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He’d not lost his brother twice before to bid him any kind of fare-thee-well now Clans weren’t like ether, worked together, played together, and raised their children together Conquered their own little corner of the world and stuffed it to overfloith their unique, proud heritage

Hence Dageus and Chloe had taken up residence in the castle, settling happily into a suite in the ing, opposite Drustan and Gwen in the east

And each eve without fail, at seven sharp, they met to dine (their wives insisted they dress for it, and he would have donned any blethering thing she’d asked to see his en in such dresses and sexy shoes as twenty-first-century women wore), and the stone walls of the castle were filled with laughter, fine conversation, and the warlanced up at the portrait of his father, Silvan, and his next- above the fireplace He fancied Silvan’s painted brown eyes twinkled merrily and Nell’s smile curved more sweetly Aye, life was rich After all their trials and tribulations, it had settled into a peaceful cadence, with no life-or-death co, no curses, no evil Druids or Gypsies or crazed seers or Tuatha Dé

He was looking forward to a very long stretch of unbroken peace and quiet The rest of his life would serve well

He pushed aside his plate and was about to suggest they adjourn to the library, when their butler, Farley, ca, his tall, hunched fra had clearly ruffled hiruntled humph

"Mister MacKeltar," Drustan corrected for the u-thin-but-I’m-determined-to-be-patient smile No matter how many times he told Farley that he was not a laird, that he was simply Mr MacKeltar, that it was Christopher (his modern-day descendant who lived up the road in the oldest castle on the land) as actually laird, Farley refused to hear it The eighty-so-year-old butler, who insisted he was sixty-two and who had obviously never before buttled in his life until the day he’d arrived on their doorstep, was determined to be butler to a lord Period And he wasn’t about to let Drustan interfere with that aspiration

If not for Gwen, Drustanhim, but Gwen doted on Ian Llewelyn McFarley, and had since the day he’d arrived, followed by so many other McFarleys to be eer certain some days if it was Castle Keltar he lived in or Castle Farley

If ht wryly, it was Castle Farley by sheer numbers alone At last count he employed fourteen of his butler’s children and spouses, seventeen grandchildren, and there were twelve wee greats on the premises, from toddler to teen The McFarleys were a prolific bunch, reproducing like the clans of yore Drustan looked forward to trying to catch up He would certainly enjoy the trying, he thought, gaze raking possessively over his wee, sensual wife

"Aye, milord MacKeltar"

Drustan rolled his eyes Gwen snorted into her napkin

"As I was trying to tell you, h mayhap ’tis not my place to say so, she’s aMiss Chloe here"--huge, infatuated shtful Lady Gwen Verily she puts eus--"when first he arrived There’s soht at all"

Drustan felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stolanced questioningly at his wife

Gwen shrugged and shook her head "I haven’t invited anyone, Drustan Did you, Chloe?"

"No," Chloe replied "What’s not right about her, Farley?" she asked curiously

An annoyed huhly h lass, that is, when one is able to actually look at her, but"--he broke off with a deeply aggrieved sigh and cleared his throat several ti, ersolidity proble " ‘Solidity problems’? What on earth does that mean, Farley?"

Drustan inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly He didn’t like the sound of this Solidity problems did not bode well for the serenity of the occupants of Castle Keltar

" ’tis precisely as I said Solidity problems," Farley reiterated, obviously loath to couest