Chapter Thirty-Four
The following evening after the dinner guests had retired for the night, they all sat at one of the long trestle tables in The Hart’s Rest. The whole thing felt so surreal, that just yesterday the bridge had burned and she’d fought and killed Oran.
Yet here they sat, laughing and talking just as they had the first night they’d arrived at the hostelry.
This night, however, Teague joined them. Conan had told her that he’d decided to give his brother another chance, to try to mend their relationship. Brian still hadn’t returned from the north with the other kings, so the men took this opportunity to plan how they might find her brothers.
Teague had called his own men to help clean the common room after her battle with Oran, a kindness she’d not soon forget. He’d also waived the fine she owed for killing a man.
“Emer,” he grinned during a lull in the conversation, “I almost forgot. Oran’s relatives would like to keep their silver. His guesting house is yours.”
Beside her, Emer clapped her hands excitedly. “Truly? That’s wonderful! Thank you!”
Alannah smiled at Emer, but her heart wasn’t in it.
After last night’s events, she realized that as much as she loved her sister, Emer didn’t really need her—not with Oran gone.
Since Conan appeared in their lives, Alannah spent less and less time helping Emer with hostelry.
Even though she’d built it with her own hands, The Hart’s Rest was Emer’s child, not Alannah’s.
Not anymore.
Dallan’s casual comment from last night had played through her mind ever since, the idea that she might accompany them when they returned to Cenn Cora. Now all she had to do was figure out how Conan felt about it.
“That place is a dung heap,” Dallan told them. “It’ll take some work to get it to your standards.”
Emer’s grin tightened adorably. “That sounds like a challenge I’d be happy to accept. If you lot bring my brothers back I can put them to work, too.”
“You might smile a lot, but I sense that you could be a bit of a tyrant given the right situation,” Dallan teased.
“You have no idea,” Alannah laughed, her throat aching at the effort.
Not long after, they stood to turn in for the night.
Conan approached her, leading her out the front door and down the path.
They walked in silence, and Alannah fought the urge to ask him any of the hundred questions on her mind.
He didn’t say a word until they reached the river, leading her to sit down by the bank.
To their left, the decimated bridge stood as a crumbling tribute to the night before. Charred black beyond recognition, only the posts remained for much of it.
“I know that your sister and your business are very important to you.” He looked out over the river as he spoke. “And with your brothers hopefully returning soon, your family will be reunited. I would understand if you wished to stay here with them.”
Alannah’s pulse raced, her stomach dropping. Was he asking if she wanted to stay? Or was he telling her that he wished her to? “What are you saying?”
“I love you. And I want you to come with me when we return to Cenn Cora.” He finally turned toward her, his face unreadable. “But I would understand if you didn’t want the same.”
Her chest filled to bursting. Alannah couldn’t form the words to answer just yet, so instead she threw herself toward him, wrapping her arms about his strong shoulders and burying her face in his neck.
His hand stroked her hair gently. “Is that a yes?”
He sounded so vulnerable that Alannah couldn’t keep silent any longer.
“Aye,” she whispered, his hair tickling her cheeks. “I want to go with you.”
He pulled back, his storm cloud eyes holding hers. “Are you certain? I worry you’ll miss them.”
“Of course I’ll miss them,” she smiled. “But I’d miss you more. And you travel often, do you not?”
He nodded.
“I thought that whenever you were gone I could come stay with them here and make sure they aren’t getting into too much trouble without me.”
“You’ve been planning what you would do?” He pulled her face close, their foreheads touching.
“It crossed my mind once or twice,” she teased. “I do have one request, though.”
“Anything.”
Her stomach tightened at the seductive tone in his voice. “Will you dance with me again before you leave? Like we did at Glasny’s that one night.”
She hadn’t told him, but that had been the best night of her life.
She’d forgotten all the things that weighed her down, floating through the night on the music beside Conan.
It was an incredible feeling, to forget all her worries and just exist for a while, even if it was only to dance.
She thought about that night almost every day.
“I’ll always dance with you.” Conan’s lips brushed hers. “In fact, I’d hoped you’d do more than come to Cenn Cora with me. I’d hoped you’d agree to marry me.”
Her smile stretched so wide it hurt her cheeks, but she couldn’t seem to stop it. “Aye,” she whispered. “I’ll marry you.”
Alannah leaned into him with her good shoulder, stealing another kiss and imagining all the dances that were to come.