“Itdidnearly blossom betwixt us.” Because he had been lonely between dreams of Riona. Dreams that he never knew with certainty would bring her to him. That would let him keep her by his side. “But they were fleeting feelings betwixt us. We were very young.”
“Are ye so sure they were fleeting for her?”
He wasn’t, but what could he do? He did not love Eisibél, nor would he ever.
“I will see her married well,” he promised. Until he had time to speak with Eisibél alone, he focused on what was more important at the moment. “Until then, I would see ye treat Riona kindly, for she is not only here to defend our kingdom, but she will be my queen if she will have me.”
“If she willhaveye?” Imag’s lips thinned into a grim line, and she looked skyward. “Why would she not have ye? Ye’re aking.”
“And she an Unnamed One.” It hadn’t gone over his head that Imag hadn’t lowered her head quite all the way when bowing to Riona. “Best remember that. She ranks above me. Therefore, ‘twould bemyhonor if she marries me rather than the other way around.”
Truth told, Riona could be a simple woman with no title, and he would want her. Not just physically but for what he had long sensed inside her. A kind heart. An adventuresome spirit he would never tire of. One that would keep things interesting over the years.
“You can bet on it,”Madison said into his mind, following his thoughts as easily as Riona. Without a doubt, following this conversation, even as she conversed with Riona across the room.
“You already saw what happened when Riona first arrived back in time,”Madison went on,“so you’ll want to keep a close eye on her. She has a tendency to follow whatever catches her attention, whether it leads her straight into danger or not. Wanderlust at its best. She’s been that way since she was little.”
“I know,”he replied.“When she wasn’t telling me what I should build, she tended to drift off quite often in my dreams.”
It had always been one of the things he found most charming about her but understood now how dangerous it could be. Because one way or another, she had done it the moment she arrived here when she went with him and Raghnall. Yes, she might have been drawn to the enemy king, but Declán sensed there had been more to it.
A grand and risky adventure ripe for the taking.
Something she could yet again be falling victim to when she stood abruptly and headed for the door without looking back.
Chapter Thirteen
RIONA COULD HARDLYbelieve it as she stepped out the castle doors and laid eyes on the tree over the archway. Madison was right. It wasn’t transparent like it had been at dawn, but solid.
“Look at that,” she exclaimed when Declán joined her. Many stood around it in stunned disbelief, and rightfully so. “It’s not a ghost tree anymore, Declán.”
His brows shot up. “’Tis not, is it?”
“No.” And she felt such relief. “The stump that only I could see is gone too.”
“Because you got what you needed to from it,” he murmured, sounding certain.
