“If ye make a sound, they’ll stop us,” Argyle hissed, his stinking breath in her face. “Is that what ye want? For yer brother tae die without ye by his side?”
Annaleigh was less distraught and more fearful now. Argyle was hurting her, as if she were his captive or someone to be hated, which told her that something was wrong. She’d foolishly come to the stables with her cousins and now… now, she didn’t have a choice any longer. She was here whether or not she wanted to be.
She struggled to calm down.
“Argyle, let go of me,” she said steadily. “Ye’re hurting me.”
Argyle loosened his grip, but he didn’t let her go. “Annie, I’ve no time tae argue,” he said. “We must collect horses and leave. My own horse is lame, so I canna ride him. Do ye have a horse of yer own?”
“Nay.”
“Then I’ll steal one.”
Annaleigh was trying to loosen his grip further. “Ye dunna have tae hurt me,” she said, trying to pull her hair free. “I told ye I’d go. I want tae see my brother. But I want tae collect my things before we go.”
Argyle still wouldn’t release her. “Ye canna,” he said. “Those Sassenach bastards may stop ye. Ye want tae see Robbie before he dies, dinna ye?”
Annaleigh stopped struggling against him for a moment, her eyes wide with fear. “Is he really dying?” she asked, moving from Argyle to Brendan. “Bren? Is he really dying?”
In situations like this, Brendan was always the follower and never the leader because if anything went wrong, he could always say that Argyle had forced him to participate. Therefore, he didn’t answer, but looked to Argyle for his response.
“Do ye think we’d come all the way tae Castle Questing just tae trick ye?” Argyle asked. “Use yer head, lass. Of course we wouldna. Robbie is dying and ye must come. Can it be any simpler than that?”
Annaleigh wasn’t unaware of the fact that she was boxed in by her cousins. They weren’t about to let her out of their sights, nor were they willing to let her stray in any fashion. They’d spirited her out of the hall and now that she was showing some resistance, Argyle had his hand in her hair. One way or the other, they were going to force her back with them to Langton.
That told Annaleigh that something was off, indeed.
As she’d told Jemma and Jordan and William when she arrived at Castle Questing those months ago, Argyle andBrendan were two of the men in the clan leading an insurrection against her father. They hadn’t been obvious about it, but more stirring the embers of discontent. If they stirred enough embers, a blaze would result. They’d spoken against their uncle and against his niece, convincing those who would listen that Annaleigh had been the cause of that terrible battle at Etal. They’d been at the head of the blame against her.
And now they were trying to force her to return home.
She didn’t want to go.
Fear clutched at Annaleigh. She wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to convince Argyle and Brendan to leave her alone, but she suspected there was no way to discourage them. Therefore, she’d have to be clever about it unless she wanted them to do something drastic.
She had to be compliant.
It was her only hope.
“I believe ye,” she said. “But if ye want me tae find ye a horse, ye’ll have tae let go of my hair. If anyone sees ye, they’ll think ye mean tae do me harm.”
That caused Argyle to drop his hand from her hair. He even smoothed at it, pretending he’d never hurt a hair on her head.
“Where are ye going for the horse?” he asked.
Annaleigh pointed through the open door, into the stables that were dark except for the torchlight that was streaming in from the walls.
“In there,” she said. “There are palfreys at the other end. I’ll go in and ye’ll meet me at the front.”
“We’ll go with ye,” Argyle said in a tone that suggested he wasn’t about to let her get away from him. “Go on, now. We’ll follow.”
Annaleigh was feeling increasingly frightened. She just knew they were up to no good. Even when she lived at Langton, her father would never leave her alone with this pair. They werefoolish and without restraint, even around their cousin. Her heart began to pound as she ducked her head to go through the doorway.
The moment she stepped through, she knew she had to do something. She simply couldn’t be complacent with the two of them because she knew, in the end, it would only contribute to her demise.
And she was certain that’s what they had in mind.
As she stepped through the portal, the door itself was open and leaning against the wall to her right. As fast as she could, she leapt clear of the opening and grabbed the door, slamming it back on Argyle’s face.
