“It is.”
“I dunna believe it!”
“’Tis true.”
“Come forward so I can see ye more clearly!”
Cam stepped into the hall, completely in control of himself until he saw Isadora sitting there, bound up with rope. Then his control slipped. He could only imagine that it hadn’t been easy for the Lindsay to bind her, knowing the fight she would havegiven them. When he came closer and saw the bruise on her face, he nearly lost his composure altogether.
Balling his fists with rage, he charged the table where Isadora was sitting and in one sweeping movement, picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. She gasped at the movement, as if it had caused her extreme pain, but Cam couldn’t think about that. He was focused on Drostan and that’s where his focus needed to remain.
“I’d heard ye took Keith women,” he growled in a hazardous tone. “They belong tae me, Lindsay. ’Twas their menfolk who killed my grandfather and I will have my vengeance. I’ve come all the way from Edinburgh tae get it.”
Drostan held up his hands to Cam to prevent him from doing anything rash. In fact, he was quite shocked by the appearance of the man and even more shocked at his actions. Off to his left, Ternan was moving for Cam, planning on pulling Isadora away from him, but Drostan saw the movement and waved him off.
He didn’t want any brawls or bloodshed in his hall.
“Cam, stop!” Drostan commanded. “Dunna do anything foolish. Sit down and let us speak, as we used tae. We dinna know that ye’d returned, lad!”
Cam had hold of Isadora tightly. “I have indeed returned,” he said through clenched teeth. “Netherton is my home and ye knew I would return someday. But now I hear ye have Keith hostages and they belong taeme, Lindsay.”
Drostan had a very angry man on his hands, causing him to proceed carefully. “Where did he year such a thing?” he asked. “My men only just returned with them.”
“And men talk. Did ye not realize that? Half of the villages between Kirkburn and the sea know ye have hostages by now.”
That was probably true, so Drostan didn’t dispute him. But he made an effort to take charge of the situation.
“Put the woman down, Cam,” he said calmly. “Put her down and let us speak. I would like tae know when ye returned. Ternan was just at the Ludus Caledonia and saw no sign of ye. We thought ye’d been killed.”
“He’s not been killed, though I tried.”
The reply didn’t come from Cam. It was spoken in a thick Welsh accent. Near the hearth, The Beast stepped forward, his gaze on Cam as rigidly as a hunter sighting prey. When Cam looked at him and their eyes met, The Beast smiled humorlessly.
“The Lion of Caledonia,” he muttered. “We meet again.”
Drostan’s eyes widened. “Him?” he asked, incredulous as he turned to Cam. “Heis The Lion of Caledonia?”
The Beast nodded, a slow gesture. “Aye,” he said. “He very nearly killed me.”
As Drostan wrestled with his shock at Cam’s apparent battle prowess, Cam’s shock was considerably worse. For the second time since entering the hall of Kirkburn, he was struggling with his composure.
The warrior known as The Beast was the last person Cam had expected to see. It would seem that his surprise for Drostan wasn’t the only surprise lingering in the hall of Kirkburn this day.
He was going to have to face whatever unhappy hell this was.
“It was a fair fight,” Cam said, wondering if he was going to have to defend himself again. “Whatever happened, I fought with honor.”
The Beast nodded, though it was with reluctance. “I’ve never known a man to fight the way you did. I should commend you.”
Cam wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. He found himself looking to Drostan. “How did he come here?”
“I paid for his fealty,” Drostan said, pleased with himself. “Clegg de Lave said that The Beast was the very best warrior he had, though we heard he had been beaten once by a man knownas The Lion of Caledonia. But I never imagined that Lion was our very own Cam Netherton.”
“Whyis he here?” Cam asked.
Drostan turned for the feasting table. “Sit and I will tell ye,” he said. “But ye’ll have tae put the woman down.”
“I’ll not put her down. Is she Keith?”
