Read Online Dawnflight by Kim Iverson Headlee - Free Book Online

savages wanted to make him look like one of them.
    Dumarec said to Dafydd, “Please tell Chieftain Ogryvan that Lord Urien will be honored to comply.” He dismissed Dafydd with a word of thanks. The man bowed to both of them and left.
    “I have no other choice, then?”
    Dumarec answered, “Not if you wish to fully demonstrate your—our—good faith in this alliance.” His countenance darkened.
    “Arthur’s alliance.” Both words left a bad taste in Urien’s mouth.
    “Brydein’s alliance.” Dumarec waved a finger. “In case you haven’t figured it out yet, son, Moray lands will double with the addition of Argyll’s. Good farmlands too.”
    “Yes, Father, I know.” Another thought occurred, and the irony made Urien grin. “The Moray power base will double, and I’ll be able to challenge Arthur for the Pendragonship.”
    “You will do no such thing.” Even though Dumarec kept his voice low, the intensity of his words caused Talarf to snort and stamp. Urien couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his father so angry, and it took him aback. “Your destiny, Urien map Dumarec, is to take my place. Not Arthur’s. And your destiny begins tonight, when you present yourself to your future wife to receive the betrothal tattoo and demonstrate your acceptance of her people’s ways, strange as they may seem.” Gripping the stall door’s ledge, he leaned closer to Urien. “Understood?”
    After holding his father’s gaze for a long moment, Urien nodded, not so much out of obedience to Dumarec as in acknowledgment to himself that he wanted Gyanhumara more than any woman he had ever known. With any other woman, he would have walked away. But his passion for Gyanhumara flew far beyond the desire to control her land. Her proud beauty drove away all thought of her barbaric origins. His loins ached.
    So he would play her little game and wear the tattoos. Eventually, she would pay a price for the indignity. Squatting to reach the underside of Talarf’s chest, he allowed himself a smile his father couldn’t see. Collecting the toll from his wife promised to be quite a pleasure indeed.
    And he vowed never to let slip his ambitions to another soul again.

    BLESSED BY the High Priest of Clan Argyll, Gyan and Urien performed the traditional Caledonach betrothal ritual. Under the watchful eyes of both fathers, the Dailriatanaich, and as many of Clan Argyll as could pack into the feast hall, another priest inscribed the woad tattoo of the braided band around the couple’s left wrists.
    They shared wine from a wide-mouthed, ornate pewter cup crafted for the occasion. To the jubilant shouts and foot stompings of the witnesses, lips met lips for the first time.
    Gyan felt his mouth devouring hers, as if he wanted his teeth to leave their tattoo on her tongue. Blood thundered in her ears. Her heart hammered like the wings of a trapped dove. The wine on his breath mixed with the tang of his leather tunic and the smokiness of the feast hall to make her stomach churn. Fighting for breath, she struggled to break away. His arms crushed her tighter before they relaxed.
    She took a step backward. The look he wore seemed fiercely triumphant, as though he had just won the hardest-fought contest of his life. As the glitter of his eyes dimmed, embers glowed in the aftermath of the blaze. She was certain those embers could flare to life at any moment, without warning.
    Her instincts screamed that Urien was not the right man, that it wasn’t too late to cancel the betrothal, send the Dailriatanaich away, and choose someone else. She didn’t have a definite reason, only that somehow it felt…wrong.
    Yet how could she retreat from this? Based on what? A mere feeling? What if those instincts were misleading her? What if the mother of her doubts was fear? Could she deny her people their first chance for peace with their Breatanach neighbors and live with herself afterward?
    No.
    Urien’s mouth softened into a smile. Gone was all trace