“I suspect her more than I suspect anyone else,” said Keir. “If anyone has access to ye and the means to kill ye, it’s her. And she has motive, too. But there’s also the alibi.”
“What alibi?”
“The bairns...the ones she took in after her maither killed theirs,” Keir said. “But they are her half-siblings. They could be lyin’ to protect her.”
That pounding headache was only getting stronger by the minute. With every new piece of information, it seemed to Archer that his head was getting heavier and heavier, until he could hardly bear it at all.
“Wait a moment now...if she took in those bairns, as ye say, why would she wish to avenge her maither? Why would she help them and then try to kill me for it?”
“She may nae blame them because they’re only bairns,” Keir pointed out. “They had nae say on bein’ born. And, as I said, they are her siblings.”
“Half-siblings.”
“Still siblings.”
The two of them sat in silence as Archer considered that possibility. It seemed unlikely to him, not only because he doubted the need for vengeance would be so controlled and so focused or because River was so much smaller than him, but also because, in their brief meeting earlier that day, she had seemed too kind, too sweet to him to be capable of such a thing.
“I think it’s best if I speak to her meself about this,” Archer said, but Keir was quick to shake his head.
“Nay...nay, I wouldnae recommend that. If she truly means to harm ye?—”
“Keir, she cannae harm me,” Archer insisted. “I am twice her size. Even if she wants to harm me, she cannae do it on her own. I’m in nae danger as long as it’s only the two of us.”
Keir leaned back in his chair and seemed to consider that for a moment. Archer wasn’t going to hear any more protests, though. Keir had no evidence. Besides, if River was truly looking for ways to harm him, would she get flustered and pink at a mere touch on her cheek? The crime Keir was accusing her of was one that could only be committed by a much bolder woman. She had fire in her, that much was true; he had seen it in their conversation, when she had demanded answers from him and claimed so firmly that she would never share his bed. But she had been shy, too, timid at the thought of the two of them together.
She was not the kind of woman who could do such a thing.
“I’ll be there with ye when ye speak to her,” said Keir.
“Nay. I wish to speak to her alone,” insisted Archer. “I have more things to discuss with her than just this.”
“Other things?” said Keir, arching a curious eyebrow. “Such as?”
Archer drew in a deep breath. “Such as havin’ an heir. It’s about time.”
“An heir?”
Suddenly, Keir stood from his chair and leaned over the desk, bracing himself on the edge of it. “Are ye serious?”
“Aye,” said Archer with a small frown. “Why wouldnae I be?”
For a few moments, Keir simply stared at him in silence, scrutinizing him as if he was trying to find out whether something was hiding behind his thoughts. He was going to find nothing, though; Archer was entirely serious.
“Very well,” said Keir, sitting back on his chair. “That’s good news.”
“Are ye surprised?”
“Nay,” said Keir, a little too quickly. “But I agree it is time. Though I daenae ken if yer wife is the right woman to bear ye bairns, considerin’—”
“She’s me wife,” said Archer, interrupting him. “Who else would bear me an heir?”
“Another wife,” said Keir with a small shrug. “As I said, I’m nae convinced she’s nae the one who attacked ye. If it’s proven that she’s behind all this?—”
“She’s nae,” Archer insisted, the headache returning with a vengeance, along with a bitter taste in the back of his mouth that had little to do with the medicine and concoctions Jenson was feeding him. He didn’t like how convinced Keir was that River was behind the attack. He didn’t think the man had any plans of harming his wife, nor did he think he had ulterior motives. Keir was a transparent man—he wasn’t scheming like Archer himself was. But Archer still lamented the fact that his closest man and his wife didn’t get along—not just that, but he also suspected her of foul play.
He wondered, for a brief moment, what River thought of Keir. Did she, too, suspect him? Did she dislike him for acting like this towards her?
“But even if she is,” Archer said with a quiet sigh, “we will deal with it when the time comes. We cannae accuse her when there is nae evidence. Bring me evidence and I will hear ye, but as long as there is naethin’ to prove she did it, I willnae hear another word about me wife.”
