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When Liadan returned from the smithy with her purchase tucked away in her cloak, it was afternoon, and the tavern below the inn was now full of patrons, music, and noise. She glanced over the many-colored heads of the crowd and did not spot Ava, Lysa, or Ethne in their midst, but she was pleasantly surprised to spot the familiar red head of her sister, Ceana, who was seated at the bar and enjoying a pint.
Ceana was Liadan’s older sister, but she possessed such a sweet, youthful face that she might as well have been Liadan’s younger sister. Unlike Liadan, her red hair was straighter and much more tamed, falling down the silver back of her beautifully engraved armor in a red river of tresses. She sensed Liadan before she saw her, so strong were her magi senses, and her head turned the moment Liadan stepped through the tavern door. Their eyes connected, and Ceana smiled, as if she had been waiting for Liadan to notice her.
Ceana waved Liadan over, and Liadan gave the rare grin, pushing her way through the crowds and to the bar. When they met, they hugged, slapping each other hard on the back. Then Ceana retook her seat on a barstool and took up her pint again.
“Knights of the temple are not allowed to drink,” Liadan said, taking a seat beside her sister at the bar.
Ceana only rolled her eyes, smiled, and tipped back her mug of ale. On her back was a giant two-handed blade, a beautifully crafted silver sword identical to the ones all knights carried who served in the temple. Unlike Liadan, Ceana’s face was fresh and clean of warpaint, and she was wearing a beautiful red cape to match the banners of the goddess Eyslath, who she was sworn to serve.
In truth, Liadan was not surprised that Ceana had ignored her vows and was drinking. Knights who served in temples were expected to remain pure. They were not allowed to set foot in places like taverns, let alone consume anything beyond wine. They weren’t even allowed to have sex. But Ceana had always been rebellious and largely indifferent when it came to customs and traditions. Out of all of Liadan’s sisters, she was the one who had adapted most readily to having been sent forth from Wildoras. Liadan and her other sisters were more traditional and reverent of the Old Gods.
“So you received my raven,” Liadan said crossly. “Yet you thought it a good idea to come down here to a place you are forbidden to enter?” She gestured at the barkeep for a drink, and the crooked little man slid a tankard to her across the bar.
“I received your raven, little sister,” Ceana confirmed, looking somewhere between amused and exasperated. “No doubt you are itching to scold me for coming here. I know I am not allowed.”
“Yes, I confess it is tempting to scold you,” Liadan admitted, frowning, “but I know you shall not listen. You were always set in your ways. I just don’t want to see you punished for coming here to see me. You could have waited at the temple! What if they expel you?”
Ceana sighed, as if to say Liadan’s lecturing was typical. “This time I came to guard one of the sisters,” she said calmly. “I have permission to be here.”
Liadan went still. Ceana looked back at her, amused.
“Then where is this sister?” Liadan demanded skeptically.
Ceana nodded.
Liadan followed her sister’s gaze and saw a beautiful young woman standing on the other side of the tavern. She was wearing a long red robe that hid her figure entirely, but wisps of blonde hair peeped from her hood, which was drawn up over her head, and her small face was sweet and pretty. Around her narrow waist was a heavy chain-belt, and to the belt was tethered a book, the holy word of Eyslath. She was reading from the book to a crowd of drunken men and women, who were hooting and throwing peanuts at her. The woman, not to be deterred, kept reading, even as peanuts bounced off her face.
“She is Sister Fionn,” said Ceana, who suddenly sounded very tired, “and when she learned you had come, she insisted on escorting me down here as an excuse to ‘save souls.’ If she catches me drinking, I’ll never hear the end of it, so when she comes over here, just say my pint is yours.”
Liadan shook her head in disapproval but said with a laugh, “Fine.” She tipped back her own tankard for a gulp.
“What kept you in town, anyway?” Ceana asked. “I’ve been waiting a little more than an hour.”
Liadan smiled, reached inside her fur cloak, and pulled out a small package. She slid it across the bar to Ceana, who pried the package open to reveal a small box. Her curiosity aroused, Ceana pushed aside her drink and opened the lid of the box. Inside was a beautiful golden ring with a green gem.
“Ah,” said Ceana, “this is for the princess you did ruin your life for.”
Liadan scowled. “I told Ava that you were sweet and that you would love her. You must be kind to her when you meet. She and the others should be down for the noon meal soon.”
“As you wish,” said Ceana, sliding the package back across the bar to Liadan. “But I cannot pretend I am pleased that you have gotten yourself caught up in that woman’s chaos.”
Liadan frowned. “I thought you would be happy for me.”
