Aislin of Arianrhod (Land of Alainnshire) (23 page)

“He’s right,” Devin said calmly. “Jariath probably lays awake at night, dreaming of you on your knees while he shackles you. You’ll be giving him exactly what he wants if you give yourself up to him. I know how much he terrifies you. I won’t let you do it either.”

She was outnumbered. Giving Devin a sharp look, she snapped, “Fine. We have twenty-four hours to form a plan, but then I’m on my way to Arianrhod, with or without one. I’ll make it up as I go if I have to. I’ve done it before.”

“I don’t think Jariath will harm them. I know that won’t make you feel any better, but he knows this is one way to get you to come to him,” said Devin. “If he thinks this gives him an advantage over you, he won’t do anything to squander it.”

Aislin knew how Jariath’s twisted mind worked, and Devin was right. Jariath would consider them bait—for the time being. She needed to be rational and careful if she was going to get them out safely. It was also true that she couldn’t go storming back to Arianrhod without a plan. She looked up and locked eyes with Tristan.

Tristan held her gaze. “I’m going with you,” he said firmly.

“I can’t ask you to do that,” Aislin replied.

“I am not about to let Jariath get his hands on you,” Tristan said. “I can do certain...things...that you cannot. I won’t let you do this alone. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you.”

His eyes shone like stars, and she had the unexpected urge to kiss him. Hard. She knew his history with humans. The enormity of what he was offering to do for her twisted her heart into a knot.

“I don’t think this is something I
can
do alone,” Aislin said softly, dropping her head so he wouldn’t see the tears. “But I know how you feel about humans...you don’t...” She sighed. “Thank you.”

As they were talking, a young Sylvan courier arrived. “I have rooms prepared upstairs for the three of you,” said Colven to Aislin and Devin. “This young elf will take you there. You have some catching up to do. Rest now, and we’ll plan tomorrow.”

As Aislin walked past, Tristan grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him. “Stay with me tonight.”

She smiled and put a soft hand to his face. “I wouldn’t be setting a very good example for Maeve if I did that. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She gave him a soft, lingering kiss, and then she was gone.

“You will have your hands full with that one,” Colven laughed, as he closed the door behind her.

“I know.”

“You can be rather intimidating at times. She does not appear to be afraid of you.”

“She isn’t.”

“Good for her. What will you do?”

“I don’t know, but I won’t let her put herself in danger. I can’t lose her.”

“Tristan...” Colven sighed. “She will live perhaps another 30 or 40 years, the blink of an eye to a Sylvan, and then you
will
lose her to death. You will also face an uphill battle to convince the rest of the Sylvan to accept her. You alone must decide if it’s worth it.”

“She’s worth it,” Tristan said.

Colven could see there would be no talking him out of it.

“You cannot expect the other Sylvan to fight this battle with you. You’ll be going alone,” Colven said.

“So be it.”

It was all Colven needed to hear. “I will do what I can to help you. May the gods protect you all.”

Aislin looked down at the precious girl sleeping soundly in her arms. No matter what happened to her now, Maeve was safely out of Arianrhod.

Maeve had been enchanted to find out Tristan and Colven were elves. Intrigued by Tristan’s ears, she had peppered her aunt with a million questions. Aislin patiently answered them, leaving out the parts she felt might be confusing to the girl.

Aislin told them both about crossing the river right under the nose of Morrigan’s men, their capture in the forest and being brought to Oakenbourne. She didn’t mention Duff, or any of the more objectionable things that had happened to her. Her first encounters with Tristan hadn’t been pleasant. For some reason, she didn’t want Maeve to think badly of him.

Eventually, Maeve fell asleep. Devin offered to take the child to her bed, but Aislin didn’t want to let her go. She hadn’t dared to believe she would ever see her niece again, and the weight of the girl in her arms as she slept was comforting to her.

She and Devin talked quietly, and finally, her arms aching, she allowed Devin to take Maeve from her.

Devin came back from putting the child to bed and sat on the chaise across from her. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you. I really thought they were going to kill us both. They had their knives drawn. And then one of the men who held us remarked how much Maeve resembled the other human woman held in their prison. I don’t think I was supposed to hear them, but I knew they were talking about you. I begged them to take us to you. I told them we were your family and you’d be very upset if they harmed Maeve. They finally agreed. Still, they were pretty rough with us. I took a pretty good right hook to the stomach from one of them.”

“I’m very glad neither of you was hurt. They weren’t very gentle with Roderic and me when we were captured either. They hate humans. If you’d hear the story that I just heard from Tristan, you’d understand why. I don’t know what it was about us that kept Tristan from killing us both.” Aislin swallowed hard as she thought of her niece with a Sylvan knife at her throat.

“I’m sure it has something to do with your uncanny ability to wrap everyone around your little finger as soon as they meet you.” Devin grinned at her.

“I do no such thing.”

“Is that how you got the bruise on your cheek? The elf you were with—Tristan—did he hit you?” Devin was clenching and unclenching his fists in his lap. “Because you were human?”

“No! No, not Tristan. It was...another elf who hit me. Tristan...took care of it.” Aislin stammered, swallowing the lump in her throat.

Devin nodded slowly as he studied her. His eyes moved over the wounds on her wrists and back to her face.

