to no one’s profit. Rohan shrugged, knowing that all he could do was hope for the best.
He felt better about his own proposal of legal borders. Not for nothing had he gone over every document in Stronghold’s archives. He already knew what was legally his—not only regarding the Merida, but along his borders with Syr, Princemarch, Meadowlord, and Cunaxa as well. He would have to give up a farm or two, but he would also gain substantial properties in return. In all his vast holdings, he could afford to cede a little in exchange for undisputed right to the rest of it. The vassals involved would have to be appeased, of course, now that they were going to own the land, but thanks to his father he had money enough to soothe the loss of a few square measures here and there.
What a dragon’s egg he had cracked today, he thought with a smile. The princes would go mad rummaging around for old treaties and the surveys made by faradh’im long ago. In their searching they would, without even realizing it, come to value the precedent of law. With luck and a push here and there, he could persuade them to extend that belief to other things.
Footsteps sounded on the bridge above him, returning from the other bank, and for a moment he thought it must be Meath. But the steps were too light to belong to the big Sunrunner. As the person descended to the gravel shore, curiosity got the better of him. He peeked out from his shelter and with complete delight recognized the girl wrapped in a cloak much too short for her.
“Sioned!”
“Who’s there?” She whirled around, fear in her voice.
“It’s only me. Rohan. I’m under the steps. Come in out of the rain.”
She approached, her riding boots muddy to the knees, and bent to peer in. “Whatever are you doing?”
“I could ask you the same. Come on.” He held out a hand, which she ignored. “You’re supposed to be safe and dry inside your tent,” he scolded as she crouched down beside him.
“Your damned leaky tent,” she corrected. “And you’re supposed to be in a conference.”
“I got bored.” He shifted around to kneel behind her, careless of the mud, and began rubbing her arms and shoulders. She was shivering beneath the fur-lined cloak. “You’re soaked through! How long have you been outside, woman? Here, let me warm you up.” He tried to draw her back against him, intending to hold her while explaining his discoveries of the morning, but she shrugged him off angrily.
“Don’t handle me as if I’m your property,” she muttered. “You don’t own me yet, my lord prince.”
Bewildered, he kept his mouth shut. A few moments later he was rewarded for his self-control.
“I saw Ianthe last night, coming out of your tent! The only reason I’m even speaking to you is that she didn’t look very happy.”
Rohan was glad her back was to him so she missed his delighted grin. “I didn’t give her much reason to be. You conjured Fire last night, didn’t you?”
“What if I did?” she said sulkily. “She was there to seduce you or kill you, and I wasn’t about to let her do either.”
“I wonder which would have been worse?”
She twisted around and stared at him, her lashes all tangled with raindrops he longed to kiss. “How I’d love to be able to hate you,” she whispered.
Rightly interpreting this as a declaration of emotions having nothing to do with hatred, Rohan took her in his arms. They sat there in the mud beneath the leaky bridge and kissed each other, hampered by the bulk of their clothing, the chill, and a total lack of adequate space. Rohan had never been happier in his life.
They might have stayed like that all afternoon and well into the evening, but gradually Rohan became aware that rain no longer dripped into his hair, the blue-gray dimness of their hideaway had brightened with sunlight. Reluctantly he eased his hold on her. She pressed her hands to his chest and nestled her head comfortably against his shoulder.
“There’s so much to tell you, and there’s never any time. Rohan, meeting in secret will be fun once we’re married and don’t have to in order to talk to each other, but for now it’s getting ridiculous!”
“Just wait till I get you alone in Stronghold this winter,” he promised.
“Saddle the horses and let’s go home, then!” She laughed and moved away from him. “Only a little while