Chapter 29
They were escorted down a long tunnel to a chamber. It wasn’t as large as some of the other chambers Éibhear had seen in this underground cave, but it was comfortable enough, with a bed, table, chairs, and a fire pit and freshly slaughtered cow piled right outside the entrance.
“We’ll come fetch you when it’s time for dinner,” the guard said.
“Are you expecting us to stay?” Éibhear demanded.
Because he had no intention of staying. No desire to. He wanted to get Izzy out of here and someplace safe. But the king had insisted they take this chamber and now it seemed he was insisting—through his guards—that they had to have dinner with him. And since everyone around here followed his bloody orders, Éibhear actually had little say in the matter.
“You and his lordship will be dining as human. Princess Iseabail, clothes will be sent to you.”
“Thank you.”
“And we suggest you keep the dog in this chamber. It will be protected here, but through the rest of our lordship’s kingdom, it’ll just look like a running snack.”
“Understood.”
The guard nodded at Izzy. “Princess.” Glared at Éibhear and growled, “Prince.”
Once they were gone, Izzy said, “You do seem to make friends wherever you go.”
“Don’t blame me for this.”
“It’s not my fault either!”
“I never said it was!”
“
Then why are we yelling?
”
“
I really don’t know!
” Éibhear blew out a breath. “That was fun.”
“Sorry.” Izzy walked over to the bed and sat on it. “This shouldn’t have happened.”
“But it did, and we’ll handle it. We always do.”
“You don’t understand, Éibhear. You shouldn’t be here.”
Éibhear shifted to human and walked all the way into the chamber. Izzy glanced at him, then quickly looked away. “Put on some leggings.”
“Does my manliness overwhelm your delicate lady sensibilities?”
“You do know I’m still armed?”
“All right. All right.” He dug into his travel bag and pulled out a pair of leather leggings. He pulled them on, and sat on the bed beside Izzy.
“Do you really not want me here?” he asked.
“No, I don’t want you here.”
Ow.
Well, no one could say that Izzy wasn’t direct.
“Izzy, you don’t have to worry. I have no plans to . . . prolong our relationship any further.”
Izzy looked at him. “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t want you to worry that I only followed you in the hopes of getting you into my bed again.”
“You don’t have a bed. Uther says you only have a bedroll.”
“I mean my proverbial bed.”
“Oh.” She stared at him a moment longer, then asked, “What does us fucking have to do with anything?”
“Isn’t that why you don’t want me here?”
“No.”
Éibhear took a moment to rub his eyes and breathe. When in battle, Izzy had the most amazing focus. But before and after battle . . . well, it couldn’t be helped. He had to work with what he had.
“Then what does it matter if I’m here or not?”
“I have no idea.”
Éibhear began to work on his temples with the tips of his fingers because that’s where his headache was settling. “And yet you don’t want me here?”
“Right.”
“Because . . . ?”
“Because Rhydderch Hael wants you here.”
Éibhear lowered his hands. “Rhydderch Hael? You haven’t mentioned him in ages.”
“We stopped speaking after the birth of the twins. But he showed up again right after you arrived to fetch me back to Garbhán Isle. Then I saw him again just before the first Sand dragon attacked me at the salt mines. He’s used me to get you where he needs you, and that just pisses me off.”
“Me? What does he want with me? You’re the one with the blood debt to him.”
“I know, but apparently he doesn’t want to waste my talents.” She smirked. “Seems you’re not as talented as I am because he’s throwing you right into the pit. I just wish I knew what that pit was.”
Éibhear shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out soon enough.”
“You don’t seem worried.”
“Should I be?”
“When a god makes you take a blood oath to him while he’s wearing your mother’s body like a suit of armor, I’d have to say this is a god you
should
be worried about.”
“You do have a point.”
“You should head back.”
“Are you coming?”
“You know I can’t. I have to see that Nolwenn bitch.”
“Then I guess I won’t be going back.”
“Éibhear—”
“We’re not arguing about it, Izzy, so you might as well let it go.”
“But if something happens to you now, it’ll be my fault.”
“What makes you think that?”
She started to say something but stopped herself, shook her head. “No reason.”
“You’re a bad liar. Keita would have sold that to me much better.” He studied her a moment. “Perhaps you should tell me what the god said to you, Izzy.”
“I’d prefer not to.”
“I’m sure you would, but we both know I can wear you down. So why delay the inevitable?”
“I don’t see why it—”
“Just tell me!”
She scratched her nose and muttered, “He seems to believe you’ll follow me wherever I go.”
“No,” Éibhear immediately replied.
“Exactly. I told him he was—”
“Not everywhere.”
“Wait. What?”
“I wouldn’t follow you
every
where. Unless you needed me to. Do you need me to?”
“I don’t need you to—” She bit her bottom lip, closed her eyes. After a few seconds, she said, “I don’t need you to follow me anywhere. And I don’t like gods using our kin to get what they want.”
“What does he want?”
Izzy shrugged. “I have no idea. I just know that he wanted you in the Desert Lands—and here you are.”
Izzy didn’t know what bothered her more. The fact that Éibhear seemed completely unfazed by all this. Or the fact that he said he’d follow her anywhere . . . if she “needed” him to. What did that even mean?
