“And did you notice that he never even questioned Dermid’s not being with us?” Dani shared her concern. “I’ll admit that after that little poop had his total hissy fit about being forced to stay behind, I was sort of worried that it might be a problem when we showed up here without him.”
“Young Dermid has an overly developed sense of self-importance, I suspect.” Elesyria waved a hand as if to dismiss that whole discussion. “He’s not our worry at the moment.”
“Then what is our—” Dani’s question was interrupted by a knock at the door. “Hold that thought.”
She slipped off the bed and crossed the room to answer the door. Two more of Torquil’s men waited outside, bearing the things they’d brought along on their journey, including the six small bags of coin and treasures.
“Just put them there next to the hearth,” she instructed, pointing out a spot by the massive fireplace that dominated one wall of the room. She waited with the door open until the men had deposited their load and made their exit past the guards standing outside.
When they were gone, she climbed back up on the bed and fixed Elesyria with a stare.
“You were just about to tell me what you thought we needed to be worried about.” As if she couldn’t come up with enough on her own.
Elesyria rounded the bed and sat down beside Dani. “You asked me earlier what I thought of Torquil. I’d answer that question first. The man reeks of Magic. Very ancient and very powerful Magic. The whole castle seethes with it. It’s so strong, I can all but see it.”
“I assume that’s bad?”
It had been the major concern Elesyria had expressed as they’d worked out their plan to rescue Malcolm.
“Bad? Let’s see,” The Faerie pushed her hair away from her face and sighed. “It would only be bad if I needed to use my Magic. Surrounded by the Power of Asgard as I am here, I’d be lucky to strike a spark to dry kindling, let alone try to force an entire army to free Malcolm.”
That definitely fell under Dani’s definition ofbad.
“I’m exhausted just holding on to my present form.”
“Okay, then.” Dani patted Elesyria’s hand and climbed off the bed. “Don’t worry about it. We can still do this. If we don’t have any Faerie Magic at our disposal, I guess we’ll just have to be about conjuring up some Mortal magic. You ready for dinner with the in-laws?”
At the Faerie’s blank look, Dani picked up two of the little bags and tossed them to her. “Come on. Let’s take our blood money and go have it out with my new brother-in-law.”
Thirty-two
ACHANGE OF PLANSwas most certainly in order.
Torquil smiled to himself as he crossed the bailey, headed for the old tower that housed Christiana’s quarters.
He had imagined so many different options for torturing his brother in the days since he’d learned Malcolm’s wife would be bringing the ransom to him. But none of them had actually taken the woman herself into consideration, a serious miscalculation on his part. Not even when he’d spotted her last night had he realized what an opportunity she afforded him.
The owl’s lack of color vision had done the woman a disservice.
This new sister-in-law of his was no ragged Scot. And no filthy Tinkler. Looking at that blond hair and her fair skin, he’d be willing to bet all the silver she carried with her that her ancestry stretched to his own people’s shores. And her eyes! Her eyes sparkled like rare green jewels. There was something special about the woman. He could feel it.
He should have guessed as much when he’d been told she had some mysterious connection to a stone circle.
How Malcolm had managed to ensnare such as Danielle to be his wife was a mystery, but a mystery Torquil intended to have solved before his guests left his table tonight.
Stopping at the door to the old tower, he pounded his fist against the wood.
“Christiana!” he called, impatient for once to speak with his sister.
When she opened the door, he grabbed her arm and pulled her along with him.
“Where are you taking me?”
He liked the thread of fear in her voice.
“I’d have you take yer meal at my table this day. I’ve someone I want you to meet. Have you any idea who it is?”
He watched her closely in an attempt to determine whether or not she’d been keeping information from him.
