Read Online Warrior's Moon by Lucy Monroe - Free Book Online

them.
    “What happened was that you made promises that had no more substance than the morning mist.” And no amount of explaining could change that.
    “I meant my words to you when I spoke them.”
    That was supposed to matter to her? She jerked her wrist from his hold. “But not later.”
    He’d broken his vows and she’d ended up married to an old man whose touch had near to driven her insane. If she had not had her children, Shona would not have survived the last years.
    She was sure of it.
    She moved away, intent on finding Eadan and Marjory. He did not try to stop her again.
    She pushed against the door, but it did not give. If Caelis were indeed telling the truth, then Audrey or Thomas must have dropped the bar into place on the other side. She appreciated her friends’ dedication to safety, but Shonawould not return to the guest room without confirming her children’s well-being.
    She knocked softly on the door, knowing the siblings slept more lightly than even her son.
    Only a few seconds passed before the door swung inward, revealing Thomas’s sleepy countenance.
    “You wish to see the little ones,” he guessed.
    She nodded.
    Thomas stepped back and Shona moved into the room. The candle she carried casting a soft glow over the space, revealing the bedding on the floor where Thomas had obviously been resting. Beyond that was a bed similar to the one Shona had been sleeping in, but this one was a lot more crowded with Audrey in the middle and Eadan and Marjory on either side of her.
    Audrey’s eyes were open, but she did not move. Obviously not wanting to disturb the children, she sent Shona a small smile of reassurance. Eadan shifted, making a soft noise, but he didn’t wake, proving just how exhausting the past sennights had been for him.
    Shona did not speak, but simply sent a questioning glance to Audrey. The blond woman gave an infinitesimal nod, telling Shona all was well.
    Thomas patted her on the shoulder. “We will waken you in the morning when they rise, if you are still sleeping.”
    He spoke quietly, his mouth very near her ear.
    She nodded, sending them both a grateful smile before going back into the hall. Caelis stood there, glowering at Thomas as Shona pulled the door closed behind her.
    She turned to face the man she was quickly coming to view as her nemesis. “I cannot imagine what you find so objectionable about young Thomas, but he will grow into a fine warrior with great honor one day. You will stop glaring at him so.”
    “He is already a man.”
    “He is but nineteen.” Which admittedly was three years past the generally acknowledged advent into manhood, butThomas was still so
young
. Despite his own experiences to the contrary, he saw the world through eyes that believed in man’s goodness and inherent honor.
    “He is almost a child.” Though she knew he would not thank her for saying so.
    “He is too familiar with you.”
    “He is my friend.”
    Caelis appeared unmoved. “So he claimed earlier.”

Chapter 5

    The Chrechte are stronger than humans but not superior to them. They are brethren as the Faol are brethren to the Paindeal and the Éan.
    —C AHIR TRADITIONS
    T he tone of Caelis’s voice implied he was no happier
about her friendship with Thomas than he was about the youth’s supposed
familiarity
with her.
    Shona gave a mental shrug. Caelis’s feelings were of little import to her. “It is true.”
    She considered Audrey and Thomas the siblings her parents had never been blessed to provide her. Shona had never looked on them as servants as her husband and the rest of the household did.
    “Does every male
friend
you have whisper words into your ears as a lover would do?”
    “You are daft. Thomas is no more lover-like than…than a
fish
. He and Audrey are my dearest friends.” Shona’s only true friends, if she wanted to be honest about it.
    Shona had allowed none but those two to breach the walls she’d built around her heart after this man’s betrayal