Someone grabbed him from behind, pinning his arms. Arran’s voice rasped by his ear, “The king wants her alive, Jamie. She willnae be harmed. We’ll get her back but ye need to calm down. Are ye listening? She is unharmed!”
Slowly, the words penetrated. The red mist clogging his head evaporated a little. He sagged and would have fallen to his knees if Arran hadn’t been holding him up. The anger leaked out of him, leaving behind only the fear, so cold and cloying that he could barely breathe.
He looked up. Cailean was standing in front of him, feet shoulder-width apart and arms loose, as though bracing himself for another attack. Arran’s grip on his arms hadn’t slackened.
“All right,” he breathed. “All right. Ye can let me go.”
Cailean relaxed, took a step back, and Arran released Jamie’s arms, moving to stand beside Cailean and face his liege lord.
Jamie took a deep breath. “My apologies. I didnae mean to…”
Cailean waved his apology away. “There’s no need. I understand. Dear God, if it had been Rose that had been taken, I would have lost my mind as well.” He clapped a hand to Jamie’sshoulder. “But Arran spoke truly. Wewillget her back, whatever it takes.”
Jamie looked first at Cailean and then at Arran. Fierce determination shone in their gazes. Determination, but no fear. They were men of the Isles and would not suffer such an injustice. Not without retribution.
With an effort, he tried to calm his thumping heart and racing thoughts. Elise would not be helped by him storming off without thinking things through first. This, no doubt, was what Phillip was counting on. So he had to be wiser. Cannier.
He let out his breath slowly. Cailean and Arran watched him carefully, as if wary of another outburst. “Call a council for the great hall,” he told them. “Anyone who can sail a ship.” He met their gazes with a stern one of his own.
“We’re going to plan the invasion of Islay.”
Chapter Twenty
The world returnedto Elise in jarring pieces. An incessant pounding ache behind her eyes, the feel of something hard beneath her cheek, the smell of smoke and damp. What the—? Then everything came flooding back to her in a rush.
Her eyes flew open and she jolted upright, pressing her hand to her head with a groan. The world swam before her eyes, but she found herself sitting on the floor of a dimly lit chamber. The windows were shuttered, blocking most of the afternoon light. A single lantern burned on a nearby shelf, giving the only illumination.
And leaning against the table, arms folded, was Phillip MacClelland.
“Finally,” he said mildly. “Ye took long enough.”
“You!” Elise spat. She tried to surge to her feet, but her legs buckled, dumping her back onto the floor. She groaned, pressing the heels of her hands against her forehead. “Where am I?”
“Home,” Phillip said. “Islay. Though under new leadership since ye were last here.”
She scooted backwards until she felt the wall press against her back. Her magic skittered under her skin—shaken and frantic but for the moment out of reach.
“You kidnapped me,” she snapped, glaring up at Phillip.
“Iretrievedye,” he corrected. “Which I wouldnae have had to do if ye and Jamie had behaved as ye should.”
She had hazy memories of the “attack” on Dun Mallach. Of those king’s men surrounding her, of Rose and Jenna shouting her name.
“What happened?” she asked. “Where are my sister and niece?”
An expression of distaste crossed Phillip’s features. “Those two? Fierce as wildcats, the pair of them. From the way they fought to stop us taking ye, anyone would thinktheywere the War Weavers. But I sent three groups of the king’s most elite warriors for a reason. In the end, they were won free with my prize.” His gaze sharpened on Elise. “Ye.”
Elise bared her teeth in a snarl. “If you’ve hurt them, I swear I’ll—”
“Ye’ll what? Kill me? Forgive me if I dinna weep in terror. Yer sister and niece were left behind on Barra and I neither know nor care for their fate. And besides, none of this would have happened had ye and Jamie not fled there like two curs with their tails between their legs.”
“We wouldn’t have had to run at all if you hadn’t betrayed us!” Elise yelled. Her fingers itched to land a punch into his smug face.
“Betrayed? Hardly. My loyalty has always been to the Kingdom of the Isles. Everything I’ve ever done has been in my people’s best interests.”
“Oh, I see,” she snapped, her voice heavy with sarcasm. “My mistake. And here’s me thinking you’re just a power-hungry, back-stabbing Judas!”
A flicker of annoyance passed over his features. “I’m nothing of the sort. I’m a pragmatist. The Kingdom of the Isles stands between two powerful neighbors. Sooner or later it will be crushed between them. Better to broker a peaceful alliance with one of them, dinna ye think?”
