The Fifth Beast (ManxMan Chinese/Celtic Fantasy Story)

Chapter 55

Roigh Mac Rowan, of course, heard the exchange of pleasantries between Niall and Сuroi, and now was smiling indulgently and a little tiredly, as if to say: "Ah, children can have all the fun they want, but we busy responsible adults can't!" As always, Niall was instantly embarrassed that he fell for Curoi's stupid taunts and made the Queen's Steward patiently wait for their exchange to end.

Roigh was so beautiful standing at the scrolls-littered table in a luxurious golden robe, worthy, perhaps, even of the King of Mag Tuired, not only of the Queen's Steward. There was a tiara glittering in his jet-black hair, a rather thin and modest one, but still subtly resembling a crown. His hair was braided in Roigh's favorite style, "streams", with thin braids falling from the temples and joining the main weave behind the shoulders. He usually folded his braid in two and fastened its end at the back of his head with a beautiful clasp; otherwise it would drag after him along the floor.

Niall suddenly thought how much Roigh's glossy, smooth, obsidian-black hair looked like Fao's, and the thought hurt somehow. Did it mean that Niall noticed the handsome barbarian only because he resembled Niall's former lover? No, the very feeling of hurt spoke for itself. It had never hurt him before to see Roigh Mac Rowan's gorgeous braid. And after all, it was Roigh who now reminded him of Fao; looking at Fao before, Niall never once thought of Roigh. It's just, well... Niall Mac Nechtan seemed to have a type.

To be honest, Niall once looked at Curoi with interest. For about five minutes, right until Curoi opened his mouth. Okay, longer than five minutes and more often than once, even after Curoi had indicated his attitude towards Niall once and for all.

Roigh Mac Rowan stood up to meet Niall, and Niall hurriedly dropped to one knee and bowed his head. He exhaled, almost out of breath from excitement, "Milord Steward of Emain Macha!"

He had never been very keen on ceremonies, but it always seemed natural to worship Roigh Mac Rowan.

"Why so formal, Niall!" Roigh reproached him gently, took his face into his palms and made him raise his eyes.

He smiled, and from this radiant smile, Niall's heart melted again, like a hundred thousand times before. Only Roigh knew how to smile in such a way that it seemed that he saw only you in the whole wide world, smiled only at you, and you'd want to move mountains and drain the sea just to deserve one more smile.

Thank Danu, the obsession that Niall felt since the day he first met Roigh, or rather, from the day they first shared a bed, was almost gone. Roigh's appointment as the Steward of Emain Macha played the crucial role in it. Niall then practically took up residence at court and saw Roigh very often and no longer in privacy, but at feasts, hunting trips, with the Queen, with other courtiers, and with aforementioned Curoi or Morann.

One had to be blind not to notice that both that wonderful smile and that look of amethyst-colored eyes, full of love and approval, were by no means reserved for Niall Mac Nechtan alone. In general, they weren't even something rare, special, something to be earned. It was Roigh Mac Rowan's magic: he could make anyone feel special, precious. Especially if Roigh needed something from him.

Niall had always wondered what the mighty Lord of Stone might have wanted from him, a young and inexperienced lord of the Tuatha Dé just coming of age. Only when the intoxication of the first youthful love had passed, it slowly began to dawn on him that Roigh didn't love him. Well, maybe just a little, as much as the cold-blooded and reasonable Lord of Stone was able. But not more than he loved his sister, his nephew and the Queen. Perhaps even less, as unpleasant as the thought was to Niall.

Cumal, of course, told him that he had also slept with Roigh while living in his castle as a ward. And with Morann. And even with Curoi Mac Daire a couple of times. Niall was not jealous: no one would have refused Cumal anything, the saying was, 'it's easier to f&ck him than to explain why you don't want to.' He wasn't even jealous of Curoi and Roigh's relationship — how could he, Niall, be a match for Curoi's beauty, their blood ties and all the hundreds of years they had known each other?