The great hall was busy, the tables filled with warriors eating and drinking. His uncle and mother were sitting together at the high table, Aislinn and Brodie Murray next to them. Seeing them, Emeric stormed over to the high table, lifted Brodie from his chair by the tunic, and slammed him into the wall behind.
“Where is she?” he roared.
“Emeric!” Aislinn cried, her voice high and panicked. “What are ye doing? Have ye gone mad?”
He ignored his sister. He grabbed Brodie’s belt knife from its sheath and pressed it against his throat. He didn’t see Aislinn’s betrothed anymore. He didn’t see the earnest young man who wanted to help them drain the eastern marshes. He saw an enemy. A man who wore the same plaid as those who had taken Anna.
“I’ll ask one more time,” he growled, pressing the knife against Brodie’s throat. “Where is she? Where is Anna?”
Brodie’s eyes were wide and terrified. “I...I...dinna know what ye are talking about!”
“Dinna lie to me! They took her! Where are they taking her?”
“Emeric, stop this madness!” It was his uncle’s voice. He felt a crowd gathered behind him, but none dared come close. “What has gotten into ye?”
Without looking around or taking the blade from Brodie’s throat, Emeric said, “They took Anna. Murray warriors. I need to know where she is!”
There were gasps at this, not least from Brodie Murray. “W...what?” he cried. “I dinna know anything about that.”
“Liar!” Emeric bellowed, slamming him against the wall. “Why did ye betray us? Why were Murray warriors lying in wait for us? Where have they taken Anna?”
Brodie had gone as pale as milk. He swallowed thickly and then met Emeric’s furious stare. “Brother,” he said, his voice shaking. “I swear by all that’s holy, that whatever happened to Anna, my family had naught to do with it. If we had, would I still be here? Where ye would no doubt come looking?”
“They were wearing Murray plaid!”
“That doesnae mean aught,” Brodie said desperately. “They might have been trying to trick ye! What do we have to gain by taking Anna? Naught, that’s what!”
Emeric hesitated. Brodie’s words penetrated the miasma of anger and fear that clouded his thoughts. The lad was right. The Murrays had nothing to gain and everything to lose by snatching Anna. So whodidstand to gain from this?
He remembered suddenly the words the dying brigand had sneered at him.Ye have no idea who ye are dealing with. She will destroy ye.
She.
And then a cold realization hit him.
Emeric’s fingers loosened their grip on Brodie’s tunic and the young man sucked in air. Emeric dropped the knife to the floor with a clang. Aislinn rushed over and threw her arms around Brodie, burying her face in his shoulder.
Emeric staggered back and felt a strong hand clamp onto his shoulder. He turned to find his uncle standing behind him. His expression was stern.
“I think ye better tell us exactly what’s happened, lad.”
“It’s them,” Emeric whispered. “Of course it’s them. How could I have been so blind?”
His uncle’s grip on his shoulder tightened. “Lad,” he rumbled. “Emeric. Start from the beginning. What’s happened?”
Emeric swallowed. In halting tones, he explained everything that had happened since he and Anna had left yesterday—leaving out any mention of his father—right up until the moment they had discovered the MacDonald plan to attack Murray lands and then ‘Murray’ bandits had attacked them and taken Anna away.
A silence settled over the room when he finished, broken only by the occasional sniffle from Aislinn, still clutching Brodie. His uncle sighed heavily, massaging his forehead with a hand.
“God’s blood,” he muttered. “Ye think these so-called bandits were really MacDonalds?”
Emeric nodded. “Aye. They must have been. Perhaps they were watching the ravine to make sure their plan wasnae discovered although it seemed to me like they’d been sent specifically after Anna. They weren’t interested in me, only her.” He didn’t mention why he thoughtthat was. He wasn’t ready to face that yet. “One of them mentioned a woman being behind this. Lady Maria, I’m sure of it.”
His uncle rubbed at his cheek, deep in thought.
“Uncle,” Emeric said urgently. “We have to go get her. We have to ride to Innisbrook and get her back!”
His uncle shook his head. “Emeric,” he began in a weary voice. “We canna just lead warriors into MacDonald territory on a whim. That would mean war.”
