Children of the Moon 04 - Dragon's Moon

have found me very frustrating…must still find me a great trial.” She whispered the last as she dropped her head, not wanting to see the truth of her words in her father’s eyes.
    “I have never had the desire to hurt you,” Laird Talorc, the only father who had ever wanted her , said with quiet vehemence. “And an honorable man does not hurt a child.”
    “Or someone too weak to protect herself,” Ciara said with a glance toward Mairi, who though no longer a child, was in no way strong enough to stand against a Chrechte male.
    Talorc made a sound of disgust. “The MacLeod is no honorable Faol. He preys on the weak.”
    “So, his daughter, who was beaten near to death, she has reason to seek sanctuary with another clan.” Ciara raised her head so she could once again meet his eyes.
    He was looking at her with a hope she did not understand in this context. “Perhaps.”
    The word shocked her as she fully expected him to offer Mairi the protection of the Sinclair. “Please.”
    “Do you entreat me as your laird?” he asked with an expression she hoped she was finally reading aright.
    “No, I entreat you as my father, a better father than the MacLeod could ever hope to be.” Talorc had earned the title and the praise.
    And her love as a daughter, no matter how much it might terrify her to give it. It had always been there, she realized and pretending it wasn’t would not make it hurt any less if she lost her second family as she had her first.
    Abigail made a sound that Ciara just knew meant she was crying. When Ciara looked at her, the older woman’s eyes were indeed spilling tears, but her smile was brighter than the full moon shining through the window.
    Ciara felt unwelcome moisture in her own eyes and she turned her head to hide her weakness.
    Her father reached out and gently turned it back with a hold on her chin. “It is all right.”
    She blinked away the moisture. “Is it?”
    She had finally admitted she had a family to lose again. It did not feel all right. It felt petrifying.
    “Aye, daughter. It is.” He gave her a stern look. “Do not think this will get you out of a firm lecture from your mother for sneaking out to run alone at night.”
    Ciara almost laughed, but the amusement bubbled up to end on an aborted hiccup of sound. “I will not.”
    “I will give Mairi of the MacLeod sanctuary.”
    “Wait,” the bruised woman said from the bed.
    Talorc turned toward her. “You came onto my lands broken from another Chrechte’s fists. You sought sanctuary.”
    “But I would not have you extend it without fully considering the consequences.”
    “Your father will consider it an act of war.” Talorc’s tone said it did not matter.
    “Yes.” Mairi looked away. “He does not value me, but he does value his pride. To have another clan take me in would prick it.”
    “And for that, he would go to war,” Abigail said with clear disgust.
    Talorc smiled indulgently at his wife. Eirik caught Ciara’s gaze and asked with his eyes if Abigail were truly that naïve. Ciara gave a slight nod of her head. She believed most people good and petty tyrants like the MacLeod the exception rather than the rule.
    If she had not been so optimistic, she never would have taken a chance on Talorc of the Sinclairs though and so none of them would ever complain.
    The dragon shook his head, the warrior braids at his left temple swinging gently.
    “The MacLeod is no ally of the Sinclairs.” Talorc’s tone implied nor would the man ever be.
    “But you are not at war with him,” Mairi said, wincing when she tried to move.
    Lais jumped forward and laid a hand on her shoulder.“I could not heal you completely. You must be careful with yourself.”
    She blushed and nodded, wonder glowing in her blue gaze.
    Lais smiled at her, tucking the blankets more firmly around her. “Good girl.”
    “I am not a girl,” Mairi claimed quietly.
    Lais’s smile heated and Ciara felt she should look away, it was so intimate. “I know,” he said, his own tone low and approving.
    Eirik smirked. Abigail smiled mistily and Ciara wondered if she’d just seen what she thought she had…the birth of a mating.
    Her father shook his head, smacking the Éan healer on his shoulder. “I’ll preside over the mating so your prince can stand beside you.”
    Mairi’s eyes widened, her mouth opening and closing, but no sound issuing forth.
    Lais’s smile shifted to a glare he directed first at his friend and then his laird,