“Take them and go,” urged Anwyl. “Far from here, perhaps even away from Kirkjaster. Rhun’s soldiers will be coming – for Caelin, if not you.”
“Leave Kirkjaster? But you can’t—” Gemma said.
"I’ll do whatever will keep you safe.”
“You would do that for me?”
“If I have to. If it’s what you want—to be with me? Because your safety is more important than anything else to me. But if you’d rather stay—”
“No. If I stay here, I’ll be hiding forever. Hiding who I am or hiding who I love. And I don’t want to do that anymore.” She laid her head against his chest. “It’s you I want. And as I am no longer a princess, then we are equals and can choose each other if we want to,” she said, then her voice broke. “I can never repay you. Not for any of this, and I am sorry about what I said.”
Arne held onto her. “As am I.”
“I thought I would never see you again.”
“That might still be the safest option.”
“I don’t care.” She pushed away far enough to see his face. She smiled up at him, and he leaned down and kissed her. He closed his eyes, joy filling him at the knowledge she wanted to go with him, was willing to turn her back on her life here and see where the future took them. Perhaps they would end up in a place where both were outsiders, but he knew it wouldn’t matter. With her and their children they would form their own family. They would have everything that truly mattered if they did so. But first they had to get back to Kirkjaster and work out their plans. He opened his eyes when Cenydd spoke.
“This is the edge of my lands, normally a safe border with fellow Britons, but now the danger comes from within. Your jarl must pick a side. Go to Kirkjaster, ask Tormod to allow the monks to return to Nevyth as a show of good faith and be willing to fight alongside us.”
“I will. And he will fight alongside you if necessary, I am sure. You only have to ask.”
“I will be asking,” Cenydd assured him.
“You should go. We will stay here, ensure Rhun does not send soldiers after you. The people of Lyffnach will not bow before a corrupt and unjust monarch. And pardoning Marcant does not offer my people the justice they deserve. We will come to Kirkjaster when we can, then the people of Lyffnach and Kirkjaster can discuss the future. Together.”
Arne nodded, then led Gemma back to her horse, enjoying the feeling of her soft hand in his. He helped her to mount, then lifted Caelin back onto Anwyl’s horse and mounted behind him. Anwyl passed up the cubs’ basket.
“Take good care of them,” Anwyl said. “You don’t know how lucky you are.”
“Believe me, I do,” said Arne.
“Until the next time,” said Cenydd.
“Until then.”
Cenydd nodded at him, then, with Gemma and Caelin, Arne rode out through the gates of Dol Mawr into the darkness.
Chapter Twenty-Six
They rode through thenight, heading westwards along the banks of the River Clut. They had been forced to stop briefly early on to fashion a sling for the cubs when it proved impossible to ride as fast as Arne wanted to while carrying the basket. Now, Gemma had them tied against her chest, while Arne kept the sleeping boy in front of him. It was low tide as they approached Loch Garw, so they crossed it at the spit which led to Nevyth. Knowing they were so close to Kirkjaster filled her not only with a sense of relief but also something she had never expected to feel – a sense of coming home.
Arne slowed his horse to a walk as they made their way up the side of the stream to where the abandoned church building lay. “Maybe we should stay here for the rest of the night.”
“Don’t you want to get home?”
Arne took a deep breath and held it for a moment. Then he swallowed and stared up the road to Kirkjaster. “Once we’re there… After I’ve spoken to Tormod, told him about Einar, it might not be home for either of us. I don’t think I can face having to go any further without resting.”
“You really think he’ll want you to leave?”
Arne sighed and her heart hurt for him. He’d kept his secret for all this time, and now he would have not just a secret to confess butalso his reasons for keeping it. And it wasn’t just Tormod’s reaction that mattered, it was Einar’s.
“Whatever happens, at least we’re together.”
“I don’t want to ever be apart from you again,” he said. “I should never have left you there.”
She hadn’t known what would happen when she saw him again, if she saw him again, but as soon as she had, she knew she would do everything she could to make sure she stayed by his side this time. He was the only man who had ever been so honest about wanting her, not for her status or the heirs she could provide, but simply because he wanted her. But she wouldn’t let him feel guilty about what had happened, about the choice she’d made to return to Perthawc.
