Gaira raised a brow and moved toward her son. “Are you interested in her?”

“Mother—”

“By the mighty tail of Ofydd Naw, you are interested in her.” She leaned in and whispered, “Despite those shoulders?”

“Mum.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Yes, I know. We’re not peasants. And she’s a strong woman. She has shoulders that go with that strength.”

“Hhhmhm. I see.”

“Do you? Because I think you entirely misunderstand—”

“Blah, blah, blah! I don’t want to hear it! You’re just like your father, you know. He used to say I was too skinny for him. But he loves my skinny ass.”

“I’m leaving.” Caid walked toward the tent flap. “And I’ll be going with Keeley when she leaves.”

“Stop.”

Caid let out a breath, faced his mother.

“I did not give you or your sister permission to go anywhere.”

“She’s going and so am I. Especially if you’re sending Keeley into hostile territories.”

“You don’t know if they’ll be hostile to her.”

“They’re hostile to everyone. That’s why one lives inside the mountains. The other lives high in trees. And who the mighty hells knows where the barbarians live, but we all know to stay away from their lands.” Caid threw his hands up. “Are you trying to get her killed?”

“No. I’m trying to get her an army. And she has no time. Marius won’t give her any. So she’ll have to make do with a smaller army, which means that it will need to be meaner.”

* * *

Keeley placed her hammer by her bed and took the chalice of wine Laila handed her.

“This will not be easy,” Laila said, now handing Gemma a chalice of water.

Gemma sat in a thick wooden chair with her boots and socks off. She was stretching her tired feet.

“I know,” Keeley replied, “but I think your mother’s right. It’s not like I have a lot of choices here. But if I can get the dwarves on my side first, I think I can make all this work.”

Laila took the platter of cheese, meat, and bread from the centaur who’d brought it and placed it on a small table by Keeley’s bed.

“I’m going with you,” Laila said.

“I can’t ask you—”

“It’s not up for discussion. Besides, who else will keep you two from bickering yourselves to death?”

“I’ll be there,” Keran offered from a spot in the corner of the tent, her chair turned around, her legs splayed on either side of its back.

“You enjoy their fights,” Laila reminded her. “So I don’t really see that helping.”

“Eh. You have a point.”

“You don’t even try to disagree,” Gemma noted.

“I really don’t.”

Laila motioned to Keeley’s sister and cousin. “We’ve got tents for you two. Separate ones, so everyone can relax tonight.”

“Me own tent?” Keran stood, grinning. “How luxurious!”

Laila was heading toward the tent flap but it was pulled back and her eldest brother walked in. He was in his human form but he was just as imposing as when he was centaur.

Immediately, Laila held up her hands. “Whatever you’re planning, Quinn, don’t.”

Quinn waved his sister off as he came toward Keeley. She reached back, wrapping her hand around her hammer, finding the feel of it reassuring.

He stopped in front of her. “You’re going to see the dwarves, elves, and barbarian tribes?”

“That’s the plan.”

“And this was my mother’s brilliant idea?”

“Yes.”

He stared at her for an unreasonably long time before he spun around and walked back out.

“What was that?” Keeley asked Laila.

“I have no idea. I stopped trying to figure out my brother a very long time ago.”

* * *

Caid was heading toward the tent he’d been told Keeley was in when his sister cut in front of him.

“Have you seen Quinn?”

“No. But I’ve purposely not been looking for him.”

“He’s acting stranger than usual.”

“Quinn is a firm believer in keeping everyone on their hooves by being the most unpredictable horse in the herd.”

“It’s like having a pet pit dog. You never know when he might snap.”

Caid gestured to Keeley’s tent. “How’s she doing?”

“Amazing. She wakes up from near death and is ready to not only take on her bitch sister and Prince Marius but the entire world.” Laila placed her hand on his shoulder. “I’m leaving with her tomorrow.”

“It might be a suicide mission.”

“So you’re not coming, Brother?”

“Don’t be stupid.” He pushed her aside, ignoring her laugh. “Of course I’m coming.”

