The corners of his mouth creased as he smiled. "I'm sure your Mama could take care of them. She seems pretty capable," he agreed.
Lylis nodded. "Do you want a stwawbewwy?" she offered, picking a big juicy one out of the basket and leaning over to offer it to him.
He looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. "I'd love one," he said solemnly, taking the strawberry from her chubby hand.
"Delicious," he pronounced.
"They are ‘licious," Lylis agreed. "The rest for Kylis and Daddy."
A shadow crossed Lyall's face at her mention of Terion. "Of course," he agreed flatly. "Why don't you take them to them now? I need to talk to your mama for a minute."
Brianna didn't want to talk to him. Not now. And not later either. "I'd better see her safely home," she said hurriedly, even though the house was within sight, and on another day, she would have had no qualms about letting Lylis run back ahead of her by herself.
"I thought you should come and check the pass with me," Lyall said smoothly. "Just to be sure everything is normal there."
His earlier words, about something having happened to the villagers there, came back to her. Silly thoughts. Trolls ran through the pass screaming, they didn't sneak silently. But the thought wouldn't be banished.
"I go myself!" Lylis proclaimed, wriggling her legs impatiently.
Brianna lowered her to the ground. "Can you manage the basket?" she asked.
Lylis nodded solemnly, so Brianna handed it to her and watched her run towards the house on her chubby legs. She tried not to notice Lyall beside her, but his quiet presence was impossible to ignore.
"I would prefer it if you would let me leave a few of my men at the pass and at the gates as guards," Lyall said softly, once Lylis was out of earshot. "As well as your men of course. If you won't give me the gem, then my only hope of helping you keep this village safe is to use sheer numbers."
"Fine." She wasn't in the mood to argue with him.
Lyall waved his hand to two men standing waiting near the last house of the village, and both of them hurried across the field and followed her and Lyall through the gate. Brianna pretended to herself that she didn't feel the slightest bit safer to be walking towards the pass with two extra mages.
The dark cliffs towered above them, growing narrower as they rose. Little sunlight made it down this far, and each corner could be hiding a troll. They were quickly out of sight of the towers, and Brianna knew from her own stints on guard duty, that they had several more corners to round before they came to the guard post.
She couldn't hide her relief that the guards at the pass were bantering easily in their usual way when they arrived.
"Prince Balen is concerned about the safety of the pass," she told them, letting a little sarcasm creep into her voice. "So you'll have some friends for your watch."
They eyed the two mages suspiciously for a moment, taking in their swords and stiff stance, then shrugged. "They can stay if they want," they agreed.
Lyall ignored her conversation, staring at Jack, the young runner, frowning. "What's he doing here?" he asked. "Surely if it's so dangerous, he should be home with his parents?
"He's the runner," Brianna said flatly, "to warn the rest of the village when the trolls invade. The others will try to hold them off, but they can't buy more than a few minutes."
Lyall's eyes bored into her. She could see his disbelief, his certainty that he could do things better. And maybe he could. But this was the way they'd dealt with the trolls for centuries. And the best they could do.
As she and Lyall walked back through the pass, Brianna's skin crawled. The urge to turn back around and check on the guards was strong, even though she could still hear their quiet voices as the villagers told the soldiers what to expect if there was a troll attack. They were having a little too much fun describing it in gory detail.
They rounded a corner of the pass, and the voices faded to a quiet murmur. Lyall stopped and put a hand on her arm. "Brianna?"
She turned to look at him. They were half way between the pass entrance and the guard point, not visible from either. Lyall's expression was gentle but serious. "You know that I'm not going to use that gem to do anything but protect your village. I can't do anything with it that the villagers don't already think I can do, so it makes no difference there. But if those trolls come, it could be the only thing that protects you from them."
She didn't want to admit that his words made sense. "If I give it to you, everyone will think I'm working with you. Mianna already thinks that I … that I have a crush on you."
He took a step closer to her, and Brianna stepped back, coming up against the rocky wall of the pass. "So tell her. Let's go back now and tell her that I'm Lylis's father, and that we love each other."
His words took her breath away. As though it was that simple. Perhaps it was for him. But the only thing she could see when she tried to imagine telling her sister about Lyall, was the accusing stare in her eyes. And the picture on the panels. "Twins aren't supposed to love different people," she said quietly. "And we've seen what happens when they do. I can't, Lyall."
He stepped closer and she had no room left to back away. "Then tell her I took it from you."
His breath fanned her cheeks as he spoke, and Brianna fought to keep her breathing even. His nearness confused her thinking, making it hard to remember why she needed to keep denying this feeling. He put a hand up, resting it on the rocks near her face and leaned in a little closer. "I can make it the truth if you like."
It would be easy to add another lie to the ones she was already telling her sister. That the lie would also make Mianna's view of Lyall even worse, especially given that her sister knew exactly where the gem was hidden, hardly mattered. It wasn't like she would ever accept Brianna's feelings for Lyall anyway.
His other hand moved to stroke her waist and his lips edged closer to hers. Longing threaded its way through every vein in her body until it hummed. His dark gaze burned into hers, telling her he wanted her as much as she wanted him. The agony of knowing it could never be only made the feeling stronger.
Her breath hitched, and that was all Lyall needed. She closed her eyes as his lips gently brushed hers, igniting the fire that had simmered beneath the surface for far too long. "Anna," he breathed softly, pulling back to look into her eyes for just a second.
She looked at him mutely, trying to let the words of need show in her face, even if she couldn't find voice for them. In response, his body pressed hers against the rock. He kissed her with the same desperation she felt.
His hand ran over her body, covering every inch. A little voice in the back of her head said he was looking for the gem, but the hardness pressing into her belly told her there was more to it than that.
His hand cupped her breast, pressing the gem into the soft flesh, firmly enough that she probably had an imprint of it on her skin. But he didn't pause, just squeezed it again and let his hand move up to cup her face, kissing her more desperately.
"Trolls!" the scream came from the pass.
Lyall broke off abruptly, his head jerking around in the direction of the sound. He swore. "Give me the gem, Brianna."
Jack streaked past them, not even noticing their compromising position.
Brianna hesitated, but to keep the gem from him at this point was stupid. Lyall could help them, could perhaps prevent any more from dying. That wasn't betraying her village, it was helping them.
She reached for the gem.
A shout of triumph echoed through the pass. Then a second one, closer.
Lyall stepped back, and Brianna pushed herself off the wall. Both of them took a few steps towards the sound.
A villager and one of Lyall's soldiers came around the corner, a look of shock and amazement on their faces. As soon as the man saw Brianna, he called out, "They turned around! They didn't even try to fight us!"
Lyall's man nodded, confirming the unbelievable story.
Unused adrenalin seeped from Brianna's body, leaving it weak and shaking. The trolls had turned around. They weren't going to attack. Had the extra men deterred them or had they felt her power mingling with Lyall's through the gem? It was impossible to say.
"We'll inform the villagers," Lyall said to both men. "Remain here and guard the pass. I'll send someone to relieve you as soon as we reach the village."
Brianna should be the one giving those orders. But she was simply grateful to Lyall for knowing the right things to say. She nodded agreement to his words. "You've earned a night off," she told her man.
The two nodded and returned to the pass. She and Lyall walked slowly back to her house, not saying anything. Halfway across the field, they were met by villagers and mages alike, swords at the ready. "Where are they?" the villagers called, looking around them quickly.