“If she pleases you, consider her a present,” Egan responded, but after assisting her onto the mare’s back, he quickly turned away.
Now convinced something truly was amiss, Oriana watched with a wary eye as Egan gave the final instructions to the boy who would carry the cadge, the wooden platform on which four magnificent hooded birds rested. Three were large gyrfalcons and the fourth a smaller peregrine.
More than a dozen young men were gathered for the hunt, as well as several guards who handled the hounds, but Oriana wondered about the absence of Bevan and his sons. She searched for Kieran, but when he and Egan got along so poorly, she supposed he had preferred to remain in bed. There were no other women present, but she received polite nods in greeting as though she were welcome.
As they left the fortress, Egan and Albyn closed in beside her and she soon gave up any hope of slipping away unnoticed. The morning air was crisp and cool, fine for hunting from what she overheard of the men’s conversation. The hunting dogs would flush the pheasant from their nests in the grass, and they trotted along seemingly as eager to hunt as the men.
“You’re very quiet,” Albyn observed.
“I didn’t rest well,” Oriana replied.
Egan glanced past her to catch Albyn’s eye. “You needn’t smirk. She’s complaining about the storm, not my attentions.”
Any young woman should have been happy with such attentive male company, but Oriana’s mind wandered as Albyn and Egan continued to exchange teasing barbs. The mare had a smooth gait, but she was still uncomfortable. She slid her free hand over Adelaine’s wooden beads and wondered if she had ridden over the same trail.
“This meadow will do,” Egan suddenly announced, and as the others drew to a halt, he slid from Raven’s back to pluck Oriana from her mare. He offered a heavily padded gauntlet. “Would you like to cast one of the birds, or merely watch?”
Still perplexed by her memory-laden dream, Oriana shook her head. “I’ll be content to watch, my lord.”
Egan slid his left hand into the glove. He waited for the cadge boy to place the cadge on the ground and then bent down to unfasten the leash holding his favorite bird. He lifted her easily, then took a firm grip on the belled jesses tied to her legs. He turned to face her into the wind, and she flexed her wings.
He removed the falcon’s hood, allowing the bird to peer at Oriana with its large dark eyes. “Is this the type of falcon your mother owned?”
She was a beauty, but smaller than what Oriana remembered. “I was very young, so it’s difficult to tell.”
“Perhaps seeing her fly will refresh your memory.” Egan called to his companions. “I’ll send my bird out first, then the rest of you will have a chance. Release the dogs.”
Set free, the spotted dogs leaped and barked as they rushed into the grassy meadow and immediately sent a pheasant fluttering into the air. Egan relaxed his hold on the jesses and cast his gyrfalcon aloft. She streaked away, her wings a graceful bow as she climbed high.
Fascinated, Oriana stood quietly by Egan’s side as they watched the falcon circle overhead to gain the necessary altitude to swoop down for the kill. Then from out of nowhere came a second and much larger falcon. It climbed with Egan’s female, then flew in close to catch a clawed foot, and with wings aflutter, the two birds spun together in a tight spiral.
Oriana reached for Egan’s arm. “Are they fighting?”
“No, he wants to mate with her, but I’ve never seen a male grow to that size.”
“Neither have I,” Albyn agreed, as did the men who closed ranks behind them.
The pheasant forgotten, the falcons continued their slow graceful descent until level with the adjacent treetops. Then the male released the female and soared toward the sun. Blinded by the light, all had to look away, but when they dared scan the sky, the male had vanished without a trace, and Egan’s female had brought the pheasant to earth unobserved.
The knowing spoke to Oriana clearly then, and she looked up at Egan with a radiant smile. “That was the falcon my mother owned.”
Egan cautiously turned his back toward Albyn. “Lugh cloaked in feathers?” he whispered.
“Did you hear that too?” Oriana asked excitedly.
“No, I simply saw it in your face.” Egan again glanced toward the heavens, but found only the clear azure sky. “What does it mean?”
Oriana considered it a sign that she had neither been forgotten nor abandoned. It had been an astonishing sight, and over far too swiftly. “It has to be a good omen. Now, shouldn’t you fetch your bird before she leaves nothing of the pheasant but a pile of feathers?”
Egan squeezed her hands in a gesture that made it clear he would have more to say later. “Aye, my lady. She’s been taught to expect a nice piece of meat in exchange for her efforts, and I’d hate to disappoint her.”
Oriana remained where she stood as Egan strode off through the meadow. She could feel the weight of Albyn’s glance, but was too elated to care. “It’s been many years since I’ve watched such a hunt, but it’s wonderfully exciting, isn’t it?”
Her eyes were aglow with a striking brilliance, and she was so beautiful Albyn found it difficult not to stare. “The wild falcon was huge, like nothing I’ve ever seen. You described your mother as being as gentle as her name. Did she truly own such a fierce predator?”
Oriana shrugged demurely. “Childhood memories are often vivid, but sometimes inaccurate. Perhaps she had only a pet sparrow.”
“I doubt that, my lady.” He raised a hand to cover a yawn. “Forgive me. I did not sleep well either.”