Free A Fine Cauldron Of Fish by Cornelia Amiri Page B

I?”
    “ That you did.” She rose up
on her tip-toes and brushed her lips across his cheek.
    “ And I’ve followed you
every moment after that. I knew you were mine the minute I laid
eyes on you, as you walked out of the Hilton.”
    His lips touched hers like a
whisper.
    In a melodic voice, Mannan asked,
“Fairest Margaid, do you take this man from this day forth, in weal
and woe, forever and anon?"
    “ I do.”
    At Andrew’s compelling smile, swirls
of heat spiraled through her.
    He didn’t even glance at Mannan, he
kept his eyes glued to Margaid.
    “ Andrew, do you plight your
troth to this woman as her lover and protector, whether weal or
woe, forever and anon?”
    He rasped, “Yes, I do.”
    The fire that flickered in Andrew’s
eyes was so intense, Margaid fanned herself with
    her hand.
    Mannan withdrew his blade, Fragarach,
again and laid it on the floor. “By leaping over the magic sword,
you both cut ties with your life before this day.”
    Holding Andrew’s hand, Margaid jumped
with him over the blade.
    The nurse-druidess and Mannan cheered
loudly.
    Andrew gathered Margaid into his arms
and captured her mouth with his. A warm shiver ran through
her.
    When he pulled his lips off hers,
Andrew smiled at the god Mannan. “When you leave us, and the druid
Orbsen mac Alloid finds we are not only in one piece but married,
he’ll be surprised.”
    “ No, Andrew, Mannan is
Orbsen mac Alloid.” Margaid flashed a bemused smile.
    “ Orbsen mac Alloid’s his
human name and cover. As soon as he said his name, I knew. That’s
why he took my voice away, so I couldn’t tell you.” She raised her
shoulders. “I tried to.”
    Andrew turned to the god and laughed.
“You had me going there for a moment.”
    Margaid giggled. “Such a joker.” She
patted the god on the back.
    “ Yes indeed.” Mannan
grinned. “And what else am I?”
    “ God of the sea,” she
answered confidently, though she wondered why he asked.
    “ And?” Mannan folded his
arms across his broad chest.
    Margaid scraped her teeth across her
lower lip. “Umm, the trickster god.” What is he after?
    Mannan sighed. “And?”
    “ And what?” Well, there’s
only one choice left that I can think of. “The god of
transformation.”
    Mannan snapped his fingers. “That’s
it.”
    With a loud crack and a puff of smoke,
he suddenly vanished and the ‘B is for Big’ boxers guy stood in his
place.
    “ The tattoos...I should
have known.” Andrew slapped the heel of his hand against his
forehead.
    Margaid couldn’t stop laughing. “I
didn’t know. I didn’t even guess. Oh Mannan, that was a good
one.”
    When his laughter subsided, Andrew
asked, “So Orbsen or Mannan, my mom can see Margaid
now?”
    “ Yes, everyone can. She’s
completely human.”
    “ Everyone,” Margaid piped.
“Everyone can see me.”
    “ Margaid, my mom has to
meet you. We’ve got to tell her the good news. I think 9:00 am
tomorrow will be good. Her flight leaves at 9:30 am.”
    “ But then she won’t have
any time to get to know me.”
    “ And no time to try to
change my mind about staying here in Man with my new
wife.”
    “ You want to stay in Man? I
can’t believe it. How wonderful. Gosh, I‘ve lived here for
thousands of years. It’s the only home I’ve ever had, though it’s
changed a lot over time.”
    “ This place is wild and
magical and it’s your home. And I haven’t had a chance to eat your
kippers, queenies, or bonnag yet.” He pulled her into the circle of his arms.
“Yes, I want to stay here. It’s the perfect place to live.” He
twirled her about.
    She stopped giggling and gazed deep
into his eyes. “Do you really think your mom won’t like me?” You
only want me to see her for thirty minutes, what does that
mean?
    “ It’s not you. How can
anyone help but love you? No, she won’t like the idea of all of
this. More than that, she’ll be hopping mad. Believe me, we won’t
get off as easy with my mom as we did with Mannan