“Bells tends to go a little overboard whenever I have guests,” he said apologetically. “It happens so rarely.”
She couldn’t help but ask, “Is this why she threw you in the lake?”
Taliesin let out a bark of laughter. “Yes. Among other reasons. I only have the one bath, and since you’re my guest, you should obviously use it before me.”
“I tried to tell her not to—”
“There’s no changing a silkie’s mind once it’s made up.” He reached for the platter piled high with sliced goose. “Would you like some? I can promise that Bells is the best cook outside of a fairy court.”
“Thank you,” Rhiannon replied, though the previous train of thought nagged at her, “but surely you didn’t have to, er, swim in the lake when we arrived.”
“As I said, she was upset with me for not warning her ahead of time.” Taliesin dished some of the glazed carrots onto Rhiannon’s plate. “It’s not much trouble for her, but Bellflower is a stickler for manners.”
Rhiannon glanced toward the fairy servant standing against the far wall. “Then I really should have thought to—”
“The fault rests entirely with me. You’d never have suspected a dragon would have servants.” Entertained by this train of thought, Taliesin added, “Or a house. In fact, a lot of this is probably a shock to you.”
“Yes, but it’s a good sort of shock,” Rhiannon admitted. “I don’t think I could have been comfortable in a cave. Not that I would have run away or anything if you did live in a cave!” Her hands clenched in her lap. “I’m sure I would have managed somehow.”
Taliesin chuckled. “It’s a good thing I don’t live in a cave, then. It would be a problem for me too. Do you know what moisture and weather do to musical instruments? I’d never be able to keep them in tune even with magic. Ah, but listen to me blather on. We should eat before the food gets cold.” He shot a meaningful look Bellflower’s way. “It wouldn’t do to waste so much of a wonderful chef’s effort.” The silkie beamed at the compliment.
Conversation lapsed briefly as they tucked into their food. After anxiety had gnawed at her through breakfast and lunch, Rhiannon felt like a man half starved. Maybe the feast had been a good idea. Too much food or not, much of it disappeared as they chatted. Talk of music and a home-cooked meal could only distract from the current state of affairs for so long, however. Eventually, they had to face the reason for Rhiannon’s coming.
“So,” Taliesin began conversationally, “would you mind telling me more about your fiancé?” Her cutlery clattered to her plate. “I beg your pardon if I’ve misread the situation, but he must be a rather...trying individual if you’d throw your lot in with a dragon sooner than marry him.”
Rhiannon bit her lip. “It’s not that,” she stammered, even though that was in large part the reason. “I came more because it’s unwise to break a promise one makes with a witch.”
“There are ways of addressing such a promise that don’t involve sacrificing yourself to a dragon,” he observed. “You could contact the witch in question or speak with the Council. Even witches of the major arcana are subject to the Council’s decisions. They could have sorted it out.”
“My father tried speaking with them,” she said. “They claimed that without the witch’s name, there was nothing they could do and that no such promise was on record anyway.”
Of course that’s what they said. Lazy bureaucrats, he thought wearily. That, and they’d never had much love for the kingdom surrounding their little city-state. No wonder they’d been no help when the king approached them.
“If there was no promise on record, the witch likely forgot all about it.” Or hadn’t been serious about it in the first place. Taliesin wouldn’t tell Rhiannon that.
“With a witch as powerful as this one, father didn’t want to chance it.”
A witch as powerful as Taliesin’s mother, Rhiannon belatedly realized. As powerful as Rhiannon’s future mother-in-law? Witch-in-law? Rhiannon’s thoughts swirled in a confused jumble, and only Taliesin’s words drew her back from it.
“But he thought engaging you to another was the answer.”
The words hadn’t sounded harsh or judgmental, but Rhiannon hung her head regardless. “That wasn’t his solution. I suspect that was the price of Sir Brodrick’s assistance.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Sir Brodrick?” No one who lived in the kingdom or in the surrounding nations was unfamiliar with that name. “The monster slayer Sir Brodrick?”
“I’m afraid so.”
Seeing her begin to tremble, he reached out a hand to steady hers. “If scaring him off as a dragon isn’t an option, perhaps a civil conversation with a simple bard would suffice? Or would a warlock’s word hold more weight?” He could dress for the occasion. He had formal robes laying around here somewhere.
She shook her head. “I doubt he would listen to reason regardless of who it came from.”
“Then we’ll go with the simplest solution.” He nodded to Bellflower. She curtsied and slipped from the room.
Hesitantly, Rhiannon asked, “What might that be?”
Taliesin waved about him. “I employ many fairies besides Bellflower. There are even more living in the foothills that I don’t employ but that enjoy the protection a dragon’s presence brings. I’ve asked them for some, shall we say, misdirection. Like the will-o’-the-wisp we saw the other day.”
Somehow Rhiannon doubted her living nightmare would be so easily led astray. It must have shown on her face because Taliesin added, “If he does find his way up the mountain, I will protect you. You will only leave here if you choose to.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “All right?”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. Unable to meet his eye, she asked, “Why would you go so far to help me?”
“My chivalrous heart can’t let a beautiful maiden remain in distress if I am able to offer anything to ease her worries.”
Despite the tension she still felt, Rhiannon giggled. “I’m hardly beautiful.”
Taliesin took their empty plates. “Don’t sell yourself short, my lady. You are the loveliest young woman I have ever met.” And with that, he whisked their dirty dishes into the kitchen.
✦ ✦ ✦
After kicking the door shut behind him, crimson burned up his neck all the way to the tips of his ears. He leaned against the dark wood to steady himself, and Bellflower took the plates before he dropped them.
She flashed him a knowing smile, as if to say, You like her, don’t you?
Taliesin for his part just ran his fingers through his hair and mumbled, “What is wrong with me?”