Jamie turned away, staring out the narrow window slit. Dawn was just beginning to bleed into the sky, cold and pale. “Duty,” he muttered. “That word again. Always duty. Always sacrifice.”
“Aye,” Phillip said softly. “It is the doom of men like us to carry that burden. It is the price of power. Only the powerless are truly free. I know better than most the price duty can exact on us.”
There was an odd note of melancholy in Phillip’s voice. Jamie glanced over his shoulder at the older man. “Ye mean yer time in the royal court?”
“Aye. When yer father sent me there, I had to leave everything behind: my home, my friends, my family. But I went because duty compelled me.”
“What was it like?”
Phillip gave a short laugh. “It’s a place built on whispers and daggers ye canna see until they’re in yer back. Every smile hides a bargain. Every kindness, a debt. I learned quickly enough that I preferred the company of honest enemies to false friends.”
“And yet ye would have me wed into that. Ye would have me shackle my people to that.”
He shrugged. “Duty, my laird. Everything is a bargain. Freedom for safety. It is the way of things.”
The way of things. Right now Jamiehatedthe way of things.
He sat heavily on the edge of the desk. His hands opened and closed involuntarily as if looking for something to throttle. “I always knew it would come to this,” he said softly. “I always knew I would end up in a loveless marriage like my parents. But thenshecame and showed me what might have been.”
Phillip nodded. “Aye. I understand. But even if ye were free to choose, Elise could never be yers. This isnae her home.”
Jamie’s heart gave a painful twist. “Ye think I havenae thought of that? I know she’ll leave. But God help me, I wish she didnae have to.”
The silence that followed stretched long and heavy, broken only by the crackle of the fire.
Then the door suddenly burst open.
One of the guards stumbled in, chest heaving, cloak dripping with morning dew. “My lord,” he gasped, “the king’s envoy—he’s here!”
Jamie lurched upright. “What?”
“A ship came in with the tide,” the guard gasped. “The envoy’s already at the harbor.”
Jamie’s stomach turned to lead. “How can he be here already? I was supposed to have another three days!”
Phillip climbed slowly to his feet. “Ye’d best ready yourself, my lord. It seems the king is eager to see this alliance sealed.”
Jamie felt the noose snap tight around his neck. Without a word he led the way from the room and prepared to meet his doom.
*
Elise stretched herarms over her head, yawned wide enough to crack her jaw, then rubbed at her sore eyes with the heels of her hands. Ugh. For the umpteenth time she wished they had electric lights in this era. Candlelight was atmospheric and all, but it was useless for reading.
And that’s what Elise had been doing for most of the night. Anything to distract her from thoughts of a certain blond-haired laird.
The documents Phillip had given her—shipping logs, old reports, trade manifests, folk tales about MacFinnan spellweavers—were supposed to give her answers, or at least clues as to what was happening to Islay. But no. She’d read them all twice. Some of them three times. But nothing pointed to a pattern or a clue that might set her on the right track.
And there was no mention of War Weavers.
The words the old fisherman, Neil, had spoken to her earlier kept bugging her. War Weavers. MacFinnan spellweavers who used their powers in battle.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about the idea. On the one hand an explanation for her pain-in-the-ass powers was appealing.On the other hand, she didn’t like to think of what such powers might be able to do.
With a huff, she thrust the document away from her, then crumpled the parchment into a ball and hurled it at the wall with all her strength. It struck with a wholly unsatisfying little pat.
She pressed her palms against her temples and groaned softly. “Bloody hell. This is useless.” Phillip could have his documents back. They weren’t doing her any good at all.
She scooped up the piles from her desk, hastily stuffed them into a leather satchel, then swung the bag over her shoulder. She pulled open the door. The corridor beyond was cloaked in shadows with only the faintest lightening of the gloom showing that dawn wasn’t far off.
