“What, that she’ll marry him again?” Eva tried to joke on the matter but found her mind wandering toward her impending captivity.
“Precisely,” he added merrily. “The very threat of it would keep him at bay.” Then his mirth faded and he took her hands in his own. “It won’t be forever, Eva. Just until I have enough men to fight back.”
“It could be ten years, Sitric,” Eva reminded him, thinking of other noble hostages she’d heard of in tales.
“Which is why it must be you. Astrid and your brother will want families and children, and they’ll be busy with that soon I imagine. You want neither.”
“And if he kills me?”
A dark cloud descended over her cousin’s fair features. “Then I kill him, king or not.”
Chapter One
Cenn Cora Fortress, Éire, AD 1000
Finn had thedistinct sensation that he was being taken advantage of by his new companion. Dallan had shown up at a curiously opportune moment, insisting he needed Finn’s help, and proceeded to convince Finn to follow him to King Brian’s fortress at Cenn Cora.
Obviously, Finn wouldn’t have been foolish enough to follow a complete stranger to almost-certain death under normal circumstances. But after watching his future turn to ash before his very eyes, Finn was willing to take a few chances. Besides, he could hold his own in a fight if it came to it.
“How’d it go?” Finn asked as Dallan returned to their campsite in the woods just outside Cenn Cora.
Dallan grinned broadly, the happiest Finn had seen him since they met two days ago. “Better than expected. It’s a good thing you’re here, though. He wants me to speak with her only tomorrow morn and under guard, so we can’t plot anything insidious. Honestly, I don’t know whether I ought to be flattered or insulted.”
Finn lifted his pack onto his shoulders. “Flattered. Definitely,” he offered. “He sees you as a genuine threat.”
“And as a man who would break a peace treaty, steal a hostage, and endanger my cousins.”
“Fair enough,” Finn replied evenly. “Let’s not do any of that, then, eh?”
Dallan only shrugged before leading them back the way he’d come, toward the great hall at Cenn Cora.
Once again, Finn’s good sense twinged in warning at Dallan’s noncommittal response. The man plotted more than he let on, but what, precisely, Finn couldn’t guess.
Finn knew Dallan’s young sister was being held hostage by the King Brian of Mumhain, and that Dallan had every intention of seeing her freed. His plan, as far as Finn could gather, was to participate in a series of trials and become one of Brian’s most trusted warriors, one of the Fianna, in order to barter for the girl’s freedom.
“You still haven’t told me how it is you think I can help,” Finn reminded him as they walked.
The fortress stood on a tall hill, gilded in emerald trees and overgrown brush. The sun settled into the horizon behind it, golden rays swirling with darkening shadow as they picked their way through the dense forest.
Dallan was quiet a bit too long but sounded sincere when he finally answered. “I need you to be me,” he explained, his voice tinged with sadness. “Eva is delicate. She’s young. She’s still grieving the loss of our parents, and no doubt worried over her future. But I’m not to speak with her, check up on her to see to her happiness. Let her know she’ll be going home soon. I need you to do that for me. I’ll send her messages through you, and you can bring hers to me.”
It sounded far too simple. “And explain to me again why it is you needed me, and only me, for this position as your messenger?”
Dallan stopped walking to look Finn dead in the eyes. “I know it seems unlikely, but I spoke with about a hundred people over the past weeks since I learned of Brian’s Fianna trials. You’re the only one who can do everything I need.”
Finn sighed and kept walking. That was about as much of an answer as he’d ever gotten from Dallan. He liked the man, truly, but he didn’t know a damned thing about him.
He’d gathered that Dallan must be wealthy, from an important noble family if his sister was deemed an acceptable hostage for the king of such a prominent kingdom. Likely he wasn’t on good terms with the king either, given the circumstances. Beyond that, Finn knew precious little about the man who had seemingly taken over his life.
“Alright,” Dallan announced, as they neared the edge of the forest, the sound of merriment spilling out from the hilltop before them, “I’ll go first. You follow along in an hour or so. If Brian knows you came with me, he won’t let you near Eva either.”
Finn nodded, entirely uncertain about the whole affair. He didn’t have a lot of options, however, now that he’d failed his family. He couldn’t face them after what happened, not before he’d found something good to tell them along with the bad. Dallan had convinced him to undergo the trials alongside him. Who knew? Maybe in seven months’ time Finn could go home and tell his parents he was a member of the King Brian’s most elite warrior band, performing tasks for the most powerful man in the nine kingdoms. Or he’d be dead after failing said trials. Either was preferable to nothing at all.
The hour felt as long as ten. Finn listened to the revelry in the hall, ignoring the grumbling of his own stomach. He was going to have words with Dallan if he missed dinner entirely, though it wouldn’t be the first time he’d gone hungry.
Finally, he climbed the last half-mile of hillside and threw open the doors of the hall. He instantly regretted being the one to arrive second.
Everyone, all hundred or more of them, stopped to look at the latecomer. Finn felt a flush of embarrassment color his cheeks, but gave them a look that dared any to question him. It was all a bluff, of course. A quick scan of the room told him he was likely poorer than even the serving wenches. Flashes of gold, silver, and jewels caught his eyes from every table.
