Page 55
“I liked the Brittle Spear that I first met. He was handsome and dashing,” I admitted bashfully.
“And you looked so good astride him, too.” He grinned. “If that is what you wish me to appear as while we are in private, my lady, so shall it be.”
“I’d prefer to see the real you, if it’s just us.”
He watched me, the playful courtier sliding away from him and falling to the keen gaze of a shrewd ruler. His dark amber eyes inspected me, weighed my edges and my curves. “In time. Ask me again. Not tonight. There will come a time when I ask you a question that you cannot avoid. I do not know what that question is just yet, but I suspect you will know it when it comes. When I ask that of you, ask me again. Until then, in private, I will be your autumn-haired Brittle Spear. And in public, where prying eyes may see us, I will be the dashing newly crowned Ard Tiarna Iron Thorn.”
I shivered under his prophetic words but scrunched up my nose at the new name. “Iron Thorn? Sounds pompous.”
He barked a laugh, slapping his knee as he did so. “And so he was! A pompous, stuffy dandy who won a few fencing matches and thought to skewer a dragon on his little toothpick. And for his troubles, he was torn to shreds.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh yes, you’re very impressive. How you make my heart go pitter-patter with your battle prowess.”
He sat up straighter, smugly taking in my false praise. “I am very impressive, indeed. And that is why you should accept my oath of fealty.”
“If I accept your oath of fealty, will you leave me to bathe in peace?”
A hmm rumbled in his chest as he squinted at me. “Perhaps. I will not go far, though. I will be right outside your tent. I’ll have your lunch brought to you, and when I return, you will tell me your tale and your plans.”
“I’ll eat my lunch, and if—and that’s a big if—I feel so inclined I might tell you how I managed to get out of the castle.”
He snorted. “A worthy deal.”
“And Brittle Spear?”
“My lady?”
“I appreciate the food; I’m starving. We haven’t eaten much on this journey as it is, but no meat please?”
His eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. “And why is that, my Pearl?”
I shrugged, rolling my shoulders with newfound ease. “The meat of Magh Meall doesn’t seem to agree with my stomach anymore. Though the roasted pheasant did look delicious, just a few milúll and water will be fine for me.”
“I will not have my Pearl starving her sumptuous curves on mere fruit alone. The land of Nightmares is also the land of the Harvest Maiden and is rich with all manner of vegetables, mushrooms, nuts, grains, and fruits alike. I will have a bounty spread before you, and your heart may select what your tongue desires.” He gave me an indulgent smile that reminded me of the rust-haired Ard Tiarna I met in his rooms. “It will be my pleasure to indulge your every whim, my Pearl.”
When he was done with his silly oath of fealty that I insisted not be made with his true name, he rose from his knee and left me to brood over the bounty hanging over our heads and the magic storm that had seemed to be living and determined to get to me.
Chapter 21
Ard Tiarna Emrys of Breacadh an Lae, The Raven of the Dawn
Idid not spare time with pleasantries even though soldiers milled about the worn entrance to my quarters. One of them had added to the wear at the door jamb with impatient talon scratches. They all had questions. All of them had heard raised voices coming from the Ard Rí’s chambers. None of them knew exactly what was said, the door warping words into mumbles. And they all knew I had been missing for near unto a week. They wanted to know what had happened. They wanted to greet me.
They wanted to get in my fucking way.
I had thinking to do. Pieces were rattling around in my head, and I was either too stubborn to accept them or too stupid to make them fit.
Silver’s smug grin was my greeting when I finally made it past the soldiers, slammed the door to my quarters shut, and stepped into a beam of conjured light to make my retreat to the public baths. He sat on a stool, dangling a knife between two fingers. Wood shavings surrounded him like an especially primitive flavor of confetti.
“I knew you’d come here first.” He smirked.
“Not exactly first. I had a date with the Ard Rí before I managed to weasel away from the battalion.” I looked toward the two Fae who lounged in the copper tubs and hiked my thumb toward the door. “Out. Baths are closed until I leave them.”
“And who are you to command us, Bastard of Árus Láigh?” snorted a crystalline Fae who warped the room behind her like a clear icicle.
“Well, you can stay and stare at my dick for the next hour. But that will end with me ripping your throats out so you cannot sing tales of what you hear pass between my second and I. Or you can take my mercy where I provide it and leave of your own accord. Whichever you choose means nothing to me.” I shrugged off my armor as I spoke, making it clear I did, in fact, intend to bathe.
The two looked at each other before Silver rose, stalking them down, brandishing the knife. They thought better of their choice to test my patience with the threat becoming less words and more action.
