“One follows that you can see, the other you do not see, but the two work together, so do not make it more difficult for them.”
Her soothing strokes finally had the one pup settling down, nearly on top of the other pup in her lap.
“I was thinking,” Heather said, reaching out to slip her hand around his. “This is foreign land to Haidar. How is it that he seems familiar with it?”
Rhys squeezed her hand. “I can understand why your father sought your counsel. You often see what others fail to see. I thought the same myself and dispatched one of my men to see what he can find out. The more likely answer would be that Haidar promised someone riches in exchange for his help, though the only thing the person will see is the end of Haidar’s blade as he slices his throat.”
“With Fife having been with you about a year, then that would mean Haidar had known all this time where you were. Why did he wait?”
“To see if I wed. It is important to him to repay me in kind. It makes his revenge that more satisfying and makes him more powerful in the eyes of his people. Besides, he would not want to take a chance of anything going wrong, so he would plan well.”
She smiled and gave a slight tilt of her head as she said, “And you would do the same...you would plan. You would leave nothing to chance.”
He loved it when she smiled. It was so natural, so heartwarming. “I am going to have to be carefulwith you, wife. I am not going to be able to keep secrets from you.”
Her smile spread. “The more I learn about you, the more I see who you truly are.”
The smile that had slowly worked its way to his mouth vanished. “Be very careful, wife, you may see something you do not like.”
Heather’s laughter drifted on the warm air, and she released his hand to rest hers between his legs. “I think I need to look more closely to know for sure.”
His smile sprang free. “You have looked extremely close on several occasions but do feel free to look as often as you would like.”
“I will do that.”
“And I encourage you to do so.”
The pup with the one white paw raised his head and yapped, being too young for it to sound like a bark.
Rhys was impressed, for just after the yap he heard the hurried footfalls. He just may have to train the pup.
Pitt was suddenly in front of them, and his intense look had Heather anxious.
“Word has arrived. Greer McLaud is not far from Macinnes keep. And besides Greer’s wife’s body being found on Macinnes land, a headless body has also been found there.”
CHAPTER 27
Heather paced in front of the window in Rhys’ solar. Thankfully Rhys had included her when he and Pitt retired there to discuss the impending problem. She was worried for her family, for her clan. They were good, honest people and none deserved to suffer because of a man hungry for power and wealth.
“My family needs to know of this,” Heather said worry filling her gentle blue eyes.
“They have been kept apprised of Greer’s movements,” Rhys said.
Heather turned to glare at her husband. “And you did not think to tell me of this?”
“Until there was something to tell you, there was nothing for me to say,” Rhys said and held his hand out to her.
Heather reached out and took it, easing into the folds of his tender embrace.
“Our union has its advantage. Is that not why you married me?” he asked.
“Aye, it is, but it is different now.” Heather turned with a smile to Pitt. “Do you know that I love the Dragon with all my heart? And he loves me, though he does not realize it yet, but I am patient and will wait for however long it takes.”
“The Dragon is a lucky man,” Pitt said with a grin.
“That he is,” Heather agreed. “And soon he will realize just how lucky, but for now...what do we do to help my people.”
“We wait,” Rhys said more pleased by his wife’s remarks than he would have either of them know. “We see what Greer does. We see if he is aware that the Dark Dragon is now an ally of the Macinnes.”
