Page 52 of His Forgotten Highland Bride

Ronan turned to Will, who immediately organized the men to start the search for the girl. Larrie described her sister to aid in the task, and the men were off—except for Malcolm and Gabe, who stood by Brenna with matching expressions of obstinance Ronan had come to expect from the brothers.

In the past, he’d been irritated by their constant presence, but now he realized why his grandsire had sworn them to this duty, and he was ashamed he’d not seen the truth sooner.

“Brenna, will you take Larrie to the solar so these men can better protect you?”

She nodded, and he appreciated her easy agreement. He was sure she would have argued to come with them if not for the poor maid crying on his wife’s shoulder.

Whatever the reason, he would be glad to know she was safe. She reached out her hand and squeezed his fingers. “Please be careful.”

Her concern took him aback. It wasn’t uncommon for a wife to worry over her husband. She sent him letters when he’d first arrived in Spain with the army. He’d never read them, unable to shoulder the guilt her words would bring, but he always liked to think she’d ended each message with those words of affection that showed she cared for his health and well-being.

And as he stowed the letter in his sporran unread, he sent out the same hope for her.

With a smile, he squeezed her fingers to reassure her. “I will. I promise.”

With a nod to her guards, he followed Will and Hugh out of the hall to start the search.

“You know Ewan is behind this plot. Which means he’s trying to gain control of the clan,” Will said. “It would probably be best if you stayed with Brenna.”

Did his men expect him to hide away in the lady’s solar while his brother blustered and threw a childish fit?

“I’ll see he is punished for this.”

“That is just it. He is like a brother to ye. When the time comes, can you do what needs to be done?” Hugh asked.

“What needs to be done is that he be captured and locked in the dungeon until we can question him. Do ye understand?”

He gazed around the ranks of warriors to be sure they all heard him.

They nodded their agreement.

“Find the girl and bring Ewan to me. I want to look into his eyes when he explains why he has done this.”

As they dispersed, he heard one of the men mumble to another, “He wants to be the bloody laird; that’s why he’s done this.”

It seemed a plausible reason, except that Ewan had not seemed to care about being laird when they’d been childhood friends. Yes, they’d both been trained for the duty, as any heir and spare had been. But that day at the loch, when Ronan had nearly drowned and Ewan had saved him, didn’t speak of a person wanting to remove his competition.

Something in his stomach twisted at the memory. He worried he would be faced with acknowledging Ewan’s betrayal soon enough. He took a moment to mount his horse, rubbing at his aching leg, and rode out of the gates with Will at his side.

They would find Ewan. What happened after that would be up to Ronan. Will’s earlier question still plagued him. Would Ronan be able to punish Ewan? Ronan thought that he could, and the reason surprised him. It wasn’t that Ewan had tried to poison him, but it was for the fear he’d seen in Brenna’s eyes earlier that day in the stable. The knowledge that she had lived in such fear all these years.

The man needed to be stopped. And Ronan planned to stop him.