Page 55 of Luthias

“Aye, ’twould seem so.” The master sage peered closely at the scrapings before he straightened. “’Tisnae any red soil in this region.”

“May I have some water?” When he gave her a cup she added a few drops to the bowl, and they both watched it turn instantly red. “It’s not soil. I think it’s powdered madder root.”

“The Carack dinnae use red dye,” Reothadh said.

Emery already knew the MacRoss shearers did, but volunteering that information wouldn’t help save Luthias and the clan.

“Maybe she was killed somewhere close to a dye works.” She rubbed her forehead. “If she had been in the river for even a few minutes the dye powder would have dissolved. I don’t think she was ever in the water.”

“If she didnae drown, then how did she die?” he asked her.

“I believe she did drown, Master, just not in the river.” Emery lifted the damp, tangled hair and turned the head to the side. “Look at these marks on her neck.”

Reothadh peered at the wounds. “Bite wounds from the beast that dragged her from the water, then.”

“They’re not teeth marks. Look.” She cupped one hand over the neck, stretching her fingertips just above the marks. “Someone with bigger hands than mine held her by the neck while she struggled. As weak as she must have been, she still would have fought hard. The way you fight for your life when someone grabs you by the neck and holds your head in a barrel or trough of water.”

The sage closed his eyes briefly. “Aye.”

Emery reached for the shroud, and gently used it to cover the corpse.

“Why go to such trouble?” Reothadh asked. “I cannae see the sense in such.”

“Athdara was Lord Carack’s lover, and the killer knew how he would react when he found her body and read the scroll.” She waited a beat before she added, “Somehow this person also knew Callum would be on the river today, and put the body by the water, and even made sure he would find it by hanging Athdara’s pendant in plain sight. The MacRoss never knew Lord Carack was posing as one of their woodcutters, or they would have captured him immediately, wouldn’t they?” As he nodded she took off her gloves. “Luthias certainly wouldn’t have staged a suicide with a scroll blaming himself for Athdara’s death. I believe this woman was murdered to start a clan war.”

The sage went to the door, and for a moment Emery wondered if she had just blown her only chance to save the clan. Then she heard him say to the guards standing outside the door, “Fetch Lord Callum and Lord Struan. At once.”

Chapter Sixteen

From the place in the woods where Emery had been lured, Luthias and Taveon tracked her small footprints down to the river, where all trace of her and her abductor vanished. Standing and watching the currents rush past made Luthias think of how Emery had looked after she’d dragged him from the loch. Knowing Callum Carrack had taken her wasn’t the worst, it was knowing how frightened she would have felt at this very spot.

“The bastart lifted her into a boat,” the war master said, using the end of his spear to point out the deeper boot marks on the bank’s edge. He glanced around, and reached out to pluck some rope fibers from a tree branch. “He had it tied in place. ’Twas all planned.”

Luthias gazed downstream. “My lady fears water, so she wouldnae try to escape on the river. He’d push her down in the bottom of the boat, out of sight. The patrols, they wouldnae stop one fisherman. By now she’s at Dun Deigh.”

“Callum wouldnae take the lass if he meant to end her,” Taveon said. “Both clans ken the legend. She’s worth more to him alive and unharmed.”

“Aye, to use against us.” Luthias strode back to his mount. “I’ll ride to the boundary in the slopes. When the Carack patrol comes, I’ll offer myself in trade.”

“Give yourself in trade?” The war master followed, and jerked him around to face him. “If ’tis your wish to die, I’ll run you through myself.”

“What bid you me do, then? War with the Carack? You ken that clever bastart Struan. He’ll drag Emery to the battlefield. Aye, and there Callum shall put a blade to her throat and order me yield.” He yanked his arm free. “I cannae betray my clan for love. Nor shall I watch my lady die for the MacRoss.”

“’Tis another way. The old way,” Taveon insisted. “After you defeated their champion we sent the Romans back to Britannia. We bid the Carack face you alone to decide the thing.”

“Callum risk his own neck in single combat, when he might instead use Emery?” He uttered a bitter laugh. “You forget how the Carack fight. They never chance battling an enemy they may harry to surrender first.”

“Then make another trade for the lass.” As Luthias mounted his horse the war master did the same. “They’ve long envied our cattle, nearly as much as our land. Offer Callum a herd of our finest.”

“He shallnae settle for a few prized cows, Brother.” Luthias heard horses approaching, and saw Ameron and Kyal riding toward them. “What now?”

“My lord.” Ameron reined in his mare and gulped in air before he held out a small scroll. “’Tis a message from Dun Deigh. ’Twas just brought by dove.”

“White dove?” When the guard nodded, Taveon looked astounded. Luthias said, “They broke the facking truce. Why should they sue for peace now?”

Luthias broke the intact seal and read the brief message, which was written in ancient Fae:

MacRoss,