“I spared myself the headache, as I’ve one coming soon enough.”
“And what is this?”
“Let’s leave this place, walk in brighter air.”
As they did, he told her of his conversation with Breen that morning.
“Ah gods, the girl’s sly and selfish and has always been so.”
Keegan’s eyebrows shot up as he stopped short. “So, is it politics and diplomacy that had you holding that opinion back before this?”
“You visited her bed often enough in the last year or more, and as you’re a man grown, I held my tongue. And I’m fond, very fond, of her parents. It’s a pity, I think, they weren’t blessed with more children so they wouldn’t have had all this time and inclination to thoroughly spoil their only young.”
“I mean to speak with her about this.”
“Aye, you must. Have a care with this one, Keegan. Beautiful girls who grow into beautiful women who grow too used to having their own way can be vicious when denied. And as I’m done holding my tongue, that one has the vicious in her.”
“She’s no threat to me. And as all there saw clearly, by the gods, Breen Siobhan O’Ceallaigh can hold her own and more.”
“Have a care,” Tarryn repeated. “Revenge doesn’t always come at the end of a blade, it doesn’t always come hot. Sly and selfish finds ways to wound.” Then she sighed. “Ah, Uwin and Gwen would be humiliated by her behavior to Breen.”
“There’s no need for them to know of this. I’ll speak to her as, aye, that must be done. Then it’s done.”
Men, Tarryn thought, were so often naive when it came to women. But he was a man grown, and must learn such things for himself.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Because she had a plan, one she’d toyed with in the past then shut away, Shana went with Loren to his cottage after the Judgment.
They went on horseback, over the fields, and into the south edge of the woods near the village. And along the way, it seemed to her, Loren could speak of nothing else but Breen, and the sudden, unexpected power she’d displayed at the Judgment.
And why, she wondered, by all the gods why was she hampered by men who looked upon the redheaded slag as some sort of goddess?
“Perhaps you’d rather be riding with her,” Shana said, voice dripping sugar. “Sure I can turn around and go back, see if I can find her for you.”
Because he knew that tone, far too well, Loren turned to her. He let his heart come into his eyes. “There’s no one but you for me, Shana. No one my heart, my mind, my body and spirit crave but you. For the power I saw in Breen Siobhan, I’m grateful knowing she’ll be helping keep Talamh safe. And you. Most of all, you.”
And because he knew her, because he loved her, he said nothing more about Breen—or anyone but Shana.
“What will you wear tonight to enchant me and everyone who sees you?”
“If I told you, you might not be as enchanted.”
“You enchant me every day, every hour, every moment. No one in all the worlds is as fortunate as I, as you’ll sit with me tonight, and dance with me tonight, and be with me tonight.”
She smiled at him now, and meant it, as she knew he meant those words. He loved her, and that love was his weakness.
If only he’d been taoiseach, all would be perfect.
But he wasn’t, and as he had no ambitions to lead, never would be. How could she settle for the weakness of love without the power and standing she craved?
In some ways, he was more handsome than Keegan. Smoother, for certain, in looks and in manner. His clothes were fine and fashionable always.
She knew whether they walked, rode, or danced together, they made a striking pair.
And Loren enjoyed giving her pretty gifts, creating glittering jewels and rich fabrics for her with his alchemy. And he never tired, it seemed, of paying her pretty little compliments, giving her the whole of his attention.
But.
He lived in a quiet cottage in the woods, and didn’t possess the tower rooms of the taoiseach. He would never sit at the head of the council or have the people cheer for him.
Never would he sit in the Chair of Justice and punish her enemies.
And with him, she would never become the hand of the taoiseach, never have that power and sway.
Have it she would. One way or the other.
When they reached his cottage, she let him lift her from the horse, then linked her arms around his neck.
She knew genuine want when his mouth took hers. A skilled lover, he knew how to meet all her needs and stir more. When she and Keegan pledged, when they wed, she would keep Loren Mac Niadh with his soft, skilled hands as her lover. He’d fill her nights when the taoiseach had duties away from the Capital.