\u201cHelp me up,\u201d Phelan said suddenly.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s walk.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEh?\u201d\u00a0 J.T. blinked at him, expression blank, confused.<\/p>\n
Phelan smiled briefly and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not in the mood to stay here in the dark, near-death experience or not.\u00a0 Let\u2019s walk up to the forge.\u00a0 You can\u2019t tell me that Matt and Thom won\u2019t be up there right now, and if I\u2019m right, Thordin will be with them, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
J.T. just kept right on blinking, staring at him.\u00a0 \u201cWhy are we\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrust me,\u201d Phelan said, then slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed.\u00a0 Clothes, still.\u00a0 Thank goodness for small favors.<\/i>\u00a0 As close as he was to all of them, the idea of one of the girls\u2014Marin or Kellin or Jacqueline or Carolyn, any of them\u2014stripping him and re-dressing him was near enough to make him blush as red as his hair.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019ll be good for both of us.\u201d\u00a0 I need to be around breathing people.\u00a0 We both do.\u00a0 Gods and monsters, \u00c9riu, what were you doing here?\u00a0 Did you come for me, for him, or both?<\/i><\/p>\n
Or was it more than that?\u00a0 Something I won\u2019t realize until it\u2019s nearly too late?<\/i><\/p>\n
He groped around for his coat and shoes, wincing at the pain in his ribs.\u00a0 \u201cDamnation.\u00a0 I\u2019d forgotten how much this hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure you\u2019ll pull through,\u201d J.T. said as he stood slowly.\u00a0 \u201cWho was she, anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was who?\u201d Phelan asked as the bottom dropped out of his stomach. He already knew who J.T. was asking about\u2014he just wasn\u2019t sure he wanted to answer the question.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe spirit girl.\u00a0 \u00c9riu.\u201d \u00a0J.T. fumbled over the name, but he managed to pronounce it well enough.\u00a0 \u201cShe seemed\u2026I don\u2019t know, Phelan.\u00a0 Really fond of you.\u00a0 More than a goddaughter should be.\u201d<\/p>\n
He choked back a laugh, shrugging slowly into his jacket.\u00a0 \u201cI was there when Brighid found her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFound her?\u201d\u00a0 J.T. echoed.\u00a0 He spun to follow Phelan as he brushed past on his way to the door, hands shoved deep into his pockets to keep them warm against the chill he knew he\u2019d be facing.<\/p>\n
They walked together out into the dim of the hallway before Phelan found the words to answer.\u00a0 \u201cAye.\u00a0 She washed up as a foundling on the shore.\u00a0 Brighid found her and we were with her\u2014her boys.\u201d\u00a0 He smiled a wistful, longing smile.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s what she called us.\u00a0 Her boys\u2014her brother and her husband and I.\u201d\u00a0 He could hear the waves against the shore, smell the salt air and feel the warmth of the afternoon sun against his back.\u00a0 It had been a fair day, that day so many centuries before, the first in months, after a long, cold winter and a stormy spring.\u00a0 Not quite summer that day on the shore, but it had been promised in the sun\u2019s warmth.<\/p>\n
Phelan sighed and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cBrighid heard the sound of a babe crying among the rocks while we were fishing.\u00a0 To this day, I\u2019ve no idea how the child survived, how she really came to us.\u00a0 She was in a little wooden boat, wrapped in wool and linen, hair so blonde it was nearly white.\u00a0 She and Finn had no children of their own, not then, and Brighid was always a kind-hearted woman despite appearances to the contrary.\u00a0 She took up that babe and told us that she and Finn would care for her, that Ciar\u2014her brother\u2014would train her in the ways of the druids of old, that the child would want for nothing\u2026and that someday, she would lead their clans united against any threat that stood against them.\u201d<\/p>\n
They walked out into the fading sunshine of late afternoon, boots crunching on the snow.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened to her?\u201d J.T. asked.<\/p>\n
Phelan smiled sadly, throat tightening and tears stinging in his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cLike most of the men and women that I\u2019ve loved in my life\u2026she died.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cHelp me up,\u201d Phelan said suddenly.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s walk.\u201d \u201cEh?\u201d\u00a0 J.T. blinked at him, expression blank, confused. Phelan smiled briefly and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not in the mood to stay here in the dark, near-death experience or not.\u00a0 Let\u2019s walk … Continue reading