*
Ballygub, Kilkenny: May 1570
Revelin awakened to the splash of rain upon his face. Yet how could that be? The roof of his new home was soundly in place.
“What on earth?” he exclaimed, sitting up in bed.
Meghan’s laughter was impish. “’Tis Beltane dew,” she informed him, liberally sprinkling him with another handful from the basin she held. “Ye must be quick to catch the power of charms on Beltane morn!”
Revelin wiped the dew from his face, frowning in mock irritation. “Is that all I must do, come soggy to the breakfast table?”
“Oh no,” Meghan answered, shaking her head gravely. “Ye must go out and find a fairy bush. When ye do, ye must crawl naked into it.”
Revelin’s lips twitched. “I’d rather stay here and crawl naked into you!” He grabbed her before she had a chance to guess his intent and tumbled her into bed beside him, uncaring that her basin spilled all over them.
“Ach! Look what ye’ve done!” she cried. “There’s none left for me!”
“You don’t need it! Half the county stops by our door each day in hopes that you’ll charm away some ailment or another. Your fame has spread so wide that I never have you to myself
anymore,” he complained as his fingers worked the fastenings of her gown.
Meghan leaned forward, kissing his bare chest. “Ye have me now.”
“So I do,” he said in perfect pleasure as he lowered her bodice and leaned over to nuzzle her neck. “So I do. Well, fairy, what charm will ye work on me?”
“A love charm,” Meghan replied, wiggling to help him pull off her gown.
Revelin’s eyes grew warm at the sight of her, soft and flushed with their exertions. “I don’t know,” he said doubtfully. “Ye keep me weary as it is, with the loving of ye. Another charm
may kill me altogether!”
Meghan sat back on her heels, enjoying the open admiration in her husband’s face. “Well, I suppose there’s nae need for it, seeing as how even now there’s a new loaf in the oven.”
Revelin looked at her. Her breasts were high and full, the peaks darkened by her first pregnancy, but her belly was as flat as he remembered it before the birth of their daughter, and her waist was incredibly small. Only her hips were a little wider, the flare of her backside a greater distraction than before.
“Well,” he said, expelling the word on a long breath. “’Twould only be sensible to make certain, I’m thinking.”
“Aye,” Meghan agreed, the bright light of passion heating her blue eyes. “Aye, I would make certain, were I ye.” And she leaned closer, offering her mouth to his.
An hour later the sound of a rider drew them reluctantly from their bed.
“’Tis Piers!” Revelin announced with delight when he stuck his head out the window. “I haven’t seen him in months. There must be news from Black Tom!”
They had meant to dress quickly, but the temptation to stop often to kiss and touch and giggle like the newlyweds they were was too much to resist.
“At last,” Piers pronounced when the pair appeared belowstairs. “I was well on my way to reiving the place just to teach you a lesson in the manners of a host. If not for that carrot-topped Scotsman you call a commandant, I’d have died of thirst.”
“Don’t belittle Meghan’s soldiers,” Revelin answered as he watched his wife be swept up in his uncle’s embrace. “I’ll have you know Conn is a wonderful nanny. Sorcha loves him to distraction.”
Piers looked about. “Where’s the wee lass?”
“I’ll get her,” Meghan offered and hurried off.
Piers watched her go with a smile. “She grows more beautiful each time I see her. God, but I wish I’d found her first!”
Revelin smiled indulgently. “Did you come only to tell me how much you lust after my wife?”
Piers chuckled. “Nae, I’ve come to say that the matter with Carew has come to an end.”
“He’s not dead?”
“Nae, and a sorry thing that is, too. A wee bit of help on Tom’s part has settled the matter. The queen has ordered Carew to stay behind the lines of his own property and leave the settling of matters to men with some sense!”
Revelin nodded. The fighting had gone on through the fall before Carew had given up trying to best the Butlers. With spring here, he had feared the trouble might begin all over again. “What will you do now?”
Piers’s eyes twinkled. “The queen, rightly so, was a bit peeved with me brothers Edmund and Edward. She’s asking them to prove their loyalty by serving in the field against rebels.”
Revelin struggled against a smile. “Rebels?” he questioned innocently.
