The witchs reckoning, p.1
The Witch's Reckoning, page 1
The Witch’s Reckoning
A Witches of Time Novel
Leigh Ann Edwards
The Witch’s Reckoning
Copyright© 2021 Leigh Ann Edwards
EPUB Edition
The Tule Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
First Publication by Tule Publishing 2021
Cover design by Covers by Christian
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ISBN: 978-1-956387-10-0
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Dedication
I’d like to dedicate this book to all the amazing women I’ve worked with at Tule Publishing Group. From Danielle Rayner, the first person I had contact with from Tule at a conference in Calgary in August of 2015, to the fantastic team who make up Tule today and all those in between, it’s been a wonderful, positive experience.
A heartfelt thank you to Jane who formed this incredible company and Meghan who’s been there since I signed on and to Nikki, Cyndi, Lee and Sinclair, too. To the editors, cover designers and formatters, I am so grateful to each and every one of you in working on the fifteen books I’ve now published with Tule.
Thanks so much for allowing me to keep living my dream of being a published author and telling my stories. I look forward to continuing this exciting and rewarding journey in the Maidens of the Mystical Stones series.
Character List
ALAINN O’ BRIEN – Powerful Irish witch—the air witch. Lives in the 1500’s. Long blonde hair. Blue eyes. Descended from Druids, gods and faeries. Capable of much powerful magic including, healing, flying, creating tornados and traveling through time. Also the heroine of The Irish Witch series. Parents Teige and Mara O’Rorke.
KILLIAN O’BRIEN – Alainn’s husband and sovereign guardian. Warrior and Irish chieftain of Clan O’Donnel. Castle owner. Dark brown hair, green eyes. Tall, strong, powerfully built, champion with a sword. Hero from The Irish Witch series. Parents Kieran and Eilis O’Brien.
ARIANNA WYNDHAM – Descendant of Alainn—the fire witch. Lives in the late 1600’s. Long scarlet hair, green eyes. Capable of many magical feats including creating purple hell fire and time travel. Parents Eirann and Cythrawl.
DARIUS WYNDHAM – Arianna’s husband and sovereign guardian. Sailor, carpenter, wealthy landowner in Massachusetts Bay Colony. Very tall, muscular. Blond hair, blue eyes. Parents James and Jenny Wyndham.
AINSLEY PRESCOTT – Also Alainn’s descendant. The earth witch. Lives during the 1800’s. Civil War nurse. Tall, long black hair, dark brown eyes. Some of her abilities include causing earthquakes, summoning people and objects through any time period, and time travel. Parents Maeve Byrne and Devon.
CAL PRESCOTT – Ainsley’s husband, sovereign guardian and time traveler, doctor, witch finder, skilled in martial arts and also has some magic. Arianna and Darius’s great-grandson. Tall, strong, dark hair, blue-green eyes.
ANGELIQUE KAVANAUGH-MAHONEY – Another of Alainn’s descendants. Named Ailish at birth. Also called Sammy Kavan. The water witch. Wealthy Bostonian. Some medical training. Lives in the twenty-first century. Capable of creating hurricanes, time travel and various other magic. Water heals her. Long, curly auburn hair, blue eyes. Cal and Ainsley’s great-granddaughter. Parents Bronaugh and Grannus. Adopted mother Genny Kavanaugh.
FAOLAN MAHONEY – 18th century Irish sea captain, privateer/pirate. Angelique’s partner/husband and her sovereign guardian. Summoned by Angelique to the 21st century. Very tall, muscular, light blue eyes, wavy brown hair. Parents never named.
DANHOUL CALHOUN – Irish Druid, magical healer. Alainn and Angelique’s guardian. Time traveler. Musician. Tall, strong, honey blond hair, grey-blue eyes. Father of one of Angelique’s babies. Tristan calls him Danny-Boy. Parents Diadra and Ardal O’Doole.
