Susan King - [Celtic Nights 01] by The Stone Maiden Read Free Book Online

your poor jest. You surprised me, and I fell. Set me down!"
    "So be it." He lowered her gently. "Tell me, why did you try to scale that column like a squirrel in a tree?"
    She was not amused, he saw, although he could barely hide his own smile. A blush spread beneath her translucent skin, her sapphire eyes darkened, her brows lowered. Sebastien felt as if he watched a gathering storm. He rather liked storms.
    "If you wish," he drawled, "I could fetch a ladder."
    She opened her mouth to reply, then laughed reluctantly. The sound echoed like small bells. He chuckled, though it felt strangely dry and rusty. He did not laugh often, he realized.
    "I wanted to see my cousin's mark, up there." She pointed.
    He looked up. "His mark?"
    "His mason's mark," she said. "A symbol engraved in the stone. When a mason dresses a block or makes a carving, he cuts his mark. They are paid according to the work they sign. That one is my cousin's mark."
    The vision in his left eye was not as sharp as it once had been, but he saw a distinct symbol cut into the stone. He nodded.
    "I just wanted to see it. Touch it," Alainna said.
    Sebastien frowned, thinking. He picked up the cloth and charcoal she had set down on the floor. Reaching the mason's mark presented no challenge when he boosted a foot onto the plinth and stretched his arm up. He smoothed the cloth over the carving, and rubbed it with the charcoal to obtain an impression. Then he stepped down and handed her the cloth.
    "A remembrance of your cousin," he said.
    Her gaze was wide and earnest. "My thanks. You must be devoted to your own kin to know why this means so much to me."
    "I... value family," he said vaguely. He glanced at the cloth. "I see that you are an imagier."
    "I had some training from my cousin. Come, I will show you his work." She strolled with him, pointing out acanthus carvings and panels of interlaced vines. "See those flowers there? Malcolm always curled and fluted his leaves like that, to make the edges thin and delicate."
    He nodded, listening, admiring the fine work she showed him, although he glanced at her more often than at the carvings. Her voice was low and soothing, and the sight of her was like a balm. As they neared the arched doors, she turned to him.
    "My foster brother will be waiting, I think."
    Sebastien felt an odd dismay, but nodded and held the door open for her.
    Outside he saw Giric MacGregor riding toward them, leading a second horse by the reins. Both mounts were the sturdy garrons common to the Highlands, smaller and shaggier than Norman horses.
    Sebastien turned. "Farewell, Alainne an Ceann Lochan. We will not meet again. I plan to leave Scotland soon."
    Her cheeks colored pink. "Oh... oh. A thousand blessings on you, then, and may God make smooth the path before you," she said in Gaelic. "May the faeries protect you."
    He smiled, having heard similar Gaelic greetings, and farewells. "May you be safe from every harm," he murmured. "May the angels bless you."
    She nodded, then whirled and ran toward her foster brother, who assisted her into the saddle. She took the reins and glanced back.
    Sebastien raised his hand in salute. When they left the abbey grounds, he took the path leading to the king's tower. But he could not resist the powerful urge to look back.
    Alainna swiveled to look toward him just as he glanced toward her. Both turned quickly away. He walked down the sloped path, surrounded by trees and birdsong, and found himself straining to hear distant hoofbeats, like a thread linking him to her for a while longer.
    Sebastien approached the stone tower lost in thought. He felt as if something remarkable had happened, but he could not define it. The Highland girl had entered his day like sunlight falling over shadows. In her absence, the world seemed somehow duller, colder.
    A twinge of jealousy at the thought of her marrying some warrior, Celtic or Norman, rippled through him. Frowning, unsure why he should care at all, he walked