Kushiel's Justice - Jacqueline Carey [140]
"Talorcan." Drustan beckoned. "Take as many men as you can muster and follow them. Once they leave sacred ground, ensure they depart the city.”
"Aye, my lord." Talorcan hesitated. "Do you wish us to engage them?”
Drustan gave a hard smile. "If they give you just cause, yes. But I will not defile the wedding day of my sister's daughter by breaking the rule of law.”
Talorcan made him a left-handed salute. "Aye, my lord.”
Thus we were a far smaller party that returned to Bryn Gorrydum's fortress, and the mood was chastened and somber. Although the Cruarch's table of endless bounty was groaning and laden again, for once, no one had the heart to tackle it properly. Instead, there was a good deal of muttered speculation about what they wanted.
I wondered, too.
Elua help me, I believed Berlik's offer had been sincere; as sincere as his oath. I only wished it wasn't all cloaked in mystery and portent. I intended Alba no ill; indeed, I'd grown fond of the land. If the Maghuin Dhonn beheld some dire future approaching in which I inadvertently did great harm, I wished they'd simply tell me. Mayhap there was somewhat to be done about it.
It wasn't long before Talorcan and his men returned, empty-handed and grumbling. The Maghuin Dhonn had proceeded beyond the borders of the city and vanished into taisgaidh land; truly vanishing, leaving no tracks.
"I wish this hadn't happened today," Dorelei murmured unhappily.
"So do I, love." My gaze fell on Conor, quiet and withdrawn. No doubt he was troubled, too, albeit for different reasons. I snapped my fingers. "Conor! Conor mac Grainne, did you not promise to play at my wedding?”
The boy raised his head. "You're sure?”
"I am," I said. "Charm us, lad.”
His eyes widened at my choice of words, but he reached for his harp and began to play. At first his fingers faltered on the strings, but slowly they gained in steadiness. A tune emerged, sweet and stately and compelling.
Whether or not there was magic in it, I couldn't have said; not for a surety. If there was, I was bound against it. But I watched while everyone gathered fell silent to listen, smiling dreamily, and I thought there was. Conor played like a man trying to scale a mountain or lift a heavy boulder, his eyes closed in concentration, his coarse black hair plastered to his damp brow. But slowly, slowly, the mood in the great hall of Bryn Gorrydum shifted.
When he finally ceased, there were cheers.
"To my brother!" Eamonn shouted, getting to his feet. "The finest harpist in seven generations of the Dalriada!" He hoisted a goblet of mead. "To Imri, the best friend a man could ask for, and to Dorelei, who nonetheless deserves better!”
Laughter.
Cheers.
It wasn't perfect, not quite. I daresay nothing ever is. But it salvaged the day. Worries over the Maghuin Dhonn were set aside in favor of celebration. There was eating and drinking; there were innumerable toasts. There were harmless quarrels and arguments, and jests about my pretty face, which Dorelei endured, blushing. Conor played quietly throughout the evening, his dark eyes closed, spiky lashes splayed on his broad cheekbones, stitching together a melody that interwove past and present and future alike.
Along the way, day gave way to night, and night wore on into the small hours of morning. One by one, celebrants peeled away, staggering off to their chambers. Some, like Hyacinthe and Sibeal and Drustan, departed early. Others stayed longer.
When Phèdre and Joscelin bade us good night, she cupped my face in her hands, gazing up at me. She seemed so small to me now, and vulnerable; the scarlet mote of Kushiel's Dart floating on her dark iris. Once, it would have disturbed me to my core. Now it didn't.
I daresay she knew. She always knew.
"You seem…happy, love." She smiled ruefully. "Despite everything.”
"I am," I said honestly. "Despite everything, I am.”
Joscelin cleared his throat and nodded at Dorelei, slumped over the table and sleeping peaceably, her head pillowed on one arm. His summer-blue eyes glinted. "You might want to look to your lady wife.”
"I will,"