TRISTAN O’MALLEY – Irishman, searcher, time-traveler and Angelique’s guardian. Works in a pub in Boston in the 21st century and teaches martial arts. Danhoul’s best friend. Bit of a troublemaker/smart ass. Time traveler with powerful perception. Parents unknown.
TIMOTHY BYRNE – Ainsley’s brother and guardian. Has some magical abilities. Powerful perception, can move and summon small items. Newt’s husband. A slave in Virginia before the Civil War. Parents Orla Byrne and Devon.
NEWTON GRANGER – Lives in the 21st century. Timothy’s husband. Angelique’s best friend. Artist/painter.
TEIGE O’RORKE – Alainn’s father. Mara’s husband. Niall’s son. Siobhan and Shylie’s brother. Time traveller from the fifteen hundreds who recently lived in the 21st century searching for the Dark Lord Odhran.
NIALL O’RORKE – Teige, Siobhan and Shylie’s father. Alainn’s grandfather. Druid, important Irish chieftain. Has magical perception.
WOLF – an elgnorf, part elf, gnome and dwarf. Angelique’s magical guide.
AINE – Magical Celtic goddess/faery princess and protector of women. Alainn’s great-grandmother. Mara’s grandmother.
ODHRAN – Evil Dark Lord, Alainn’s uncle, Mara’s half-brother, Ardal’s twin brother, Danhoul’s uncle
SYLVIE – Spirit – Angelique’s friend. Died shortly after childbirth.
COOKSON – Alainn and Killian’s friend from The Irish Witch series. Head cook at their castle. Lily’s husband.
LILY – Alainn’s friend. Brought to Ireland from England to live at Killian and Alainn’s castle. Her parents were killed by a demon pursuing Alainn in The Irish Witch series. Cookson’s wife. Mother of twins and pregnant again.
MARA – Alainn’s mother. Teige’s wife. Odhran’s half-sister. The glade witch who cursed the O’Briens in The Irish Witch series.
EIREEN – Castle’s steward’s wife, Alainn’s friend. Loves children.
FERGUS – Castle’s steward. Once Onaugh’s husband.
DIADRA O’DOOLE – A spirit. Danhoul’s mother, Ardal’s love, forced to marry Odhran, Ardal’s brother.
ARDAL O’DOOLE – A spirit, once a Celtic God and important Irish king. Danhoul’s father. Diadra’s love. Odhran’s twin brother.
JEAN-CLAUDE LACHANCE – Frenchman who lives in Boston in the 1600’s. Arianna’s guardian.
SHYLIE – Spirit. Alainn’s aunt. Killed by a demon when she was only thirteen. Teige and Siobhan’s sister. Niall’s daughter.
CATHERINE O’RORKE – Niall’s wife. Deceased.
SIOBHAN O’BRIEN – Niall’s daughter. Alainn’s aunt. Married to Chieftain Hugh O’Brien, Killian’s uncle. Rory and Riley’s mother. (Important character in the Irish Witch series.)
RILEY AND MARY O’BRIEN – Alainn and Killian’s cousin and his wife. Both killed in The Irish Witch series.
EBHEIN –castle and village’s midwife
ROISIN – healer at Killian’s castle. Once involved with Killian.
EIRANN – Arianna’s mother (witch – burned at the stake when Arianna was thirteen.)
CYTHRAWL – Arianna’s father. (Celtic God of War and Chaos.)
CLODAUGH/CLAUDIA – Arianna’s aunt. Witch/spellcaster who caused trouble for Arianna and Jean-Claude, Angelique and Faolan, too. Sides with the evil Dark Lord Odhran.
BRONAUGH – Spirit – Angelique’s mother. Grannus’s love. Killed by Odhran.
GRANNUS – Celtic God of Healing Waters, Angelique’s father. Bronaugh’s love. Once involved with Aine.
ONAUGH – carried Niall’s illegitimate twin daughters after they had an affair. She is a zombie like creature for her mother brought her back to life after she’d died in childbed. Fergus’s first wife.
