Mairead was quiet the rest of the day. When they stopped to eat, she picked at her food. “I can’t stop thinking about it,” she whispered.
“Don’t worry about it. That’s why you have me.”
Tears glistened in her eyes. “I heard them when we walked in. They talked about buying children and women from their own families, capturing girls and putting them in brothels, taking men to sell into piracy.” She shook her head. “I’m going to bed.” She picked up her blanket and lay down near the fire.
Connor listened to her cry herself to sleep. He considered offering her a sympathetic shoulder, but didn’t want her to think he expected more.
The next village came into sight late the next day. Mairead was hesitant to pass through it, but Connor insisted. “You could use a hot meal and a good night’s sleep. And if you’re not comfortable with the place, we’ll leave. Fair?”
She let out a long breath and nodded. “Fair.”
As they rode into the village, they passed an alley where an old man sat begging for alms. Mairead stopped, and Connor reined in. “I’m not giving him money.”
“I didn’t ask you to.” She held out her hand. “Give me your pack.”
“What? Why?”
“Because we have plenty of flatbread and leftover quail, and he could use them.”
Connor hesitated. “Mairead—”
“Were you planning to eat it tonight?”
“No, but—”
“Then let’s give it away before it spoils.”
He sighed, fished out the food that would spoil, and gave it to her. “You can’t save him, Mairead. He’s a beggar. He’ll probably be dead in a few days. You only prolong his pain by helping him.”
She wrapped the meat in the flatbread, dismounted, and knelt in the alley before the old man while other townsfolk passed. His eyes were clouded over with age, and he had few teeth left. She squeezed his hands together over the bread. “Be at peace, sir. Alshada is with you.” She took his empty begging cup and poured water into it from her skin.
The man’s mouth broke into a wide smile. “Lady, ’tis you—the one—he told me ye’d come.”
Connor startled. Who told him she’d come? Has the Forbidden been here? “Mairead, this may not be safe.”
“Hush.” She lifted the cup to the man’s lips and helped him drink. “I will pray for you, sir.”
Tears streamed down the man’s face. “Ye’ve given me peace. Ye’ll bring peace to this land. Thank him—I got to see ye.” He rasped a sigh. “You’re as beautiful as I imagined. I’m at peace now. I can go to him in peace.”
Connor gaped as Mairead helped the man finish the food and water. There was no grudging obedience or superiority on her face. She grasped the man’s hands and closed her eyes, speaking quiet words of prayer that Connor couldn’t make out. When she lifted her eyes to the man’s face, she touched his cheek with one slim hand. “Alshada keep you,” she said, and leaned forward to place a soft kiss on the wispy white hairs on his head.
She straightened and returned to Connor’s side. “What was all that about?” Connor asked.
She mounted her horse. “The ravings of an old man, perhaps.”
More than ravings. “He said he’d been waiting for you. How did he know you’d be here?”
“A vision.”
Visions? “Mairead, you have to understand—the people chasing you are very, very dangerous. You can’t keep helping every poor soul you come across.”
She fixed him with a fierce gaze, and her mouth tightened into a stubborn line. “I’m a servant of the Order of Sai Atena. It’s my duty to look after those less fortunate. Would you like it if I told you who to kill and who to spare?”
Gods, this woman! “That’s different.”
“How? You do your job. Let me do mine.”
He tried to think of some response, but nothing came. “He called you beautiful, but his eyes were clouded. He couldn’t see you.”
“Are you saying I’m not beautiful?”
“No, that’s—I mean, you are, but . . . .” His face grew hot.
She grinned as he stumbled over his words. “Leave it, Connor. He was just an old beggar.”
He let it go, but the image haunted him.
They found a small inn and stabled the horses nearby. Connor asked for one room. Mairead inhaled a sharp breath. “One room? But—”
“Mairead.” She bit off the words at the tone in his voice. When he’d paid for the room, he took her by the arm and led her to it. “Never act like I don’t have the right to share your room again. Do you want them thinking we don’t belong together?”
Her eyes flickered with anger. “We don’t belong together. You are escorting me, not sharing my bed.”
Connor pointed to the common room. “He doesn’t know that. We deflect suspicion by having one room. I’ll sleep on the floor, but I won’t leave you alone in a place where I can’t trust the people.”
She started to say something, but stopped and nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
He put down his pack. “Let’s go eat.”
They returned to the common room and sat down at the long trestle table. A pretty maid with dark blond curls came to the table. “Oiska, lad?”
Connor looked up at her green eyes and freckled face. “For me. The lady will have mead, and we’ll both have a meal.”
She turned to Mairead. “Sorry, love—dinna see ye.” She curtsied and walked away.
Mairead raised one eyebrow at Connor. “She didn’t see me?”
“Jealous?”
“No.” She leaned back in her chair. “This is a better place than the last one.”
“This is a better village. These places that are a little larger have elders and constables and people in position to defend the town.”
“Imagine.”
“What?”
“Living in fear. Wondering if you would wake up to someone stealing your home and family, or someone selling you as a piece of bread or a goat.” She shuddered.
“I ignore it. It’s just the way of things.”
