“Fearghus, there’s nothing to tell. So let it be.” She tried to turn over and go back to sleep, and that’s when she realized he’d tied her to the bed.
“Oi! You bloody bastard! Let me go!”
His fingers brushed against the inside of her leg. “Not until we have a nice long discussion about you keeping things from me. We’ve got all morning. And I have unlimited patience.”
Uh-oh.
* * *
Talaith’s eyes snapped open when she heard the queen of Dark Plains cry out, “Gods! Oh, gods! Fearghus!” Since she sounded extremely far from actual pain, Talaith didn’t worry.
Instead, she grinned. Those two.
Stretching, Talaith enjoyed the feel of Briec’s arms around her. In fact, since she was in no rush this particular morn…
Turning over, she said huskily, “Time to wake up that great, big coc—Izzy!”
Standing at the end of the bed was her only daughter. The girl grinned at her.
“How did you…how did you get in here?”
“Picked the lock.”
Pulling the fur coverings she’d thankfully already had around her even tighter, “Nice to know you have that skill.” She elbowed Briec awake.
“What?”
“Look who has come to wake us up.” Perhaps the floor would open up and drag her to the pits of hell rather than waiting until she officially died.
Briec scratched his head and yawned. “Good morn, Izzy.” He rubbed his eyes with his knuckles. “Now as you may have realized, you’re upsetting your mother. So why exactly are you here?”
“Making sure you treated her right.” Her daughter grinned and Talaith remembered seeing that expression on Izzy’s father’s face more than once. That’s probably what snagged her heart in the first place. “And it looks like you have.”
Embarrassed, Talaith yelped, “Iseabail! Out!”
“No need to yell.” She sauntered toward the door, no longer in a gown but leather leggings, boots and a green, soft cotton shirt. “I’ll have the servants bring up food and hot water to bathe.”
The servants? Seemed her daughter had quickly gotten used to court life.
Izzy easily pulled open the heavy wood door. “And no need to rush.”
The girl, who Talaith was seriously considering disowning at the moment, stepped out into the hallway, but before she closed the door, she heard her daughter say, “I told you I could get past any lock, Gwenvael. Now you owe me ten gold pieces.”
Talaith buried her face in her hands, but unfortunately she couldn’t block out Briec’s voice. “I like her.”
“Shut up.”
* * *
Hours later, Talaith found Annwyl asleep on her throne. Her legs thrown over the arm of the chair, her branded arms crossed in front of her oh-so-ample chest…and she snored.
Yes. That’s very attractive, Queen Annwyl.
Unwilling to wait for the woman to wake up, Talaith tapped her shoulder. But froze when she felt the tip of Annwyl’s dagger against her throat. The queen hadn’t even opened her eyes yet. When she finally did, she blinked several times. “Oh. Sorry, Talaith.” She placed the dagger back in the sheath at her side.
Yawning and stretching, she said, “What is it?”
“Wondered if you wanted to go for a ride with me?”
She had to get out of this castle while she had the chance. Briec had kept her in bed for another four hours before he’d finally taken a quick bath and disappeared. She knew if he found her anywhere near that room or any bedroom, he’d have her flat on her back before she could blink.
Annwyl sat up, but winced. “All right. I’ll go. But no trotting or galloping. I’m sore in my—”
“Really, my queen. I don’t need anymore detail than that.”
* * *
“How much time do we have?”
Gwenvael sat back on his haunches. “Weeks. His army’s large. He won’t be getting it this far quickly.”
Fearghus had sent them into Madron lands to find out exactly how far Hamish was willing to go in his quest to destroy Annwyl. Apparently quite far. They soon discovered his army was on the move, heading toward Dark Plains and Annwyl.
“Still,” Briec cut in. “We should be ready by the time he gets here.”
Fearghus glanced at Gwenvael, then back at Briec. “We? Planning on staying?”
“As long as she’s here—I’m here.”
Sighing, Gwenvael stepped away from his kin, knowing this would get very ugly, very fast.
“Well, I no longer want her here. I want her gone.”
Briec shook his head at Fearghus’ order. “No. She stays.”
Gwenvael usually enjoyed a good fight between his siblings, especially when no one paid him any mind. But this felt different. It felt…dangerous. He hadn’t seen Fearghus this angry since their father tried to kill Annwyl. Nor had he seen Briec this determined about anything ever.
“She tried to kill my mate.”
“You act like that’s a first.”
“Don’t play with me, Briec.”
By a stream deep in the forest, the four brothers had returned to dragon form for this meeting and even spoke in the ancient language of their kind. Which made this feel even more serious to Gwenvael.
