Argyle looked at him as if the answer were the simplest thing in the world. “Then I lock her away somewhere until Uncle Ian willingly surrenders the power of the clan tae me,” he said. “I’ll tell him Annie is safe so long as I’m clan chief. But if he denies me…”
“Then ye’ll tell him she’s dead.”
“Aye.”
“But ye willna kill her, will ye?”
Argyle shook his head. “Nay,” he said. “But I will marry her. The lass has denied me long enough. ’Tis time I feasted on her flesh.”
Brendan nodded, coming to terms with the plan. “Then we’ll go,” he said. “I’ll go with ye. She may not trust ye alone, but if I go, she’ll feel safe enough.”
“Agreed.”
“What will ye tell da?”
Argyle snorted. “He’ll be so drunk that he’ll never know we’ve left,” he said. “Besides, the man is loyal to his brother. If we tell him anything, he might tell Uncle Ian.”
That was true. Cord was a drunk, and he loved his sons, but Argyle and Brendan had always had far more ambition in them than their father ever had and, in a sense, Cord could relate to them well. He was entrenched in the old hierarchy, when the chief was always the chief. There was no room for uprising or rebellion.
Argyle and Brendan didn’t live in that world.
“Then we leave before dawn,” Brendan said. “We’ll make it tae Castle Questing by nightfall.”
Argyle could only nod because his mind was working furiously. All he had to do was get his hands on his beautiful cousin, the daughter of the clan chief, and his troubles would be over.
Or, so he thought.
For Argyle Scott, his troubles were just beginning.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Castle Questing
She’d seen himacross the bailey.
Annaleigh spied War as he was in conversation with Christian, a man who was amiable and strangely chatty in a world where knights seemed to be more action than words. But not Christian; he could talk the ear off a magpie. Between him and James de Wolfe, they were quite entertaining at evening meals when everyone was gathered. James would sing, Christian would sing but also tell stories, and they were usually great fun until they’d had too much to drink and resorted to dirty songs and dirty stories.
That had happened more than once.
But Annaleigh liked Christian a great deal. In fact, as she saw him and War speaking, she thought it would be the perfect excuse to talk to War. All she had to do was pretend she was looking for Christian because Uncle William wanted to speak to him and off Christian would go.
Leaving her alone with War.
She thought it was a rather convenient plan.
Therefore, she headed in their direction as they entered the small yard where the knights’ quarters and a few other outbuildings were located. War couldn’t see her from the way he was standing and Christian seemed to be intently focused on him because the conversation seemed serious. That made her question whether she should interrupt at all so she slowed her pace, moving into the shadows of the keep and watching the pair converse.
But they didn’t converse for much longer.
Suddenly, Christian was moving away from War, heading off towards the kitchens. Still in the shadows of the keep, Annaleigh watched him until he went into the kitchen yard before returning her attention to War. He was still standing there, only this time his back was to her as he spoke to the knight from Vilnius. No longer with the excuse she was hunting for Christian, Annaleigh debated what to do. Could she simply walk in there and greet the man?
A smile tugged at her lips.
She knew what to do.
The knight from Vilnius was the first one to catch sight of her. He said something to War, who quickly turned around to see Annaleigh on the approach. Their eyes met and, for a moment, she swore she saw a look of pleasure cross his face. Or perhaps she was imagining it. Where War was concerned, it was easy to imagine things she wanted to see.
“Good day, m’lord,” she greeted pleasantly.