CIARA – One of Onaugh and Niall’s twin daughters. She once poisoned Alainn and tried to seduce Killian. Raised by Fergus who believed he was her father. Killed in the Irish Witch series.
EBRILL – eternal lusting witch killed by Alainn and Killian in The Witch’s Destiny – book seven in The Irish Witch series.
VIBHA – eternal lusting witch. Ebrill’s sister. Killed by Ainsley in The Witch’s Compromise.
KIERAN O’BRIEN – Killian’s father. Teige’s best friend. Was also a searcher in the future.
DAGDA – Father of the Celtic gods
CIAN O’BRIEN – Alainn and Killian’s baby boy – died very soon after he was born, named for Killian’s older brother, Cian, who was killed in a clan battle when he was thirteen.
NIAMB – servant in the castle kitchen. Married to the blacksmith.
WOLF – Arianna and Darius’s wolf
RORY AND BRIGID O’BRIEN – Alainn and Killian’s cousin and his wife. Rory is Riley’s twin brother, Siobhan and Hugh’s son. They live at Castle O’Brien.
WOLF THE FIFTH – stray dog that Angelique found.
TROW – A trow – an amusing little creature Alainn and Killian saved in The Irish Witch series.
DARDANGRANOV – a giant from the
KANISHA AND COVENTINA – merpeople, sisters from The Irish Witch series.
THE FOUR CELTIC DRAGONS – Fire dragon, air dragon, water dragon and earth dragon.
AMARRA – Odhran’s goddaughter, Fiona and Teige’s daughter, Alainn’s half-sister, Cal’s half-sister, Danhoul’s love. Dark hair, blue-green eyes. Magical scribe.
LORCAN – Odhran’s son, Faolan’s half-brother
CIAN – Killian’s brother, brought back to life by Odhran and taken to his realm. Adopted brother of Amarra and Lorcan.
FIONA/AIOFE – Cal and Amarra’s mother, Angelique’s adopted mother’s friend, Witch capable of time travel. Went missing when Cal was five.
NOLA MAHONEY – Faolan’s first wife, deceased.
FATHER SEAN – Priest at Killian and Alainn’s castle and village.
GENNY KAVANAUGH – Angelique’s adopted mother. Deceased.
MORAG – Old healer who raised Alainn, Mara, and Mara’s mother, Ainnia.
SAMENTHA – Ainsley and Timothy’s Haitian grandmother.
MAEVE BYRNE – Ainsley’s mother. Deceased.
LACINDA – faery who helped with Angelique’s adoption.
GRANDMOTHER MACDONALD – Arianna’s faery godmother
MRS. BOYLE – Angelique’s elderly neighbor from The Witch’s Journey (now deceased)
GEORGE ALCOTT – Darius Wyndham’s enemy from The Witch’s Awakening.
SAMUEL AND KATHLEEN WYNDHAM – Darius’s brother and sister-in-law
KATIE WYNDHAM – Samuel and Kathleen’s eldest daughter
HENRY DALTON – lawyer, head of the LAMB organization
BETHA KELLY-HAMMOND – Ainsley’s friend from childhood
JOSEPH HAMMOND – Betha’s husband
CARA – Betha’s mother
JENNY WYNDHAM – Darius’s mother
ANDOR AND KNUTE – warriors from The Vikings of Highgard series
THOR – Norse god
EDWARD – Killian’s castle’s Captain of the Guard
TOM AND RICHARD – castle guards
EMER – castle’s kitchen servant
MELLANE – miller’s daughter from The Irish Witch series
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Character List
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
The Witches of Time series
More books by Leigh Ann Edwards
About the Author
Chapter One
Ireland 1542
Alainn O’Brien gazed out the bedchamber’s large arched window. With the beloved rolling green hills dotted with sheep and lines of drystone walls to the west, the rising sun glistening on the beautiful Irish Sea to the east, she felt undeniably blessed. Listening to the seagulls, terns and puffins, she inhaled the misty morning air, content to finally be in their castle—back in their time. They’d been here a week and her very soul rejoiced in being home.
