Fed up, wishing Rhona was here, Edana turned her attention to the two idiots who’d been—once again!—fighting while everything fel apart around them.

Getting to his claws, Éibhear quickly apologized. “Edana, I’m so—”

“I don’t want to hear it. From either of you!” she said before Celyn could add his apology. “That is it.” Nesta and Breena returned, shook their heads.

“They must have been waiting for him,” Nesta said. “Once he took to the skies—”

“—arrows rained down. No way we could get through that to get to him,” Breena explained.

“Sorry, Edana.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong. It was these two!” she accused her cousins.

“Edana—”

“I don’t want to hear it.” She began to pace in front of her cousins. “Do you see what you did with al your fighting? Do you? ” She stopped in front of the two males. “This centaur shit ends here. Do you understand me? Or I swear by al the unholy gods that when Rhona gets back—”

“When Rhona gets back from where?” another voice asked from behind her.

Edana briefly closed her eyes at the sound of that voice. Damn.

She did try lying, though. “Oh, Mum, yeah, Rhona just—”

Bradana yanked Edana by the neck of her chest plate and pul ed her close.

“Where is she, girl? And don’t you dare lie to me.”

After spending al day at the forge, Rhona was glad for a break. She washed off in the lake that Annwyl showed her and then returned to the alcove she was sharing with Vigholf. As soon as he saw her, he smiled, surprising her with his tenderness.

“Here,” she said, handing him his hammer and ax. “It didn’t need much work, but after that time with the wyvern, figured it couldn’t hurt.”

“Thank you.” He examined the weapons, nodded. “Excel ent. What did you do for Annwyl?” Rhona tossed her own weapons to the floor and sat down on her bedrol beside Vigholf. “I did as much as I could for her, trying to remember everything new my father showed me when we were at Garbhán Isle. And Annwyl seemed happy with what I came up with.”

“But?”

“But what if it doesn’t work? What if it fails her just when she needs the damn thing most?” She shook her head. “I wish my father was here. He could have done so much better.”

“Centaur shit. I know you made something wonderful.”

“Such faith in me.”

“I know what I’ve seen. I have faith in that.” He put his weapons aside. “What is it, Rhona? What’s bothering you?”

“That we sit here, planning what’s sounding more and more like a suicide mission, while our kin . . .” Rhona closed her eyes. “I haven’t been able to get in touch with the triplets. Or any of my siblings.” She smirked. “Didn’t bother with Mum, though.”

“I haven’t been able to reach any of my brothers or Meinhard either. Or my mother. I doubt that means the worst, though.”

“I know. But the triplets are alone, yeah? On their own. Who’s going to watch out for them?”

“They don’t need anyone to watch out for them.” Vigholf leaned in, looking her in the eyes. “Have you not watched them, Rhona? Have you not seen the skil with which your sisters kil ? You’ve trained them wel . Better than anyone else.”

“We should stil be there, by their side.”

“But we’re here.”

“And we’l be dead before the suns set tomorrow.”

Vigholf lifted Rhona onto his lap, his arms around her waist. “That’s not a positive outlook.”

“How can you talk to me about positive anything?” Rhona lowered her voice and added, “Rumor is that Annwyl is going around tel ing people a wolf licked her head.”

“What?” Vigholf asked on a laugh.

“That’s what she said. That she felt better because a wolf licked her head. And that’s who we’re fol owing into the Provinces tomorrow.”

“Was it a big wolf? Or just a good-sized dog?”

Rhona tried to get off Vigholf’s lap, but he held her in place.

“I was just asking,” he insisted.

“No. You were making fun, but that woman scares me!”

“She scares everyone.” He thought a moment, then added, “Except Izzy. She doesn’t scare Izzy.”

“If you knew Izzy’s life story before she came to Briec and Talaith that realization wouldn’t make you feel any better.”

“So you’re just going to give up?”

“I can’t give up. I’m a Cadwaladr. We foolishly push on until our last breath. Like most diseases . . . it’s in the blood. You know, like idiocy.” He frowned. “Idiocy isn’t a disease.”

“It is to me.”

Bradana paced in front of her twins . . . er . . . triplets.

Damn girls. Protecting their sister without thinking about the consequences.

Bradana was no fool. She knew the loyalty of her offspring was with their eldest sister. And Rhona had earned it. But the one thing none of them could say was that their mother wouldn’t do everything and anything to protect every last one of them. Even her stubborn eldest child!

“We’re sorry, Mum.”

“Yeah. Real y sorry.”

“But Rhona said she wouldn’t be gone long. Drop off Keita and Ren and she’d be back.”