Stolen Heart

chapter 24




The next morning, Kieran woke up and gingerly raised his head from the bed. He could tell it was late morning by the angle of the sun coming through his window. He realized that the smell of bacon is what woke him. Surprisingly, he only had a slight headache and his stomach felt pretty good. Jack Daniels treated him well after all.

After dressing, Kieran walked into his kitchen. He wasn’t surprised to find Ava there, cooking breakfast. She heard him come in and gave him a smile over her shoulder. “I just peeled Carrick off of your couch and sent him home. I hope he can make it without throwing up. How do you feel?”

“Surprisingly well. But then again, I have way more practice than Carrick does. He’s an old married man now and is not used to hard core partying.”

“Well, I doubt he’ll be doing it again anytime soon. He was positively green in the face when I woke him up.”

Ava scooped eggs and bacon onto a plate and handed it to Kieran. He sat down at the table and she joined him with a cup of tea.

“I just wanted to see how you were doing?”

“Helping me nurse my broken heart, Ava?”

“Something like that. It’s just…I know how it feels. And I want to be here to support you. You’ve done so much for me, I want to return the favor.”

“You can do something for me actually. Two things.”

“Name them and I will do all in my power to give it to you.”

“First, I want you to help Claire Moldevaine. I know she stole from you but she was young and frightened. She meant no harm and I get the sense she’s a good woman.”

Ava’s eyebrows raised high. “Let me get this straight. You want me to help the very woman who stole from me?”

“Pretty much.”

“And tell me, dear brother-in-law, why do I want to do this?”

“I don’t know. It just feels like it’s the right thing to do.”

“Because Annika wanted to help her?”

“Maybe.”

Ava smiled. “Well, it just so happens I am a forgiving person. I’ll see what I can do to help her.”

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure. Now what’s the second thing you want.”

Kieran stood up from the table and walked to the teapot. He poured himself a cup and sat back down. “Did Carrick tell you I want to challenge Renard Foss’ stepson, Mason?”

“He mentioned it but I figured you would tell me more when you returned.”

“Like I told Carrick, I can’t tell you why, but I want to issue a challenge to Mason. To the death. It would mean a lot if you would stand beside me with Kestevayne’s backing, but I also understand if you can’t. Seeing as how I cannot tell you the details of why I’m issuing the challenge.”

Ava regarded Kieran shrewdly. She looked every bit the Queen that she was. “I’ve known you a very long time, Kieran and if you tell me that you have information that would lead you to issue a death challenge, then I trust you. I will stand by your side and you will have Kestevayne’s full support.”

Kieran raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t think…I mean I had hoped.” He inclined his head to her in a nod of appreciation. “Thank you, Ava.”

“So, in what order would you like these favors bestowed?”

“I’d like to get Claire settled and taken care of. Then Mason. Then I can get my life moving forward again and put all of this behind me.”

“And what about Annika?”

Kieran felt a pang in his chest. He rubbed it with the heel of his hand. “What of her?”

“Will you be moving forward with or without her?”

“How can you ask that, Ava? She lied to me. She stole from you. Aren’t you in the slightest bit pissed off?”

Ava thought about it for a second. “No, actually I’m not. You said yourself that she did it for love, right? To help a friend in dire need. It doesn’t excuse theft, but I am easy to forgive. This you know about me.”

Kieran sighed. Ava would easily forgive Annika. It was her nature to always look for the best in people. He didn’t know if he could do that though. But right now, he didn’t want to think about.