It was wonderful reuniting with their friends Cookson and Lily and meeting their lively young twins. Lily was now heavily pregnant again. Alainn’s friend Eireen and her husband, Fergus, the castle’s steward, remained at Castle O’Donnel, too. Roisin, the castle’s very lovely healer, was still unwed. Alainn had been secretly hoping by the time they returned, Roisin would’ve found a husband.
Alainn had been married to Killian O’Brien—chieftain of Clan O’Donnel (his mother’s clan)—for over five years now, but they’d been in love for much longer. The tall, powerfully built, handsome warrior with rich dark brown hair had won her heart when they were children. They shared an unequivocally profound and passionate relationship. With everything they’d been through together she didn’t know why she felt twinges of uncertainty now. Perhaps because Roisin was beautiful and someone from Killian’s early life who’d once meant very much to him.
Alainn smiled when Killian’s strong arms encircled her. His firm, warm, muscular body resting against her back eased her nagging doubts.
“You’re glad to be back home, Lainna?” Killian said, moving her long golden-blonde hair, softly kissing her neck.
“Happy to be home and back to our time. I see your joy, too. This is where we belong, Killian.”
“I can’t deny that. I’d never rue our unusual experience livin’ five centuries in the future but I agree, this is where we’re meant to be, my Lainna. Although I don’t mind tellin’ you I’m already missin’ those glorious hot showers.”
“We’ve returned to sharin’ our very enjoyable baths,” Alainn said glancing at the bathtub, remembering their recent passionate encounter.
“Bathin’ with you is always most enjoyable,” Killian replied, still kissing her neck.
Alainn sighed at the tingling sensation of heightening arousal.
“The others are adjustin’ well,” Alainn said. “We’ve found adequate livin’ arrangements for everyone; many here in our castle.”
“Arianna and Darius seem relieved to be settled, able to relax and await the birth of their baby,” Killian replied.
“They are, and Ainsley’s excited to finally see Ireland when she’s longed to visit her mother’s homeland her whole life. Cal’s been kept busy showing her around,” Alainn said.
“Cal looked weary last night at supper. They’d been out and about since early morn.”
“I doubt it’s long walks and explorin’ that has Cal exhausted,” Alainn laughingly said.
“If frequent lovin’ is the reason for Cal’s weariness, you and I should be weary, too,” Killian said, placing kisses down her shoulder. His erect firmness against her confirmed she hadn’t exhausted him.
“Transcendent witches do have a healthy appetite for makin’ love,” Alainn said.
“I’m very glad,” Killian replied, his voice husky with arousal.
She turned, looking up into his alluring green eyes filled with love and desire. They shared a knowing smile; he glanced longingly at her unclothed body.
“We’ve taken some time away from our bedchamber to show the others around your chiefdom and your presence has been required again in your chieftain duties,” she said caressing his impressive chest and taut, rippled stomach.
“My husbandly duties are most important to me just now,” he said leaning in for a fervent kiss. “You’re so exceptionally beautiful, Lainna. I’d never tire of lovin’ you.”
Killian eagerly lifted her into his arms and carried her to their large canopied bed. They lay together sharing lingering kisses and intimate caresses. Alainn’s sighs were interrupted by a loud scream and the sound of shattering glass from the kitchen several floors below.
They looked at each other uncertainly and Killian’s eyebrow rose in question.
“That’s Lily,” Alainn said.
“Do you suppose it’s Arianna or Angelique who’s maybe caused Lily’s displeased scream? I did wonder if all three women bein’ with child and sometimes temperamental might cause unrest.”
Alainn closed her eyes and concentrated.
“It’s Angelique. I suppose I must go see what’s caused the calamity.”
“I’ll come, too, if for nothin’ more than male support for Cookson.”
