Ah. She had wondered about that. “So, is Madison here, too?”
“Nay, but she’s on her way.”
“Good.” Storm or no, enemy bearing down or not, she couldn’t help but eye his leg. “How are you doing? Are you okay?”
“Well enough.” He urged her to keep moving. “’Twas but a scratch.”
“We’ll see about that.”
When he arched his brows at her, she grinned. “I healed another as well. Likely why I was destined to head to Raghnall’s kingdom to begin with.” That made more sense than admitting to all these men that she was drawn to the enemy. She gestured at her familiar, his horse. “Caith. We almost lost him.”
Aodh looked from her to the horse. His brows shot up even higher. “That’s not Caith. ‘Tis impossible for....”
He blinked as though he clearly saw his black warhorse in the smaller horse.
“Gods above,” Aodh swore under his breath. “’TisCaith.”
When she nodded and wiped rain from her eyes, he pulled her after him rather than toss her over his shoulder. “Come, let’s get you out of this weather.”
She didn’t care much about the weather as they walked over the drawbridge into a courtyard that made her stop short.
Aodh stopped as well and frowned at her. “What is it?”
“Whatisn’tit?” She peered around in awe. Despite random lightning flashes, she could make out enough of the spacious area to recognize it. Moreover, the intricate stone archway over a tree stump that led to nothing, as far as she could tell. “I know that somehow too.”
“Good, because it’s never made sense to any of us, including Declán.” He nudged her along. “Come, Riona. Let’s get you inside.”
“What about Caith?” She glanced back to see her horse being led into nearby stables. “And Luna? And Declán?”
“As you can see, Caith is being taken care of and—”
“No.” She pulled away and followed her horse. “I need to make sure he’s okay. That he’s really taken care of.”
She might not be able to heal animals with medicine like Shannon, but that didn’t mean she didn’t love them.
“I am fine, m’lady,”Caith assured.“Ye need not follow. Go warm yerself by a fire.”
“Soon enough.”She didn’t know much about horse stalls butdidknow the one he was brought into was ten times better than the one he had been in before. There was food, water, and fresh hay. She was also relieved to see Declán's horse had returned safely and was being cared for.
It was that. Seeing such simple things, kindness instead of cruelty, that made her, at last, come undone and weep. Give into the fear she had bottled up at Raghnall’s actions. The heartache she had felt at Caith's treatment and whatever happened to Luna. She might be beyond Raghnall’s reach for now, but that by no means meant she was safe. For all she knew, she was already dead.
Thankfully, Aodh held her and let her cry until her tears were spent.
“Thank you,” she finally mumbled and sniffled. “It seems you’re as good at this sort of thing as Liam.”
Riona felt his tension before she saw it and sighed. “Sorry.” She pulled away and met his eyes, not afraid to be honest, because out of the four brothers, Liam was still her favoriteandher friend. “Liam’s just been super kind, so take it as a compliment if I compare you to him.”
She could tell by the way his jaw tightened that he disagreed. “See to your horse.” He scowled, crossed his arms over his chest, and took up guard at the stall door. “Once you are finished, we will—”
“Oh, stop that.” She frowned. “Join me. Be with your horse.”
“You mean say goodbye to my horse.”
“I would think that’s entirely up to him.” She nodded once. “But yeah, probably, seeing how he’s my familiar and not the best size for you anymore.” She considered him. “At least not on long journeys.”
His brow lowered. “What would you know of what a horse can handle?”
“I don’t know,” she said softly, reverently, rather than defiantly when she glanced from Caith to Aodh. “Other than to say I knowthishorse,yourhorse,myfamiliar.” She shook her head and looked back and forth between them again. “I don’t know why exactly other than...”
