Beneath the Forsaken City - C. E. Laureano Page 0,72
smiled. “Good lads. Now take the session off to rest and I will see you at archery. I expect a good showing from you lot.”
The boys exchanged smiles as they dispersed, far more enthusiastic about the discipline than usual. It was a solid plan, but considering the numbers they would face, it would almost certainly come down to close combat.
That night at supper, Riordan slid onto the bench across from Eoghan and folded his arms on top of the table. “What do you think of your céad?”
Eoghan looked toward his boys, scattered among the tables near the cookhouse, and his stomach clenched once more.
“I think we have a fair bit of work ahead of us. Is this what it’s like to be a parent? This queasy feeling of responsibility?”
Riordan chuckled. “In a sense. They’ve got potential, you think?”
“Aye. Some talented swordsmen in the group. I wish I could be assured they’ll live to reach that potential.”
“If anyone can see them through, it’s you. What you did with Conor—”
“Has far more to do with Conor than me. Comdiu had plans for him.” Eoghan glanced up at Riordan. “What are the chances any of us will live through this? That there will be an Ard Dhaimhin left if we do?”
Riordan placed a hand on his shoulder and then disappeared back into the crowd. Eoghan looked back at his boys. The brother’s silence said enough.
CHAPTER THIRTY
A knock rattled Aine’s workshop door a split second before it opened.
“Lady Aine, we must talk.”
She didn’t pause in her work, though the voice caused a ripple of disquiet through her body. “Lord Uallas, you should not be here alone. We should not be here alone.”
“In this case, my lady, I disagree.”
Aine sighed and set the pestle into the mortar before she turned. Lord Uallas stood by the door, dressed once more in his court attire, his bearing erect, even regal. Nothing to hint that he had taken an arrow meant for her only two weeks before.
“How is the wound, my lord? Any more pain?”
He took a step toward her. “As if it never happened. Which, for our purposes, I supposed it never did. Though it was difficult to convince my manservant of five years he’d simply missed two scars.”
Aine grimaced. “Does he suspect anything?”
“He suspects that perhaps I’ve been dueling without his knowledge. But does he suspect what actually happened? No.”
She sank back against her workbench. “Thank you, my lord. These matters are not easy to keep secret.”
“No. They’re not. That’s why I’m concerned for your safety. By your own insistence, we cannot investigate the ambush without admitting what happened afterward. But there is at least one person at Forrais who wants you dead, and that person saw me fall with an arrow to the chest. Yet, here I am, walking about with no indication of injury. If you think that doesn’t raise questions . . .”
She had known it would. She’d thought of little else in the two weeks since the incident. “What do you propose we do about that, my lord?”
“You must leave Forrais.”
“I’ve just received Macha’s permission to begin seeing patients. You don’t think it would be suspicious if I suddenly felt the urge to leave Forrais?”
“Not if you were to marry me.”
Aine lifted a hand to her forehead, feeling dizzy. “I am a married woman already, my lord.”
“Not by the laws of Aron. I took the liberty of consulting your aunt’s lawyers. Handfasted marriages are legal only when performed by a member of the clergy and witnessed by another of equal status.”
“And in Seare, members of the Fíréin brotherhood are granted the rights of clergy, which makes my marriage perfectly legal.”
“In Seare only.” Uallas bowed his head. “Forgive me, my lady. I do not mean to argue that your marriage was not valid before Comdiu. I do not ask you to forget your husband. But surely you can understand that your aunt wishes to see you married, and there is no legal impediment to doing so.”
Aine struggled for breath and pressed her hands against her suddenly flushed face. “Why are you doing this? Why are you so determined to marry me?”
Lord Uallas closed the space between them and took her hand. “Aine, I fear for you. I want to protect you. I also have a young son who needs me, who needs a mother. And if what Lady Macha says is true, if you are indeed carrying a child, that child will need a father. Would you have him branded a bastard?”