His thoughts were spinning, his pulse racing. Two days. They had two days to stop this. Two days to warn the Order and the King. It wasn’t enough. It would have to be enough.
He was breathing heavily by the time he reached his door. He paused, looking down the corridor in both directions, then shoved it open.
Molly paused, a hairbrush raised to her long tresses. “Conall? You’re back quicker than I expected. How did it go?”
He pushed the door shut and strode over to the window, looking down at the courtyard below. It was clear.
Molly rose to her feet. “What’s going on? Did you speak to your father?”
“We have to get out of here,” he said. “We have to get out of here now. Pack only what you can carry. We’ll have to steal a boat to get across the loch and then cut overland. Hurry. We dinna have much time.”
“Why? What’s happened?”
He scrubbed a hand through his hair. How could so much have changed in so little time?
“I dinna have time to explain. We’re in danger here. We have to leave. Now.”
If Alice Brewer found out he was here, he and Molly would both be in serious trouble. His father didn’t know that Conall was investigating him, he thought he’d been sent here by the Order because of bandits in the area. Nor did his father know of the Order’s previous clashes with Snarlsson’s organization. That meant he had no reason to tell Alice of Conall’s presence. That also meant he and Molly had a small window of opportunity. It would not last long. They had to take it now.
Molly didn’t argue. Perhaps warned by the look on his face, she merely nodded and began stuffing some things into a sack.
There was a knock on the door. Conall and Molly shared a look. Before either could move, it burst open and several of his father’s guards came spilling into the room.
“Lord Sinclair, Lady Molly,” one of them said in a gravelly voice. “Ye are both under arrest.”
Chapter 21
The guards weren’trough and in fact, didn’t touch Molly at all as she was marched along by Conall’s side, but they also made it clear that they wouldn’t take any nonsense. There were six of them, two in front, two behind, and one on each side. None had drawn weapons, but Molly got the impression they would do so in an instant if the situation called for it.
Her heart thumped as she trotted between them, trying to keep up with their long strides. It seemed Conall’s talk with his father hadn’t gone as she’d hoped. Jeez, what had happened? Something bad, something very bad, if this was the result.
She glanced at him. He strode by her side in silence and his face was white with fury. She could see his gray eyes taking in everything—the guards, their weapons, the route they were taking, the doors they passed.
Don’t do anything stupid, she willed him silently.Please don’t do anything that will get you hurt.
She knew Conall was a formidable warrior—his defense of Lanwick had proven that—but even he was unlikely to have much success against six opponents, deep in enemy territory.
