after you finish with Philip?” Finn Arne asked after much time had passed.
“Coming through the Rome portal and traveling across the south of Annwn, you must have witnessed the army amassing at Caer Llion.”
“I did.”
“Then you know what I speak to be true.”
“What does your wizard say about this?”
“I care not what he says, although we have not spoken since our battle in Seattle,” Richard replied. “Knowing him though, Merle probably has wheels within wheels turning right now that are changing how all of this is going to end up. The one thing I’ve learned is to not trust him and how he uses people around for his own benefit.”
“I don’t trust you any more than I trust your wizard,” the captain said. “I am not here to start or take part in a war. We are not equipped. I will wait for you to return, hold you to your oath, and take you back. If you do not keep your oath, I will rip Seattle apart to find you.”
Richard nodded.
At that, Finn Arne gave several orders to his men. They disappeared through the plains in the east as the sun just broke the horizon.
In minutes, they were gone.
Richard sighed and turned back to Deirdre and Bran.
“Bran, would you start packing the camp,” he requested. “We must leave here in all haste and gain Caer Llion by nightfall.”
Bran handed the damp cloth he had been using on Deirdre to Richard, giving the knight a dark look. Deirdre ignored the obvious animosity between them. Bran left to roll their beds and pack their things.
Richard sat down next to Deirdre and continued what Bran had begun.
“You risk infection,” Richard said flatly.
Deirdre grimaced as the knight cleaned her charred flesh. Her back and left arm were badly burned; the coals of the campfire had turned her skin to crimson and blackened wax. It could have been worse; the leather vest she wore had absorbed much of the fire.
It was clear, though, she needed weeks to recover from the injuries done her.
“You should go back,” Richard continued, dabbing brusquely.
“No,” Deirdre rasped. “No. I will see this through.”
“You are incredibly stubborn.”
Deirdre smiled through the pain. “I knew there was something you liked about me.”
Richard kept scowling, removing as much grit from her back as he could. She let him, happy for his attention. The heat of Richard sitting so close warmed Deirdre. She kept the growing feelings she had for the knight inside. It was difficult to do. From the moment she had sat at his bedside in the Cadarn, she knew he was the outworlder in her mother’s vision. It made no rational sense but there it was. He was strong, tempered by life, and intriguing. He was an unknown. While his past haunted him, he still possessed honor to see this business to its end. She had been with men, even thought she had been in love before, but nothing compared to this.
She thought back on the vision. It cooled her thoughts. The shade of her mother had said her future was intertwined with Philip Plantagenet. Knowing visions were riddles unexplained, she worried what the reality would be.
Especially given she traveled toward Philip willingly.
Lord Gerallt had been more supportive than her mother. Upon returning to Arendig Fawr, her father had seen the look in her eyes and knew she would never marry Plantagenet. He made the decision then to fight. Deirdre would aid the Morrigan while he returned to Mochdrev Reach to bolster what guard they had in the fight against Caer Llion.
He had no idea she had chosen to lead Richard and Bran.
“Damn creature,” Richard growled as he cleaned her arm. “Should have been more ready for this. I just didn’t imagine the beast could cross the distance from Caer Glain so quickly.”
“You could not have known, Rick,” Deirdre said softly, gritting her teeth. “A bodach is a formidable creature. Besides, I know this area and even I was misled. It is not your fault. That belongs to someone else.”
“Plantagenet,” he said. “At least it is gone.”
“Who were those men?”
“Trouble from our world. They are gone now though.”
“You have a knack for protecting us.”
“Juding by your back, not enough, apparently,” he said.
“I appreciate it,” Deirdre whispered. “And you.”
Richard did not respond, still focused intently on her arm. The two were mere inches apart. Deirdre had never wanted to reach out to someone more. The tickle of his shaggy hair on her bare shoulder. The musky odor of travel emanating from him. The