Silver Flame. Hannah Howell

      “Aye, that is it. Twins. ’Tis hard to see which is which.” Lilith shrugged. “Their sister kens.”

      Crouching before his tiny half sister, Gamel took her small hands in his and asked in a tense voice, “Do ye ken what their names are?”

      “I think so. The lady is called Catriona.” She scowled a moment, then brightened. “The lads are named Dane and Ree.”

      “And the mon, Lilith? What is the mon’s name?”

      “’Tis a funny name,” she mumbled.

      “Farthing? Is his name Farthing?”

      “Aye, that is it. Although, I call him Master Magnusson as I should,” she added with a glance toward Edina for a nod of approval, which was quickly given. “The lady has verra pretty eyes, Gamel.”

      “Violets. They are like violets,” he whispered in a hoarse voice as he slowly stood up.

      Lilith nodded. “Big, big violets. And she has skin like gold. She is so bonny. Mayhaps she is a princess.”

      “One can never ken, child,” Edina murmured absently.

      Edina watched her stepson a little nervously. Gamel had gone very pale, but there was a glitter to his eyes which, after so many years of marriage to a passionate man, she recognized all too well. The mere thought that the girl might be near at hand had sent desire racing through his veins. It had gripped him with such strength he almost smelled of it. Edina was not sure that intensity was safe. There was no knowing how a man in such a state would act.

      “It has to be her,” Gamel muttered. “It has to be.”

      “Now, Gamel,” she urged even as he started out of the room, “it would appear so, but ye should move warily. If it is her, ye dinnae wish to afright her, do ye?”

      “If ’tis her, I shall chain her to the bed,” he growled as he picked up speed. “This time she shallnae creep away from me at dawn’s light. By all that is sacred, she shall not.” He began to race down the hallway toward the stairs.

      “Oh, sweet Mary, here is trouble.” Edina sighed as she started after him.

      “Mama,” cried Lilith as she hurried to keep pace with her mother. “Ye said that lasses must not run and ye are running verra fast.”

      “Running is the only way I can catch up with Gamel, dearling,” she answered as she lifted her skirts a little and began to run faster. “And I think it is verra important that I do that now. More important than behaving like a lady.”

      Totally unconcerned about the attention he was drawing to himself and the fact that his stepmother was hot on his heels, Gamel raced toward the great hall. He was stunned yet alive with emotion. While he dared not believe that fate would be so kind as to place Sine Catriona beneath his very own roof, all Lilith had told him indicated that that was exactly what had happened. It was almost frightening. He realized that he was reluctant to go and see for himself, afraid to discover that fate was playing a cruel jest on him. It was not just the running that had his heart beating at an alarming rate.

      A small voice in his head told him that he was acting like some madman, that this was no way to behave when there were guests at Duncoille. Every other part of him, however, told him to hurry. He could not fully shake the fear that, if he did not rush, the one he hoped to find in the hall would vanish as she had before. A long search for Sine Catriona was something he had begun to resign himself to.

      “Gamel! Gamel, will ye slow down?”

      Edina’s voice was not all that caused Gamel’s steps to falter near the doorway of the great hall. He had entered battles with far surer steps than those with which he was entering the hall. He had faced the possibility of death with far more calm than he was facing the chance of seeing one tiny female. That realization gave him the strength to enter the hall with surer and slower steps.

      “Ah, I see,” drawled a recognizable male voice. “Ye mean to show the children the way to wipe their chins.”

      “Farthing, I shall demonstrate true skill despite your raillery.”

      That sweet, husky voice caused Gamel to come to an abrupt halt only two steps inside the great hall. “Sine.”

      “Gamel,” Edina whispered as she reached his side. “Step slowly.”

      He barely heard his stepmother’s words of caution. His full attention was upon the group in the hall. There was no mistaking Farthing or the twins, but his interest rested upon them only briefly. His gaze was fixed upon the owner of that seductive voice. She stood amongst his half siblings, but it took a moment to believe what he was seeing.

      As though starved for the sight of her, he simply stood and stared. He stared until he felt belief grip him, until he was certain it was really her. Her every movement brought memories that heated his blood. The sound of her voice caused his need for her to swiftly rise. He ignored his father’s look of concern and shook off his stepmother’s light grip upon his arm. This time Sine Catriona would not escape.