Maeve and I started tearing the swords off the walls and piling them on the ground. After ten minutes of grunting and scraping in the hall, Arthur came into the Great Hall with a handful of blades and swords. “Ah, you’ve had the same idea.” He dumped his haul on top of our pile.
“I don’t think we did,” Maeve said. But Arthur had already made his way to the bottom of the stairs.
“Everyone, come choose your weapon,” he bellowed.
Before I could protest, footsteps clattered through the house as the boys and Aline converged on our weapon horde. “I want this one,” Flynn declared, grabbing for an enormous curved scimitar.
I clamped my hand over his wrist. “No weapons. We’re not fighting the fae this time – these arepeople. They bleed red, just like us. They’re only outside because we frightened them, andthey think it’s the only way. Having blood on our hands isn’t going to help us win the war with the fae.”
“I agree with you, mate, really I do,” Flynn said, swinging the scimitar around like he was in a video game. I winced as he sliced off a corner of the tapestry. “But what if one of those bastards out there tries to kill me? I’m too virile and handsome to die tonight.”
“You’ve got your magic,” I pointed out.
“Only once they’re too close for comfort, thanks to those charms. Besides, I don’t think fighting them with magic is going to help dissolve this situation,” Maeve added, taking a sword and scabbard from Arthur and belting it around her hips.
“Fine,” I growled, picking up a small blade and shoving it down the side of my boot. “But these weapons areonlyfor self-defence, got it? We don’t want any more innocent lives on our conscience.”
Everyone nodded vigorously as they swept over the pile, strapping swords to their hips and across their backs and shoving daggers down the sides of their shoes. Aline held up a beautiful narrow blade, while Flynn stuck a mace into his trousers. Arthur hefted a large pike between his meaty fists, testing the weight. I shook my head. He tossed it into the hall and shot me a disappointed stare.
“What do we do now?” Maeve asked, her big eyes staring up at me. She’d completely given over command to me. All other eyes in the room faced mine.
This is all on me now. Keep everyone safe.
“We need to hole up somewhere we can see what’s going on,” I said. “We don’t know how long the charms will hold them back.”
“Maeve’s bedroom?” Flynn raised an eyebrow.
“Perfect.” The tower room was the highest point in the castle. We’d be able to see right down over the meadow. It would give us our first clue if our defences had failed. “Let’s go.”
We clattered up the stairs. Arthur lifted Maeve and carried her in his arms, the way he’d done when she first arrived at the castle. Aline trailed along behind us, looking like she didn’t know if she was invited or not.
“Rowan, can you go and grab the mattress off your bed for Aline?” Maeve asked. Rowan darted off and Aline’s shoulders relaxed a little bit. Maeve didn’t know how to act around her mother, but when it came to the crunch she wouldn’t make her fend for herself.
I stood in front of the arched window. From here, I could see over the briar hedge at the bottom of the garden and into the meadow beyond. A crowd of fifty or so people had gathered around the entrance to the right-of-way. As I watched, two of them ran at the gate but bounced back into the grass as if they’d hit a trampoline.
The charms are holding for now.
But how long that would last? More torches moved along the road, heading for the front gates to Briarwood. Eight figures broke off from the main group and started down the boundary, heading toward the sidhe to try and get through the back of our property. My breath caught in my throat – what would they have done to us if they’d caught Maeve and Blake there earlier when they were in the dream world and powerless to stop them?
Beside me, Aline whimpered. I wondered if she was thinking the same thing. I tried not to feel anger toward her. We’d made it back in time, that was what mattered. Now we had to focus on what came next.
“I’ll take the first watch,” I said. No way was I going to get any rest tonight. “The rest of you try and sleep. We need to be strong and rested.”
“Okay, but you need to actually wake us up, “ Arthur growled. “No being the martyr and staying up all night so we can sleep. We need you to rest, too.”
“Deal.” I had no intention of waking them up, but Arthur didn’t need to know that. We shook hands. He crushed my fingers under his grip.
Rowan collapsed on the bed, his eyes boring into mine. An unspoken message passed between us. He was afraid – for Maeve, and for me. I was afraid, too. Aline collected blankets from the box at the end of Maeve’s bed and made up the mattress for herself, while Arthur, Flynn, and Blake lay down beside Rowan.
“Corbin, I’m scared.” Maeve wrapped her arms around me, her deep hazel eyes watching the scene outside the window.
Me too.I squeezed her shoulders, wishing on all the gods that I had the power to protect them all. Briarwood had seen too much pain and death. I was all that stood in the way of ruin, and I wouldn’t turn my back on my loved ones.
Me too.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
TWENTY-SEVEN: MAEVE
