Bryce frowned. “And ye think ye can just walk in there and take them?”
“I dinna mean to walk in alone,” Niall said. “I’ll inform my employers. They’ll send backup.”
Bryce considered that. Then he straightened. “I’ll bring my own men too.”
Niall raised an eyebrow.
Bryce’s mouth curved into something that was not quite a smile. “What, did ye think I’d sit idly by while MacAllister uses my name to fund treason? I’ll have my household guard ready. If my name is involved, I want to be part of putting an end to it.”
Niall studied him for a moment, then nodded. “Good.”
Bryce glanced at Charlotte again. “And what of ye, lass? Are ye planning to wade into the thick of this madness too?”
Charlotte lifted her chin. “I’m already in the thick of it. And I’m not going anywhere.”
Bryce chuckled drily. “I can see why ye like her, brother.”
Niall ignored that. “We ride out at first light.”
Bryce hesitated for only a moment before inclining his head. “Ye must stay here. It’s likely that MacAllister has already moved against ye. His people might be descending on Glennoch as we speak. It will do us no good if the two of ye are taken. Ye will stay here tonight.”
Niall felt something settle in his chest at those words. It might be strange being under this roof again, but now it did not feel like he was entirely unwelcome.
Charlotte glanced at him, and she nodded.
Niall turned to his brother and for the first time since he’d crossed into his brother’s lands, he felt a genuine smile tugging at his lips. “Thank ye, Bryce.”
Chapter 21
Charlie sat at thekitchen table, her hands around a ceramic mug of Flora’s chamomile tea that had long since gone tepid.
They had arrived back at Niall’s Edinburgh townhouse that morning after leaving Bryce’s estate at first light. Bryce had sent some of his people to fetch Joseph and Flora and when they’d arrived at Dun Haymore, they revealed that MacAllister had indeed tried to have Niall and Charlie arrested. Sheriffs had arrived at Glennoch late last night and turned the place over searching for them. They’d only left when neither could be found.
Charlie swallowed thickly. If they failed tonight, there was no doubt what would happen to them. She took another sip of the tepid tea, trying to calm her nerves.
The hum of Edinburgh’s streets echoed faintly in the background, so different to the quietness of Glennoch. She glanced at Niall, who was talking to Joseph near the hearth, their conversation low and serious.
