The Courting of Eileen

By Lark Westerly

Eileen o’ the Mist is annoyed when she learns her brother Kieran has arranged for a braefolk man to court her. On the other hand, what is a tall colleen to do when the local gossoons would have to stand on a bucket to kiss her? She agrees to meet with Sean McTavish and see if they can come to terms. All seems well, but Sean has an alter ego. Can Eileen come to terms with Shamus too? And why does Sean conjure a yellow dress for Eileen to wear? There’s someone waiting beyond the mist, and Eileen needs her courage to venture there.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eXtasy Books Inc
• Release date: Feb 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781487415808

Book preview

Courtship by arrangement... and a fairy in the bed.

Eileen o’ the Mist is annoyed when she learns her brother Kieran has arranged for a braefolk man to court her. On the other hand, what is a tall colleen to do when the local gossoons would have to stand on a bucket to kiss her? She agrees to meet with Sean McTavish and see if they can come to terms. All seems well, but Sean has an alter ego. Can Eileen come to terms with Shamus too? And why does Sean conjure a yellow dress for Eileen to wear? There’s someone waiting beyond the mist, and Eileen needs her courage to venture there.

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The Courting of Eileen

Copyright © 2017 Lark Westerly

ISBN: 978-1-4874-1580-8

Cover art by Martine Jardin

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

Published by eXtasy Books Inc or

Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

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Smashwords Edition

The Courting of Eileen

A Fairy in the Bed

By

Lark Westerly

Author Notes

At the end of Floribunda and the Best Men, Kieran Shamrock and Hamish McTavish shook hands on a proxy deal for Kieran’s sister and Hamish’s brother. This is the story of what happened when that deal came to fruition.

Chapter One: Kieran. A Word

Kieran Shamrock was playing his fiddle while his small sons danced solemnly with their sisters. It was a grand sight, though Sinead and Ashling were such a contrast to their leprechaun brothers. Kieran loved his family with a passion that went beyond his love of tatties, poteen and his beechwood fiddle, and considered himself the most blessed of men in the green way.

He stopped playing when his sister stepped into the cottage. Eileen o’ the Mist was a handsome colleen with green eyes and a cloud of black hair. She was ten years his junior and more than a head taller, and he loved her too, with a mix of bewildered pride and dread of what she might do next. His other sisters and his lovie, Tally, had raised Eileen between them. But as the eldest in the family, he had tried to be her guide and refuge. He had always kept the door open to her—unless he was with Tally in the other room—but she was a distant star.

Kieran. A word.

Ouch.

Kieran laid aside his fiddle with care. Shoo now. Run down to the apple loft and take the big basket for your mammy, he said to his children.

Sinead, his eldest, looked as if she would argue, but Kieran jerked his head at the door. Go now, darlin’.

When the four had gone, Kieran turned to his sister. Top o’ the noon to ye, Eileen.

She continued to gaze at him. A thunderstorm might have looked friendlier.

Should I be wetting the tay?

Her chin rose a little.

If you’re wanting your word, you’d best have it before Tally comes home. You know she’s not happy wid the shouting.

I don’t intend to shout.

Then what do you intend, darlin’?

"Don’t you darlin’ me, Kieran Shamrock."

For the love o’ Paddy’s toenails, Eileen, get on wid it! It’s clear you intend to give me a bollockin’, though I’ve no clue what I’ve done to deserve it.

Eileen shook the straw off her skirts in a menacing manner. She must have come straight from the dairy. You have no idea, have you?

None, he said frankly.

No recollection at all of a recent conversation with a red-headed giant?

"Oh, that’d be Hamish McTavish, second laddie o’ Lachlan an’ sweet Jenny o’ the braw house up the brae. He was here wid his lovie, friend o’ Tally from over there and a court man name o’ Gervais St Clair, also a lovie o’ the lass."

That’s what I heard from Tally, Eileen said. Her face softened, as it usually did when she thought of Kieran’s lovie. Everybody adored Tally, and after close to a score of years as her lovie, Kieran still could scarcely believe his luck.

What’s put you in a pither though, Eileen?

She inhaled, straining her bodice and returning to her thunderous mien. Tally said you charged Hamish McTavish with a message for his brother, wee Sean.

Kieran looked wary. "So I did. I thought it would