Page 4 of Time of the King (Stones of Scotland #2)

O ne man jumped down from his horse and came striding off the road towards them. He was closer now, close enough for Bethany to make out his strong features and broad shoulders. He was handsome, in a rugged sort of way.

“Princess Eithne,” he called, and Bethany belatedly realised her mistake. These men had mistaken her for some woman named Eithne. What were the chances of two names sounding so similar? But, now she had attracted so much attention, she dared not contradict these fearsome warriors. They would hardly believe the story of travelling through time, and all those swords looked threatening. She would play along just until she could make her escape.

“We did not expect you for some time,” the man said, narrowing his eyes as he came to stand in front of her.

Bethany smiled politely. “We set out early,” she said.

Thank goodness she had stolen one of Lucan’s language chips. They were cutting-edge engineering and he would have been furious to know she had one, but learning the language would have been near-impossible. With this tiny device inserted in her ear, she could speak and understand Old Irish almost as fluently as a native. Unfortunately, she had only been able to obtain one. Matthew tugged on her hand and she flashed him a sympathetic smile, knowing that he could not understand a word.

“You are welcome to Dunadd, my lady,” the man said, although his manner was anything but welcoming. His voice was stiff, and his voice cold and hard. He eyed her up and down. Bethany’s skin tingled under his intense hazel gaze.

“I am Comgall, newly chosen as King of Dal Riada,” he said, his words grudging.

Bethany’s eyes widened. Dal Riada! Then she had got the time at least roughly right, although these people would not measure dates in quite the same way as her.

“I am glad to hear that, my lord,” she said, unconsciously echoing his speech patterns.

“We did not expect you for some weeks yet,” the man - the king - said, frowning. “We are still unprepared for the wedding.”

Bethany fought to keep her face calm. Wedding ? This Princess Eithne was supposed to get married? This was not the sort of situation she had hoped to land in. She needed to correct this misunderstanding now, before it went to far.

“I see you have not yet had a chance to dress like a woman of Dal Riada,” Comgall said, waving one hand at her dress rather insultingly. “Do not fear, that can quickly be rectified.”

Bethany almost groaned. Did she look that foreign? There went all her hopes of escaping notice. If she could not pass as a common woman of Dal Riada, she would have to keep up this pretence until she stole some appropriate clothing and escaped. If only she had been able to dress with more historical accuracy! She would have to remain Princess Eithne for now, until a better opportunity presented itself.

“But who is this?” Comgall asked, frowning down at Matthew. “Your servant boy? Where are the rest of your party?”

For a second, Bethany was about to agree with the story he had neatly presented - surely this princess had no children. But Matthew, unnerved by the attention, grabbed onto Bethany’s leg.

“Mummy,” he wailed, sounding more like a child than he had in years.

Comgall froze, his eyes wide with surprise. Apparently, that word was decipherable even in Old Irish.

“Your son ?” he asked.

Bethany drew in a deep breath and raised her chin a little. If she was to play the role of a princess, she would act like one.

“Yes, my son from my first marriage,” she said firmly. “We were shipwrecked a little way along the coast. I have no idea what happened to the rest of my party. My son and I walked the final distance and found ourselves here.”

Comgall’s eyes returned to their more usual suspicious appearance.

“We will send out a search party,” he said. “I hope that the rest of your group escaped harm.”

Then his frown deepened even further.

“But a son?” he asked. “That is not necessarily a bad thing, but I was not made aware of it. You must have been very young when he was born.”

Despite herself, Bethany felt her cheeks flush. This Princess Eithne must be a lot younger than her. How young did this man think she was? He only looked to be twenty-something himself. Blushing, she fumbled for some sort of answer, but the words did not come.

“Should the boy not have been left with his father’s family?” Comgall pressed. “Did they not want him? I do not want any trouble with his kin.”

Bethany panicked. There was no way that she would let Matthew be taken from her.

“They didn’t want him,” she said quickly. “He’s, err - mute.”

“Mute?” Comgall asked. “I just heard him speak.”

“He can make a few sounds,” Bethany invented wildly. “But he cannot properly speak. So he is not much use to his father’s family.”

Comgall’s eyes only narrowed further.

“That does not bode well,” he said. “No wonder it was not mentioned in any correspondence with your family. What if your future children are also mute?”

Why did she keep saying precisely the wrong thing?

“It is the result of an unfortunate childhood accident, my lord,” she said. “Not a birth problem.”

He nodded once, apparently satisfied with that answer. Bethany let out a deep breath.

“Then I must welcome you to Dunadd, my lady,” he said. “Please, take my horse.”

He raised one hand and another man brought forward a tall horse. Bethany gulped as she looked up at it. Before she had a chance to protest, Comgall seized her around the waist and hoisted her upwards. Bethany found herself seated awkwardly sidesaddle on the horse’s strange, flat saddle. Comgall clicked his tongue and the horse set off. Bethany whirled around, but relaxed when she saw Matthew perched in front of another rider. Just then, the horse shifted awkwardly and Bethany almost fell. She gasped, and Comgall’s hand came out to steady her.

“Careful, my lady,” he said, his hand warm on her hip. “We wouldn’t want you to fall and hurt yourself so close to Dunadd.”

Was there some unspoken threat in his words? Everything he said was polite, but Bethany sensed a cold undercurrent in his voice. Although the day was sunny, she shivered as they rode up the hill and in through the gates of Dunadd.