The man leaned forward . . . and sniffed me.Like a bloody dog.
His strange eyes widened. “Ye smell like dirt.” Another sniff. “And rose petals. I like it.”
His head tilted as he paused, waiting and watching.
What did he expect me to say to that? “Thank you?”
He gave a nod. “Yer welcome. Have ye come down to join us?” He shook something at me.
A bottle of wine.
Was he asking if I wanted a drink? That had to be a good sign, right? That he wasn’t planning on ripping me limb from limb—at least not before he had his wine. “Who is ‘us’?”
“Me and prince lonely heart. We’re drowning his sorrows.” He hooked a heavy arm around my shoulders, the liquid in the corked bottle sloshing as he corralled me into a mammoth parlor at least three times the size of my father’s.
Tadhg lounged on one of two settees with his head against one arm and worn boots falling over the other.
Prince lonely heart.
More like prince no heart.
Pity the girl from Graystones,who loved a heartless prince. . .
Perhaps the fortune teller hadn’t been talking about me. Perhaps she’d been referring to Keelynn all along.
For the only way to save him was at her own expense.
I wasn’t sure how Keelynn had saved Tadhg, but the final phrase certainly applied.
“Look who I found wanderin’ the halls.” The black-haired man slammed the bottle onto the coffee table between the settees and a wingback.Floral curtains had been drawn tight over what I assumed were windows along the far wall.
When Tadhg saw me, his full mouth pulled into a frown. “Paws off, Ruairi. She’s Rían’s.”
I didn’t belong to anyone—least of all his wretched brother.
Ruairi’s grin widened. “Even better.”
Snorting, Tadhg tossed something toward the crystal glasses. It clinked against the rim, then fell to the floor. A coin. Agoldcoin.
Ruairi bit the top of the cork, worked it free, and spat it into the fire crackling in the fireplace. “Take a seat and tell me yer name, human,” he said, pouring three glasses.His accent was thicker than Tadhg’s and Rían’s, still lilting but not as smooth.
I sank onto the settee closest to the fire, spreading my skirts to keep the draft from my ankles. “My name is Lady Aveen Bannon.”
Tadhg launched another coin that bounced off the edge of a glass. “She’s Keelyn’s sister.”
Instead of taking the open chair, Ruairi sat right next to me, his muscular thigh and shoulder pressing against mine.He smelled like crisp autumn leaves and worn leather. As much as I wanted to know what kind of creature he was, asking felt rude.
“What has the bastard prince done to deserve someone like ye?” he asked, handing me a glass.
What had Rían done to deserve me? Simple. “Not one bloody thing.”
“Careful. If Ruairi thinks he has a chance, he’ll follow you around like a pup until you turn him away.” Tadhg tossed another coin. This one landed in a half-filled cup with aplop.
Ruairi wiggled his thick black eyebrows. Although he wasn’t handsome in a conventional sense, there was something wildly masculine about him. Almost barbaric.
If he was as strong as he looked, perhaps he was powerful as well. Would he be willing to help me escape Tearmann?
Either way, with those fangs, I wanted to stay on his good side. “Is he housetrained?”