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As if to search inside herself, Moira closed her eyes. “There are times it seems I’m nothing but feelings. But I know where my duty lies. I’ve agreed to go to the stone, take hold of the sword. Not tomorrow. There’s much to do tomorrow. But by week’s end. I’ve shown my people they have a warrior in me. Soon, if the gods’ will it, I’ll show them a queen.”
When they stepped out, Moira remained in the chair, watching the fire.
“What I gave her will help her sleep, and soon, I hope.” Blowing out a breath, Glenna dug her hands into her pockets.
“This could get complicated.”
“What isn’t? I should have seen something like this coming.”
“Time to turn in your crystal ball on a newer model?”
“Oh well.” They walked together toward their own rooms. “Should we talk to Cian about this?”
“Sure. You go first.”
With a half laugh, Glenna shook her head. “Okay, we leave it alone. Stay out of it—at least for now. You know, I’m a firm believer in full disclosure in relationships. But I’m not going to say anything to Hoyt about this.”
“If you think I’m going to blab to Larkin, think again. We’ve all got enough on our minds.”
The morning was soggy and cold, but there were a flock of women on the gaming field. Most of them wore pants—what the locals called braes—and tunics.
“More than twice the turnout I had yesterday,” Glenna told Blair. “That’s Moira’s doing.”
“She sure as hell drove the point home last night. Look, I’ll give you an hour, get them started. Then I’m going to want to get my pet dragon up in the air.”
Whether it was the gloom of the morning or the dregs of the tension from the night before, Blair was antsy. “I want to check out the battlefield firsthand, make sure those settlements near it are cleared out. And I want to swing by, make sure the traps are up and running.”
“Just another day in paradise. Well, I guess we ought to move this indoors.” Hands on hips, Glenna turned a circle. “See if there’s a space we can work with.”
“Why?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, it’s raining.”
“Yeah, I got that with all the water dripping off my hair. Point is, we don’t know what conditions will be like on Samhain. For that matter, we don’t know what they’ll be like if any of these women have to tangle with a vamp before that. Might as well get used to fighting dirty, so to speak.”
“Crap.”
“Buck up, soldier.” Blair gave her a friendly punch in the arm.
At the end of an hour, Blair was filthy, mildly bruised and in the best of moods. A little down-and-dirty training had gone a long way toward smoothing down the restlessness.
She started across the courtyard with the goal of finding Larkin, then stopped short when she recognized his mother and sister coming her way.
Perfect, she thought. Aces. She was covered with mud and sweat, and about to cross paths with the mom of the guy she was sleeping with. Just her lucky day.
Since there was nowhere to duck out of sight, she toughed it out. “Good morning.”
“And to you. I am Deirdre, and this is my daughter, Sinann.”
Blair nearly extended a hand before she remembered herself. Since she didn’t think she could pull off a curtsey under current conditions, she simply nodded. “It’s nice to meet you. I’ve, ah, been training some of the women.”
“We watched.” In the way of pregnant women, Sinann folded her hands over the mound of her belly. “You have skill—and energy.”
She smiled when she said it, so Blair ordered herself to relax. “They’re coming along.”
“My son speaks well of you.”
“Oh.” Blair looked back at Deirdre, cleared her throat. Relax, hell. “That’s good to know. Thank you. I was just looking for him. We need to do a little scouting.”
