Gathering her to him, he crooned low, “Ah, Skye! Sweet Skye! You are perfection, my little love. Pure perfection! I love you so, sweetheart.”
Her blue-green eyes were heavy with exhaustion, but they shone with love. “Give me a son, Niall!” she whispered fiercely.
Tenderly he stroked her cheek. “In time, my darling. In time. Now sleep, Skye, my love. In the morning we will face the world with the shocking news mat we would be together. We will need to be well rested to meet the uproar that’s sure to follow.”
“You meant it when you said you wouldn’t leave me?” Her voice trembled.
“Aye, sweetheart! Only the devil himself can separate us now, Skye.”
“I’d go with you into Hell itself, Niall,” she answered passion- ately.
At last, enclosed in each other’s arms, they fell asleep, trusting the power of their love.
Chapter 3
In the gray half-light before dawn Niall Burke and Skye lay sleeping. Heart hammering, the little pot boy crawled through the unshuttered window and for a brief moment stared quite openmouthed at the two people lying on the bed. Both were naked. The man was on his stomach, face down, his arm flung across the woman. She was curled on her side. The pot boy, who was rarely freed from his kitchen, thought the two were the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. He felt saddened at what he must do. The woman stirred in her sleep and, guiltily recalling his duty, the boy tiptoed across the room. Softly sliding the bolt back, he opened the door.
Dubhdara O’Malley and three of his men-at-arms came silently into the room. O’Malley nodded to his retainers. Niall Burke was swiftly pulled off the bed, a cloth stuffed into his mouth. Then he was half-dragged, half-carried out of the room, the door shut softly but firmly behind him. Fiercely Niall struggled against his captors, who hustled him down into the main hall of the castle. He was not afraid, for he knew that if it had been his life they sought he would already be dead.
“You’ll not yell, my lord?” O’Malley asked him when they en- tered a room down the hall.
Niall shook his head. His arms were freed and the gag was pulled from his mouth. He took up the goblet of ale placed at his hand. Drinking it, he began to dress in his clothes, which the little pot boy had thoughtfully brought along. Niall Burke was furious, but arguing with the O’Malley stark naked put him at a disadvantage. His an- tagonist spoke first.
“You will be on your way immediately, my lord. Young O’Flaherty has spent an unhappy night, drinking and abusing Skye’s maid. The sight of you now could drive him to rashness. I should not like to answer to the MacWilliam if his heir were harmed.”
Niall yanked on his boots. “I want Skye’s marriage annulled, O’Malley! For three days I tried to get to you, to ask you to call off this marriage. I love Skye, and she loves me. I want her to wife. I’ll see that O’Flaherty is pacified with a new bride and a large bribe. Why do you think I did what I did last night? To amuse myself, man? I love your daughter, O’Malley, and I hope my action will force O’Flaherty to give her up.”
Dubhdara O’Malley looked amazed. “Laddie, laddie! If I have nothing else in this world I have my good name and my good word. The word of Dubhdara O’Malley has never been questioned because it is as good as gold. I have never broken my word! I will not do so now. Skye was betrothed to Dom as a child. Even if I had postponed the marriage, your father would not permit you to marry an O’Malley of Innisfana. For you, it will be an O’Neill, an O’Donnell, or an O’Brien-daughters of the high aristocracy. Not my little lass.”
Niall’s silver eyes flashed. “She is fit to be a queen, O’Malley!”
“Ah, laddie, you’ll get no argument from me on that account! But my daughter is Dom O’Flaherty’s wife till death parts them. You’ve exercised the droit du seigneur on the bride. There is nothing else here for you. Go home. Leave me to mend the broken fences, and my child’s broken heart.”
“I will not leave without Skye, O’Malley! She comes with me!”
The master of the castle barely nodded to his men. Niall Burke was tapped lightly on his head, rendering him unconscious. “Carry him to the boat, and tell Captain MacGuire to take him home.
MacGuire’s to put this letter directly into the MacWilliam’s hand, and await a reply,” O’Malley said tersely.
O’Malley sat watching a moment as his most honored guest was slung over the shoulder of one of his men and removed from the hall. Then, without a backward glance, O’Malley returned to his daughter’s bedchamber. He shook her awake gently’. “Skye, lass! Wake up now.”
Slowly her blue eyes opened, then widened in surprise. “Da?” Her gaze quickly swept the room, and her voice became a frightened whisper. “Niall?”
“Gone, Skye. Niall Burke has gone home.”
“No! He promised we would never be parted! He promised!”
“Men frequently make promises in the heat of passion that they have no intention of keeping,” said the O’Malley brutally. “Get up and get dressed, daughter. You’ll go with Eibhlin to her convent on Innishturk until Dom’s temper cools, and we’re sure you don’t carry Burke’s bastard. I’ll send someone to help you dress.”
“You’re lying to me, Da! What have you done with Niall?”
“I’m not lying, Skye. Burke has gone home.”
“Where’s Molly?”
“She’s sick this morning,” O’Malley said as he left the room.
Skye sat numbed. He had promised they would not be parted! He had meant it! She knew he had meant it! Where was he? Had they killed him? Oh, God, no! She began to tremble. No. Of course they hadn’t killed him. Her father would not kill his overlord’s heir.
Perhaps, said an evil voice in her head, perhaps he is telling you the truth. After all, your experience with men is not great. Perhaps the great lord’s heir has amused himself with you, and has now gone back to his own. Her heart began to hammer fiercely, and for a moment she thought she would faint. Then, from deep inside, Skye called on the reservoir of strength she had built up over the years. If she listened to doubt she would go mad. She must trust to her intuition. Skye O’Malley would not give in to panic.
Climbing from the bed, she walked naked across the chamber and drew her clothing from a leather-bound trunk. She began to dress, first pulling on her underclothes, then a skirtlike object. This garment was a design of Skye’s own fashioning. O’Malley had objected to his daughter wearing men’s clothing, but Skye had felt hampered aboard ship by long skirts. So she had made her skirts into wide pants that came below the knee. Beneath, she wore hose and knee-length leather boots. She had cut her chemises off at the waist, hemmed them, and worn them beneath her silk shirts.
Washed and dressed, her long black hair braided and affixed atop her head, she gathered up a dark plaid cloak and left the room. She found a man-at-arms waiting, and directed him to fetch the small trunk in her room and see it safely stowed in the waiting boat.
Regally, she descended the stairs. Below, in the castle’s main hall, her father, her sister Eibhlin, and Dom awaited her. Dom looked terrible. His eyes were badly bloodshot and puffy, and his face was marked with several scratches and bruises. She steeled herself for the confrontation. “Good morning, Dom.” He eyed her angrily, nodded, but said nothing. She shrugged, then turned to her father. ”I am ready to go, Da, but before I do I want to know the truth. Niall would not have left me unless forced.”