She inclined her head and nudged the mare faster. Her fingers gripped the reins, and Killian urged his horse into a hard canter. Glancing behind, he saw her following, though her eyes were tightly closed.
The road shifted downward, and though she leaned forward as he’d instructed, he didn’t know if she knew how to command the horse to stop. He kept the horses together, bringing them into the valley. Mile after mile they traveled, until he saw Maeve waiting on the road with her soldiers to block their path.
So be it.
When they were within a few hundred paces, he moved his mount beside Taryn’s and seized the reins of her horse. Slowly, he guided the horses into a trot and finally into a walk. Only then did she open her eyes.
Her face was flushed, her mouth tight, but she gathered her composure. As she drew closer to her mother, she straightened in the saddle.
Maeve walked forward, her expression holding back a mixture of worry and anger. Killian pulled his horse to a stop, letting Taryn go to meet her mother alone. For a moment, the Queen studied her daughter, as if determining whether she was unharmed. Taryn dismounted and then beckoned for Killian to come closer.
He swung his leg off the horse and led it by the reins, seizing her mount as well. He decided to play the role of servant in this, for it was less threatening.
“You can go no farther,” Maeve was telling Taryn. “We must return to Ossoria.”
“You’ve been waiting on me all this time?” she guessed. “You must know that I have no intention of abandoning my father.”
Her mother’s gaze turned discerning. “I know that you are as stubborn as always, and you do not believe what I have said. But Devlin is not worth saving. Come, and we will speak.”
Taryn turned and gestured for Killian to come with them. He held himself motionless, knowing it was not his place to accompany her.
“I will speak with you,” she told her mother, “but only if Killian is present.”
The Queen cast him a look, and her face turned guarded. She looked as if she were about to say something but held her tongue. “We will walk through the hills for a moment. He may protect you, but he does not need to hear what I have to say.”
“He will hear everything,” Taryn argued. “Else, I will not go.”
The Queen shook her head. Killian could tell that the nature of the conversation was nothing she wanted an escort to overhear. But he merely walked the horses over to a tree and tetheredthem, letting them graze. And when Taryn summoned him to join her, he obeyed.
Maeve sent him a dark look and said, “I would prefer it if your servant left us. This is not for his ears.”
“He is not my servant.” Taryn straightened and added, “Furthermore, I trust Killian more than I would ever trust you. He has kept me safe, and he has sworn to help Devlin.”
Maeve’s expression twisted, but she relented. When he reached Taryn’s side, the Queen frowned. “I know who you are. Rory’s blood runs in your veins.”
He didn’t respond, but sent her a slight nod to show that he’d heard her.
“I will not let you go any farther on this journey,” Maeve told her daughter. “You cannot risk your life for Devlin. I won’t allow it.”
“I know you do not care for him,” Taryn began. “But he does not deserve to die in that way. Surely you must recognize all he has done for our people.”
“I despise him,” Maeve snapped. “Believe me when I say that we are all better off without him. The High King is delivering justice that was owed to us years ago.”
Killian saw the dismay on Taryn’s face, and he took a step closer to her. Though he didn’t know why the Queen loathed her husband, he didn’t miss the protective way she watched her daughter.
“What is this justice you speak of?” Taryn asked softly. “All you’ve ever done is speak ill of him. What did he do except keep the peace in Ossoria? And all you did was issue orders of how everything was to be done, how quickly, and in what manner. You treated everyone like a slave. Whereas he—”
“You know not of what you speak,” Maeve said. “I did keep a tight rein over our servants and tribe members, yes. To protect them from his anger.”
Taryn sent a look back towards Killian, and her face revealed her disbelief. “My father was never angry with anyone.”
“Because I placated him. I obeyed his orders and ensured that everyone did his bidding without question.”
Killian studied the Queen and saw traces of fear, not a woman who was desperate for power. He was beginning to wonder if Taryn’s father had revealed only what he’d wanted her to see.
“If you believe that he was a kind man, you are wrong,” Maeve said. “You know nothing of the sort of person he was.”
“That’s not true.”
