believed the taller one’s name to be Gart and his companion’s was Artair.
Even so, why had Eirik landed here and revealed his dragon to them?
“Prince Eirik,” Gart said with a bow.
For a wolf to bow, he must hold another in great esteem. Ciara slid a sidelong glance at Eirik and wondered what he had done to gain such respect. Besides shift into a dragon.
She almost laughed at her own naïveté.
“It is Eirik only, now.”
“In the company of humans, perhaps,” the Balmoral warrior conceded.
Eirik merely inclined his head.
The smaller warrior, Artair, grinned. “Your dragon is amazing, Prince Eirik.”
“Aye, each time I take to the sky in that form, I know it.”
The two men nodded, their expressions full of awe.
“Lais and a human woman formerly of the MacLeod clan will be arriving by boat in a couple of hours.”
“They are welcome.”
Eirik inclined his head. “Your laird does not expect us.”
“Nay,” Gart confirmed.
And the more they conversed, the angrier Ciara became. These men clearly knew about Eirik, that he was prince of the Éan and his dragon was no surprise to them, either. Though seeing it for the first time had clearly been so.
None of this matched with the secrecy still surrounding the Éan among her clan, nor Eirik’s declared intent to keep his dragon and position as prince under wraps particularly.
She grabbed his arm and tugged him a few steps away from the guards.
“You trust the Balmoral more than the Sinclair?” she demanded in a furious whisper as the import of the situation became plain.
“They are Faol, they can hear your whispering.”
“I know that.” She glared. “You said you did not want the Faol to know of your dragon form.”
“Niall and Guaire know of my dragon, as do a handful of your father’s most trusted soldiers.”
“So, what are you saying, the Balmoral and a select few of his Chrechte know as well?” she asked sarcastically.
But Eirik nodded. “Exactly. Your uncle knows of my dragon as do the four soldiers who share this beach’s watch.”
“Anyone else?” she demanded, though she knew it was not her business to do so.
Eirik raised one sardonic brow, but he answered. “His lady, your mother’s sister, the Balmoral’s second and Drustan’s mate, your father’s sister.”
“Why the Chrechte who are assigned to this beach?”
“In case of a situation just like this one. Should the Sinclair need to get word to the Balmoral quickly, I am their best hope.”
There was no denying that truth. “I think even more than they realize.” Eirik raised his brows in question, but she shook her head. “We can discuss it later. For now, we had best begin our trek to the castle.”
The only way to the castle was a narrow switchback path up the side of the cliff overlooking the ocean. She wasn’t looking forward to the walk. She might be Chrechte, but the long horse ride from the keep to the beach was tiring. Her ride on the dragon had drained the last of her reserves, though for a very different reason.
It had been so wonderfully pleasurable, she’d exhausted herself with joy.
“We will wait for night. Lais will have arrived with the boat by then. I will fly you and Mairi to the keep. Lais will allow her the short ride on my dragon to preserve her strength. Besides, he will fly beside me.”
Right. They would have to wait and see if Mairi was really Lais’s mate, Ciara thought with a heavy dose of sarcasm. She almost snorted her disbelief but kept the unladylike sound inside her.
Warriors and their games of the mind. As if women were so easily fooled.
“I thought you wanted to get to the keep sooner. That is why we didn’t just fly the whole way at night, is it not?”
“The MacLeod soldiers in the forest waylaid our original plans, if you will remember.”
“I suppose.”
He laid what she thought was a very proprietary hand on her neck. “I am not certain we should go to the keep tonight and not wait for the morning now as well.”
Chapter 16
In critical moments even the very powerful have need of the weakest.
—AESOP
“What?” She should step away, but she did not. “Why?”
“I can sleep here in my dragon form more easily and guard your dreams this night.” He frowned. “You look almost as exhausted as you did before your sleep last night. I do not like it.”
She gave in to the urge to lean into his touch. “I don’t, either, but it will take more than one good rest to recover from months of