Lord Neil suddenly appeared before her, grabbed her hand, and spun her round and round. As their bodies pressed together, he leaned forward with rowan berry wine on his breath and whispered the one word she longed to hear. “Dalais.”
She gasped as the blood filled her face. And then he was gone again, a new lord dancing before her. Lord Malcom leaned in and whispered the same. Lady Regan was next, followed soon by Lord Finnbar and then Lady Keely. Every single one who Aengus had called to court whispered her that word.
Her name.
Her legacy.
Hercourt.
When the song ended, Mariel was left breathless. She tiptoed back over to the head table and perched on her chair, her heart a drumbeat in her ears. Aengus leaned over and grinned. “I daresay you are making yourself very useful indeed. You got them all dancing, and they look thrilled to be here. I’ll get this entire court on my side even if it kills me.”
He hadn’t seen them whispering amongst themselves. She’d gotten away with it all.
Mariel smiled.
25
Eislyn
She stared up at the turquoise sky, her head spinning as the boat tipped beneath her bruised and aching body. Vreis stood over her, a hand outstretched, a grin on his devilish face. With a growl, she swatted his hand aside.
“I am capable of standing up by myself, thank you very much,” she snapped.
The truth was, shecouldstand up, but she wished she could lie on the wooden deck for the rest of her days. A week into training with Vreis, and Eislyn had never been more tired in her life. Was this what Reyna had felt like during her Shieldmaiden training? It was a wonder she had never given it up.
Eislyn was not improving in the least, of course. At times, she had a flicker of hope. It would seem that she might actually get the better of Vreis, and then he would quickly prove that she had learned nothing. And she would end up in yet another heap on the deck to her extreme embarrassment.
Vreis just grinned as she rose unsteadily to her feet, brushing off her dirty hoarfrost trousers. If only her father could see her now, he would be mortified. Another daughter, lost to the wild ways of swordplay. Not that she had even touched a sword since they began. They’d only been battling with wooden mop handles.
“That was better,” Vreis said.
“Better?” She glared. “Honestly Vreis, sometimes I truly do think you must be a shadow fae for how many lies spill from that mouth of yours.”
“Not a lie,” he replied easily, draping his arm across the ship’s railing. The breeze ruffled the hair that framed his chiseled face. “It’s true. You were on your feet a full minute longer than the last time.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You’re mocking me.”
“I’m not mocking you.”
“You are.”
“It’s merely good-natured ribbing, Eislyn.” He still smiled at her, his mismatched eyes twinkling.
“See.” She lifted the mop handle and pointed the end at his chest. “That’s mocking.”
“No. Mocking is something I only do to fae I don’t like. This is…” He cleared his throat and glanced away. “Shall we try again?”
Eislyn reached up and felt her cheeks. They were impossibly warm. The sun had climbed high in the sky while they’d been training on the deck, and even this far north, Eislyn could feel the heat of it on her skin. The hours had flown by. They always did when she trained with Vreis. It must have been the physical exertion. It made her forget the rest of the world. Her troubles. The darkness. Her fear.
She felt alive.
But now that they had stopped, reality came creeping in like the mists. She’d once felt alive like this before. When Thane had taken her into Tairngire. They had drank and they had danced. It had been a whirlwind of innocent pleasure. At the time, she had been scared of everything. She had not known how easy she’d had it then.
Before she’d been abducted by Sloane. Before Aengus had taken the throne. And before Thane had vanished into nowhere.
She sighed. “I think that will be all for today, Vreis.”
His smile vanished. “You’re thinking of him again. Our king.”
