Page 266 of The Daughters of Avalon
He didn’t know, but for all that had passed between them, he couldn’t kill her—not here, not yet. At the instant, she was naught but an insensate, vulnerable woman, and he couldn’t kill her, but… he suddenly couldn’t see the wisdom in remaining to see her wake. He had betrayed her by setting her daughter free, and Rhiannon was right: She would not forgive him. Rhiannon was the last of her daughters to be bartered, and Cael had effectively taken that away.
Decided, he flung both chains around his neck, then examined the vial in his hand, realizing what it was that he should do…
If he stayed, she would inflict her anger on the innocents in this hall, if only to punish him. She would test him, and she would test them, stopping at nothing to extract the truth. On the other hand, if he left… she might leave them be, realizing they were as much a victim in this as she was. None of those remaining would deny the Witch Queen what she sought. She would ask them if they knew, and some might even tell her they remembered him escorting Rhiannon from the hall…
Kneeling by her side, Cael plucked the stopper from Marcella’s vial, placing the bitter, foul-smelling liquid to his nostrils and wincing.
Would another dose kill her?
It very well could, and if he gave her an overdose, he would have to live with it, he supposed, because, suddenly more clear-headed than he’d been in years, he knew what must be done…
Sliding an arm beneath her shoulders, he lifted Morwen so that her head tilted back, naturally parting her lips, and then, more resolved, he emptied the contents of Marcella’s vial into her mouth, and gently laid her back.
Now it was done.
Now, he must go, and when she awoke, she would find him gone. She would know he’d conspired with Marcella to betray her. And she would pursue them both. The very least he could do for Rhiannon was to free the hounds. Shaking his head with disgust over the present circumstances, he hurled the vial across the room, although he should have laid it by her side. She would know anyway, and she would curse him for it, and if he was wrong about the reliquaries, she would stop at nothing to destroy him.
Turning from the woman to whom he owed his freedom, and his second chance at life—the Lady of Avalon, the mother, mage and crone—he made his way to the stables to prepare his horse, with a name on his lips and in his heart:Rhiannon.
Chapter
Twelve
All Rhiannon needed to do was keep walking, put one foot in front of the other.
Why, then, did it seem to take such effort?
It wasn’t only the physical exertion. Wearing the manacles had been akin to suffering a five-year malaise. By contrast, she felt as though she were walking out of a fog. But she was leaving without Cael, and this was her greatest ambivalence. She worried about leaving him at her mother’s mercy.
And yet, wasn’t he the same as she?
His goals were her goals—isn’t that what he’d said?
On the one hand, he’d been Rhiannon’s willinggaoler.
On the other, he’d kept her sane in a world where all seemed hopeless. Somehow, he’d managed to renew her faith, even despite everything.
Still, why should she worry about a man who’d kept her imprisoned?
She was as confused now as she ever was—perhaps even more so.
The truth was that she had always had a singleness of purpose from the moment she was born. She’d vowed then to avenge Morien’s death, and she still meant to do it. But here washer dilemma now: Cael was her husband, and her husband was also her enemy. Unfortunately, no matter how she willed it, her heart couldn’t seem to harden against him.
Pausing for the hundredth time since their flight from Blackwood, she cast a glance over her shoulder, hoping to find he’d changed his mind and decided to follow.
“Rhiannon,” Marcella begged. “You mustn’t tarry!”
Rhiannon’s heart squeezed with grief.
Some fool part of her longed to rush back, even knowing that would be unwise. Why, oh why hadn’t she put her poniard through her mother’s black heart whilst she still had the chance?
Because she hadn’t been thinking; that’s why.
Only feeling.
So stunned by Cael’s actions, she’d allowed him to lead her mindlessly from the hall. And now, she couldn’t stop thinking about everything she should have done differently.
She couldn’t stop thinking about him…
