In fact, she remained quiet until she finally said the last thing he anticipated.
“We need to talk about your time with Siobhán. How it connects to me.” Her gaze grew grim. “Because she was here somehow last night. Standing on that dock, compelling me to go after my dagger if I didn’t know better. Trying to remind me of something awful you had done to me in our last life.”
So Shannon had sensed her there too. Siobhán hadn’t been a figment of his imagination. Rather, she had somehow made it here within his and Shannon’s thoughts because she hadn’t been here in person. He was certain of it. Yet that gave him no comfort. If anything, he loathed the idea of her anywhere near Shannon.
He was about to respond and tell Shannon to be extra wary when a heavy rap came at the door, and Conall called out. “M’lord?” He heard the hesitation in his man’s voice that he might be disturbing a private moment but rallied on. “I must speak with ye. Trouble brews.”
“Of course it does,” he muttered and answered the door, still not overly pleased with his man for flirting with Shannon somuch the night before. Even if he did make sure she ended up in Liam’s arms on the dance floor. “What is it, Conall?”
“A mass migration, for lack of a better way to put it.” Conall’s tentative, curious gaze drifted to Shannon before he sank to a knee, bowed his head to her, and kept talking. “Queen Riona thinks ‘tis more than just an overflow as her and King Cian’s land is well protected.”
Liam frowned. “What do ye speak of?”
“Animals.” Blade in hand, Shannon joined him at the door and asked Conall to stand. “I’m right, aren’t I, Conall? Lots and lots of wildlife gathering a little too close for comfort?”
“So it seems.” There was no missing the relief in his eyes that she was well. Or the admiration at how beautiful she looked in her druidess dress. “Queen Riona requests yer presence beyond the front gates.” He stood. “Both of yers.”
Liam nodded and gave his second-in-command a look that he need not linger. “We will be right down.”
“Ta, m’lord.” Conall nodded once and left but not before, much to Liam’s frustration, casting Shannon one last lingering look.
“So, what’s that about with you and Conall?” Shannon wondered, again intruding where he would rather she not. “Why are you getting aggravated with him now for checking me out when you couldn’t care less last night?” She arched a brow at him. “I might be wrong but isn’t that the norm with you two? Share and share alike?”
“You mistake just how much I cared last night,” he replied before he could stop himself. But best she understood. “As I said before, I have no intention of lying with another whilst you’re here, and I expect the same in return.”
“Is that right?” She sheathed her blade and shot him an incredulous look. “Not that I intend to sleep with anyoneanyway, but what gives you the right to tell me what I can and can’t do?”
“That blade.” He manifested a belt around her waist for it and tilted her chin until she had no choice but to look at him. “You might not like it, but that dagger means our behavior last night needs to end.” He shook his head. “You need not show me affection in front of my people, but theydoneed to see us aligned rather than divided by whatever captures our attention at the moment.”
“Wishing you the best of luck with that.” She pulled her chin away. “You’re the one who’s slept with half your kingdom, not me. I just—”
“Flirted endlessly with both Dúghlas and Conall last night.” He took her sheathed blade and showed her how to tuck it into her belt so she could easily pull it free if need be. “And it cannot happen again.”
“Dúghlas?” she exclaimed. “He’s old enough to be my father!”
“Ta,” he agreed. “So ‘tis best if—”
“Enough.” She frowned, rolled her eyes, and headed for the door. “I’m not doing this with you anymore, Liam. I’m tired of bickering.”
Had they been bickering? It had felt more like making things perfectly clear and avoiding more confusion. He caught up with her in a few long strides and stopped her. “I did not see that as bickering but speaking plainly with one another so that we seem a united front in front of our,my, people.”
He flinched at the slip-up, unsure what unsettled him most. That he had nearly implied they shared this kingdom or that he didn’t find the concept as unbelievable as he should.
“Then let me speak plainly in return.” She eyed him warily and surprised him with her honesty. “I’ll do what I have to in order to help out my sisters, your brothers, and Ireland, butdespite the connection that clearly exists between us, the way you behaved last night doesn’t inspire me to do much more for you. I found it inappropriate, considering what I’m here for. More than that, it was demeaning given everyone, including you, had to assume I was an Unnamed One.”
Although she was right about his behavior when indoors, he realized she had only recalled so much of what had happened outside. It was still coming back to her. So, rather than rush things because, truly, he wasn’t sure how much he wanted her to remember, he acknowledged the parts she did recall.
“You have my apologies, lass,” he said easily enough because a larger part of him than he’d like to admitwassorry. Especially for kissing Mór. “You’re right. I should have behaved differently, and you have my word I will, going forward.”
Clearly unconvinced, she eyed him for a moment. “Yeah?”
“Yes,” he vowed.
Her gaze lingered on his face for another long moment, as though she gauged just how truthful he was before she nodded and headed downstairs without assuring him she would do the same.
Used to her stubbornness, he sighed and followed, not surprised to see her slow and stop toward the bottom step when those breaking their fast in the great hall knelt on one knee and lowered their heads to her. He went to aid her, but it seemed she knew what to do because she thanked them, smiled, and asked them to rise. In the meantime, her wolf, who had held back until now, joined her as too many people to count approached them with various concerns.
“As ye can see, our druidess fares well this morn, my good people,” he assured them, ushering her along. “Now I beg of ye to go about yer business as we see to what stirs beyond our castle.”
