Excerpt time! The Maiden of the Grove, releasing Dec 4!
Tendrils of Aila’s deep crimson hair escaped her hood and swirled around her head in a wispy halo. She found a fallen log, soft in the middle from years of exposure to weather, and she perched on it, trying to find her peace in nature as Malmuira had taught her. When emotions were high, the scents and sounds of the Mother’s world cleared her head and invigorated her body.
Clean mind, clean body, clean spirit. Malmuira had spoken that chant over and over until it was well ingrained in Aila’s mind.
But it didn’t work. The weight of Fion’s death was too heavy, too grievous, for the Mother’s beauty to clear her conscience. Just as the burning tears of guilt and shame threatened to fall, the crinkling of leaves startled her. She whirled around on the log to see Eian approach through the trees.
His robust bare legs and rich, earthy hair could be seen from under his long tunic — the rest of him was wrapped in his stone-blue plaid breacan. With his wide shoulders and powerful chest covered in wool, he resembled a variegated wall walking toward her. Aila sagged at his appearance and turned back around on the log.
Eian reached where she sat and stood behind her, blocking some of the wind. Out of respect, he didn’t touch her but stood close enough that the heat of his body, that which wasn’t whipped away by the biting wind, pressed against her. As much as part of her brain told her she shouldn’t welcome his nearness, the rest of her body did. Unconsciously, she leaned back toward him until her arasaid brushed his bare legs.
“I saw ye run out of the funeral when his mother started to place the rocks on his cairn. I placed a rock for ye, then followed. Are ye unwell?”
Aila exhaled. Eian, always at her defense and protection. Even when he didn’t understand, or even like, her actions, he staunchly defended her, nonetheless. How did she end up with such a loyal friend when she was so self-involved in her skill and healing arts? She didn’t deserve a friend like Eian.
