Ravenmarked (The Taurin Chronicles) (42 page)

When they all stopped to eat in a small public house, Elizabeth commented on Mairead’s lack of purchases. “You should have taken Connor’s offer to buy you that lovely blue silk back at the tailor’s shop. With a few small alterations, it would have been perfect for you.”

Mairead sipped tea and shook her head. “No, my lady Elizabeth. I’m not yet accustomed to such finery, and once I’m in Sveklant, I’ll have no opportunities to wear something so grand.”

“Perhaps you just need a man to spoil you, Mairead,” Melik suggested with a grin. “If Connor isn’t up to the task, I’d be happy to try.”

Elizabeth gave him a gentle slap. “Melik, I thought your attentions were only for me.”

“My lady, I assure you, I have only your pleasure and indulgence in mind,” Melik told her with a rakish grin.

Connor took Mairead’s hand. “Let me buy you something else if you don’t want dresses. Let’s look at the jeweler’s.”

“If it makes you happy.”

He squeezed her hand. “It does.”

When they left the public house, Connor put his arm around Mairead to steer her toward the jeweler’s when the hair on his neck stood up. The Morrag flared, fluttering a sudden warning through a stabbing ache in his chest. He only had time to shout before an arrow whirred toward them. He shoved Mairead away as it thunked into the door behind her. He flung open the door of the public house and pushed her and Elizabeth back inside. “Stay here.”

Mairead clutched his arm. “Connor, don’t leave—”

He yanked away from her. “Do as I say!” He turned back to the street, sword drawn, senses attuned.

The Morrag beckoned him.
Submit. Let me strengthen you.

Stay out of this!

Melik stood with a dagger in one hand and his back to Connor. “They haven’t gone—I can sense them.”

“The arrow was our warning. Do you think—”

The world erupted in fire. All around, flaming pots shattered. The wooden public house caught fire, and men and women who’d never seen more than a heated argument raced into the street amid panicked screams. Connor and Melik ushered them past the flames and into the relative safety of the open square.

Connor found Mairead and Elizabeth and pulled them toward the door, but bodies clad in dark leathers and masks blocked the way. He shielded Mairead and Elizabeth as Melik stabbed and punched the men at the door. Connor sheathed his sword, unable to swing in the close quarters, and drew his daggers. One man broke through Melik’s defense and swung with a short sword. Connor blocked the blow and brought his other hand into the man’s chest. Flesh and muscle parted, and the Morrag sighed in contentment as the man bled out on the floor.

Melik defended the door. Connor coughed into his arm. “Melik, get a carriage!”

“Can’t—too many!” Another man fell to his knife.

Mairead and Elizabeth were coughing. The smoke stung Connor’s eyes and throat.
There has to be a back way.
He led the women toward the back of the public house and found the alley door. He held them back for a moment, listening, looking, and stepped out with caution.

Six men melted out of shadows, all of them dressed in black leathers and masks. Mairead drew her daggers from her boots. One of the men struck at her, and she stabbed him in the chest, pulled out the dagger, and cut his throat as he fell. Elizabeth drew in a sharp breath.

Connor stabbed and parried and whirled. The Morrag clawed at his soul, begging for control.
I would give you strength. I would help you.

He resisted it.
I don’t need you. Stay out of this!

Stab, parry, slice—the men fell, one by one, four to his sword, two to Mairead’s knives. He took her hand and Elizabeth’s and led them to the front of the alley.

The public house was engulfed in flames. A building next to it had caught fire, and citizens had started bringing water. Connor and the women slipped away in the other direction. “Where’s Melik?” Elizabeth asked, panic rising in her voice.

“Melik can care for himself.” A troop of Henry’s men ran past, and Connor grabbed the arm of one. “Lady Elizabeth and my ward—get them back to the palace.”

Mairead turned. “Connor—no—I’m not leaving.”

“Get to safety. I have to find out who did this.”

“Connor—”

“Do it, Mairead.” He ran back toward the fire before she could object again.

Melik stood outside the public house, daggers in hand, his black leather covered in the faint sheen of wet blood. He turned to Connor. “Are the women safe?”

“I found some of Henry’s men. They’re taking them back to the palace. Who did this?”

Melik picked up a shard of one of the shattered pots. He wiped the grease from it and showed it to Connor. “Seamus Allyn. This is his trademark.”

Connor took the shard. “Animal fat?”

“Slave fat. He could use pitch.” Faint disgust tinged his voice. Melik put a hand on Connor’s arm and led him away from the crowd. “You were the target. You killed Allyn’s son.”

“What are you—” Connor’s hands and feet went cold, and his stomach lurched.
The brothel. He was the man who raped Kenna.
 
“Gods. The brothel.”

Melik nodded. “You made an example of Allyn’s son, whether you knew his identity or not. Allyn intends to make an example of you. You need to run. If you stay in the city another day, your head is as good as rotting on a spike.”

“Did he send you to do it?”

Melik shook his head. “If he had, you’d already be dead and I’d be gone and there wouldn’t be a fire in the palace district. As I said, this is to be messy work—bloody and brutal. He wants to send a message.”

“I can’t leave Mairead—”

“As long as Allyn’s alive, if she’s with you, she’s in danger. Allyn wants the Mac Mahons to know what happens when his blood is shed.”

“Fuck.”

“Indeed.”

Connor threw the shard at the wall and roared in rage.
This is your doing,
he told the Morrag. He paced, hands on hips, his breathing ragged and quick with anger
. You sent me to kill, and now this is the price—Mairead.
He pounded the door of the public house and then put his forehead against it and closed his eyes.
I will never be free of you, will I?

You will be my first. My raven.

