Read Online The King of Sleep by Caiseal Mor - Free Book Online

has been taken away from us. The only alternative is sleep. Our brothers and sisters are asleep.”
    â€œI wish I could awaken them,” he whispered.
    â€œThere’s nothing we can do for the others now. They’re entombed in the heart of the stones and beyond our help. If we are to save ourselves from sharing their terrible fate, we must concentrate all our energies on the next turning of the seasons. Before this coming Samhain our future will be reckoned.”
    Lochie went to the edge of the hilltop and closed his eyes, reassured by her words. He stood there for a long while before he spoke again. “I remember there was a time when I had to struggle to convince you we had any chance of steering our own fate. You seemvery confident now that liberty from this bond of immortality is within our grasp.”
    â€œI took your advice. I’ve kept myself busy. After all, it was world-weariness and boredom that made our brothers and sisters lose heart. And in my idle hours I’ve been working away on that wager we made in the days before the coming of the Gaedhals.”
    â€œYou still believe you can win that bet?” Lochie chortled, shaking his head in mockery at her confidence.
    â€œAoife will never marry Mahon, the son of Cecht,” she stated definitely. “And I have so woven her fate into the means of our freedom that you will gasp at the intricacy of my plan. I will win the wager and break our bonds in one stroke.”
    â€œWhy does Aoife interest you so much? She’s no more than the daughter of a king whose people are in decline. In three or four generations they will call themselves Gaedhals and have forgotten all about their heritage.”
    â€œIt amuses me to dabble in the lives of these folk,” Isleen answered with a shrug. “I’ve learned that maintaining an active mind keeps me alert. It staves off the sleep of stone. And I find I enjoy exerting influence over the affairs of others.”
    With a mischievous smile Isleen sauntered up to Lochie and with each pace her long cloak slipped away inch by inch from her shoulders. Beneath this garment she wore a pair of black traveling breeches and a leather tunic that accentuated the contours of her body.
    â€œI have you to thank for inspiring me again,” she said as she laid a gentle hand upon Lochie’s chest.
    She searched his eyes and he returned her smile. “I’m feeling much more like my old self. It’s as if I’ve woken from a long, dismal dream. I’ve rediscovered the pleasure and the pain of mortalkind. I’ve nurtured the spark of passion in my soul and it has warmed my spirit. I’m sure that’s what has saved me from the terrible fate of our seven companions.”
    â€œMay their souls find peace,” Lochie added solemnly.
    â€œThey are beyond our help,” she rebuked him gently. “There is nothing we can do for them. Our duty is to ourselves. Are you willing to keep working with me toward our goal?”
    â€œI am.”
    Isleen put a hand under Lochie’s chin, lifted his head and, with their eyes still locked, leaned forward to kiss him gently on the lips.
    â€œI’ve grown accustomed to my mortal form,” she admitted as she stroked her fingers through his hair. “I will be sad indeed when the time comes to abandon it forever.”
    â€œOne day our souls will soar free from the prison of our enchantment,” Lochie assured her. “When our spirits quit this Earth and go to rest among our kindred in the Halls of Waiting, we’ll have a reason to rejoice for the first time in many generations.”
    Isleen closed her eyes and nodded slowly in agreement. “I will share the quest for death with you, my friend. But for now let’s enjoy these forms of flesh,the world of texture, of flavor and aroma. If we should fail and our dreams come to nothing, we’ll find ourselves trapped within the cold stones alongside our