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” Éibhear finally said.
“You wouldn’t?”
“What’s the point of worrying? It won’t change anything.”
“I can’t live like that,” Izzy admitted.
“Why not?”
“Because if you don’t worry about the possible worst-case scenario, then it’ll happen.”
“That is incredibly ridiculous.”
“That is
not
ridiculous. What am I supposed to do? Wait to see what happens? Just let horrible things rain down on me and my men?”
“I didn’t say you shouldn’t plan for possible worst-case scenarios, Izzy. I said you shouldn’t
worry
about them. All worry does is cause you to panic and, I might add, make your voice a little bit shrill.”
“My voice does not get shrill.”
“It does. Sometimes you sound just like your mother when you get like that.”
Izzy gasped, outraged. “That is an unfair thing to say to me.”
“Well—”
“I am
not
like my mother. Not when it comes to that. I don’t sit around obsessing all day about all the little things that can go wrong.”
“Right. You just worry about the big things that can go wrong.”
She tapped her foot.
“I wouldn’t let that bother you, though,” he went on. “You’re as cute as your mum when you do it.”
“Oh. Am I? I see you still have a thing for my mother. Too bad Daddy got to her first.”
“That’s all right. I can always settle for you.”
Izzy froze, her hands curling into fists, the back of her neck getting tight. “Settle for me? You can
settle
for me?”
“You’re better than nothing.”
And that’s when she swung on him.
Laughing, Éibhear caught hold of Izzy’s waist and pulled her onto his lap, knees on either side of his hips. Once he had her there, he quickly grabbed her wrists to stop the onslaught of her fists. She had a right hook that clearly one of his brothers had taught her and she used it to devastating effect.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want to hear it. You are such a bastard.”
He pinned her arms behind her back and held her like that until she looked at him. “I’m sorry. I was only joking.”
“If you’d rather have had my mother, just admit it.”
“Your mother is beautiful, but she likes to argue a bit too much for my taste.”
Izzy’s eyebrow went up. “As opposed to us?”
“We don’t argue.”
“Uh . . . okay.”
Éibhear leaned in and rubbed his nose against her jaw.
“What are you doing?”
“Nuzzling. Animals do it in the wild.”
“See a lot of that in the Ice Lands, did you?”
“Nothing else to do but watch animals nuzzle. You know, when we weren’t eating them.”
Shaking her head, Izzy tried to slip off Éibhear’s lap, but he wasn’t in the mood to let her go. Although he wouldn’t mind if she kept wiggling her ass around like that. It felt wonderful.
“Are you going to release me?”
“No. You might start hitting me again. And your tiny little fists hurt my sensitive human skin.”
“You’re pathetic,” she laughed.
“So my brothers keep saying.” He kissed her jaw, moved down her neck.
“Éibhear, we can’t.”
“Why not?”
“We’re going to have to go to dinner soon.”
“Not for a bit. We’ve got time.” And even if they didn’t, he’d make time.
“I have to change.”
“Oh. Well . . . let me help you with that.”
Éibhear released Izzy’s wrists but only so he could grab hold of her chain-mail shirt and pull it up over her head. He tossed it on the bed behind him and moved in for the bindings she wrapped around her breasts. He got that off in short order, then wrapped his arms around her waist. He pulled her in closer, loving how her tits felt pressed against his chest.
“Now kiss me, Izzy.”
“This isn’t what we should be doing. I thought we weren’t going to let this get complicated.”
“Izzy . . . I’m Mì-runach.”
“Which means . . . what? Exactly?”
“That when I told you I wasn’t going to let this get complicated I was merely lying to get what I want. That’s what we do. That’s what we’re trained to do.”
“You were trained to lie? You mean like your sister?”
“No. Keita lies for queen and country, but the Mì-runach lie for ale and pussy.”
“You lot need training for
that
?”
“It’s definitely a skill.”
“Oh, well, when you put it like that . . .”
“Just kiss me, Iz.” He nipped her chin. “Before I go mad from the waiting.”
“All right. But just a small kiss. Just a little one. And then we have to get dressed for dinner.”
“Just a small one. I promise.”
Izzy began to lean in, but she suddenly stopped, eyes narrowing on him. “Are you lying again?”
“Mì-runach. Pussy. All we’re missing is the ale.”
“Ale, eh? Well . . .” She shrugged. “As long as I get something out of it.”
“When it comes to obtaining ale, the Mì-runach
never
lie.”
Izzy smiled and pressed her mouth to his. Their tongues met and Izzy wrapped her arms around his neck. He held her tighter, his hands tracing the lines of her scars while his cock grew uncomfortably hard in his leggings.
Gods, he had to be inside her. He had to be inside her now. He couldn’t wait even a second longer.
“What are you two doing?”
Éibhear and Izzy froze at the same moment, Izzy’s eyes opening wide to look at him even though their mouths stayed fused together. He knew that she wanted to believe they hadn’t heard anything. But Éibhear knew better. Knew that they
had
heard what they didn’t want to believe they’d heard.
“I don’t believe you two,” that angry voice went on. “I’ve been worried sick and
this
is what you’ve been up to?”
Izzy pulled back, her hands immediately covering her chest.