''chrissy ! chrissy! His ships are here!!!" Chrissy had been a flurry of motion.....the words brought her to a dead standstill in the center of the tower,,,,, a sudden cascade of both fear and anticipation sweeping through her..... She had not believed that he would come!!!!!
But with Christine de Tresse crying out the warning from the wooden parapet beyond her open tower door,,,,,,chrissy could no longer doubt his promise that he would have his due....... She stared at christine's anxious face for a moment,,,,,, dropped the tunic of definitely crafted mail she'd held , chamber and ran out along the stone wall to stare out to sea from the parapet......... Indeed ,,,,, he was coming....
Dear God it had been a day like this when he had first come......it seemed so long ago now!!!!!! Was he always to catch her in adversity such as this????? Would she always be left to wonder if he had come to her aid-or to destroy her completely???
There was no question today,,,,,, she told herself.......He had come for what he considered his......
She felt suddenly hot and cold at once......she pressed the back of her hand to her face......Her face felt like fire,,, her hand like ice.....
God ,,,he was coming,,,he was coming.....Wave after wave of tremors shot through her,,,,, sweeping her up.....It seemed so long since she had seen him.....As if it weren't enough that a thousand Danes under that loathed shon were at her door!!!!!! Now ,,,he was coming,,,too.... After so long.... Maybe there was alot he had remembered......
And God,,,how ridiculous!!! She wasn't half as afraid of meeting the Danes as she was of meeting him!!!!
Not afraid.......
Yes!!!! Afraid,,, after all that she had done..... And surely,,,with what his coming must mean!!!!!
Dear lord,,he was almost here......she could see his ship,,,,, see the man!!!!! It was extraordinary ship with it's huge dragon prow...... He rode his ship just as he had those many years ago when she had first seen him......
One booted foot was high upon the helm......His great arms were crossed over his heavily muscled chest...... A crimson mantle,,,,,, broached at his shoulder with an ancient Celtic emblem,,,,flew wild behind him with the whip of the sea wind....... His hair,,,, as golden and rich as the sun,,,,,, also flew back......
She couldn't see his eyes yet,,,,,,,but she didn't need to see them .....she could remember them all too well.......
God,,,,yes,,,she could remember them their color!!! Remember that astounding,,,, piercing blue......Sky blue,,,,sea blue,,,deeper than cobalt,,brighter than sapphires...... They were eyes that looked at her,,,and through her ,,,stripping her bare to soul.......
"So,,he will not come,,,eh??"
She heard the taunting question spoken from a rich masculine voice at her rear and spun around quickly......
Sheldon was there on the walkway with her ,,,as ancient as the moon ,,,,as nagging as a fisherwife..... He wagged a finger at her ..... "Milady ,,,you cannot turn your back on a bargain with such a man!!!"
" I made no bargain!!! You did "
"I bargained for our lives !!!" Sheldon reminded her with great dignity...."And thank thegood Lord !!!it does appear that you might have need of the man again .....Then again ,, perhaps the young jarl is angry and not in the mood to be very helpful,,,eh ?