“That I do,” Conan agreed. “That I do.”
Chapter Twenty
The following evening,Glasny’s crowded tavern boasted the best entertainment in Ath Luain. The tables were pushed to the edges of the large room, drinks scattered to the point of confusion. But no one sat.
Every single person stood packed together, filling the tavern and dancing like souls possessed. There wasn’t room to spin or turn or to do any sort of organized dancing, so Alannah and Emer satisfied themselves jumping and laughing and making the best of the music.
Alannah couldn’t take her eyes off Conan. He played a bodhrán this time, his hands moving so fast they blurred as they kept the heady rhythm.
“Why aren’t you stillhaving funwith him?” Emer shouted at her. Even projecting her voice, Alannah could barely hear her.
“It was just one night of fun.” Every time she said it, the words felt more hollow. Perhaps it was more of an excuse than an explanation.
“Well it shouldn’t be,” her sister replied.
Alannah slowed her dancing to catch Emer’s eyes. “It has to be. I can’t afford any distractions.”
Emer’s dark brows knitted. She grabbed Alannah’s wrist and dragged her out of the crowd and to one of the abandoned tables. “Sit.”
Alannah obeyed, shocked at Emer’s uncharacteristic tone.
Emer sat beside her, placing a hand on Alannah’s arm. “I’m not going to disappear,” she said gently. “I’m not going to die like Mom and Dad, or leave like Ossian and Osgar. You’re not going to lose me—not for a long, long time.”
“You can’t know that,” Alannah’s voice caught. “And what of the inn? I can’t just fool around all day while you work to keep us surviving.”
Emer sighed. “I don’t want you to survive. I want you tolive. And if that means you let go of some responsibility while a handsome bard is in town, then so be it.”
Alannah felt her arguments falling out from under her, but she wasn’t ready to abandon her sister just yet. “But—”
“Iloverunning the inn,” Emer interrupted, holding up a finger. “I love cooking meals and taking care of people. I love making them smile and hearing their stories. And you can’t shadow me everywhere like a hired guard. That’s no kind of life for you.”
“What if something happens to you?” At the same time that Alannah felt possibilities appearing on the horizon, panic filled her at the thought of Oran finally getting to Emer.
Her sister squeezed Alannah’s hands. “Some things are beyond our control.”
“That’s not making me feel any better,” Alannah groaned.
Emer smiled. “I have more than enough protectors with our current guests, even if one of them is otherwise occupied.”
“You’re incorrigible, do you know that? Why are you pushing so hard?”
Emer didn’t hesitate. “Because I’ve never seen you as happy as you were the day he walked through our door. And I’ve never seen you look at anyone the way you look at him.”
“You two look entirely too serious.” Conan appeared beside them, frowning.
They both stood in a sad attempt to be closer to eye level with the giant.
“My sister was just lamenting her lack of a dance partner,” Emer lied.
Alannah had never considered Emer underhanded or devious, but now she wondered just how well she knew her baby sister.
“Is that so?” Conan’s lips lifted into a knee-melting smirk.
“It isnot,” Alannah corrected, gaping at Emer.
He offered her a callused hand. “Let’s see if we can dance longer than Finn can play.”
She still didn’t know if she could trust him. She still didn’t know if she should leave her sister. But, heaven above, did she want to dance with him.
