In the end she had gone to Caillean for advice.
“There is nothing that you can do, since you have bidden him here, but to meet him as has been arranged,” Caillean had replied. “But I am going to be within earshot every moment; so that if I am later asked I can swear that the two of you have exchanged no word that could not be spoken in the presence of the parents of either of you. Do you accept that?”
Eilan had bowed her head, then turned to go. In truth, she was even a little relieved. If she must speak to him in the presence of the priestess; there would then be no question of his asking of her anything . . .dangerous.
“Wait,” Caillean had said. “Why did you bring this to me? Surely you could not imagine that I would approve!”
“I am doing nothing that betrays my vows.” Eilan faced the other woman directly. “But I know how idle tongues can embroider a tale. I believe that you would advise me as you thought right, whatever you might feel!” And then she had turned once more, and gone. But she remembered with some satisfaction the flush of color that had stained the other woman’s cheeks.
And so she waited, knowing that with the implacable watcher she had nothing to fear. If she had earlier been asked whether she was afraid of Gaius she would have unhesitatingly answered no; but as the shadows shortened, she became frightened, then terrified.
“Oh, Caillean.” She turned to the other woman, who sat upon a stone at the edge of the clearing, working on a piece of embroidery. “What am I going to say to him?”
“Why should you ask me? I am hardly the person to advise a maiden on her dealings with a man,” Caillean replied with a sardonic smile.
Eilan sighed. As time passed she realized that it would take a while for him to come all the way from Deva. But as she waited, she found her hand stealing into Caillean’s.
Was she meddling in an affair which was, after all, none of her concern? No, she told herself firmly. It was clearly her duty to find out all she could about the child’s surviving relatives. Thus fortified, she waited; and her heart began to pound when at last she saw his shadow upon the path.
It was the first time she had seen Gaius in the uniform and helmet of the Roman Legion; she was struck by how well it became him. He seemed taller under the crimson crested helmet, and the color set off his dark eyes. He came into the clearing and stopped short. If he was surprised to see two women instead of one, it showed only in the momentary flicker of his eyes. Saluting them, he lifted the helmet from his head and tucked it under one arm.
Eilan found herself staring. She had never before had more than a momentary look at a Roman officer in full uniform; and it emphasized the differences between them. And yet, she thought, by their laws we are all Romans. It was like a revelation to her.
He looked at her and smiled, and suddenly all the things she had meant to say to him vanished from her mind.
Gaius shifted his gaze from Eilan to the older priestess, wondering what on earth he should say. He had never once envisioned that their meeting would be attended by a third party. He had not chanced angering his father and risking the wrath of hers, to exchange a few guarded remarks in the presence of a veritable dragon.
But as he met Caillean’s amused glance his anger cooled. If Eilan was a Vestal Virgin or the nearest thing to one to be found within the British Isles, he could hardly blame her for wanting a witness who could attest to her unbroken vows. He wondered how he could make it clear, she was as sacrosanct to him as a Virgin in the temple of Vesta. He remembered how overwhelmed he had been by her trust when she sat beside him at the Beltane fire, how touched by her innocence.