Page 71 of The Winter Laird

“Yes, to protect me.” A moment passed as she recognized the truth of it. “I’m not part of a legacy, Nioclas, no matter what Reilly believes.”

He didn’t respond. “The mark on your arm…”

“Coincidence,” she replied firmly, hugging herself even tighter.

Nioclas steepled his fingers, then placed them against his chin. “What about the dreams?”

Bri lost her breath. Of everything she’d told Nioclas, not once did she mention her dreams of him. No one knew, not even Reilly. She blindly groped for the table, needing to sit lest her legs gave out.

She hadn’t had a dream of Nioclas since she’d stayed in Reilly’s little cottage on the edge of the sea…since she’d arrived in Nioclas’s time.

“Dreams?” she managed.

Nioclas picked up the brooch again, running his fingers over the engraved hawk. “We were sitting in the grass by a dark lake. The sun was shining, it was warm, and we had just finished a swim. Our clothes were wet, and we had laid them out to dry.” She let out a strangled cry, but he pressed on. “A bird flew overhead. I told you it was a falcon, but you laughed. You told me it was a hawk.” He raised his eyes, gray meeting blue. “When I said hawks were malevolent, you shook your head. The sun caught your hair and it seemed as though it were glowing. You looked like a goddess of the sun.” He smiled at the memory, but it faded. “You told me that the bird had no markings on its chest—a falcon would have stripes. You said the hawk had markings only on its wings.”

Immediately, Brianagh recalled Nioclas in the lists. His chest had no markings…but his arms did. Her gaze flew to his biceps, covered with the sleeves of his tunic.

“Aye. To resemble a hawk.”

Her eyes were so wide, she was certain they were going to fall out at any moment. She couldn’t catch her breath. The dream he described was the last of what she took to calling “the originals.” The lake dream was the last one in a string of repeated dreams. She despaired over dreaming something different, but the ones she did have were sweet enough to last a lifetime. Until the night she dreamed she lost him.

“Nioclas,” she started, but he wasn’t done.

“I had the brooch made to take with me into battle,” he continued, “as a favor, of sorts. I thought if I had you near me, it would protect me from death. I never felt more alive than I did in those dreams.”

“I thought I was crazy,” she whispered. “When I saw you for the first time, I thought I’d lost my mind.”

“Nay.” Nioclas sighed. “You did not. I thought I’d lost mine when I had those dreams, and after I’d had this brooch fashioned, I told Aidan that our new clan would bear a hawk on our crest. After a goodly bit of ale”—he laughed humorlessly—“I confessed the dreams. I told him all. Aidan, to his credit, believed you were a sign sent from our mother, to help ease the burden of lairdship.” Nioclas looked at her.

“Do you think that’s what it was?” she asked softly.

“I don’t know. Perhaps.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “Do you understand why O’Malley is so adamant that you remain here with me?”

“He thinks we’ll mess up history.”

“He believesyou’rethe legacy, Brianagh. That you’re the one who will pass the ability to move time to your children, and them to theirs.”

“He’s wrong,” she replied stubbornly.

“What if he isn’t? There are no coincidences in life, Brianagh. Everything happens for a reason.”

“He’s wrong,” she insisted.

“After all you told me about your family last night, after all you’ve shown me, I urge you to consider what may happen to them if you are, in fact, the legacy,” Nioclas said. “They wouldn’t exist, Brianagh.”

The reality hit her, but she refused to believe it. “I’m not responsible for generations of people! I’m a matchmaker. That’s it. I’m not a legacy!”

“Regardless of whether you are or not, my lady…you have my sword at your feet.” Nioclas slid the brooch to her and stood. “For however long you may need it.”

Chapter 20

Brianagh sat as still as a stone on the battlements, silently staring at the sea. When Erin eventually found her, she’d been there for hours, numb from both her thoughts and the cold.

“Brianagh, you should come inside,” Erin said gently, placing a hand on her arm. “It’s freezing out here, and you’ll catch your death.”

“I miss my family,” Bri whispered.

Erin sat down next to her, linked her arm through Bri’s, and rested her head on her shoulder. “Aye, I know the feeling well. When I married Donovan, I had to leave my clan behind. The first few weeks were wonderful. I had my love. I thought that was enough.” She smiled, a faraway look in her eyes. “But by the end of the first month, I missed my daily chats with Mama. I wanted to go back to visit, but Donovan couldn’t go, and it’s too dangerous to travel that distance without him.”

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