“That doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.”
The girl came back within a few moments with a tray of roasted meat, vegetables, bread, oiska, and mead. She set it down in front of Connor and brushed against him as she stood. She winked at him. What’s the harm? It’s been weeks. He tossed back a shot of oiska. It might be worth it.
When they finished eating, the maid hovered close to them. Mairead sighed. “Do you need to go?”
He caught the girl’s eye again. She smiled. She didn’t seem put off by Mairead’s presence. “I wouldn’t mind. You could have the room to yourself for a while.”
“What about not leaving me alone with people you can’t trust?”
He glanced back at the maid. “I’ll be right back.”
The maid was bent over a table, clearing empty cups and bits of food. She cast him a smile. “Ye need more oiska?”
He stood next to her. “I wanted something less demanding.”
She grinned, her eyes flitting over him in appraisal. “We have that sort of thing. But I figured ye for the type who likes a bit o’ something that bites back.”
“It has its place.” He put one hand in her hair. “I was hoping for something sweeter.”
She pressed herself up against him. “Your lady’s not the jealous kind?”
“She doesn’t care what I do. But here’s the problem—I have to guard her.”
“There’s an empty room next to yours.”
“I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.”
Connor escorted Mairead to their room and made sure she locked the door when he left. The maid walked up behind him. She slipped a hand into his and led him into the next room, candle in her other hand. She closed the door, set down the candle, and turned to Connor. “Tell me what ye like, lad,” she said, sliding her arms around his neck.
Connor grinned. “And you’ll take care of me?”
“Aye. If ye promise ye’ll not be too rough.”
“I’ve never had any complaints.”
She let him unlace her dress. He ran his hands along her exposed skin. She pushed his jerkin to the floor, but he was too tall for her to pull his tunic off. He pulled it off for her. Mairead is taller. The maid ran her fingers over his tattoos. She kissed his chest, the sensation of her lips and fingers teasing his skin into gooseflesh. He cupped her face and turned it to his. Mairead’s eyes are lighter. He shook the thought away. He bent and buried his face in the girl’s hair. “What’s your name?”
“Keely. Yours?”
“Connor.” He inhaled, but her scent was wrong—not what he expected. He pulled her close. This would be easy. I don’t have to think about this. He pushed her dress off her shoulders, pulled it down to her waist, put his hands on her breasts—
He straightened. This isn’t right. Something isn’t right. He took his hands away and stepped back. “I think . . . I’d rather not, Keely. I’m tired. I need to sleep. Thank you for the offer, but I think I’m road-weary. Good night.”
He picked up his tunic and jerkin and left the room before she could say anything. He knocked on the door to his room.
“Who is it?” Mairead called in a nervous voice.
“It’s me.”
She opened the door. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The linen shift she wore stopped just above her knees. “I thought you’d be busy for a while.”
“I changed my mind. I decided I was too tired.” He stepped into the room. “Is everything all right?”
“Fine.” She pulled her blanket tighter around her shoulders. “You can take the bed. I don’t mind. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
Where does she get it—this unselfish nature? She has every right to demand the bed. He rubbed a thumb across a smudge of dirt on her cheek. “You look like you could use a bath.”
She took a step back. “I’m fine. Do you want the bed?”
“No. I’m used to sleeping rough. Take the bed.”
“Connor—”
“Mairead, I’m not such an ass that I’d let the woman I’m working for sleep on the floor while I’m using a bed.”
She gave him a weak laugh. “All right. If you’re sure.”
“I am.”
She lay down in the bed and turned away from him as he spread a blanket on the floor. When he blew out the candles and lay down, he thought of Keely. It was just the weariness of travel and the rough surroundings. There’s always a willing woman. He closed his eyes.
Sleep was just beginning to take over when a voice jerked him back to consciousness. Different than the rough cackle of the Morrag, it had a slightly lyric quality under its sharp, insistent edge, and he knew it at once. Connor.
He sighed. Mother. Now you can invade my thoughts? Damn it, leave me alone.
There was a pause. You tried to bed her, didn’t you?
What if I did?
He sensed her irritation. Keep your hands off the heir, Connor.
He considered something. Did you use the bond to stop me? There was silence. Mother, tell me the truth—did you use the bond to stop me?
No. If I had used the bond, you would know it. I’d make sure you knew it.
He knew she wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to punish him if she thought he was disobeying her. That meant he had turned down Keely on his own. He didn’t know what to make of that. It wasn’t the heir. It was a tavern girl.
And she turned you down?
He hesitated. No. I turned her down.
There was a long pause. Why do you tell me this?
I don’t know. It’s important that you know.
She paused again. Are you safe?
For the moment.
Get some sleep. Her presence disappeared.
Connor rolled to his side and closed his eyes, and then something occurred to him. If she knew I tried to bed the tavern girl, then she’s sensed everything I’ve done for the past six years. So many women . . . And she didn’t just spy on me—she saw everything they did, too. He groaned. By the gods, Mother. Just a little peace—a chance to be a grown man—that’s all I’m asking. But if she heard, she didn’t answer. He rolled to his back and listened to Mairead’s slow, even breathing. Damn it. She steals my privacy and my sleep. Between my mother, the Morrag, and Mairead, I’ll never have any peace. Alshada has a wicked humor to curse me with these women.
