Cormac and Broccan both stepped forward, the former embracing the queen without the slightest hesitation. Conan and Diarmid hurried to join, all four of them grinning like fools.
“You can spend time with your sister once we’ve finished our meeting,” Brian grumbled.
Eva managed to keep her mouth from falling agape at that statement. How had she not realized that the queen was their sister? Before she could properly inspect the siblings for a family resemblance, they all disappeared into the hall.
And just like that, Eva was alone.
Dinner came andwent, and Eva began to lose hope that she would have an audience with the king before he rode to battle the following morn. Sitting in a chair before the great hearth in the center of the feasting hall, Eva stared into the dancing flames. She still had to convince Cormac to allow her to speak with her brother, as well.
Pain struck her like lightning whenever she thought of Finn going to battle, but she couldn’t say goodbye to him. She’d already done it and seeing him again would only weaken her resolve.
“Eva?” As though summoned by her musings, Cormac appeared before her. “The king will see you now.”
Eva stood, following him away from the fire’s warm light. “Will you let me speak with Dallan tonight?” she asked. “Before the battle?”
Cormac stopped walking and turned to face her. “Of course,” he answered softly. “I’m no monster. You can farewell your brother.” He paused, searching her expression. “I can point you toward Finn as well.”
Another wrenching pain seared through Eva’s chest. Would it ever end? Or would she feel this every time she thought of him? “Thank you,” she choked out, “but I only need to speak with my brother.”
He raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He didn’t need to voice his thoughts—they were written plainly on his face.
“It’s for the best,” Eva assured herself more than Cormac.
“As you wish.”
He led her across the courtyard to the expansive stone solar, newly constructed, that held the royal family’s private chambers. The sun hung low in the western sky, but yet lay in sight. Cormac opened the door for her, following her in and guiding her to Brian’s solar.
She’d only been in the room a handful of times since becoming a hostage. Unlike the modest solar in Cenn Cora, the chamber in Caiseal normally glowed with radiant light from two walls of windows. Tonight, those windows were shuttered.
A log popped and hissed in the hearth along the far wall, flanked by four exquisite chairs. Books and parchments lined two shelves on either side of the fire, a testament to Brian’s education and wealth. The man himself, who held her life in his hands, reclined in a chair sipping ale.
Cormac gave Eva a gentle push into the room before closing the door behind her.
“Come,” Brian called without turning around. “Sit.”
Eva did as he bid her, sitting in the chair nearest the door and furthest from Brian. She folded her hands in her lap uncomfortably, feeling very much on display.
“Cormac tells me you’re displeased with the deal I made with your brother.”
“I am.” If he was going to get right to it, so would she. “Sitric and my uncle offered me as the hostage because it makes the most sense. I have come to beg you to uphold the original agreement.”
“Would it not make more sense for me to take away a potential heir to the throne of my enemy?”
Eva caught Brian’s eye. “Laigin is no longer your enemy. Morda swore allegiance to you. He offered me in the agreement as a surety. Would it not make more sense to uphold that agreement? It seems to me that if you dismiss me as a hostage, my family might see it as an opening for rebellion, a breaking of the agreement.”
The hint of a smile played at the corner of his wrinkled lips. “For a quiet thing, you’re certainly clever,” he chuckled. “You make a fair point, but you know, perhaps even more than I, the odds of rebellion by your family are high no matter your status as a hostage.”
Eva’s heart sank. She watched him take a long sip of ale, wondering if all her hopes were fading before her eyes. His grey beard glowed a brilliant orange in the flickering firelight.
“Why?” he asked. “Why are you so against your brother taking your place?”
“Because I love him,” Eva replied simply. “Sitric asked me to be his hostage offering, he let me decide. I agreed to spare those I love from such a burden. My brother, even if he never becomes king, he will marry. He will have children. As will Astrid. I gave up on such dreams long ago.” Her voice broke over her last words. “I am the one who is giving up nothing.”
Brian watched her for several uncomfortable breaths, taking in her measure. “I believe you.”
Eva let out a breath.
“And, though I don’t trust your family as far as I can throw a stone, you are correct that they will rebel sooner if I dismantle our agreement.”
