It was over quickly. She lowered him against the wall in one practiced motion. Her back was to us by the time she straightened. She stayed that way for a moment before she turned.
“She attacked us,” Tesa said. Flat. Stating a fact rather than a complaint. “As soon as we came through the door.”
I went past her into the room.
Riven was against the far wall, one hand pressed to his temple, which was bleeding. His other hand was raised in the universal posture of a man trying to convince someone he does not mean them harm.
Apparently, Cara had inherited her gift for wounding those who tried to help her.
Maris had a fireplace poker. She was standing with Lidi behind her, the girl pressed back against the wall, and her eyes were moving between Riven and the doorway, calculating whether they could get both her children out or only one or if it was already a lost cause.
She had seen the guard uniform and drawn the most likely conclusion available to a woman in a room with no exits and no friends.
She swung at me as I came through the door. I caught the poker on my bracer and took it from her in the same motion, which required care; she was stronger than she looked, and she had committed to the swing, and I had no interest in hurting her.
“I’m not here serving the queen,” I told her urgently.
“Then what do you want with us?” she demanded, her voice rough. Anger covering fear.
“I’d like to get you free if you would stop attacking your rescuers.”
“Fieran!” Lidi pushed away from her mother, who tried to snatch her but was too late. Panic wrote over Maris’s face, and then Lidi was in my arms.
I dropped the poker to hug her, lifting her up with me to settle her onto my hip. I kicked the poker in one smooth move before Maris could lunge for it, putting it at Riven’s feet. It hit the toe of his boot, and he had it in his hand, fast as a flash of lightning. He gave Maris a reproachful look but did not move from the wall.
“Cara sent me to rescue you.”
Maris’s eyes widened. “Where is she?”
“She’s at the arena. I need to get the three of you to her.” I needed three, and I had two.
Maris’s gaze roamed over mine, uncertainty in her face for the first time, as if she’d found a thread she could not quite pull. I wondered how much of her memory was lost to Corbyn’s trickery. “It’s not Tay’s fault, but he’s under an enchantment. He’s going to fight you.”
“He won’t win.” I had no choice, thanks to Cara, even though he was enchanted, and it was going to be a mess because I didn’t have the knife here. Cara had fucked over my entire timeline as well as my heart.
“Dair, take the little girl. Make sure you get her out, no matter what happens.”
As I transferred her into Dair’s arms, I smiled at the little girl who had once rescued us. It was only right to return the favor. “You remember Dair?”
She could walk, but he would move faster, even with her in his arms. She nodded.
“My savior,” Dair called her, and she put her arm around his neck.
My life would be easier if Cara was more like her and less like her mother, who was still slightly wild-eyed and looked as if she were torn between listening to me and going for another weapon.
“Where’s Tay?” My gaze rose to the door beyond, the one that led into another room.
I put myself between Maris and the open door half a second before Tay came through it. I sheathed my sword in one quick movement because I couldn’t stab Cara’s brother.
He didn’t have any compunctions against injuring me, though. Must be a family trait.
“I’m taking you to Cara,” I told him.
He lunged.
He was better than I’d expected: fast and committed. I turned his first strike and took the second on my bracer and moved into him, closing the distance so completely that his next strike had nowhere to go. My elbow caught his jaw.
He staggered. His gaze went to mine, and recognition passed across his face.
