Rory thought on it. “Nay. I will tak’ Leith.”
He hurried down from the battlements and ducked inside out of the rain. A vile morning and no mistake. An evil omen, if he believed in such, which he did not.
Everyone he met on his way to Leith’s quarters asked him the same thing.Are we bound for war?The order for muster had been given. It did not take long to spread.
He passed the door to his own quarters. The guard stationed there asked, “Are we marching out, chief?”
“Mustering for it. Stay where ye be.”
What had Saerla heard from within? He had no doubt Rhian had been to see her. What did she think?
He told himself it did not matter. She would be soon enough gone.
He pounded on Leith’s door, and the man himself opened it. Hair in a tangle and the front of his sark hanging open, he stood but half dressed. Had he been making love to his woman all morning?
Rory sneered. “Come wi’ me.”
Leith stared at him. When had the expression in his cousin’s eyes changed? Blue-gray eyes they were, and what Rory would once have calledmerry. Leith, by and large, had been a pleasureto have for a companion. Always with a laugh or a quip. Able to make even him, Rory, smile.
Now his eyes had gone cold like the loch out beyond the fortress. The woman had changed him, Rory told himself. Or mayhap, in truth, he had. Leith had not looked at him the same way since he’d banished Farlan. Certainly not since he’d returned from imprisonment at MacBeith.
“Come?” Leith did not budge from the doorway. “Where?”
“We march out to meet the messengers. I want ye wi’ me.”
“Gi’ me a moment or two.”
He ducked back inside, leaving the door ajar a crack. Rory could hear the rumble of his voice speaking to the woman. The lighter tone of her reply.
She came pushing out first, fully clad and with her hair hastily bundled at the back of her head, a basket clutched in her hands.
“I will wait wi’ my sister.”
“Ye will no’.” Rory did not want the two of them conspiring together against him.
She drew herself up. Tall for a woman, she nevertheless had to glare up at him. “Stand aside.”
“Ye will stay here in Leith’s quarters, mistress. We may fall under attack. Yer sister is safe enough under guard.”
“Her head wound needs tending. I will no’ leave her wanting.” She started to push past him. Rory put his hand on her chest to keep her back.
The door flew open. Leith stood there, eyes blazing. Rory did not think he’d ever seen such a look in his cousin’s eyes. “Tak’ yer hand from her.”
“Eh?” Rory let his hand drop.
“Touch her again and I will hack yer arm fro’ yer body.”
Rory’s ire kindled. No one, including his cousin, spoke to him in such a tone. Through gritted teeth he said, “Go carefully, cousin.”
“Nay,yego carefully. Rhian is under my protection. I will let no one on earth harm her.”
Taken aback, Rory said, “I ha’ no intention o’ harming her. ’Tis safest for her to wait here for your return. Once we ken whether MacBeith has accepted my terms, we can let her see her sister.”
“Wait here,mo chridhe,” Leith bade the woman.
For an instant, Rory thought she would refuse despite the endearment. But she nodded and withdrew into the chamber.
Rory gave a grunt of satisfaction. A small victory, but he’d take them where he could find them.
