“Not a bit,” they said almost in unison.
A deep frown drew her brows together. “Then why are the two of you willing to do this?”
Braden gave her a grim look. He’d been dreading this question, and though he knew he should probably lie, he couldn’t bring himself to be dishonest with her. Maggie was probably the only woman he had never lied to and for some reason he wanted to keep it that way. “Because, if you fail, then I know a certain way to end this feud for once and for all.”
“And that is?”
“I plan to kill Robby MacDouglas.”
Maggie stumbled at his words, then stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth open. “Nay, you canna be serious.”
“Of course, I am. You want this feud to end and that is the only guarantee I know of.”
She felt the tears prick her eyes. How could he?
And all this time she had assumed he was going with her strictly to protect her.
Foolish woman. You should have known he didn’t do this for you. Do you honestly think he’d care whether or not you live or die?
But she couldn’t say that out loud. Instead, she whispered. “I thought you were being chivalrous. You said you couldn’t let me go alone.”
“Listen to me, Maggie. The only reason I’m allowing you to come along at all is that I know you well enough to know you’d trail after us on your own. At least this way, I can keep my eye on you. Believe me, I did learn a thing or two about you while we were growing up.”
“And I learned a lot of things about you as well, Braden MacAllister, most of which left me in tears. But of all the heartbreaking lessons I’ve learned, I never thought I’d see the day when you’d just go off to murder someone.”
Her words stung his conscience. Braden had no intention of murdering the MacDouglas. It would be a fair fight. But when he left MacDouglas lands, the feud would be over.
One way or another.
“If you’re too squeamish to do what must be done, woman, then I suggest you hie yourself home where ‘tis safe.”
Frustrated, she turned to Sin. “Could you please talk sense into him?”
“Why?” he asked. “For once, I completely agree with him. I would think the life of the MacDouglas would be paltry when compared to the lives of your brothers.”
Maggie was aghast. “You would honestly walk up to him and just cut his throat?”
Sin’s dark gaze became empty, dull. “I’ve done worse things in my life.”
Braden flinched at the tone, for he knew only too well just what sort of things his brother had done to survive. He patted Sin on the back.
“Maggie,” Braden said quietly. “I am willing to do what I know is foolish. I’ll give you time to talk to Robby MacDouglas. If you succeed, then there will be no more bloodshed. But if you fail...”
Anger darkened her eyes. “Thank you for adding that.” Her sarcasm made a mockery of Sin’s usual temperament. “Let’s see if I have all this correctly. Right now I have hanging on my shoulders the lives of our laird, your brother Ewan, my four surviving brothers, as well as the hopes of all the women of both our clan and the MacDouglas’s, and now the very life of Robby MacDouglas rests with me, too. Have I forgotten anything?”
“There are a few things more,” Sin said drily. “If you fail, you’ll probably get yourself killed, along with Braden and myself. If the MacDouglas kills Braden, I’m rather sure Lochlan will spend the rest of his life trying to eradicate all the MacDouglases from this earth. Should I die, King Henry would be rather put out himself. And since he’s not overly fond of the Scottish and completely fond of me, there’s no telling what he might do to retaliate. Knowing the king as I do, I’m sure it won’t be pleasant for anyone north of Hadrian’s Wall.”
Braden cleared his throat. “This would probably be the place where I might mention that Sin is one of the king’s chief advisors, and a close personal friend.”
Maggie rolled her eyes toward heaven. “Sweet Mother Mary. Now you’ve got me responsible for two nations going to war?”
“Aye, but that’s only if you fail.”
Unamused by Braden, Maggie squared her shoulders as she started trudging through the forest. “Very well, then. I shall not fail.”
And then under her breath she added, “I hope.”
Seven
