Page 90 of A Thistle Beyond Time
“Nay. We’ve sent riders in search of him and from all accounts, Sophia and Jonathan were telling the truth. He seems to have returned to England.”
“Good. We have enough to worry about without him causing us more problems.”
“Cormac, tomorrow night is a celebration for Jenna. You can relax and enjoy yerself. Let the rest of us handle any difficulties that may arise.”
“As you wish, Cailin,” Cormac replied, clapping his brother on the back and then extending an arm around his shoulder. “Irene tells me there are sweet cakes for the taking.” Cailin cocked an eyebrow at that and the two headed off in the direction of the kitchen.
Chapter 29
“What do you suppose those two are up to?” Jenna asked Ashley. She was about to go upstairs to get dressed for the party, when she noticed Sophia and Jonathan huddled together in one corner. She and Ashley had gone for a brief ride and they had just handed their horses to the stable boys, when Jenna spotted Sophia and Jonathan in close conversation near the postern gate. Looking around she could see Latharn, looking none too pleased at the exchange, but he, along with Donal and Fergus were giving them their privacy. For a brief moment, she thought she noticed Jonathan handing something to Sophia, but she was too far away to see clearly and assumed she might be just imagining things.
“Forget about it, Jenna. They’ve got plenty of people keeping an eye on them. We need to go in and get cleaned up and into our gowns for the party,” Ashley said, pulling Jenna along with her.
“Okay. Okay. I don’t trust Jonathan though. He’s up to something. I can feel it,” Jenna realized that if she’d been paying more attention, she might have noticed he wasn’t to be trusted long before she married him. As they approached the stairs, Jenna was beginning to feel a bit like Cailin. “Ashley, slow down. There’s no need to run up the stairs. You’re pregnant, remember?”
Ashley rolled her eyes at Jenna. “Don’t you start, too.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m starting to understand Cailin’s concern. We’ve got plenty of time to get ready and Helene will help us, I’m sure.”
“I know she will. I’m just so excited to have you here for this celebration. It’ll be like when we went to the prom. You remember? We fixed each other’s hair and makeup.”
“There’s not really any makeup here, Ashley,” Jenna pointed out.
“That’s where you’re wrong. I have some in my room. Edna sent it to me in my magick backpack.”
“Your what?”
“My magick backpack. I’ve had it with me since I got here and I’m always finding things in there that weren’t there before. Edna has a bit of a guilt trip going on about almost getting me killed.”
“Wait a minute. What are you talking about? How did she almost get you killed?” Jenna couldn’t believe her ears.
“Well, it’s a long story, but the condensed version is that she tricked me into going over the bridge, where I met Cailin. By the way, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Then later, after I was kidnapped by Thomas and Sir Richard, I was almost raped and killed. I got sliced up by a sword and broke my arm. I don’t hold it against her though. She didn’t know it was going to happen.”
Jenna’s head was swimming. “She tricked you, you were kidnapped, almost raped, and sliced by a sword, and you don’t hold any of that against her?”
“Everything worked out in the most unbelievably magical way. I’m alive, the man who tried to rape me is dead, and I survived my wounds.”
“I have to admit, I’ve never seen you happier,” Jenna conceded.
“That’s because I’ve never been happier. Someday I’ll tell you the whole story, but for now, let’s get dressed.”
Jenna couldn’t help but be swept up in Ashley’s excitement. “Okay, you win. Let’s get ready.”
* * *
Cormac scanned the room as he waited for Jenna to make her entrance. Everything seemed to be in order. Cailin had men stationed around the room and at all the entrances and exits. He could relax and concentrate on Jenna, who was taking a good deal of time to join him. He went and stood by the stairs and was greeted by every single person who entered the Great Hall. Irene and Robert were already inside and the room was buzzing with activity. Cailin joined him to wait for Ashley.
“What is taking so long?” Cormac wondered.
Cailin chuckled. “Ashley is almost always the last person down the stairs, and now she has a friend to help delay her even further.”
At that precise moment, the two men looked up to see their lovely ladies heading towards them. Ashley was first and greeted Cailin with a deep kiss. She took his arm and they entered the Great Hall.
Jenna was next and she took Cormac’s breath away. “Jenna, ye are so beautiful.” It was all he could manage to get out.
“Thank you, Cormac,” Jenna said, as she placed her hand in the crook of his arm. “Shall we?”
They made their entrance and the room seemed to stand still as everyone stopped what they were doing to look at them. Or more precisely, to look at Jenna. They were all curious about this newcomer and it made for an uncomfortable moment or two of silence.
