“Owwww! Heartless wench!”
“We were just supposed to bring King Gaius here,” Brannie reminded the twins. “Nothing about helping either one of you. I’ll have to get special permission for that.”
“We’re tight on time,” the king’s sister said. “Do you know how long this will—”
Brannie, closing her eyes, cut the Iron royal off with one raised finger.
Mum?
Yeah?
It’s Brannie. King Gaius wants me and the Mì-runach idiots to stay and kill stuff for him. I said I had to check in with you first, though.
Yeah. All right. Just be careful.
Yeah. Will do. Brannie opened her eyes and nodded at the Rebel King. “Me Mum says, ‘Yeah, all right.’”
“Oh,” the king said, glancing at his sister. “Well then . . . excellent. We’ll get started in a day or two. But, for now, relax and enjoy your time here.”
The twins left after that and servants returned with more food and what Brannie would guess was the better wine.
“That was smoothly handled.” Aidan nodded.
“Shut up.”
Laughing, “I was giving you a compliment!”
“Shut up anyway.”
As soon as the suns rose in the sky, Annwyl slid out of bed, leaving her mate asleep. She quickly dressed, grabbed her weapons, and headed out to get some training in. The Rebel King was gone. Kachka and her Riders were gone. Rhi was off with Izzy somewhere. Her son had gone to Bram’s castle to meet with his Uncle Bram and cousin Var.
Everything was now back to normal, which meant she had to get back to work.
As she crossed the courtyard, she knew someone was walking behind her.
Annwyl had her swords pulled and pressed against the follower’s throat before she realized it was her daughter.
“Do not,” she snarled, “sneak up on me, Talwyn!”
“I wasn’t. I was walking.”
“Behind me. You know I hate that.” Annwyl lowered her weapons. “What is it? What do you want?”
Talwyn shrugged her shoulders, glanced off, shuffled her feet.
Annwyl had never seen her daughter appear awkward before. It was disconcerting. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”
“Well, I just thought . . . ya know.”
“That is not a full and complete sentence,” Annwyl informed her daughter. “I know we taught you better.”
Talwyn took in a breath and Annwyl debated backing away from her. Was she planning to attack her again? Annwyl didn’t know.
“Talwyn, just spit it out. You’re irritating me.”
“I thought . . . instead of going back to Brigida’s with Talan and Rhi in a few days . . . I’d stay here for a bit.”
Now Annwyl did step back, her eyes narrowing on her daughter. “Why?”
“I thought perhaps I could train with you.”
Annwyl’s eyes narrowed more, her every nerve on high alert at what her daughter might be planning. “Why?” she asked again.
“Look, you’re the first to say war’s coming.”
“Of course war’s coming.”
“And while Talan and Rhi have their magicks to manage during battle, I will be the one leading the troops. You know it. And I know it. And the best one to learn that skill from, shockingly . . . is you. And, of course, Daddy.”
“Of course.”
“But he’s dragon and I’m not. Not fully. Not like Auntie Ghleanna or Branwen. I’ll be on the ground, fighting with other Abominations, to stop Salebiri and the Chramnesind cult. And I think I’d best learn how to do that from you.”
Annwyl snorted. She couldn’t help it. “You expect me to believe that you—you—will take orders from me? Really?”
“You forget. I spent years with the Kyvich witches. And I followed orders. Quite well, actually. Never got lashed once for disobedience.”
“How did you manage that?” Annwyl asked. And even she knew her tone was taunting.
“Just give me a chance, Mum.”
“I kicked your ass and now you want me to teach you how to not let it happen again? Is that it?”
Talwyn had the good sense to cringe a bit. “Kind of.”
Stepping close to her daughter, Annwyl slapped her hand against the side of Talwyn’s neck and yanked her close.
“Good,” Annwyl told her. “Because everything I’ve done—and everything I plan to do—I’ve only ever done for you and your brother. To keep you alive. To keep you strong.” Annwyl moved her hand to the back of Talwyn’s neck and rested her forehead against her daughter’s. “No matter what you think, you spoiled brat, you and your brother mean everything to me. Everything. Never forget that.”
Talwyn swallowed, her eyes blinking quickly, as if she fought back tears. She finally gave a small nod and Annwyl stepped back.
“Now come,” she said, turning away from her child. “War’s coming fast, and we have a lot of work to do to get you ready.”
Annwyl led her daughter to a place a good distance from the castle and out of sight of most. As they cleared a few boulders, Talwyn stopped, reaching out to grab Annwyl’s arm, her face pale, her eyes wide in shock and panic.