“Aye,” said Ceana. “You are a romantic sort, and you aren’t fit to be alone. I always wanted marriage and children for you. But with her? She’s a Damaris. She was exiled from her home and all her trinkets and baubles were taken from her, all her pretty gowns and tiaras, her titles, her pretty slippers. A Damaris will never stand for that – not if they’ve a spine. And once Princess Ava goes on her crusade to take back Caradin, once she has her baubles and gowns back, do you think she’s going to shack up with you? You’re a barbarian, exiled from your homeland, forbidden to rule.” Ceana waved dismissively. “She’ll find a lover with a title and forget all about you.”
Liadan’s face darkened. “How can you say such vile things to me?! You don’t even know Ava—!”
“But I know her house,” said Ceana over Liadan. “You’ve only just left the academy, little sister. I’ve been traveling around Illa a lot longer than you have. I know the history here. I know what the royal house is like. They are not friends of Wildoras. Ava will use you and then she’ll leave you, mark my words.”
Liadan scowled. “Ava would never. Never!”
Ceana nodded, as if Liadan’s protests were to be expected. “Yes, yes. Love is blind, and you’re a sensitive romantic, gods help you. I knew you wouldn’t listen to me. Here . . . I’ve got you a wedding present.” So saying, Ceana reached inside her red cape and pulled out a narrow, long package. She slid it across the bar to Liadan, who caught it under her gauntlet and picked it up.
Liadan squeezed the package and eyed her sister suspiciously. “This feels like a banana,” she said awkwardly.
Ceana chuckled. “Don’t open it here,” she said, taking a gulp from her pint. She licked her lips and set the pint down. “It’s a strap.”
Liadan blushed a little. “Th-Thank you,” she muttered, putting the package away in her cloak.
Ceana chuckled again.
Just then, Sister Fionn strode over, chin lifted, looking rather grave. “Knight Ceana! Are you drinking?”
“Of course not, sister,” said Ceana at once, pushing her tankard away.
Liadan held back a laugh.
Fionn’s eyes turned to the Knight of the Wild. “And this must be your sister. Hello, Liadan,” she said, very prim and proper. “I am Sister Fionn.” She bowed, folding her hands in prayer before her.
“Well met, sister,” Liadan returned. “Have you come here to drink?” she teased.
Ceana held back a smile as Sister Fionn’s cheeks flushed pink.
“D-Drink!” cried the sister, appalled. “You must be jesting.”
“So you’ve come to have your honeypot licked then,” Liadan went on, completely straight-faced, and Fionn blushed right to her hairline.
“H-Ha!” cried the sister nervously, her face now scarlet. “You are rather like Ceana after all. She is always taunting.” She glanced at Ceana fondly, and she was standing so close now that Liadan could see her pretty, slanted eyes were the palest blue. She was quite fair all around. Liadan wondered what was under her robe.
“Shall we stay and partake the noon meal with your sister’s party?” Fionn asked Ceana. She glanced away across the room. “I do see a few souls that may be salvageable, though most seem drunk beyond all hope.”
“We can stay, why not?” agreed Ceana.
Sister Fionn seemed pleased by that. She smiled serenely and turned away, moving once again into the crowds with her holy book. People threw peanuts and almonds at her as she passed, but she kept reading scriptures with a sort of grim determination.
“Are you fucking her?” Liadan asked when Fionn was out of earshot.
Ceana snorted, taking her pint in hand again. “I wish,” she said, tipping the pint back for a gulp. “Serving in the temple is the purest, most peaceful hell, day and night.”
Liadan looked around at her sister in amusement. “What do you mean?”
Ceana set her pint down, staring bitterly at Sister Fionn, who was now across the room being pelted with stale bread. “I have seen all of the sisters naked – all one hundred and fifty-two of them. They require an escort everywhere they go to ensure they never break their vows and lay with a man. And so, I must watch them bathe, change robes . . . go down on each other.”
Liadan laughed in amazement. “You jest!”
“Again—I wish,” said Ceana wearily. “They are not allowed to lay with men or their knights or anyone outside the temple, but they are allowed to lay with other sisters. And I, restricted from touching them as I am, must watch as they make love ceaselessly.” She shook her head again and took another bitter gulp from her pint. It was now empty. She waved at the barkeep for another.
“I don’t know why you haven’t cracked,” said Liadan with great sympathy. “And to think Ethne and I were going to take vows and become temple guardians at your side.”
Ceana laughed dryly. “Ethne wouldn’t have lasted one day without pussy.”
Liadan laughed as well. “True enough.” She jerked her head at the sister. “So is Fionn a virgin? How sweet and innocent is she really?”
Ceana laughed, catching her new pint when the barkeep slid it to her. “What you see is exactly what you receive: Fionn is as sweet and virginal as she doth appear. Many in the temple have tried to lay with her, including Mother Tiede, who’s a hungry old dragon, if I dare say so, and quite in love with Fionn. Fionn has turned away all. She insists she is given already to the goddess and that she mustn’t anger Eyslath by lying with another.”
