Page 53 of Bride of Mist
Chapter 14
The blood drained from the Westlander’s face. Feiyan lifted her chin with satisfaction. So hehadheard of Rivenloch.
“You’ve poked the hornet’s nest now,” she told him. “There’s nothing to do but wait for the swarm to arrive.”
But he apparently didn’t intend to sit idly by. With his free hand, he swept theshoudaofrom the ground.
“Wrong,” he said. “I’ve still got a hostage.” He leveled the angled tip at her throat. “Maybe ye should have killed me when ye had the chance.”
She glanced at the sharp edge. She wasn’t afraid. He wouldn’t slit her throat. He didn’t have the stomach for killing a woman. And the idea of him holding her hostage was laughable.
“You won’t have a hostage for long if you don’t learn to tie better knots.”
He grimaced. He was clearly out of his element when it came to tying up captives. She wondered if he’d ever taken a prisoner before. Despite his sword at her throat, she could have easily escaped. A quick knock at the flat of the blade with her left hand, a quick twist to free her right hand, and she could have fled into the wood before he snapped his gaping jaw shut.
But now she didn’t want to escape.
His story intrigued her. He seemed so convinced of what he’d witnessed, of the mac Girics’ part in it.
She was just as certain there was no way the chivalrous mac Girics could have had anything to do with the cruelty he described.
But things were not always as they appeared. Villains sometimes came in the guise of heroes. Heroes sometimes resembled villains. Though she appeared to be a bloodthirsty assassin, Feiyan was a force for good. Perhaps it was the same for mac Darragh. Perhaps he wasn’t the reckless monster he seemed.
She felt compelled to find the truth. To untangle the threads of what had really happened. And it would be much easier without a sword at her throat.
“What if we call a truce?” she suggested.
“I don’t negotiate with murderers.”
“Murderers? I’m not a—”
“Unless I’m mistaken, ye were goin’ to kill me in my sleep.”
She flushed and lowered her eyes. “I…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.
“So ye’ll understand if I’m a wee bit reluctant to trust ye.”
He had a point. “Fair enough.”
“First, ye should know I have no quarrel withRivenloch,”he told her.
Ofcoursehe would say that. A person would have to be mad to want Rivenloch as an enemy.
“You do now,” she pointed out. “You cut down several of our knights, almost killed my cousin, and now you’re holding me hostage.”
“’Twas a mistake.”
“Och aye, ’twas a mistake,” she agreed, “because now the entire clan of Rivenloch is about to descend upon your castle.”
That was unlikely. But it was a useful fabrication. No one wanted to face the formidable Rivenloch army. The lie might protect her from harm.
“Then we should leave at once,” he decided.
She opened her mouth and closed it again. She hadn’t anticipated that response, and it was the last thing she wanted. The sooner they arrived at Castle Darragh, the sooner he’d realize she was bluffing about Rivenloch.
“Wait,” she said. She chewed on her bottom lip, wondering if she was about to do the wise thing or wading deeper into the muck. “Maybe I can intervene. Stop their advance.”
He gave her a dubious glance. “How? In my experience, warrior clans slash first and ask questions later.”
