Page 78 of Once upon a Summer Night

“Truth speaker.”

“You’re my new favorite relation.” Claire peeked around him and her face lit up. “James!”

“He’s notreallyyour favorite,” James teased as she squealed and hurried to greet him.

She led him over to the fire and pulled him down next to her. “How I’ve missed you! How is your wife?”

Gwen’s head snapped up. “James? Colin?”

“You look as though you survived the time travel,” James noted, relief in his voice. Colin noticed he didn’t answer Claire’s question.

“If you mean the training, we haven’t been able to do much other than sit and sew,” Gwen replied, her face still pale.

Reilly filled the doorway then, having finished whatever speech he was having with the guardsmen outside the door, and both Gwen and Claire’s gazes snapped to him.

“You’re here,” Reilly stated, his face darkening when he saw Claire.

“Hello to you, too,” Claire replied dryly, not bothering to stand.

Gwen, however, came to life. She rushed over to him and grabbed his arms. “Reilly? What’s going on?” she asked in an uncharacteristically small voice. “That woman, the one who’s playing the lady of the castle. She looks so much like Brianagh O’Rourke, but older.”

Colin noted the look that passed over Reilly when hecaught Gwen; a mix of wonder, delight, and relief. And something more, which put Colin’s inner matchmaker on full alert. He glanced again at Gwen, who looked lovely in her gown, with her curly hair in an elaborate style. She looked every inch a fiery, beautiful, Irish noblewoman.

A confused Irish noblewoman, he quickly amended, noting the look of shock on her pale visage. Her face was ashen, her eyes unfocused, and her hands shaky.

Reilly smiled briefly at her and folded her into a hug. “You found us out, lass. That is indeed Bri. She lives here…in 1481 Ireland.”

Gwen glared furtively over her shoulder. “Nonsense. That’s not really Brianagh, Reilly.”

He smiled softly at her. “It is, Gwendolyn. She traveled to the past, but she arrived in 1457.”

She smiled tightly. “Brianagh is only a few years older than me. Ten years, maybe. This woman is old enough to be my mother!”

“Hey!” Bri protested mildly. She paused. “Oh, wait a second. That’s a true statement.” She frowned, looking thoughtful. “Weird.”

“So you faked your own death to work at Reilly’s sword-fighting school?” Gwen asked skeptically.

Brianagh shook her head, a small, compassionate smile gracing her face. “No. I truly did travel back in time. It’s a bit of a story.”

Gwen frowned. “Why would you leave such a successful business behind?”

Reilly turned her towards a table. “Go, sit, eat something. I’ll explain it in a moment.” He turned his sharp gaze on Claire. “You.”

She immediately went on the defensive, and Colin held back his chuckle. Claire was an independent spirit, constantly exploring the castle and village grounds, and made it a personal goal to shake off her guard as often as possible.

Especiallywhen Reilly became part of it.

Before Claire could begin bickering in earnest, Colin interrupted and asked Nioclas, “What’s been happening that would require extra guards?”

“The O’Rourkes declared battle on the O’Connells. They hold the land between us and the O’Rourkes,” Nick explained. “Kieran, Brianagh’s sire, is still the O’Rourke laird, and he feels that the O’Connell clan is wasting their land. When the O’Connell laird insulted Kieran at one of Bri’s match events last winter, Kieran took offense and used it as an excuse to attack the O’Connells in the spring—and it was bloody, indeed. Many lives were lost on both sides. The O’Connells want to keep their land, but have no desire to battle, so their laird approached me for Claire’s hand.”

“In marriage?” Reilly asked, surprised.

“Aye, Reilly. I am, after all, a female, which makes me slightly less valuable than some cattle and a spool of wool,” Claire snapped.

“Depends on the quality of the wool,” he remarked blandly.

Brianagh rolled her eyes. To Colin, she murmured, “Still not pleased about her lot in life.”

---