“Then why are we going?”
“I’m going to see my grandmother,” Izzy said.
“We just left your grandmother.”
“Another grandmother!”
“Well, how many do you have?”
“That’s it!” Éibhear ordered them all. “That’s it.”
Éibhear stopped a moment to glare at the people in the pub who’d started to stare at them. When everyone looked away, he focused back on the group.
“We’ve got two things to do when we get to the Desert Lands. See if we can find Vateria Flominia and if we do, learn whether she’s causing problems. Then I’ll report that back to my mother. The other task is to escort General Iseabail to the Nolwenn territories to meet with her grandmother and—”
“Did you make an appointment?” Aidan asked Izzy.
Izzy looked around. “Did who make an appointment?”
“You.”
“Make an appointment with my grandmother? Why would I do that?”
“Powerful rulers wait months to meet with the Nolwenns.”
“I’m her granddaughter.”
Uther said around the chicken leg he was currently sucking marrow from, “Thought she kicked your mum on the street.”
Izzy was nearly across the table, her hands around the big bastard’s throat before another big bastard scooped her up and took her out of the pub.
“I don’t know how this is going to work if you can’t control your temper.”
Izzy pulled herself away from his arms, which he didn’t really want her to do, but he knew better than to grab her back.
“Why are they here?” she demanded, facing him. “For that matter, why are you here?”
“We both know why I’m here.”
“Why? For more f**king? Will you finally get your chance to brag to Celyn when we get back? Laugh about it at the pub? Or have another reason to blame me for your gods-damn misery? To again point the finger at the whore who came between cousins?”
Éibhear answered the only way he could think of at the moment, “Are you still going on about that?”
Izzy’s hands curled into fists and she took an angry step forward. But then, just as suddenly, she took a quick step back, looked around, and finally—wonderfully—laughed.
“You rude bastard.”Éibhear joined her, the two of them standing in some alley in some town neither knew much about, laughing.
“Sorry. I couldn’t resist.”
She waved the apology away. “It’s a little matter.”
“You’re worried about meeting her, aren’t you?”
“I want to do what’s best for my sister. But this is about her future and if I get it wrong . . .”
“That’s why I’ll be with you through all this. Your sister but my niece. I’m not about to let her train under someone not worthy of the challenge. And if we can also find out whether Vateria is in the Desert Lands for my mother, that’s even better. We’ll accomplish more in a few weeks than most of my kin accomplish in a few thousand years.”
“You know, I’ve seen Vateria, I know what she did to her cousin. Why Grandmum isn’t just getting rid of her is beyond me.”
“The last thing we need is for other dragon kingdoms to think we’re here to kill on order.”
“So she sends in the Mì-runach? That seems like a good plan to you?”
“The Mì-runach have done reconnaissance. We’re good at it.”
“I can see that. All four of you just . . . blend.”
“You’ll see.” He turned back toward the pub door. “And, while we’re at it, if we can manage to get in a little more of that f**king you were talking about—that works for me as well.”
“Oh, that was subtle,” she complained, following behind him.
“I’m known for my subtlety. That was the other option for my name. Éibhear the Contemptible or Éibhear the Subtle.”
“Did you have other name options?”
“Aye. There was Éibhear the Despicable. Éibhear the Rude. And Éibhear the Murdering Rat Bastard Who Should Burn in the Farthest Reaches of Hell.” He stopped just in the doorway, looked down at Izzy. “I think that was my favorite.”
Chuckling, she pushed past him. “Of course it was.”
Chapter 26
For three days they rode far south. It wasn’t an easy trip. Not remotely leisurely, all of them exhausted and cranky by the time they bedded down for the night—except for that damn dog that never seemed to get tired—and each league they passed led to warmer and warmer weather. It might be fall in Dark Plains, but it felt like summertime the closer they got to the territorial lines between the Southlands and the deserts.
But just when Éibhear didn’t think he could stand going another mile, Brannie rode up beside him. He reined in his horse, as did she, and she pointed off to the right. “Do you know what’s over there?” Brannie asked.
“No.”
“Salt mines.”
Éibhear shrugged. “Do you need some salt?”
She let out that annoyed sigh—it was a sound she’d been making a lot on this trip—and said, “No. But the Queen’s troops are there. That means fresh meat, ale, perhaps a bed or a nice cave. Just for a night.”
He really did like the sound of that.