“WHAT THE HELLis going on around here?” Chase caught up with Hall, matching his steps to the big man’s. “Who is that woman? Where’d she come from?”
He had a million other questions, like, what had happened to Hall’s face? But the ones he’d asked would suffice to start.
“She’s one of Malcolm’s people. From Castle MacGahan. An innocent, seeking revenge for her father’s murder.”
“And let me guess....Torquil had a hand in that.” Even more confirmation he’d picked the wrong side on which to fight.
“So it would seem. Bridget’s father was one of the guards accompanying Malcolm’s wife when she brought ransom to gain his freedom a few months back. On Torquil’s order, all the men who accompanied her rode the horse of the hanged.”
“Rode the...” Chase struggled to hide his irritation at his own inability to understand what Hall was telling him. “You mean he had them killed?”
“On his order they were put to the gallows, their only crime serving the wrong master.”
“Is it possible there’s more to it than that? Something we don’t know. Maybe there were circumstances that—” Chase pressed his lips together, remembering all that Christiana had told him about Torquil. What he already knew to be true about Torquil pushed aside any possibility of the laird’s innocence.
“There’s aplenty we don’t know, that’s sure enough,” Hall agreed. “For instance, were you aware that our little healer travels the Vision world?”
Chase nodded slowly, wondering how Hall had learned of it.
“Were you also aware that you somehow figure into those visions? That Torquil hopes through his sister’s visions to determine which of the two of us is meant to suit some purpose of his?”
That, he had not known.
“I thought as much.” Hall ran a hand through his hair, blanking the expression of worry from his features. “The web is already woven, little brother. We can but pick our way through, hoping we choose the best paths.”
They’d reached the main hall of the keep. As they drew to a stop, Hall knocked upon the door of Torquil’s solar.
Chase watched as the familiar, carefree grin returned to Hall’s face just before Torquil opened the door. It was a skill he could only hope to copy.
“What’s this?” Torquil asked, looking directly at him as a wide smile spread over his face. “You’ve returned. Excellent. Saves me the trouble of repeating myself.”
They were hardly inside the door when another knock sounded and Artur and Ulfr joined them.
“I thought you were unloading the wagon?” Chase knew for a fact Ulfr had intended to do exactly that. Perhaps he’d learned of this meeting from Artur.
“There were others for that sort of work,” Ulfr said.
“Very well,” Torquil began, seating himself behind the big table at the side of the room. “Since everyone is here now, I want you all to be aware that I’ll be sending you as a delegation to call upon the old Sinclair, announcing my desire to bring together the northern clans to counsel on what challenges we could well face in the near future if, as is rumored, the English march against us.”
Chase wondered how great a part Christiana’s visions played in Torquil’s preparation for these challenges.
“Only to Clan Sinclair?” Hall asked.
“Of course no only to the Sinclair. I’ve already dispatched riders to the other houses in each direction within a three-day ride. I’ve but a few preparations left before I send you on yer way. Ulfr, see to it the Tinklers break camp and move on before our guests begin to arrive.”
“We stand ready to do yer bidding, my lord,” Artur offered, earning himself a glare from Ulfr as they all filed out of the solar.
Hall scratched his beard thoughtfully, visibly wincing as his finger passed over the recent wound.
Artur, unwisely, could not let the movement pass unnoticed.
“It’s yer whore what’s done that to you?” he asked, an idiot-like grin breaking over his face.
Hall didn’t answer, but widened his stance, arms loose at his sides.
Chase backed away from the two of them, having seen such a move often enough. You didn’t need to be a body language expert to recognize someone preparing for a fight.
“She’s highly spirited, that one,” Hall said at last.