Connor’s mind raced.
I have to leave her. She has to be able to deny that she knows where I am. She’s safer in the palace than with me. I have to get free of Allyn, and then she’ll be safe.
He turned to Melik.
 
“Do you know how they found out it was me? Or how they found out I was here?”

“Don’t know. You aren’t quiet, though. They caught some of the women who ran, and they described you fairly well. Every time you show off those obscene marks on your arm, you announce yourself.”

Connor closed his eyes. “If I make a lot of noise and shed more blood, will I call him out? Will he come after me?”

“Probably. He’ll only tolerate so many losses before he comes after you himself.”

“You’ve been in his house. You’ve heard his plans. If I travel alone, she’ll be safe?”

“If you go alone, he’ll follow you.”

Connor nodded. He ran to the palace, where he found Mairead with Henry and Elizabeth in the prince’s study. Mairead stood and flew into his arms. “Don’t do that. Don’t send me away again,” she whispered against his neck. “I was so worried.”

“I just wanted you safe.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Mairead. I just wanted you safe.” He pulled her away. “Are you all right? You and Elizabeth?”

“We’re all right.” She wiped her eyes. Blood splattered her sleeves and the front of her dress. “Who was it? What did they want?”

“Allyn. He’s after me. Turns out I was the one who killed his son.”

Henry’s face paled. “You?”

“He was raping and killing women. I made sure he wouldn’t do it again.” He took Mairead’s hand. “I need to talk to you alone.”

He took her arm and led her toward her room. He tried to think of what to tell her—how he could say goodbye—but he couldn’t think of anything that would make the blow easier to bear.
This is your doing,
he accused the Morrag and Alshada and his mother all at once.
All of you. Her broken heart will be on your heads.

When they reached her room, he ushered her in and pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“It was the man in the brothel, wasn’t it?” she said. “The man who raped Kenna—that was Allyn’s son. And now he wants you dead?”

“Yes.” He closed his eyes. “Mairead, I have to go.”

She pulled away from him. “Of course—we’ll go right now.”

He shook his head. “As long as you’re with me, you’re in danger.”

Her voice dropped. “What are you saying?”

“I have to go. I have to leave. Now. You have to stay here, with Henry. You’re too valuable to the Taurin throne and the future of this land to risk your life.”

Her face paled. “Haven’t I proven myself capable of keeping up with you?”

He forced a smile. “Yes. And you saved my life in more ways than one.”

“Then don’t leave me. I’ll go wherever you go.”

He took a deep breath. “Mairead, our paths don’t align. We can’t do this. As much as I care for you, your path leads in another direction. I’m not part of it. This threat only proves it.”

She folded her arms. “What does it prove? You did what the Morrag demanded. I’m coming with you.”

“No.” He took her by the arms. “You have to go to Sveklant. Your destiny lies there.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “Don’t do this. Connor, don’t do this.”

“I’ll speak with Henry. He’ll send you to Albard in the spring with a heavy guard. I’ll try to contact my mother, see if she can help guide you to the right people. But I can’t be part of your life. I put you in too much danger.”

Her voice broke. “Will you find me? Later?”

The ache of what he had to do welled up and competed with the Morrag for space inside him. “I can’t come back. It’s taking me, Mairead. The Morrag. She’s been rising all day, and I can barely control her. What if the next man I kill is someone with even more power? What if someone comes back from my past when I’m settled with you in Sveklant? I can’t risk your life that way.”

She put her hands on his cheeks. Tears lined her face. “I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to say goodbye.”

“Neither do I.” He pulled her into his arms.

The Morrag teased him to submit.
You can have her if you submit to me.

This is what happens when I follow you. I won’t submit to you.

Mairead drew away and wiped her eyes. She lifted her chin. “You promised your mother you’d take me to Albard, and now you got what you wanted when the bond broke, and you’re breaking your word. You promised me you’d stay here through the winter, and you’re breaking your word. You told me you never broke a promise. I guess we found one binding enough, didn’t we?”

It stung harder than if she’d said she hated him.
I’ve become an oathbreaker. I shame my father’s name.
He squared his shoulders and put a hand on his sword. “You are the Taurin heir. Act like it.”

An angry flush rose on her cheeks. “How dare you dictate to me what I should do or be?”

“You are the last of your line. You owe it to your country and possibly the world to marry and bear children and raise them to take back the Taurin throne.”

She straightened. “Go back to your life, Connor. Your women and your money and your sword. I’m sure they’ll all welcome you. But when there’s no woman to warm your bed and money doesn’t satisfy and your sword is just a cold piece of steel, remember what you told me this morning—that it’s not enough anymore.”

I won’t be whole without you.
“This is the way it’s supposed to be.”

She turned away. “You’re wrong.”

He couldn’t think of what else to say. He reached into the pocket of his jerkin and pulled out the three bear claws that he had strung on a leather lashing. He put a hand on her shoulder, and she turned back to him. “I made this for you.”

She took the claws. “Why?”

“You should have them. You should wear them to remember what you did to earn them.”

She pulled a dagger out of his boot. She sliced the lashing between two claws and handed one back to him. “You should remember, too.”

He took the dagger. His fingers brushed hers, and it was almost enough to make him change his mind. “You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met, Mairead.”

“Then let me come with you.”

He put a hand on her cheek and bent to kiss her. She turned her head away. He inhaled the scent of her hair. “Mairead, I can’t risk you.”

“Go.”

He left the room. As the door closed, her sobs broke free, and only the resolute conviction that leaving would save her made him walk down the corridor.

***

Emrys was standing on a rooftop several buildings away when he saw the raven ride south out of the city on a gray horse, galloping as if pursued by death itself. The irony of the thought brought a rare smile to his lips.