“I know. It looks bad, but the wrists are my fault. I’ll tell you about it later,” she said, averting her eyes.

“Where’s Roderic?”

“They let him continue on to Wyndham about four days ago. Tristan let him go on horseback, so he should have arrived by now.”

“If anyone can make it, Roderic can,” Devin said.

“I keep thinking that, but if he doesn’t get to Wyndham, there’s no way we’ll know. Without Wyndham’s army at our backs, we have no chance. He will know that he
must
get there, and I have confidence in him, but this forest is obviously full of surprises.” Aislin shook her head. “In any case, Mother and Gwen must be rescued before the army gets to Arianrhod, or it won’t matter. Bryce will never agree to move Wyndham’s army against Jariath while his mother is in the dungeon, and I don’t blame him. Jariath will know he has the upper hand.”

Devin hung his head. “If only they hadn’t found the cave.”

“I’m not surprised to hear that he found it. Jariath is nothing if not persistent. He’s proven that time and again over the years, hasn’t he? I’m just glad you and Maeve made it here safely. I can’t thank you enough for taking care of my little girl.”

“You don’t need to thank me, Milady. I know how much she means to you.”

Aislin yawned as she took note of the late hour. The emotions of the last few days had left her exhausted.

“We’d better get some sleep. I think we’re going to have a rough couple of days ahead of us,” she said.

After Devin went to his rooms, Aislin changed into a nightshirt and slid into bed beside Maeve.

She gathered the girl into her arms and held her close. Maeve stirred and said dreamily, “I love you, Aunt Aislin.”

Aislin kissed her on the cheek and said, “I love you too, little girl.”

Chapter Twenty Six

T
RISTAN STAYED IN COLVEN’S ROOMS after Aislin left and told him what Duff had done. He spared no detail, from the brutal way Duff handled her, to the stakes driven into the ground near the fire. Colven clucked and shook his head, but in the end, he seemed unsure of what to do about it.

“As Duff was a member of council, this clearly needs to be discussed. I simply can’t believe he would go out and do such a terrible thing on his own. It’s good that your foresight was able to lead you to her in time.” Colven sighed. “Though I don’t know what they will say when they find out you banished him because of a human. Not that you didn’t have a reason, but they will not see it that way.”

“When did we become as bad as humans?”

“What do you mean?” Colven asked, surprised to hear Tristan say such a thing.

“We kill them now as we were killed all those years ago, and yet there’s not a human alive who is responsible for Madaheth’s evil. Aislin asked me to judge her on what she had done, not the things done by others, and as I think on it, she’s right. I certainly wouldn’t want to be judged on the deeds done by another.”

Colven dropped his head. What Tristan said was shocking to hear, but it had a ring of truth to it. Yet he knew the hatred of humans was so ingrained, the prejudice so automatic, it wouldn’t be easy to sweep away. Even children born long after they had come to Oakenbourne soon learned to fear and hate humans.

Colven said quietly, “This is why you are the chieftain of our people. Your wisdom astonishes me sometimes. It is hard to hear, but very true that we cannot...should not...judge all humans by the actions of a few. But it is also true that you will have a difficult time convincing the Sylvan to accept Aislin. You’ll be challenged, and it won’t be easy for you. You will have to be vigilant so she is not taken again.”

“I know. But I believe once they get to know her, they will...care about her...as much as I do.”

Colven raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

“As always, I appreciate your patience, Colven. You’ve always heard me out without judgment, even when what I say challenges everything we have always believed in. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.”

Colven took Tristan’s shoulders in his hands, smiled warmly and said, “You’re like my own son. Off to bed with you now. We have full days ahead of us. I’ll speak with you tomorrow.”

Tristan had only been in bed for an hour or two when the nightmares started. They got progressively worse, and he finally bolted up in bed, sweating profusely, in the grip of an unnamable terror. Was that Aislin laying wounded on the ground, a tall man standing over her with a club in his hand? His dreams had been cloaked in shadow, and he wasn’t sure. Nightmare or vision of things to come? He didn’t know, but he knew what he had to do.

The pounding at the door pulled Aislin out of a deep slumber. She looked to see if the noise had disturbed Maeve, but the little girl was still asleep, snoring softly, her mouth slightly open.

The knocks on the door grew louder and more persistent. Aislin rolled over and got to her feet, still groggy.

“Who’s making all that noise at this hour?” Aislin grumbled under her breath, as she pulled a shawl around her.

Her jaw dropped when she saw who was doing the pounding.

“Tristan, what’re you...?”

Tristan pulled her out of the doorway and pushed her up against the wall outside with such force that at first she thought he was angry with her about something. But then he covered her mouth with his own in such a fierce kiss, she almost started to laugh.
Did he miss me that much?

Devin also heard the commotion and came out into the hallway, looking irritable.

Breathing hard, she pulled away from Tristan, and turned to give Devin her best pleading look. Devin disappeared back into his room, a bemused look on his face.

“What are you doing?” she laughed, turning back to Tristan.

“I had to make sure you were safe.”

“What’s wrong? What happened?” Gooseflesh raised on Aislin’s arms. Her first thought was that a vigilante band of elves was coming to take the three of them from their rooms.