Acair looked at him. “What was that spell meant to do? Or didn’t he trust you with the details?”
“It wasmyidea!”
“I wonder,” Acair said slowly. “Quite a powerful bit of business there for a lesser noble to be involved in. Perhaps he kept more from you than you suppose.”
“How stupid do you think I am?” Fuadain snapped. “I wasn’t relying on Slaidear entirely, something you couldn’t possibly understand.”
“Probably not,” Acair agreed. “I’m obviously outmatched here.”
“You are outmatched everywhere, especially in Beinn òrainn.”
Acair smiled pleasantly. “Making bargains with Droch of Saothair, are you?”
Léirsinn wished she’d had a spot to simply sit and watch the entertainment. She was beginning to understand why Acair had earned so many powerful enemies.
“I sent him a horse as a gift,” Fuadain said stiffly. “A small token to keep him doing my bidding, of course. I have the power to take these pieces of souls to myself, naturally, but I prefer to wait for the proper spell to be delivered.”
“Naturally,” Acair agreed. “What happens if we open this wee jar here?”
Before Fuadain could answer, Acair simply reached over and wrenched the lid off that glass container.
Fuadain shrieked. Or perhaps other things that weren’t precisely visible made a noise that was absolutely unbearable to listen to. Léirsinn watched, open-mouthed, as shadows wafted up into the air above Fuadain’s desk, then simply disappeared.
Acair rubbed his hands together. “I believe that takes care of things still lying about the world. If you four will excuse me, I believe I have a final thing or two to say to this man about his former treatment of my future bride.”
She found herself ushered outside her uncle’s solar before she could protest. Acair looked at her brother pointedly, putting his fingers briefly against his ears, then smiled at her and shut the door.
The screams that ensued were, she had to admit, hard to listen to.
Iseabail leaned closer to her. “He won’t kill him, will he?”
“He certainly has the power to,” her brother said. “Knowing what I know about him, however, I imagine he’d rather leave him alive to enjoy his nightmares for quite some time to come. And what does he mean, his future bride?”
Léirsinn took a deep breath. “About what you’d expect, I imagine.”
“He hasn’t asked my permission,” Tais said pointedly.
Léirsinn realized she was sending him the same sort of look he was having from her sister and for some reason, that made her almost unreasonably happy. Iseabail elbowed her gently.
“We’ve done this before, I think.”
“I think you might be right.”
“And as usual, I have nothing to say about what you two combine,” Tais said with a sigh. “Very well, wed him if you like. I’ll still have a pointed conversation with him about your care and feeding. Over spells, if necessary.”
“I’m certain he would enjoy that,” Léirsinn offered.
“Are you suggesting I wouldn’t?”
She would have warned him that such might very well be the case, but the door opened before she could. Acair came out brushing his hands off. He shut the door quietly behind him and smiled.
“Let’s go see to your grandsire next, shall we?”
“To rescue him,” Iseabail said slowly.
Acair blinked. “Well, of course. What else?”
Iseabail looked at him seriously. “You made Fuadain scream.”