***
Behind the inn, Emrys hovered in the spaces between the elements, a mere shadow that no one would notice, out of sight of thieves and prostitutes who occasionally ducked into the alley. He waited at the back door for the pretty maid he’d spoken with earlier. The raven and the heir had been inside long enough for a meal. If the maid had done her duty properly, the raven would be in her bed now.
The back door opened, and Emrys slipped out of the shadows to meet the maid. She startled, but she recovered quickly and held out the coins he’d given her. “He wouldn’t bed me. I canna take your coins. I dinna do as ye asked.”
He folded his arms. The heir has bonded him, even before she knows her power. Her blood is strong. The earth protects her. He won’t take another woman now. I need to find something too tempting to turn down, something that will separate him from her.
In the meantime, there were other things he needed. “Do you want to keep the coins?”
She closed her hand around the money. “’Tis a lot.”
“Enough to take you home.”
“What would I have to do?”
He stepped closer to her and lowered his hood. She drew in a breath and backed away, but he snatched her wrist and held her. “Something wrong?”
“Ye look so much like the other lad,” she said.
“He’s my brother. But I need your silence. He doesn’t know.”
She hesitated. He tightened his grip on her arm. He didn’t need her soul, but he wouldn’t give her a chance to scream.
She finally nodded. “I’ll not say a word.”
“Take me to your room.”
Her face paled. He relished the pain of his touch on her fresh skin. “You’re hurting me.”
“If you don’t want it to hurt more, you’ll do exactly what I tell you.”
***
Kill them, raven. Rake them open.
Connor threw off his blanket and sat up, his breath coming in gasps. He clutched at his chest with one hand. Not now—don’t call me now. I can’t—
You must bring justice.
He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, trying to clear the vision of blood and death the Morrag planted in his mind. It only grew more vivid. He stood and pulled his boots on.
Mairead stirred and propped herself on one elbow. “Connor?”
He picked up his sword. “I’m going out.”
Her hair shimmered in the faint moonlight that lit the oiled skins covering the windows. “Going to see your maid?”
“I don’t know. I need air.” He tucked his daggers in his boots. “Do you have your dagger?”
She sat up all the way. “Yes. Why? Am I in danger?”
“I’ve got to check something. Keep it with you just in case.”
He left the room and crept down the stairs, following where the ache led. He stopped in the empty common room. Keely’s soft cry drifted to him. He drew a dagger and walked through the inn to a small room. “Keely?” He pushed on the partially open door.
She sat in a linen shift on a little cot, her face in her hands. She wiped her tears in a frantic swipe and stood when he entered. “Don’t—” she started, tense, and then relaxed. “’Tis you. I—I thought ye were—” Her wrists were bruised, and the skin exposed by her shift was red and raw.
Kill them, raven.
The screams of dying men and the sobs of a frightened girl . . . He shook his head. “Are you well?”
“Some men aren’t so gentle as others.”
The ache flared again. Blood stained the thin mat on her cot. “D
id he rape you?”
She shook her head. “I agreed to it, and he paid me well for what he took.” Her voice dropped. “’Twas magic. ’Twas more than just a man.” She closed her eyes and her face paled. “It’s not important. ’Tis well. I can go home now. But Connor—” She hesitated, bit her lip, dropped her voice, and stepped closer to him. “Go. Wake the lady and be gone before first light. He knows ye, lad. He’s looking for ye and the lady.”
Connor’s stomach lurched. “Who was he?”
She dropped her voice further. “I canna tell ye. I canna risk him comin’ back. Please lad—go.”
“Take this.” He turned his dagger around and let her take it. “This blade is as sharp as I can make it.”
Her face paled, but she nodded. “I thank ye.”
He returned to his room. Mairead sat on the bed, fully dressed with a dagger in hand. She stood. “What is it?”
“We need to go. Now.”
They both put on their cloaks and packs and went to the stables. Connor saddled the horses and led them out. They mounted and walked out of the village, tense and alert.
When they had passed the village boundaries, Connor motioned her to run, and they set the horses at a gallop. After a few miles, he reined in, and she pulled up next to him. “What happened?”
“The maid said someone was looking for us.”
Mairead’s face paled in the moonlight that peeked through the churning clouds. “Who?”
“I don’t know, but whoever he was, he terrified Keely. She said he was more than a man. He had some kind of magic.”
“Do you think it was the same man who sent the soldiers?”
“Probably.”
“How do we fight an enemy we can’t see?”
“Carefully.” He sat still and listened. “I don’t think anyone followed us, but I want to be sure we’re safe. We’ll ride tonight and rest in the morning if we can find a safe place.” They nudged the horses into a brisk walk.
When morning dawned, Connor found a quiet clearing far enough from the road that no one would see them or the horses. He and Mairead both dismounted. “That wasn’t much of a rest. I’d hoped you could get a good night’s sleep,” he said.
Ravenmarked (The Taurin Chronicles) Page 15