“Is this all?”
“Aye,” he responded.“Say your farewells so we may depart.”
“I will stand at the helm of my own ship.”
“So long as you do not lose your way, I will allow it.”
Her mouth dropped open in disbelief.“You’ll allow it?I’ll remind you that whatever dominion over me you think this ceremony has granted is not something I will acknowledge.If I want to lead my fleet,” she tapped a finger to her breastbone, “ then I will lead them.Whether you sanction my actions or not.”
“The seas can be rough.I sought only to ensure the storms did not overwhelm you and your crew.”
She rolled her eyes.“Have you forgotten who it is you have wed?I have led my own raiding party for more than a decade and I do not need a nursemaid.I have encountered storms before, and faced far worse foes than a bolt of lightning or a rogue wave.”
The brehon cleared his throat, interrupting whatever rejoinder Toran was going to make.
When the fleet was ready, the hulls much lighter than they had been when they docked, Toran stood on the wooden pier and waited for his bride.
When she finally strode toward him, the sun was high in the sky, and they’d be working against the tide.
Her hair was knotted into intricate plaits, black feathers woven into them, her black battle mask newly painted.Her expression was fierce and she wore her own arsenal of weapons.
“Let us make haste,” he said when she was near enough to hear.
“Do not fret over my navigation skills, each uisge.I have been managing the currents here since I was five summers.My fleet and I will follow you.”
When she brushed past him, he grasped the hand that swung at her side.“I forget that I’ve taken an asp as a wife,” his tone was teasing.
She halted and shot him an inscrutable look over her shoulder.“And I have wed a sea monster,” she said as she shook off his touch.
Her ship was anchored behind his own, and she leapt onto the deck to take her place at the styrbord.
The square sail billowed in the breeze, and ruffled the long cloak dangling from her shoulders.He watched, transfixed as she discarded it, before shaking his head and turning to his own crew.
His man at arms, Glamorgan, was standing with his feet braced wide and his arms folded over his massive chest.The look he gave Toran was full of mischief.
“Fascinated, are ye?”
Toran glowered at his giant of a friend.“Leave off,” he grumbled.
Glamorgan burst into boisterous, rusty laughter before clapping Toran on the back so hard he stumbled backward and nearly went overboard.
“Careful with your bear paws, lout.”
Glamorgan just grinned at his irritation.“The lasses love my bear paws,” he said as he waved them suggestively.“Big enough to fondle the curve of any arse.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Toran responded with a grin he couldn’t hold back.He’d need his friend’s levity to resist the clamor of his beast.Since the ceremony earlier, its demands had grown more stringent by the minute.It wanted to claim its mate, and Toran was hard-pressed to hold onto the reins that controlled it.
He would do it though, because he had agreed that when the consummation occurred it would be after he and his bride had more than a passing acquaintance.
Chapter Five
Brunhild’sfirstglimpseofthe each uisge kingdom filled her with unease.The island was surrounded by rocky shoals and monoliths that rose from the waves like jagged teeth.
There was a rough stone keep, a huge round tower on the headland that she assumed would be her home.
A crowd of people waited on the shore with drums and pipes and platters of food when she and her crew waded ashore after anchoring the boat.She saw her new husband land gracefully in the water, and shouldn’t have been surprised when he slid his arm around her waist just as her feet met the sand.
“We present a united front, mate,” he growled into her ear.