A sudden burst of energy coursed through Alannah, making her ears pound and her chest flutter. She was not going to be saved again, not while she could still breathe. Her hands were no use, her arms too short to do any damage. She needed a weapon.
The dagger. Conan had given her a dagger, and she’d brought it to the causeway with her. Alannah reached for her belt, exhaling in relief when her fingers grasped the rough metal handle. She moved fast, unsheathing it and burying it as deep into Oran’s side as she could reach.
Oran screamed out his next breath. His grip loosened, but he still held her.
“Again!” Conan shouted, slowing his rescue. “Until he drops!”
Pulling it out, Alannah could reach around him now that his grip had loosened. She sank the dagger into his back.
Finally, he let go, collapsing to the ground at her feet and gasping, as she had been only moments ago.
“You got his lung,” Conan said softly, reaching for her and wrapping something around her bleeding shoulder.
Alannah couldn’t take her eyes off Oran. She hated him, aye, and he would’ve killed both her and Emer without an ounce of guilt. But she couldn’t stop the bile from rising as she watched him gasp for a final time on the cold stone floor, her dagger still in his back. The room swam, a familiar watery sensation filling her mouth. Alannah rushed across the hall and out into the crisp night air. She managed to make it off the cobblestones before she threw up the remains of her dinner.
A hand landed gently on her back. “Are you alright?” Conan asked, his deep, gentle voice doing a world of good for her nerves.
Emer wasn’t far behind him. She moved in front of Alannah, gingerly navigating the mess, and handed her a cup of water.
Alannah took it gratefully. “Thank you.” The cool liquid calmed the fire brewing in her belly, soothing her aching throat on the way down. “Are you alright? How long was he in there with you?”
“You got there just in time.” Emer brushed the stray hair out of Alannah’s face and behind her ear. “So like you, to worry over me when you were almost killed. You fought so well. I wish Ossian and Osgar could have seen it.”
A laugh bubbled up, but Alannah’s bruised throat couldn’t quite manage to let it through. Instead, she coughed, her throat pinching in protest.
“I doubt they would’ve enjoyed watching that, no matter how proud they’d be,” Conan told them. “But Emer is right, you fought very well. And you earned that victory all on your own.”
“It seems my training has paid off.”
In the silence that followed her words, Alannah heard the unmistakable breaking of a large piece of wood. The causeway.
She took several slow steps forward until the river was in sight. Sure enough, a line of fire stretched across the Sionnain from the western shore and out of sight.
“No,” Emer breathed. “They still burned it.”
“It was you or the bridge,” Alannah whispered. At this point, her throat couldn’t manage much more than that. “I made the right choice.”
Emer wrapped her in a loose hug, carefully avoiding Alannah’s injured shoulder.
Conan placed his hand on the small of her back. “I’m so sorry.”
Alannah turned her full attention on him. Her heart still fluttered like a lovesick fool every time he was near. “Your betrayal hurt all the more because I trusted you,” she wheezed. Lord above, she sounded terrible.
“I know.” He swallowed hard. “We came here specifically to destroy the causeway, and that is why we kept our identities hidden.” Conan took a step toward her, raising a tentative hand to her face.
Alannah didn’t back away. She didn’t want to. She wantedhim. She still loved him. But she no longer trusted him. His rough fingers brushed her cheek, sending shivers through her.
“Everything else was real,” he breathed. “Whether you believe me or not, I’ve always wanted you. All the tales I shared with you, all the details of me and my life, those were truths.”
Alannah digested that a moment. “I want to believe you.”
“Is there anything I can say or do to help convince you?”
“Why did you change your mind?” she asked. “At the causeway. What made you switch sides?”
“You did,” he replied simply. “You reminded me of what was important, of what was worth fighting for.”
“And what is that, exactly?”
