Page 91 of The Highland Laird’s Hellion Bride

They reached the armory and stepped inside. Magnus shut the door behind them.

“The western glen,” Magnus said. “Two horses. They were watching the castle. Close enough to see the gate.”

Duncan’s jaw tightened. “How long ago?”

“Last night. Maybe the night before.” Magnus crossed to the weapon rack and lifted Jinny from her hook without thinking about it, checked the blade by feel rather than sight. “The branch was broken where a man stood and waited. Northwest approach. Same ground O’Brien used thirteen years ago before the first fire, when he was scouting before he moved.”

“Ye’re certain it’s him.”

“I’m nae uncertain.”

Duncan pulled out the bench beside the window and sat on it, elbows on his knees, looking at the floor. “The handfasting is tomorrow.”

“Aye.”

“He kens that.”

“He kens everything about this castle. He’s been watchin’ since before the furnace fire.” Magnus set Jinny back on the rack and turned. “He wanted us to see those tracks.”

Duncan’s head snapped up.

“He could have sent men through the lower pass, and we’d never have found them in time,” Magnus said. “The western glen is visible from the ridge on a clear ride. He put those horses there to be found. He wants me to ken that he’s comin’.”

“Or he wants ye rattled before tomorrow.”

“Same thing.”

Duncan rubbed the back of his neck and stood up. “What do ye want to do?”

“Double the night watch. No announcements, no alarm. I daenae want the household unsettled the night before the handfasting. I want six men on the western approach from dark onward, two at the north postern, and I want the gate guards changed out every two hours so none of them go dull-eyed standin’ in the cold.”

He moved to the window and looked out at the yard. Laughter drifted from somewhere near the kitchens. He could see the edge of the hall where they’d pushed the tables back earlier, could see the glow of candles already being lit inside. “Liam’s men, does he have any he trusts on a border watch?”

“Aye. He brought four.”

“Ask him. Quietly.”

“He’ll want to ken why.”

“Tell him.”

Duncan raised his eyebrows.

Magnus understood the surprise. He’d spent the better part of the last thirteen years telling no one anything they didn’t need to know, managing everything himself, trusting that the fewer hands on a problem, the fewer ways it could be dropped.

“Liam’s reliable,” he said. “And if somethin’ goes wrong, I daenae want to have to explain to Katherine why her husband wasnae warned.”

“And Elspeth?”

Magnus looked back out at the yard. The girl on the chair was directing candles somewhere he couldn’t see. The pipes started up again, badly, cut off, started over.

“Nay,” he said.

“Magnus.”

“It’s the night before our handfasting.” He stepped back from the window. “She’s been…” He stopped, picked up a cloth from the shelf, set it down again. “Nay. She doesnae need O’Brien’s name in her head tonight.”

Duncan watched him with an expression Magnus chose not to look at directly. “That’s nae the only reason.”