertson would be best. And make sure a cradle is found for the wee Ailis, and a pallet for Gavin.”

This time, Janet curtsied. “’Twill all be done posthaste, m’lord.”

“Excellent. Pray, see to it then.”

Adam opened the door and exited the library. What good fortune, he thought as he hurried down the stairs to the entry hall. Ruarc and Killian couldn’t have arrived at a more opportune time. Their presence at Achallader would make the season all that more merry; Maggie would have a peer to talk with in Killian, and he’d be able to consult with Ruarc about Maggie. Not that Killian wouldn’t have plenty of advice to offer on how to court the lass properly herself. And another woman’s view might well be an invaluable guide. Indeed, he needed all the help he could get in wooing and winning Maggie’s heart.

The MacDonalds were all standing before the great hearth in the Lion’s Hall, Ruarc towering over his pale-haired wife who held baby Ailis in her arms, Gavin sitting on the floor between the two deerhounds, and the Lady Glynnis standing beside them. Adam’s mouth quirked. It amazed him still, sometimes, that Ruarc and Glynnis had ever found it possible to reconcile after so many years of animosity and family strife. He could well recall the times he and Glynnis had exchanged secret correspondences, and concocted all sorts of schemes to bring about Ruarc’s downfall.

But God—and Killian—had finally touched their lives, just as powerfully as they had his. Both Ruarc and Glynnis had come to see the fruitlessness of

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