Page 47

T hirty-nine

M EET ME OUTSIDE the entry doors. I’ll wait for you.”

Christiana paused to make sure Chase had heard her whispered request over the noise and clamor of the great hall. Though she appreciated the celebration in honor of her arrival, she’d not been allowed one single minute alone with him since they’d arrived.

She casually made her way down the long aisle separating the two halves of the great hall, stopping to acknowledge the greetings and good tidings from the people she hoped she would one day think of as friends and family.

Once through the entry, she moved behind the door to wait. Chase arrived only minutes after her, his face breaking into the smile that set off the fire in her belly each time she saw it.

“Come with me,” she invited, holding out her hand to lead him down the hallway to her brother’s solar. It was only used for formal meetings, Syrie had informed her, since Malcolm preferred conducting his business from the sitting room upstairs.

She lifted a small torch from the wall as she opened the door to the dark room, and they quickly slipped inside.

Almost before the door shut, he closed his arms around her, turning the smolder in her belly to flames as his lips covered hers.

“I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever get you to myself again,” he murmured after he broke the kiss. “It feels as if someone has been hanging over my shoulder every minute since we left Tordenet.”

She felt the same, and it had only gotten worse since they’d arrived at Castle MacGahan.

“I suspect my brothers fear for my virtue, now that they ken how I feel about you. I also suspect they will go out of their way to keep us apart until . . .”

Her tongue suddenly tripped and her face heated with embarrassment. Though Chase had declared his love for her, he’d not indicated any desire to wed her. And even if he did harbor such a desire, she wasn’t at all sure it was the fate the gods had in store for them.

“Until?” he asked. “Until what?”

She had no intention of pursuing that question just yet. Besides, she had another reason for wanting to speak to him alone.

“I’ve something I need to show you.”

From her pocket she pulled the little bag of runes, its cloth now charred and almost too fragile to withstand being opened. She emptied the contents into her hand, clutching the little treasure tightly before extending her fingers to display the dark lump resting on the flat of her palm.

“What is it?”

“When you first came to me, I called upon the gods to share with me what the path of our future might hold. I drew from my bag of runes to seek their answer. This”—she rolled the lump on her palm—“was their answer. I managed to save it from the fire before you pulled me out of the tower.”

“This little lump of charcoal is why you fought me off when I was trying to get you out of there?” Chase brushed a strand of hair from her face, his fingers lingering on her cheek.

“I thought you’d lost your mind. So this was your answer from the gods.

What did they tell you that was important enough for you to crawl through fire to try to save? ”

Again she lifted her hand toward him. “The runes I drew represent us. One for you and one for me. Tiwaz, the warrior, and Berkana, the birch tree. The first advises courage and strength of conviction, while the second is a harbinger of new beginnings, of rebirth.”

“And yet, I only see one thing in your hand.”

“It is as if they are melted together—something I’ve never seen wood do before, though, in truth, they were very old.” She forced a smile to her lips though she felt only sorrow over the loss. “Where there were two, now there is only one.”

Chase picked up the wooden treasure between his thumb and forefinger, holding it out at arm’s length in front of the open window so that it almost looked as if it floated on the surface of the moon framed there.

“I can’t promise you that I’ll always believe in the things you believe in.

I can’t promise that I’ll accept that our future is already set in stone by some old women weaving under a big tree.

But I agree with what your gods are telling you with this, Christy.

We are meant to be one. Both of us are warriors in this life, calling upon the strength of our conviction that we belong together.

Both of us have been given the gift of rebirth into a new life. ”

He lifted her palm to his lips, pressing a kiss to the spot before replacing the rune into her hand.

“You hang on to that, love. I don’t know what’s to come for us, but I do know that little treasure in your hand is the best symbol I can imagine for our new life. Here. Together. As one.”