“You mustn’t be insulted when it works to our advantage. Because Egan accepted Kieran’s challenge, he’ll have to go first. Rather than rely on three Druids to judge the winner, everyone viewing this spectacle will count off the time spent in the air.”
“Doesn’t distance matter?”
“We discussed it,” Albyn added, “but if either man goes floating off into the clouds, men on horseback will have to pursue him. That shouldn’t happen though. They’re expected to remain within sight here in the valley.”
Oriana was so anxious for the ridiculous contest to be over, she could scarcely breathe. She reached out her hand and Albyn took it in a warm grasp. “I want to believe that we did all we could,” she stressed.
Albyn drew in a ragged breath and let it out slowly. “We gave Egan six days he’d not have had, and it was enough.”
Puzzled, Oriana withdrew her hand. “Enough for what?”
Albyn wished he could smile, but there was no joy in his heart to produce such a pleasant expression. “Enough time to bid you a loving farewell.”
Had he struck her, she could not have been more deeply hurt. “You’re wrong,” she swore. “Egan expects to fly, not die for the amusement of this crowd out for a bit of sport.”
She refused to waste another instant in Albyn’s distressing company and rode off at an angle toward the mountain where she would have an excellent view, but no one to speak her deepest fears aloud.
Chapter Twenty-one
Egan had concentrated on mastering the wing and had failed to anticipate how incredibly taxing it would be to climb Mount Royal. Each time he paused to catch his breath, he became even more grateful that he had set out before Kieran. His side throbbed with a dull ache, but he had not realized how much blood he had lost, or that he would tire so easily.
Yowan greeted him as he rounded the last twisting curve. “Ah, there you are, lad. Come look. We’ve added a piece underneath to frame your harness. It will make guiding the wing much easier.”
Still short of breath, Egan leaned over to rest his hands on his knees. His cousins bore sufficient scrapes and bruises for him to instantly understand why such a modification had been deemed necessary. “Does it work?” he asked.
The young men broke into wide grins. “You’ll float like a leaf in the wind,” the elder promised.
Egan straightened and gazed out over the valley where spectators were swarming like bees. The most distant was a red-haired woman astride a white horse, and with an instant flash of temper, he recognized Oriana.
He had told her to remain at the fortress, but she had disregarded his wishes. That she was by herself rather than with Albyn infuriated him even more until he located his friend mounted nearby.
The pair were off by themselves rather than with his kinsmen, and it hurt that his lovely bride was so alone. Then it occurred to him that Albyn had positioned them for an immediate escape should his flight not succeed as they hoped. He refused to accept such cautious behavior might actually be necessary.
Yowan leaned out over the ledge to observe Kieran’s progress up the mountain. “Better bid your brother a last farewell,” he advised with a low chuckle. “That wing’s too small to carry a man of his size.”
Egan wished he possessed even half of Yowan’s confidence. He was accustomed to subduing his fears by tightening his grip on his sword, and hated being without a weapon now. He raised his arm to wave at Oriana, but feared she was too far away to see him clearly.
Hoping to make her proud, he began to question his cousins. “Tell me everything you can. Even the smallest detail may prove to be the most valuable.”
“Whenever there was a short break in the rain, we ran with the wing,” one explained. “Even running into the wind, it lifts a man off his feet,” added the other.
Buoyed by their enthusiasm, Egan nodded and encouraged them to continue, but he could not help but believe there might be a vast difference between hopping along the ground and leaping from Mount Royal.
Praying for help from the gods, he looked up, and immediately spotted a magnificent hawk flying in ever-widening circles. Swiftly convinced it was the same giant bird he had seen with Oriana, he did not care whether it was Lugh cloaked in feathers, since with every slow turn the hawk revealed how a daring man might also float upon an invisible river of air.
By the time Kieran and his companions reached the ledge, Egan was eager to fly. He noted his half brother’s incredulous glance at the larger proportions of his wing and stepped forward to meet him.
“It’s not too late to concede the challenge to me,” Egan invited.
Kieran had been supremely confident he would win, but Egan’s wing was easily half again as large as his own. Egan had scarcely been able to stand when he had accepted this challenge, and Kieran was deeply disappointed to find him looking so relaxed and fit.
Kieran hid his dismay behind a mocking grin. “Why should I concede when you’ll be the first to fly?”
Egan spread his hands wide. “I fear I’ve been a poor brother, and I’d hope to make up for it now by sparing you a painful and bloody humiliation.”
Kieran laughed easily at that colorful insult. “Go on, leap off the mountain, and we’ll see who’s humiliated.”
Egan nodded slightly. “I’m eager to go, but don’t forget that I offered you a chance to save yourself.”