Finn watched Evaslip into the crowd as Dallan returned to his side. Something about her expression gave him pause. She turned away so quickly it was difficult to see her clearly, yet his gut told him she was upset. But hadn’t Dallan just given her the harp? How could that be?
“What’s wrong with Eva?” Finn asked as soon as Dallan came near enough to hear him over the murmur of the crowd. “Didn’t she like it?”
Dallan cast him a sideways glance, eyebrow raised. “She loved it,” he answered. “Why?”
Finn looked again across the room but had lost sight of Eva. “She just seemed upset as you were leaving is all.”
Dallan grinned. “Well, who wouldn’t be?” he jested. “She’s fine, Finn. She was so happy she looked about to cry; mayhap that’s what you saw.”
Finn wanted that to be true. But something still didn’t feel right. “What was the last thing you said to her?” It had been right before Dallan left that her face had fallen.
“Good eve.”
Finn shot him a dark look.
“Fine, fine,” Dallan acquiesced, raising his hands. “I told her she was lucky to have you as a teacher.”
There had to be more. “And before that?”
“You need an ale, you know that?”
“Dallan, please humor me.”
“I think I made some joke about how hard it was to get you to teach her initially. She was getting so emotional over the harp, I had to say something light-hearted,” Dallan explained. “It’s my job as the brother, you know. Making sure she always has a good laugh.”
A brick’s weight of fear hit Finn full force. No wonder she’d been upset. He’d assured her a hundred times over the past months that he truly enjoyed teaching her. That hewantedto teach her.
Finn ran a hand down his face in frustration. She’d never believe him now.
He couldn’t explain all that to Dallan, however, and there was no need to worry him unnecessarily. Perhaps he could find her and explain. He had to try.
“I’m going to go see how she likes it,” Finn said after several moments. Excusing himself just as Diarmid and Conan joined them, he hurried over to the alcove where he met with Eva for their lessons.
She wasn’t there.
But her harp was.
It lay atop the chair she always used, abandoned.
Finn took a deep breath. He would not panic. There was nothing to panic over. He simply needed to find her, explain what had happened, and everything would be fine. He surveyed the room again, still unable to find any trace of Eva amongst the revelers. He picked up the harp and started walking to see more of the hall. A passing kitchen maid, a girl of no more than ten-and-three summers with shiny, chestnut braids hanging down her back, gave him an idea. Finn intercepted her.
“Did you happen to see where Lady Eva went?” he asked.
The girl shook her head, her chestnut-colored braids smacking her back. “I only just came from the kitchens. She was leaving as I came in.”
She’d left.
And there was only one place she would go when she was so upset.
“Thank you,” Finn muttered hastily, weaving his way through the crowd to the door. By the time he reached the courtyard, rain fell in heavy sheets, turning the buildings into waterfalls and the courtyard into a mess of mud and stone. Between the fading daylight and the torrential rain, Finn could hardly see an arm’s length in front of him.
If the courtyard was already a muddy pit, the trail down to the lake would be a veritable river.
Taking off at a sprint, Finn flew toward the forest, praying he wasn’t too late.
*
The sting ofFinn’s betrayal only deepened as Eva ran through the rain. The pain in her chest swirled like smoke, a cavernous ache following its writhing grasp. He had lied to her. And worse, he did pity her.
