Celtic Stars (Celtic Steel Book 4) by Delaney Rhodes Read Free Book Online

Chambers
    “Riann?” gasped Darina. She rose from her seat next to Patrick and stared directly in front of her, towards the dead center of the council chamber table where a peregrine falcon closely resembling her own, Riann, sat perfectly still.  Fanai, her hound, growled and picked up his ears in confusion.
    The Falcon didn’t move. Sitting motionless on the table, it stared intently back into the terrified eyes of Darina O’Malley. “Riann?” she questioned again, searching the faces of those with her in the chamber for some sort of explanation.
    “Darina,” spoke Airard softly. “This is not Riann. This is Gemma.”
    “Gemma?” gasped Darina covering her mouth in disbelief.  There were Gemma’s clothes lying in a puddle on the floor next to her seat at the table, there was a terrible noise and a flash of bright light and then suddenly, there was this falcon. It looked just like Riann. But that couldn’t be, Riann was in her quarters, next to the stables where she was cared for until Darina would hunt, or practice, until she called for her. Her Riann.
    “By the gods,” Galen spoke out loud, unintentionally.
    “What is the meaning of this?” her uncle Ruarc interjected, pounding his fist on the table, and frightening the falcon, Gemma, in the process.
    “Calm down,” Flynn interrupted. “Everyone just calm down a bit. There is a perfectly good explanation for this. And I for one am ready to hear it.”
    “Gemma,” Patrick spoke up. “Mayhap you would like to explain this a bit,” he nodded toward the bird, who appeared to nod in return. “Galen can you assist her behind the column please,” Patrick gestured towards her clothes and the four foot diameter column on the north side of the council chamber.
    “Aye, my Lord.”
    It only took a few moments before Gemma returned to the table, fully clothed and wearing her human form.  She filled her goblet with wine and sat down slowly, the weight of what she was about to say consuming her face.
    “I am a shifter,” she sighed as a large tear slid down her cheek. “I have been a shifter since I was a wee child. I realized I was a shifter when me family and I were traveling through Burke lands to here. I was able to take the form of a rabbit when the rest of me caravan was taken as slaves to the piers, the shipyards.” Her hands began to tremble. “I did what me grand mam told me, she said, “Gemma, ye pretend really hard to be someone else, something else and ye just may be able to escape.”
    “So I pretended I was a wee rabbit skipping and jumping through the brush, under the noonday sun. I heard the others screaming, but I just kept jumping and running. Soon I didn’t hear them as much any longer. I imagined that I had perhaps fainted or passed out, but that wasn’t so. Later, I woke up surrounded by soft fur and warmth in an underground tunnel. I was in a rabbit hole! I must have spent a good day with the rabbits before I realized I needed to figure out how get back to being me, again.”
    The tears were flowing freely now and Gemma wiped her face with the edge of her tunic.
    “Go on, “ Darina bade her, curiosity written across her face. “Go on.”
    “Well,” continued Gemma, seeking approval from the rest of the clan with a passing inquisitive glance. “Well, it took me awhile but I finally was able to shift back into my human form. There I was in the middle of god-knows-where, a little wee babe, dirty and naked and covered in mud."
    “What happened?” asked Lucian.
    “As I lay behind some brush," she stopped to wipe a tear away. "It was nearing dusk mind ye,” she added, “I was a watchin' the road and a group of merry ladies made to pass by me bush so I began throwing stones into the way, to see if I could catch someone’s, anyone's attention.”
    “And did ye?” asked Darina.
    “Aye,” I did. “Claira Stewart happened to me and seeing my condition, wrapped her overcloak about me and set me upon her shoulders. The ladies