“I’m not leaving.” Then Annwyl screamed at where the king had walked out, “Ever! ”

“Gods deliver us,” Rhona muttered, walking away from the queen.

“So we’re just going to stand here?” Vigholf asked. “Until the king you just pissed off comes back in here and changes his mind? That dragon’s never changing his mind.”

“Why not?”

Vigholf frowned and replied, “He hates you.”

“Everyone hates me at some point or another. They get over it.”

“I haven’t,” Rhona snapped.

“Annwyl,” Vigholf cut in. “We have to get back to Euphrasia. We have to help our troops, our kin.”

“If we leave now . . . we lose. Don’t you understand that?”

“No. I don’t.”

“Do not question me, foreigner!” Annwyl bel owed, but just as quickly it seemed the fight went out of her. She rubbed at her eyes with her fists. “I can’t talk about this now.”

The queen walked off, and Izzy motioned to Branwen. “Keep an eye on her.”

The She-dragon fol owed after the royal and Rhona’s pretty human face turned red. “Why is my cousin taking orders from you?”

“That wasn’t real y an order, but if it was, she’d still have to listen to me. I’m the Queen’s Squire.”

“In what world does a squire outrank a private?”

“In Annwyl’s world. Now do me a favor and get off my back.” Izzy stepped away.

“Don’t walk away from me, little girl.”

Izzy spun back to face Rhona, her finger pointed at her. “I am not a little girl. And I don’t report to you, cousin.”

“Not my cousin. Not by blood you’re not.”

Vigholf flinched at that direct hit, and he wasn’t surprised that Izzy’s laugh was bitter.

“Good to know,” the girl sneered.

“Where are you going, Izzy?” Vigholf asked her as she walked away.

“To get us a place to sleep and some food. And, if we’re lucky, a lake to bathe in.”

“I don’t think we should separate.”

“Wel , you can’t expect me to stay here,” Izzy snapped before she disappeared down an alcove.

“What the hel s are you doing?” Vigholf demanded.

“You’re blaming me for this?”

“You attacked her!”

“She seems to think she’s a Cadwaladr. Then she should be raised the Cadwaladr way and be given a good thrashing for being such a pain in the ass!”

Vigholf pul ed Rhona around until she faced him. “Nothing you do or say is going to change what happened between Izzy and Celyn. In fact the only thing you real y have to worry about is pissing off Annwyl because clearly she’s protective of Izzy on this. And, personal y, I’d real y like to avoid pissing off Annwyl if we can.”

“You think I’m being unreasonable.”

“No. I think you’re being the Babysitter. But blaming Izzy for what happened . . . it just doesn’t seem fair to me.”

“She shouldn’t have gotten between cousins.”

“She didn’t. What she did is get laid. Good and proper from the sound of it.”

Gasping, Rhona thumped him on the chest. “Vigholf!”

“What? Can you tel me I’m wrong?”

“That’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point? I mean other than you holding a grudge against something a nineteen-year-old human girl did with your nearly hundred-year-old cousin that pissed off another nearly hundred-year-old cousin because he didn’t have the bal s to go after what he wanted in the first place.”

“You’ve never liked Éibhear.”

“That’s not it. I just know what I saw. And Izzy was the long-legged bone caught between two pit dogs. Don’t blame her for that.”

“So you want me to blame them instead?”

“I don’t want you to blame anyone. In fact . . . I think you should mind your own gods-damn business.”

“Oy!”

He tightened his grip around her waist so she couldn’t walk away from him. “Just hear me out. In order to grow up in this world, you sometimes have to do real y dumb shit. Some of us do dumber shit than others.” He pointed at himself, making Rhona chuckle. “Some of us never have a chance to do real y dumb shit.” He pointed at Rhona. “And some of us wal ow in dumb shit until it blows up in our face.”

“And that would be Éibhear and Celyn?”

“And Izzy. But they’l have to learn the hard way because they’re so bloody hardheaded. Trust me when I say there’s nothing you can do about that. But what you can do is not treat Izzy like some treacherous whore out to destroy those two idiots. If for no other reason than we need her focused and ready for whatever ends up coming our way. Not worrying that al her kin have turned against her.” Rhona closed her eyes and let out a breath. “You’re right.” After dealing with Éibhear and Celyn for five long years, it had been easier to blame it al on Izzy—since the girl wasn’t there and Rhona had to live with the other two—than it was to simply chalk it up to bad decisions on al their parts.

“Hey.” Vigholf tilted her chin up with his finger. “Look at me.” She did. “There’s no blame here. None. Let’s just try to make it out of this alive.”