“I’m not. But I’ll be damned if I let you push her from this place. She’s happy here. She feels safe here. As does her daughter. So they both stay.”
“You barely know this bitch, and yet you protect her like—”
“Take care, brother, how you speak of her.”
Gwenvael looked at Éibhear who had been surprisingly quiet during this conversation. He could tell by the expression on his baby brother’s face he felt no better about the course of this discussion. They may not get along very well, his family, but they always protected each other. Gwenvael would hate to see some female get between them.
“This is my kingdom, Briec,” Fearghus growled out. “I’ll speak of her anyway I like.”
“She stays.”
“She goes.”
“Perhaps,” Éibhear finally piped in, “we should ask the women.”
“Why would we do that?” the two eldest asked in unison.
Éibhear motioned with his head. “Because here they come.”
All four of them looked at the rough trail that led through this forest. They could see Annwyl on her pitch-black war stallion, Violence, and Talaith on a much smaller brown mare Gwenvael didn’t recognize. Not surprising really. No one caught him trying to eat the brown mare like Annwyl caught him with Violence.
The women walked slowly through the trees, speaking softly. But it was Talaith who saw them first. Well, actually, she seemed to see Briec before she saw any of them. Again, not really surprising, as her horse reared up, almost unseating her.
Violence, however, was quite used to dragons by now.
Annwyl caught sight of the brothers and her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “And what goes on here, I wonder?” she called out.
“Nothing to concern yourself with, mate.”
“Really?” Annwyl rode her horse closer as Talaith worked hard to control her much more skittish mare. She wasn’t doing a half-bad job either.
“Why don’t I believe you…mate?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because there’s been so much lying going on here of late.”
“I never lied to you, Fearghus.”
“You didn’t tell me the truth.”
“Because I knew you would act this way. And if this is about Talaith—she stays. As does her daughter. Until I say differently.”
“This is our kingdom to rule together. Remember?”
“Dragons are your domain. Humans are mine.”
“She tried to kill you, Annwyl.”
“So did your father and yet he’s welcome here for meals.”
Gwenvael snorted out a laugh. “She’s got you there, brother.”
Fearghus’ tail slapped him so hard in the snout, he actually saw stars for a moment.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“Accident.”
Annwyl rode up to Fearghus. “Did you stop trusting me, Fearghus?”
“Of course not—”
“Then trust me now.”
The mated pair stared at each other for a long time, until Annwyl’s hand finally reached out and brushed against Fearghus’ neck. “Walk with me, Fearghus.”
He nodded and silently the two walked off. Briec headed toward Talaith, but his dragon form was apparently too much for the beast she rode. The mare reared back, throwing Talaith off, and bolted into the woods.
* * *
Talaith waited until she could breathe again before she forced her eyes open. What she didn’t expect was to look up at three dragon snouts staring down at her.
Like something out of a nightmare.
“She breathes!”
“Of course she does. She just got the wind knocked out of her.”
It was now official—Even my nightmares are getting ridiculous.
Talaith pushed herself up until she sat. It was very hard not to cringe when all those snouts brushed against her.
“Could you all move back a bit? You’re crowding me.”
“Sorry, m’lady.”
She grinned at Éibhear. “You insist on calling me that, Éibhear.”
“You seem like a lady to me.”
“Only because he’s been around Annwyl too much,” Gwenvael joked.
Talaith grabbed a talon from the two younger brothers, barely able to get her entire hand around them, and allowed both to haul her to her feet. She now stood in front of Briec. He’d kept his dragon form, and she studied him carefully.
Annwyl seemed so comfortable with Fearghus, whether dragon or human. But the dragon part of Briec still disturbed her a bit.
It’s probably those scales…or the fangs.
“Are you all right?”
“Aye.” She rubbed her backside. “Just a little sore, is all.”
Gwenvael bowed low, his dragon snout scraping the ground, his eyes focused on her rear. “Perhaps I can help you with that, m’lady.”
Briec didn’t even look at him as he slammed his tail into Gwenvael’s chest, sending him flying back into the trees.
Éibhear shook his head as he walked off in the opposite direction toward a clearing. “He really does bring that on himself.”
Briec waited until his brothers were away, then he focused on Talaith. “I’m scaring you, aren’t I?”
“What gave you that idea?”
“I can smell it.”
Eek!
“Don’t be ridiculous—” she began to lie.
“Talaith.”
“Oh, all right. I find you a bit…intimidating when you’re like this. You’re so very large and fangy.”
“Is that even a word?”
“Probably not.”
“Then what would give you ease, Talaith?”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
“How do I make you comfortable with who I am? Because nothing will change the fact that I am a dragon. I can shift to a human form, but I am in no way human. And to be quite honest, I have no desire to be.”