Holder of Lightning

"Tuath Connachta is gathering an army on its borders," she said. "They have demanded erratic-blood payment-for the death of Fiacra De Derga. Padraic tells me you may not remember that name, but he was the tiarna you killed in Ballintubber when the power of Lamh Shabhala first came to you. The erratic is the excuse for their aggression, and my husband has already sent back word that they may wait for their payment forever. Of course, what they really want is you. ." Cianna stopped. She seemed to sigh. "Or more precisely, what you hold. We may be at war very soon, and the Ri Ard doesn’t want his son and heir caught up in that collision. The Ri Ard knows he must stay above feuds between the tuatha if he wants to remain on his throne."

"The Tanaise Rig wants me to marry him," Jenna said.

Cianna held her hands out to the low flames of the peat fire, rubbing them softly together. She didn’t look at Jenna. "Does that surprise you? If I were

Tanaise Rig, I would have made that suggestion to you, too-just as soon as I had decided that it was too dangerous to take the stone from you myself."

"He threatened to do this. He hinted that to make me accept the offer he'd attack the people I loved. Aoife was to let me know that he meant it. That wasn't her dagger-I'm sure of that. That man probably handed it to her, then immediately killed her. I wasn't watching; she was behind me, both of them were." Jenna couldn't speak. The tears choked her throat and blurred her vision, the headache threatened to overwhelm her. If Cianna had opened her arms then, if the Banrion had called to her, Jenna would have sunk into her embrace like a child searching for the comfort of her mam. But the Banrion only watched, wheezing slightly as she breathed and hugging herself as if cold.

"You could do much worse than the Tanaise Rig," Cianna said. "I told you before, marriage is a weapon. Now I'll tell you that once it's in your hands, you'll find the edge can cut for you as well as O Liathain."

That brought Jenna's head up and dried the tears. "You can't be se-rious."

"I am. Very much so.

"He killed Aoife."

"You killed Mac Ard's cousin De Derga and those with him. You killed two Connachtans more near Ath Iseal, I was told. And there was the assassin."

"All of that was different," Jenna protested. "With De Derga, I literally didn't know what I was doing. And the men near Ath Iseal-that was pure self-defense. They would have killed us had I not acted. The assassin was suicide; I was only trying to capture him."

"So he could be tortured and tell us what he knew, and then be killed." Cianna gave Jenna a wan smile. "I blame you for none of that, Jenna. You did what you felt was necessary, and you didn't worry that you were killing someone's son or brother or father or friend. That's as it should be, to protect yourself. But I would argue that's also what the Tanaise Rig did, if he was responsible for Aoife's death."

"I didn't threaten the Tanaise Rig. He wasn't in danger from me."

"The Tanaise Rig, the Ri Ard, as well as Ri Gabair or Ri Connachta or most of the Riocha for that matter, always feel threatened by a perceived stronger power. That’s what you represent with Lamh Shabhala around your neck. If you aren’t their ally, then you’re their enemy. That’s the way they see the world, in cold black and white. You are on their side or you are against them. There is no middle ground." Cianna lifted a finger against Jenna’s burgeoning protest. "And your saying that it’s not so doesn’t change that perception. I know that’s not your vision of the world. It’s not mine, either. But it is theirs."

"I don’t love him. I never could."

"What does love have to do with marriage? Do you think I love my husband?" Cianna gave a bitter, short laugh that ended in a barking cough. For a moment, she spasmed, leaning over as a series of coughs racked her body. Then she sat up again, wiping her mouth with a lace handkerchief, blotting away the blood on her lips. "Or that he loves me?" she finished. "It is enough that the two of you work together, with what he can do as Tanaise Rig and eventually Ri Ard, and you with Lamh Shabhala."

’To do what?" Jenna asked.

Whatever you can." Cianna closed her eyes, as if in pain. When they opened again, she smiled at Jenna. "You can’t say ’no’ to him. Not yet. But if it’s not what you want, you can also delay, and see what tomorrow brings."

Jenna pounced on that, like a drowning person grabbing a stick ex-tended from the bank. "How? How can I delay?"