O'Sullivan guards appeared around the edges, and many of the enemy clan chiefs and warriors reached for their swords. They were ready to close in, ready to attack, and Maeve felt the battle coming—the kind of fight that could break everything they'd fought for, the kind that would change the entire world.
Or end it.
15
There were too many of them. Maeve braced herself for the incoming attack, knowing that even the most inspiring speech would not be enough to shield them against the O'Sullivan warriors and guards who were now approaching. She gripped Tailfeather, ready to fight to the death if that was what it took. It would be impossible for the four of them towin, but at least they could make a final stand here. At least they could make their deaths mean something, just as Cailean had said.
But then there was movement in the crowd, and something happened that Maeve could barely comprehend.
As one, many of the watchers moved. Mostly farmers and villagers, but even some warriors and a couple of chiefs from other clans. They drew their swords or found things to arm themselves with if they had no weapon, and as a group, they turned their backs on the platform and faced outward to the attackers. Standing side by side, these people, thesestrangers, formed a human barrier between O'Sullivan's men and allies, and the platform where Darren and Eoin had just finished dispatching the two guards.
Maeve gaped at the scene in front of her, then, before the stillness could break, she turned and clambered up onto the platform. In that moment of shock and silence, she could see only one thing—only one person. Cailean looked toward her, and his grey eyes softened, his wearied face breaking out into a beaming smile as bright as the sun.
She flew across the stage to him, running at full speed toward the man she'd feared she'd never see again. Cailean opened his arms and he caught her in a fierce embrace. There were no words, no need for any speech. They just held each other, breathing in each other's scent, secure in the knowledge that they were together once more—and that nothing would ever break them apart again.
The moment was broken as O'Sullivan let out an almost animalistic howl of rage. "What are ye doin'?" he commanded. "Kill them! Kill them all!"
The silence shattered, the stillness breaking, and a frenzy whipped up in the crowd. The barrier dissolved as the O'Sullivan loyalists and the new allies took up arms together. These brave men, fighting for a king they'd long believed dead, remembering oaths that survived deep in the beating heart of the country, slumbering until at last they were awakened again here and now.
Though the new allies fought fiercely, several of the O'Sullivan men broke through and climbed onto the platform, aiming straight for Cailean. Maeve whirled, her sword raised, and Eoin and Darren fell in at her side.
"Here," Darren said, turning to Cailean and holding out a sword he'd taken from one of the fallen guards. "Think ye might need this."
The fight broke out again in earnest, and Maeve put aside her relief and joy for the moment to focus only on her duty as a warrior—her need to protect the ones she loved. She remembered everything that Senan had taught her, every tipand trick she'd picked up in her training with Cailean and her experience on the field. She dodged and weaved and parried, fighting in earnest against two men. She fell into an intense focus, feeling Tailfeather as an extension of her own arm, losing herself in the deadly dance.
As she ducked out of the way of one of the soldier's blows, Maeve saw someone standing just at the edge of the conflict, watching with wide eyes and an uncertain expression on her face. Nessa looked—for the first time that Maeve could remember—genuinelyscared.The memory of the way little Nessa had turned away at Patrick's execution filled Maeve's heart again. As a child, Maeve had seen Nessa's condemnation of Patrick as a traitor as a sign she was as manipulative and cruel as their father. Now, though, with a wealth of experience behind her and an understanding of the world that she hadn't had before, combined with the fear she could see…
She had to get to Nessa. She had to help her. Nessa needed a chance at freedom too. She might reject it, might confirm herself as their father's daughter forever, but Maeve had to at least give her thatchance.
"Nessa!" she shouted over the din of the fighting around her. She dodged out of the way of another attack and quickly cut down her attacker, leaving him bleeding but alive on the ground as she made her way across the platform. Her desperation to reach the other side, to get to Nessa, felt almost as powerful as when she'd thought Cailean was gone. Maybe today she would be able to save her family.Allof her family. "Nessa, I'm comin'!"
More soldiers got in the way, and the sky broke open, rain pouring down upon them. It created more noise, more chaos, and the fighting just intensified under the weeping of the heavens and the howling of the raging wind. Maeve's hair and clothes were soaked in moments, but she barely noticed, only taking care not to slip as she fought hard against those attackingher. She could barely see their faces anymore, only focusing on her sister, who was so tantalizingly close that it was painful.
"Nessa!" she screamed over the wind and rain and the sound of swords clashing. "Ye're better than this! Better thanhim! Leave our father behind and come with us! Be part of the future of this country with us."
Nessa stared at her, and Maeve reached the end of the platform. Her sister was only a few steps away. To her delight, Nessa actually took a few steps forward, raising her hand toward Maeve, uncertainty still etched on her features.
"Breana is with us. You can be too—" Maeve started, but she was cut off as a dark, imposing figure appeared as if out of nowhere, blocking Nessa from view.
"Ye!" James O'Sullivan hissed, knocking Maeve to the ground as he caught her unawares. She tried to scramble back to her feet, but he stomped his foot on her chest, causing her to cry out in pain and holding her in place. "Ye've been a thorn in me side since the moment ye came squallin' intae this world. At least Breana was obedient beforeyecorrupted her. Ye were only ever a pretty face, a pawn tae be sold, and ye couldnae even dothatcorrectly."
Maeve felt her childhood fear creep in as she lay there, pinned on the wood of the platform, as the storm picked up speed around them. The sound of the fighting was still as loud as ever, but there was something wrong with her hearing. It seemed to her that everything dimmed, everything slowed, as the man who she feared most loomed over her. Tailfeather had skittered out of her hand when she fell, and she couldn't even see it in the crowd.
Helpless. She was helpless.
O'Sullivan pressed his foot down harder on her chest. "And now ye try tae take Nessa from me. Me daughter, the only personI have who is close tae an heir. Ye're a pest, a demon, and I've nae doubt ye killed yer mother too."
It was becoming difficult to breathe, but Maeve recognized it when she heard it. This man was mad—truly insane. Did he believe that she had something to do with her mother's death? Perhaps, in his twisted mind, she had. And though part of her wished to reject him entirely, a small part of her, the child who had always yearned to be loved, felt pity for him.
"Ye…were supposed tae be…me father…" she wheezed, struggling against the weight of his heavy boot crushing the air from her lungs. "Ye were…supposed tae be…a parent…tae all of us…"
O'Sullivan's eyes flashed with a dark madness. "And ye were supposed tae be a son," he hissed. "But ye were born a traitorous whore. I should have killed ye long ago." He raised his sword in his unwounded arm. "Allow me tae correct that mistake!"
Maeve closed her eyes as the sword came plunging down, her thoughts racing. Where was Breana? Was she safe? Oh, she prayed that Nessa didn't see this moment. And Cailean, her beloved Cailean…she hoped he'd fight on when she was gone. She tightened her fists, prepared for the killing blow.
But instead, a loud clang of metal on metal sounded, and the weight on her chest was suddenly relieved.
Gasping for air, Maeve's eyes flew open, and she saw her father stumble backward as Cailean pressed the attack, pushing him away from Maeve. His sword clashed against O'Sullivan's, pushing him back, and Maeve could breathe again. Because Cailean was here.