“Aye, there are a few Irish lords who’re apt to forget we’ve a sovereign to obey, a parcel of degenerate Anglo-Irishmen who need a lesson!”
“They would not go by the name of Fitzgerald, would they?”
Piers roared with laughter. “The very name, lad!”
So, the Butlers were going into the field against their Irish enemies, the Fitzgeralds. Nothing had changed.
“Here she is,” Meghan cried, swinging her daughter up into her arms. She came forward quickly, pride showing in her eyes. “Is Sorcha not the most beautiful lass ye ever saw?”
Both men looked at the blond, blue-eyed lass with only a pair of dimples marking her rosy cheeks and smiled.
“Aye, she’s that,” Piers pronounced. He slanted a sly look at Revelin. “But where, lad, are your sons?”
Revelin patted Meghan’s stomach, “Here, uncle. Have a little patience.”
Piers’s face lit up. “Well then, I don’t suppose you’ll want to go chasing Fitzgeralds?”
Revelin shook his head and smiled. “I like the life of an Irish squire. “’Tis peaceful here with my family, my cattle, and my mercenaries. Two of them are to be wed next month. We’ll be a village before you know it.”
Piers nodded. “You’re a lucky man.”
“There’s nothing to it, when ye live a charmed life,” Revelin replied, hugging his wife and child.
GLOSSARY
Anglo-Irish: Ancestors of the Normans who invaded Ireland in the twelfth century. The Butler and Fitzgerald families are two examples.
Arh Righ:
High King, title of king of Ireland.
bean feasa:
A wise woman thought to possess magic powers.
Beltane: First day of May, Ancient Celtic holiday.
Beltane dew: Dew collected on Beltane. Thought to have magic properties.
bonaghts:
Mercenaries. Not to be confused with
galloglaighs.
Outlaws, men without clan or family loyalty.
Brehan Law: Ancient Celtic body of law.
Buitiler a buadh:
“Butler to victory!” battle cry.
bundling: A trial marriage of one year during which the woman proves her fertility by becoming pregnant.
cailleach:
Fairy.
Carlow: County in Leinster.
ceannabhan mona:
Wild bog cotton.
coshering: Seasonal migration of cow herders from valley winter pastures to high summer pastures.
eraic:
Blood money. Fine paid to the family of a dead clansman by the perpetrator.
faolchon allmhardha:
“Foreign wolves,” derogatory.
Fian, pl. Fianna: A standing army of specially selected and trained warriors who carried out the mandates of the
Arh Righ.
Finn, Fionn: Fionn MacCumail, (Finn MacCool) legendary hero and leader of the Fian.
Fostering: The Irish custom of sending noble children to be raised in the households of other noble families. Strengthened loyalties between families and clans. Adopted by Anglo-Irish.
Gael: Native Irish. The O’Neills are an example.
galloglaigh:
“Young foreigner.” A professional soldier of the warrior Scottish clans, they were the mainstay of every Irish Chieftain’s kerne (army).
gallowglass:
English corruption of
gallogaigh.
ghalliobh:
“Foreigner.” Term used by the Gaels to distinguish between Anglo-Irish and the “new” English colonists of Elizabeth I. Not derogatory.
Idrone: Town in County Carlow.
kerne: Irish chieftain’s army or retainers.
Kilkenny: County in Leinster. Town in County Kilkenny.
leine:
Shapeless tunic worn by Irish women.
Leinster: Provence in S.E. Ireland.
Mallacht: “Curse” or malediction.
Otherworld: The abode of the fairies and other mythological creatures of Ireland.
poitin:
Irish whiskey.
reive: Steal, specifically, cattle rustling.
Saint Brigid’s Day: February 1. Irish holiday.
skean: Irish dagger, long blade.
spailpin:
Tramp.
suilolc:
Evil eye.
tanist: Second in command to a chieftain and his chosen successor.
Ualter: Name meaning wolf.
uisce beatha:
“Water of life.” Irish whiskey.
usquebaugh:
Irish whiskey.
whiteflesh: Milk and its byproducts: cream, cheese, butter. A summer staple for the Irish for hundreds of years.