Liadan frowned. “Really? Eyslath is a goddess of love. She would want her followers to have sex, wouldn’t she?”
Ceana shrugged. “I suspect young Fionn is still burdened by her past.”
“What do you mean?” Liadan asked with dread.
“Her village was burned when she was a girl,” said Ceana heavily. “She witnessed many horrors, saw women raped and bloodied in the streets. She doesn't even understand what sex is. She thinks it’s rape.”
“Ah. So she is afraid to let others touch her,” said Liadan, nodding and tossing back her pint for a gulp.
“Aye,” said Ceana in a low voice. “And you had best warn your hound of a friend to leave Fionn be. She shall regret it otherwise.” So saying, she nodded at the stairs.
Liadan followed Ceana’s gaze and saw Ethne coming down the stairs with Ava and Lysa. Ava looked radiant, her little tummy protruding with the first signs of pregnancy. She grinned when she saw Liadan and hurried faster down the stairs, lifting her skirts in both hands. Several heads turned in a ripple as Ava came rushing down, men and women alike admiring her beauty.
Let them look, let them drool, Liadan thought proudly. She is the greatest beauty in Illa, and she is mine!
“Be careful, princess!” Lysa begged, taking Ava’s arm. “The child!”
But Ava was determined to get to Liadan and ignored Lysa’s fussing, descending the stairs at the same reckless pace.
“Gods be good,” growled Ceana, leaning forward and speaking low. She sounded furious. “Did you already get that little girl pregnant?”
“Yes,” Liadan admitted wretchedly.
“She looks like a babe herself! I should take you out and pummel you for being so foolhardy,” Ceana said in amazement.
Liadan frowned miserably. “I couldn’t help it! I love her, Ceana. Do you understand that? I love her! And my body reacted, and now . . .”
“Yes, yes,” apologized Ceana, rubbing Liadan’s shoulder. “I know, I know.”
“Be kind to her when she approaches,” begged Liadan. “She has been through so much.”
“You have been through so much!” Ceana hissed in a low voice. “You have given up everything—!”
“It was my choice—!”
“The hell it was! She took advantage of your soft heart. Or rather, your soft head—!”
Liadan glared. “Ceana—please!”
Ceana didn’t have a chance to continue the argument, for Ava crushed into Liadan, hugging her tightly around the neck.
“You are back, my love!” Ava cried, hugging Liadan’s neck and kissing her cheek again and again.
Liadan felt the joy bubbling in her to have Ava’s soft, sweet body in her arms again. She pulled back, and they kissed happily. Then she easily pulled Ava onto her lap, and thus they sat at the bar together.
Ethne took a seat beside Liadan and tried to pull Lysa onto her lap in a similar manner, but Lysa smacked Ethne’s hands off and climbed onto her own barstool. Crestfallen, Ethne waved at the barkeep and ordered herself the noon meal.
“The noon meal for all of us, actually,” called Liadan to the barkeep and reached in her cloak, pulling out her coin purse. She pulled out the little package with the ring and set it on the bar before Ava.
Ava paused, her pale lashes fluttering prettily when she saw the package. “But . . .” She hesitated. “What is it?” she cried, looking up at Liadan with girlishly bright eyes.
Liadan hugged Ava and said in her ear, “Open it and see.”
Small hands trembling a little with anticipation, Ava carefully pried the package open and lifted the lid of the little box. She screamed happily when she saw the ring and nearly dropped it, causing several heads to turn around the tavern. “Oh, Liadan!” she cried in ecstasy. “It’s beautiful! Beautiful! Shall we wed at the temple? With Saoirse and Rowan?”
“If it pleases my love,” Liadan answered, and Ava squealed with joy.
“A double wedding!” sighed Lysa happily.
“Double the drinks,” joked Ethne, though Liadan thought she looked a little sad.
Liadan took the ring from the box and carefully slid it on Ava’s slender finger. They kissed, then Liadan hugged Ava tight from behind, and Ava held out her hand, gleefully admiring the ring.
Ceana darkly cleared her throat.
“Ava,” said Liadan, “allow me to introduce my sister, Knight Ceana of Hastow. Ceana, this is fair Princess Ava, soon to be queen of Illa and the seven realms . . . and the love of my life.”
“You’re twenty! You haven’t lived!” dismissed Ceana, whose bitter words made Ava pause. Ceana politely inclined her head to the princess, her expression cold. “Well met, Princess Ava. I trust you are well?”
Ava opened her mouth to respond, but Ceana didn’t give her a chance to, instead saying over her, “I should see if Sister Fionn is ready to depart. It isn’t good for the sisters to linger in such places. Good day.” And with that, she had gone.
Ava blinked after Ceana in astonishment, likely wondering what she had done to warrant such rudeness, and Liadan gazed after her sister as well and felt foolish for ever assuming overprotective Ceana would have approved of their match.