had spent all afternoon and evening riding towards Laochre, and she could barely keep her eyes open.
Trahern was so tall she had to lean back to look at him. He was also a bard, and he’d entertained her with stories during the journey. It had been a welcome distraction, but she could not stop worrying about Raine.
Was he alive? Had he managed to defeat the soldiers? They were mostly the High King’s men, mingled with a few of her father’s, but she had not seen any sign of Brian Faoilin.
‘Will you be all right?’ Trahern asked her, slowing down their mount as they entered the gates. ‘Can you walk the rest of the way?’ His eyes grew concerned, and she knew he was well aware of her weakness.
She paused a moment. ‘I can, yes. But I keep thinking about the soldiers. We shouldn’t have left Raine behind. It wasn’t right.’ After all that he had done to protect her and care for her, it felt as if they had turned their backs on him.
‘He’s alive, Carice.’
‘There were four of them,’ she insisted. ‘Four men against one.’ Her throat tightened at the thought of him being surrounded. Surely no man could survive such a battle. And though he had sacrificed himself for her sake, the guilt weighed down on her.
‘He’s a trained Norman soldier,’ Trahern argued. ‘Believe me when I say that he lives. He did not want you to see him slaughter those men.’
She knew she ought to feel pity for the soldiers. They had died obeying orders, attempting to bring her back. But it had always been against her will. They had been part of the chains binding her to a marriage she had never wanted. A numbness settled over her, the regrets so hard to bear.
‘I need to know what happened to him,’ she murmured. Had Raine escaped, as Trahern had predicted? Or had he died, his body bleeding out in the snow? She pushed away the thoughts, afraid of the answer.
God help her, she could not forget the memory of his kiss. He hadn’t wanted to be with her at first, but the moment his lips had captured hers, she was unable to breathe or think clearly.
‘I will find out, if you wish,’ Trahern said. He guided her inside, his palm against her back. ‘But for now, you are safe.’
The lighted torches were bright within the room, and heads turned at the sight of them. She took a deep breath, and relief flooded through her at the sight of her brother, Killian. The worry on his face dissipated the moment he saw her, and from his roughened looks, it appeared that he’d been fighting. There were signs of swelling upon his face, and a hint of blood on his lip.
‘Both of us are in need of food,’ Trahern called out as he escorted her inside.
Carice pasted a smile upon her face, but she wasn’t feeling at all overjoyed. The worry over Raine distracted her from all else. She knew not if she would ever see him again. It felt as if they’d abandoned him, and she couldn’t bear to think of it.
Killian rushed to her side, and she gripped her brother hard as he embraced her. ‘Thank God.’ Despite all her worries, being in his arms made her feel safe once more. Of all the men here, Killian understood the Ard-Righ’s cruelty and he would ensure that she had an escort to continue her journey west.
‘Were you pursued by your father’s men?’ he asked.
She nodded. ‘And the High King’s men. I had to take shelter at the abbey.’ For a moment, she considered telling him about Raine, but then thought the better of it. Killian had the protective instincts of an older brother, and he would only be more worried about her if she spoke of being alone with a Norman soldier.
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