The demon wolves surrounded Keeley’s tent and the gray mare stood inside the circle but outside the tent. He stopped to stroke her muzzle.

“If they make you nervous,” he said to her softly, “leave. We’ll find you before we go.”

Caid ignored the growls as he pulled open the tent flap and stepped inside. At first, he thought it was empty . . . but then the wolves wouldn’t be outside protecting it. They wouldn’t protect an empty tent. They would follow Keeley wherever she went.

Staying silent, Caid moved through the large tent until he heard the breathing. He followed the sound until he found Keeley on the floor, curled into a corner, panting.

He crouched beside her, pushed her black hair off her face. “Keeley?”

She looked up at him, those dark eyes filled with panicked tears, and said, “Every one of you is going to die, and it’ll be my fault. All my fault.”

CHAPTER 18

“You’re all going to die. I’m going to destroy the centaurs. I’m going to kill my family. The dogs—”

“Wolves.”

“—and that poor gray mare.” Tears now flowed freely. “And she just lost her son!”

Caid got on the floor beside Keeley. He needed her to keep her voice down and he needed her to stay calm. But he also sensed that telling her that now would only make her louder and more panicked.

He did the only thing he could think of . . . he took her hand in his, holding it loosely.

She gazed at their hands until she asked, “What are you doing?”

“Uhhh . . . comforting you?”

“Something you’re not good at?”

“Not really.”

Keeley turned over her hand, so that Caid’s lay on top, and interlaced their fingers.

“Like this,” she said.

“Thank you.”

“And when you die,” Keeley said on a new flood of tears, “your mother will miss you greatly. Because, even though you seem to never look happy, you are so very kind.”

“You have to stop crying.”

“I can’t. All I can see is death and despair, and it’s all my fault.”

“If anything, Keeley, it’s the fault of your sister.”

“That does not make me feel better. How am I supposed to tell my parents that their love created a monster?”

“Well, after ten thousand children, one had to be bad.”

Despite the tears, Keeley gave a short laugh. “My mother did not have ten thousand children.”

“I’ve sat at dinner with all of them . . . it felt like ten thousand.”

She laughed a little harder. “Stop trying to make me feel better.”

“I should let you wallow?”

“Yes. That’s what I’m asking for. Wallowing rights.”

“We can’t afford to have you wallow, Your Majesty.”

She visibly shuddered and looked away. “Don’t call me that.”

“If all goes well, I won’t be the only one calling you that. You might as well get used to it.”

“I can’t be queen, Caid. Not really.”

“You can and will be.” He gripped her hand a little tighter. “I hate to say this . . . but you really have no choice, Keeley. Without you—”

“Without me, what? My younger sister becomes queen? And before you say it, I know. I know what she did. I was there.” She pressed her free hand against her stomach. “These scars will remain for the rest of my life. So I’ll never be able to forget. But is what she’s done any worse or different than past Old Kings that ruled these lands?”

“Not these lands, Keeley. Never these mountains. The Amichai Mountains have been the lands of the Amichai centaurs, the dwarves, the wood elves, and the barbarian tribes for eons. Only once has any Old King attempted to control these lands and that happened so long ago, I can only say my ‘ancestors’ were there because the use of ‘great-great-great’ would go on for so long you’d get bored and wander away.”

“And what would change any of that now?”

“Your sister.” Caid blew out a long breath and decided to barrel forward with the truth. Keeley had been lied to enough. “We have our own seers. We’ve never just relied on the Witches of Amhuinn with their math and science, because we are one with our gods and nature. Those things combined with our own witches keep us safe.”

“They warned you about Beatrix?”

“No. They told us a queen would be the only thing that stopped the advancement of enemies into our territories and the complete and utter destruction of our mountains. We thought that meant Beatrix . . . we know now that our seers meant you.”

* * *

“But why?” Keeley finally had to ask when she found her voice again; she was so stunned that her tears were no longer flowing. “Wouldn’t Gemma be a better option? She’s a War Monk. She has battle skills. She’s actually been somewhere besides our farm.”