She paled. How did he know about her jewelry? “They’re mine,” she said hurriedly. “I needed funds, so I’m selling them.”
He nodded and guided her down a side street toward a little park. “I see. And once you had funds, what were you intending to do with them?”
“I need to travel through Storm Bearer Pass.”
“Might I ask why a young lady needs to go there?”
Rhiannon bit her lip. How much could she trust this man she just met? Sure, he’d rescued her, but that didn’t mean he was harmless. “My parents have engaged me to a brute of a man to foil a previous arrangement,” she explained.
“And is it safe to assume you will be meeting your previous fiancé in the pass?”
They walked beneath the bare boughs of the tree standing sentinel by the park’s entrance. “Yes...” Her shaking grip tightened on the man’s cloak. Every fiber of her being screamed against this route. Her pace slowed. The gentleman matched her.
“Do you have a room arranged for the night?” he asked. Rhiannon shook her head. He scanned the area once more and gave her a gentle nudge. “Then if I might be so bold, may I suggest spending the night with me?”
The princess froze. In the faint glow of the streetlight, his cheeks looked every bit as red as her own. “Ah, no, sorry, that came out wrong,” the bard insisted, quickly hiding the lower half of his face with a hand. “What I meant to say is...I have a room at the Royal Inn. If you are not opposed to it, you may take the bed. I would be content with the floor.”
She couldn’t believe her ears. “Why are you helping me?” No matter how she looked at this, all she could imagine was Brodrick’s usual nefarious plots to get her alone.
“Call me a sucker for a good love story,” chuckled her savior, “but your tale has struck a chord with this bard. I will do my best to help you make your journey safely.” Then, with a dramatic sweep of his arm, he added, “A young lady in the blossom of her youth fleeing her cruel fate to be with her true love is something ballads are sung about. To play a role in a tale so beautiful is a dream come true.”
Rhiannon stared at the bard in absolute disbelief. He wanted to help her so he could get a song out of it? She supposed there were stranger motivations out there. “I’m sorry. I’m sure you have the best of intentions, but it would be improper for us to travel together alone like this.”
“It’s a dangerous journey to the Storm Bearer Pass,” the bard said. “A woman traveling alone is sure to attract the attention of bandits and the like. Allow me to escort you.” He stepped away and swept into a deep bow. “I am called Taliesin, the traveling bard. I won’t be able to rest easy until I know you have arrived at your destination safe and sound.”
But would she be any safer with this perfect stranger? He’d already taken the liberty of kissing her once, even if it had been part of a ruse to throw the guard off her trail. “Pardon my rudeness but...how can I be certain you yourself won’t bring me to harm?”
Taliesin raised his head and blinked at her with the purest look of befuddlement. “You do have a point there... Hmmm...” He crossed his arms. “Ah, I know! What if I swore an oath not to allow any harm to come to you? I will swear on anything you’d like. My honor or my name or... I don’t have a sword like the knights in tales of yore...” He cast about for something suitable for the purpose. “Would my violin do in this case?”
Part of her wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. She might have but for the anxiety curdling her stomach. “I don’t...”
“What if I swore in the fairy tongue?”
Once again, Rhiannon found herself at an utter loss for words. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, unable to summon her voice before she somehow managed, “You know the fairy language?”
“And more besides,” he stated proudly. “I might not look it, but I know a thing or two about all sorts of topics. News and information are a bard’s bread and butter when songs alone won’t buy supper, after all.”
Would it count if he swore in the language of the Fae?
Rhiannon remembered a lesson from her schoolgirl days that the Fair Folk couldn’t lie, and so their language had taken on the strange property that forced the speaker to speak only the truth. Even humans weren’t exempt. An oath sworn in that language would be kept no matter how seemingly impossible.
“If you swear in the fairy tongue,” she relented, “then I will trust you.”
Taliesin took her hand in both of his and knelt before her the way the heroes in old stories always did. “Then I swear I will do all in my power to prevent any harm to your person,” he said in the silken words of the Fair Folk. The oath reverberated with magic that settled around them. He pressed her fingers to his forehead. “Until we make it to Storm Bearer Pass, no harm shall come to you by my hand or any other.”
“You swear too much!” she protested, but it was too late. The magic pulled taught, binding him to his word.
“So long as it’s within my power, you will be safe,” he reiterated in the common tongue. “I have only sworn what I wished to, and I meant every word.”
He got back to his feet and offered his arm. “So then, Miss...ah... I don’t think I ever caught your name.”
Rhiannon ducked her head so he couldn’t see the lie play out on her face. “You may call me Sofia.”
“Miss Sofia,” he said, smiling. “Allow me to escort you safely to your room for the night.” He threaded her arm with his, and unlike earlier that day with Brodrick, this friendly gesture left Rhiannon relieved.
With Rhiannon no longer afraid of the night, they passed through the park. Across the street stood a large inn that served as the busiest one in the city. Rhiannon hesitated on the threshold. She couldn’t just enter, could she? Someone would stop her and recognize her and then it would all be over.
“No harm will come to you,” Taliesin reminded her, raising the hood of his cloak to hide her soft brown hair. “Let me handle everything.”
He winked, put his arm around her shoulders, and led the way to the back of the lobby where the hall of rooms began. No one spotted them, nor should Rhiannon have expected anyone to when she thought about it. By then, it had to be well past three in the morning. Who would be up at such an hour?
Taliesin quickly unlocked his room and pushed open the door to his accommodations. The room was small and sparsely furnished with nothing but a bed half the size of what Rhiannon was used to and a wash basin upon a stand.
“It’s not much,” admitted Taliesin, “but it’s clean and comfortable enough. You should take the bed.”
“I couldn’t...”
“You could and should,” he replied, bowing once more. “A lovely young maiden shouldn’t have to suffer sleeping on a hard floor.”
“But someone kind enough to help me shouldn’t have to suffer either.”
“I’ll hardly suffer,” he replied with a merry twinkle in his eye. “I’ve slept like a babe under the stars in the mud before. Here at least it’s dry and warm. Much preferable.” He turned back to the door. “I’ll see about an extra pillow and blanket,” he mused. “Take your time washing up while I’m gone. It’ll be a minute to find anyone awake at this hour.”
“Thank you, Sir Taliesin.”
His smile heated her cheeks. “It’s no trouble at all, m’lady.”