Taming The Highlander by May McGoldrick

Author:May McGoldrick
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Swerve
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

“Ian is dead, dear old fellow. I now have the stone relic that he passed on to me, along with this chronicle of the Wheel of Lugh. Even with the final pains wracking his body, he told me all he knew and told me what I must do. In truth, I did not believe him until now, but I truly have the power that he carried to his deathbed. And I know that I must prepare and one day pass this gift along to another woman, for Ian told me that a man surely would be tempted with such power. Only a woman can carry such a secret in her breast, and I must find the right one . . .”

FROM THE CHRONICLE OF LUGH

As soon as she and Conall returned to the castle, Innes went looking for her sister.

Hearing that Ailein and Wynda were in the chapel oratory, tending to an injured farmer, she hurried across the Inner Ward. At Folais Castle, they used the oratory as an infirmary as well, for anyone needing immediate doctoring. Having the priest nearby was also convenient in case Last Rites had to be administered.

She came upon the priest Fingal sitting on a stone outside the chapel. The golden rays of the late afternoon sun slanted across the kirkyard, and the long shadows cast by the chapel nearly reached the man. The cleric, a small slightly built man with a pale complexion, sat lost in his thoughts.

Innes hadn’t spoken to the priest since the formal introductions on the day of the wedding. Anytime she’d seen the man after that, she got the sense that he was watching her, studying her.

Roused from his reverie by her appearance in the kirkyard, Fingal stood quickly, half turning as he reached for the cross hanging from a chain around his waist. For a moment, she wasn’t sure if he was going to run away or ward her off like some demon.

She nodded in greeting. “Good day to you, Father.”

Fingal recovered himself quickly, bowing to her.

“Lady Innes,” he replied in a deep, gruff voice that did not match his diminutive stature. “What a pleasant surprise.”

His movements were quick. He reminded her of a ferret as his eyes darted from her face to the bodice of her black dress to her gloves. She thought that his gaze fixed for a moment longer on the pouch at her waist.

“How did you find our village of Wick?” he asked, his gaze returning to her face.

It surprised her that he knew they’d gone. “I found it a very pleasant, busy place. If you please, I am looking for—”

“And Loch Watten?” he continued solicitously. “Did you find that pleasant, as well?”

Innes’s gaze narrowed. Something in his tone put her on guard. He was being affable and chatty to her, but she sensed that more lurked behind the man’s sudden sociability.

He didn’t wait for her to answer. “I take the lads I teach out to the loch a few times every summer. The angling is quite good there, if one has the patience and waits for the fish to rise.

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