"Pretender Prince," one of the guards jeered. "When yer head slips from yer body, dae ye think Laird O'Sullivan will display it for all tae see?"
"Just as they did with the bodies of yer pathetic parents," the other guard added. "They'll spill yer blood first, then the blood of each of the worms who follow ye. All yer efforts will be worth nothin', scum."
Both guards laughed. The first snorted and said, "And just wait 'til O'Sullivan gets his hands on those whore daughters of his. Do ye think, since they're ruined anyway, he'll allow us tae?—"
Cailean looked up furiously, ready to react to the implication, but before the guard could finish his awful threat, his words cut off with a horrible gurgling choke. As Cailean watched, the man fell to the ground, dead—and a second later, the other guard was cut down too, all before either of them could realize what was happening.
Staring into the shadows, Cailean tried to understand what had just happened, but then it all became clear as an unbelievable sight swam into view before him, sword drawn, determination on his face.
"Eoin?" Cailean couldn't understand what he was seeing. The last time he had seen the only remaining Darach, he'd been back at Bruce Castle. "What?—?"
"There's nae time. Where are the keys?" Eoin demanded.
"On his belt," Cailean replied immediately, nodding down toward the dead guard on the left. "But I dinnae understand…"
Eoin grabbed the keys and unlocked the cell with lightning speed. He pulled open the cell door and said, "Nae questions. Just follow. We dinnae have time, the hour of the execution will arrive at any moment. We must escape now before it's too late."
Cailean almost followed, then stopped. Where would he go? Running back to Bruce Castle, leaving this all behind until O'Sullivan had enough resources to launch an attack on them himself? No. He could not do that: there were too many people here, too many potential allies gathered, too much of a spectacle to pass up. O'Sullivan wanted to see the McNair name and the whole rebellion ridiculed and defeated, and if Cailean fled, O'Sullivan would twist it into him simply being a coward.
He couldn't allow it. Not while he had this chance. He could not run away when there was so much to gain. Cailean had to stay here and show these people who O'Sullivan truly was—and, by extension, the truth about the False King and all that he and his underlings stood for. He must show people the true strength of the McNair name and of the rebellion, and of how his heart beat for his country. He'd show them all that he'd do anything to protect it. The McNairswouldreclaim what was stolen from them, and they'd free the people who relied on them.
And he had to show it. Even if it meant risking everything.
"Come on," Eoin urged. "Maeve is waitin'."
That caused a deep twinge of pain in Cailean's heart. He thought of Maeve, his love, his light, and wondered how it would be if he would never see her again. No. He couldn't think that way, because he couldn't believe that there was any world in which that was possible. In this life or the next, they'd always be together. And besides—she was his queen. And a queen understood that a king must act as the country needed from him. From them both.
"Eoin. I'm nae leavin'," Cailean said resolutely.
"What?"
"I'm nae leavin'," he repeated. He took a deep breath. "I willnae leave this place. Nae without a fight."
Nessa's chambers were no different from what they had been almost four years ago when Maeve had seen them last. It was like a physical blow to be inside of them, seeing the severe decorations that had never been suitable for a young woman—her rooms had been designed to be as harsh as her parents had trained her to be. Maeve felt herself falling back through the years, back to when she and Breana had always begged Nessa to join them and been rebuffed over and over, back to how Nessa had been favored so strongly that the chasm between the three sisters had felt truly impossible to bridge.
Dropping Maeve's arm almost as if it burned her, Nessa retreated a few steps, looking wild in the eyes in a way that Maeve had never seen her. She hurried to the door and listened closely at it, then checked the little side door that led to her washroom, all while Maeve just stood in the center of the room, waiting.
"Ye're a fool!" Nessa hissed as soon as she was sure that they were truly alone. "I thought ye were supposed tae be the wild rebel who escaped the grip of the Darachs, but ye're clearly as silly and airheaded as Father always claimed ye were."
Maeve blinked, surprised at the emotion in her sister's voice. She'd never heard anything other than carefully rehearsed coldness there. "I?—"
"Why would ye come back here?Here,of all places?" Nessa's voice raised, and it was clear she was becoming distressed. "Ye are riskin' yer life and the lives of everyone in yer little…group…by bein' here."
Maeve scowled, frustration building up quickly inside her. Here she was, listening to Nessa, of all people, chastising her as if she were a child, while Cailean was locked in a dungeon awaiting execution!
"Breana and I came—" she started.
Nessa clasped her hands together, looking thoroughly stunned and exasperated. "Breanais here? How could ye be so foolish? Do ye ken what will happen if Father finds her? At leastyecan supposedly fight; what willshedo if?—"
Maeve had heard enough. "Ye kennothin'about Breana, nor about me for that matter. And what do ye care anyway? Ye were always mother's favorite, and father's as well. Ye've been sidin' with him since we were bairns. What does it matter tae ye what happens tae Breana and me?"
Something beyond Maeve's wildest dreams happened at that moment. It was the slightest movement, the slightest change, but it shone more brightly than anything Maeve had ever seen. For just a fraction of a second, something seemed to soften in Nessa's eyes.
Maeve held out a hand. "Nessa," she said quietly.
The mask was back up in less time than it took to breathe, and ice and coldness were masking Nessa's face once more. "Iam doing what I havealwaysdone, what Breana could never do and what ye never would," Nessa told her icily. "I'm doin' me duty."
"I'm doin' me duty too. Please, Nessa, try tae understand," Maeve told her. "I ken there's more tae ye than this. Breana saw it even more clearly than I did, and now…it's time tae make up for what we've lost."
