Page 24 of The Maiden

“Daire?” Jura asked, aghast.

“You have been so busy training you have not had time to see your intended, but I am not so. Rowan is my intended, at least I think of him as such, and I want to see him so he can privately wish me luck. I thought perhaps you might like to go with me and see Daire.”

“Yes,” Jura muttered, “of course.” She hadn’t thought of Daire in days. “I would very much like to see him.”

The land immediately outside the city walls and all the area inside the walls was as light as day, with hundreds of torches lighting scenes of drunken people dancing and cavorting in celebration. So many people slapped Jura and Cilean on the back that Jura went to draw her knife, but met only with an empty scabbard.

Rowan was waiting for them in a shadow of Thal’s stone castle. He had been waiting for quite some time and the stones were hurting his back, but he would wait for days if it meant a moment alone with Jura. She had been better at pretending they did not know one another than he had. He was almost glad, at the start of the games, that she had not looked at him because he might otherwise have forgotten himself.

As the games had progressed and she came in second, third, even fourth, he began to doubt if she would eventually win. He had nervously asked Daire to reassure him of Jura’s skill as a guard. At the end of the second day, he knew he could no longer be cautious and that he had to risk a private meeting with Jura and had asked Daire to arrange it.

Now, he stood waiting for her.

Jura sensed his presence before she saw him. “There,” she said to Cilean, her voice choked. Jura watched as Cilean stepped toward the shadow and Rowan’s big arm came out and grabbed her. Jura’s hands made fists at her side. So it was true, she was just one of many. This randy old satyr grabbed and pawed at all women. Did he tell Cilean of his love for her? Everyone said he trained so hard, but if he spent so much time hiding in stables and kissing women, how much time did he have for training?

“You’re Cilean,” she heard Rowan say, and the two of them came into the light while Jura stepped back out of sight.

“Didn’t Daire tell you to meet me?” Cilean asked.

“He said I was to meet the one—Yes, yes, of course, he did. Are you alone?”

Jura saw him searching the darkness.

“Jura is with me. We came for private good wishes.”

His eyes searched the darkness then stopped at Jura, even though she knew he could not see her. “Jura,” he said, and held out his hand toward her.

Jura did not move.

“Rowan,” Cilean said as he moved toward Jura.

Rowan walked toward Jura, his hand outstretched. “May I give you a kiss of luck?” he asked softly.

She recovered herself. “You have kissed enough for tonight,” she spat at him.

It infuriated her that he chuckled. “I have something of yours,” he said, and held out her knife. She snatched it from him, careful not to touch his fingertips. “Do I get no thanks for its return?”

Jura was suddenly aware of Cilean standing a little behind Rowan and listening intently to this exchange. “I must go,” she said. “Stay and wish Cilean luck.” She turned away and fled from the two of them.

She was blind from her anger and did not see or hear Daire until he caught her. Thinking he was Rowan, she struggled fiercely until she realized Daire was holding her.

“Who has harmed you?” he asked, fury in his voice. “What are you running from?”

She clung to him. No one paid them the least attention as many couples were embracing drunkenly and the noise of their singing and brawling was deafening.

“Come,” Daire said, and led her away to a farrier’s lean-to. It was quieter with only a horse for company. “What has happened?”

She put her arms around his neck. “Nothing. Nothing at all, just hold me, kiss me.” He kissed her but it didn’t rid Rowan from her mind. “Tomorrow Cilean will win and be married to the Englishman. Could we be married tomorrow also?”

Daire was frowning at her. “Why this sudden interest in me and my kisses? Why do you want to act like a woman?”

She pushed him away. “But I am a woman. Because I do not dress as Thal’s English daughter doesn’t mean I am less of a woman.”

“I know you, Jura. I have known you since you were a child. Your emotions do not rule your head.”

“They haven’t until now!” she yelled at him, then pushed away from him and began running back to the barracks.

Cilean was waiting for her and she was very, very angry. “You plan to win for yourself, don’t you?” Cilean said with controlled fury. “He kissed me, but he thought I was you. Behind my back you have wooed him and lied to me. You have never been my friend. Our friendship is nothing but lies.”