A man with a thick, bushy beard stood warming himself by the fire. Of average height and stocky build, he wore trews that had seen better days and a léine in desperate need of a wash.
He turned when they entered the room. “Oh, thank goodness. I’m sorry to bother you so late, but I heard you might still have vacant rooms?”
Alannah was about to get the man signed in and settled, but Conan stepped in front of her.
“What business has you out so late?”
“I thought I could make it home by nightfall, but I’m afraid I miscalculated. I just need to stay long enough to sleep before I make the last few miles,” he explained. “My unit was disbanded.”
Alannah had to stop herself from jumping and clapping as Emer did when she was excited. “Are more men coming?”
“Aye, I was in one of the southernmost camps. The rest should follow over the next few days.”
She stood in stunned silence, thanking the stars above.
Her brothers were finally coming home.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Conan’s hackles fellthe moment the man mentioned his discharge. He turned toward Alannah, unsurprised to find her lips parted and her eyes full of hope. Nodding at the man, he took a seat to let Alannah get the visitor settled. The man’s story felt true enough, but he wasn’t about to leave her alone in a room with a grizzled warrior in the middle of the night, sword or not.
“We have a room for you,” she assured him.
He waved a tired hand. “I’ll stay in one of the cubicles here. I just need a good night’s sleep and then I’m heading home.”
“That’ll only be a penny.” Alannah stepped toward him. “My brothers are supposed to be among the men coming home. I don’t suppose you know Ossian or Osgar?”
The man thought a long moment, squinting and cocking his head. “I can’t say I recall the names,” he said at last. “But it was a large unit. It’s possible I simply never met them.”
Alannah nodded, moving to show the man which cubicle was his and to get his payment. The hope was gone from her face, her shoulders sagging like a deflated waterskin.
Conan hoped they came home. It killed him that there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to make sure they did, but he would help her question every returning soldier if needs be. Even if her brothers never came, they’d find out why. With every fiber of his being, he prayed it wouldn’t come to that.
Sounds of conversation interrupted his thoughts. He recognized Emer’s voice quickly, her bright, dulcet tone nowfamiliar. He sprang to action when he placed her companion’s deep voice.
“I’m going to turn in the for the night.” He pulled Alannah into a quick embrace, leaving her with a disappointingly chaste goodnight kiss and hurrying through the back door. When he reached the little stone cottage, unsettling silence greeted him.
Finn and Dallan sat, reclining on two of the pallets. Ardál stood staring out the narrow window.
Illadan laid in wait by the door and skewered him with a hazel glare. “We have a very serious problem.”
“It’s not like I invited him here,” Conan shot back. His arms tensed, the muscles squeezing as though he held his sword. “No one saw me when I followed her.”
Illadan ignored him, pacing toward the back of the cottage. “Not only is he already committed to helping our hostesses protect the bridge,” he grumbled, “which means that if we did enlist his help, his quick turnabout on the matter would be suspicious, but he also has the potential to destroy both our secrecyandthe mission itself.”
“I think we need to tell him,” Dallan declared from his pallet. He sat with his legs tented, his arms resting atop his knees.
Conan shook his head. “And give him fuel against us to use with Cahill?”
“He’s working with us now,” Dallan added, as though that made a bit of difference to Conan.
“It makes more sense for him to be in on the plan,” Finn agreed. “That way if Cahill suspects anything, Teague can more effectively cover our tracks. And we can enlist his help in keeping our identities hidden from the women.”
“And if he simply outs us and tells Cahill everything that’s happened?” Conan pressed.
“Either he will or he won’t,” Ardál added unhelpfully.
Conan leveled him a look. He hardly ever spoke, andthatwas what he chose to add to the debate?
