Duet by Winters Eden

Author:Winters, Eden [Winters, Eden]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2013-02-16T16:00:00+00:00

ALL day Aillil did whatever required in a daze, working shoulder to shoulder with the villagers. A messenger from the castle appeared at noon. Eoghan refused to help bury the children or to have a funeral, citing fears for Rory and Niall’s safety. Aillil knew better. It was himself alone his father protected. How could the man evict those poor children from their home because they’d taken the fever?

Without a word Aillil trudged back to the castle, heartened when three other men fell into step beside him. Several times faces peeked from windows while they dug graves in the family plot. The figures always retreated before he could make them out. He kept a watchful eye during his labors, hoping his two remaining brothers would stay away and not risk exposure to the illness laying waste to the countryside. Having slept in the same room with Dughall and Dughlas put them at risk enough.

When the men lowered the bodies of the twins into the earth, wrapped in the clan’s plaid, Aillil clearly saw Niall standing in the doorway. He didn’t speak or approach, only observed the proceedings, occasionally reaching up a hand to brush his cheek. Finally Angus tamped down the earth over Dughall and Dughlas and Niall stepped back inside. Aillil caught a glimpse of Rory, hiding behind Niall’s leg, before the door closed.

That night, in a fitful sleep on the hard earth floor of Maeve’s cottage, Aillil heard pipes from the direction of the yew grove. Too tired and disheartened to seek them out, he appreciated the clansmen who so honored his brothers nonetheless. Not only their mother and Malcolm awaited Dughall and Dughlas in the hereafter, their grandparents and many generations of Callaghans did, as well. The twins were in good company.

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