Taliesin didn’t know why these knights were hunting her. Perhaps Brodrick would show him mercy if she gave in now. She took a shaking breath and forced herself to lift her head.
Not a hint of recognition flickered across Brodrick’s countenance. His frown deepened, obviously annoyed with her unwillingness to obey his orders in a timely fashion. His squire called from another horse, “We ought to keep moving. We’ll find her if we keep going toward the—”
Brodrick lifted a hand, silencing him. “If you see that woman,” he said, “turn her in to the local authorities. They’ll know what to do with her.”
“Of course, my lord.” Taliesin swept into a deep bow more befitting of a king than the knight glaring down at them. “But if I may be so bold, what has this woman done?” The bard didn’t flinch as Brodrick fingered his sword for his impertinence. “Should she be a murderess or worse, I would hate to place my partner in danger.”
Brodrick brushed him off with a brusque “That is none of your concern.” He took up his reins once more. Without signaling his companions, he dug his spurs into the sides of his horse. “Yah!” The steed shot off. The others hurried to follow suit.
Finally, Rhiannon felt like she could breathe again, but the relief left her weak and shaky. Her knees buckled. Taliesin caught her elbow and helped her gently to the ground.
“I won’t ask if you’re all right,” he said, “and I won’t ask why.” His gaze followed the knights as they thundered off into the distance. “Might I assume you know that knight?”
“Yes,” Rhiannon choked out.
Taliesin nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off the disappearing group. “Is it safe to also assume that could have gone far worse if he had recognized you?”
She shuddered at the very thought. “Yes, but why didn’t he recognize me?”
The second question had been more to herself than her companion, but Taliesin answered anyway. “I may have used a little trick I picked up from Tabitha.” Then, setting the issue aside, he asked, “Can you stand?”
Rhiannon stared dumbly at him. “You can do magic?”
“A little here and there,” he admitted. “Nothing too spectacular.”
“You’re a warlock?”
Taliesin placed a finger over her lips. “I’m not part of either arcana or anything of that sort,” he explained. “I’m truly just a bard with a few more tricks up his sleeve than average.” He offered his hand, which she didn’t take. Despite his previous words, he asked in concern, “Are you all right? Do you need a moment?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve had a bit of a shock.” Between finding out about Taliesin’s magic and Brodrick’s sudden appearance, frazzled wouldn’t begin to describe her tangled feelings.
“If I were in your shoes, I would be shocked too.” He glanced at where the knights had vanished over the horizon, then knelt so his back faced her. “Here, climb on. I’ll carry you to the waypoint.”
“You don’t have to,” she protested. “Give me a minute. I’ll be able to walk on my own soon.”
“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should have to. Let me help you.” He beamed at her over his shoulder. “Think of it as my penance for keeping my gift for illusions secret until now.”
A shaky laugh bubbled up. “In your defense, it never came up.”
“True enough, but I could have saved you a lot of worry before if you had known. As such, I will carry you at least part of the way.”
This time she relented. Rhiannon wrapped her arms around his neck, and Taliesin hiked her knees up around his hips. She let out an embarrassed squeak at the touch. He didn’t look back. In return, she refused to look at him. If they had shared a glance, they would have seen matching warmth rapidly creeping into their cheeks. He took up the reins of their pony, and with a click of his tongue, they were on their way.
As they walked, Taliesin hummed a tune for them both, one that eventually gave way to singing. His rich voice wove comforting nostalgia like a blanket around them, and Rhiannon slowly relaxed to the song she’d heard plenty of times as a child. She leaned her forehead against his shoulder.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
The melody broke off. “There’s no need to thank me.”
“But you’re doing so much for me.” No one could convince her that the average person could stand before the likes of Sir Brodrick and so easily deny him what he demanded. Taliesin not only lied to the knight’s face but kept his cool so well as to cast magic so subtle that Rhiannon herself hadn’t noticed. “If he finds out you were lying...”
“He won’t find out,” Taliesin promised. “I’ll be here to trick him as many times as we need to.”
Rhiannon clutched at his cloak. “But why would you do that for me?” she pressed. “And don’t say it is so you can write a ballad. The danger is real.”
Taliesin hummed thoughtfully. “What bard would turn down the opportunity to play the hero? At least for a little while. We never get to be the center of the story. This is a refreshing turn of events.”
“That is true. It is not often a bard gets to be at the center of a story,” she agreed.
“Right. And as such, I plan to take full advantage of it,” Taliesin said with a chuckle of his own, and Rhiannon felt her trembling lips beginning to turn into a smile. “Who knows? Maybe generations from now they’ll sing of how I delivered a beautiful princess to her true love right under the villain’s nose.” The girl on his back went rigid. Confused, he asked, “Is something the matter?”
She forced her voice to remain calm and casual. “What makes you think I’m a princess?”
“That’s how all the stories go, isn’t it? It’s always a princess who is forced to marry against her will. Peasant women hope to find princes of their own, but princesses know better and pray for their true love.”
Praying for love? Rhiannon had never dared to allow that for herself. For years, she’d known her fate was to marry a dragon. The best she thought she could hope for was a comfortable, if lonely, existence, nothing more than a new bauble added to a hoard of treasure. At worst...
Well, neither of her possible futures was what bards sang about. It was too ugly, too dark. There would be no love nor a valiant savior waiting to sweep her off her feet. She was a mere prize for a dragon or a beast of a man.
But she could pretend, at least for a little while. She hid her burning face against Taliesin’s back. Maybe having a bard as her knight in shining armor wasn’t so bad an option.
They reached the tavern that served as the halfway point just as the sun began to set behind the distant foothills. Taliesin set Rhiannon back on her feet. “Shall we grab a bite to eat and see if they have a room to spare us for the night? I doubt we’ll be able to get much farther without the moon to guide us.”
Something in her chest fluttered when he offered her his hand. Her earlier imaginings came back with a vengeance and sent her stammering heart into her throat. She silently chided herself and shyly took his hand. He intertwined their fingers, sending her pulse skyrocketing once more.
She couldn’t help but wonder as they headed inside whether his heart had skipped a beat too.