“Pay up, Scott. You contracted my men and me to fight a battle for you. We leave before your neighbors arrive.” Henry placed his hands on his hips and tapped his foot against the bottom step, his impatience feigned, but his demand clear.
“I shall have to get the coin for you.” When Sully made no move, Henry ascended three steps.
“I will monitor your captive while you fetch my money.” Henry’s offer held no gallantry. It was a command.
“It will take me a day or two.”
“Unacceptable. You expected us sooner, so you should have the money waiting. This makes me believe you never intended to pay. Did you demand MacCabe take this job because you’ve gained naught by marrying his sister?”
Sully remained silent. It made it clear Henry surmised the situation accurately. Men behind them grumbled, threats traveling to Alex’s ears. While Henry had seemed almost magnanimous to Alex, he grew openly hostile as he continued up the steps. Scott guardsmen rushed forward, but Henry held his hands up by his shoulders. This unassuming posture fooled no one. A killer for hire would be quick to draw a weapon, likely from some place no one guessed.
“You are an incredibly lucky mon to marry my cousin. Not only has she always been too good for you, but it’s kinship that keeps you breathing. My men and I expect to be paid the amountIdemand. If you do not, we will take what we believe is fair. If that includes several lives, we will still sleep fine. If you do not pay, then I have no reason to hand over a prisoner. I will watch him walk free through your gates. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Armstrongs didn’t hire us next. I already know my way around your keep.”
“You would leave your cousin a widow?” Sully mocked.
Henry shrugged one shoulder. “I doubt she’d miss you much.”
“My wife adores me,” Sully snapped before realizing how peevish he sounded. “I’ll get you your money. I need a few hours.”
“To convince your clan council to pay for this unsanctioned attack?” Alex chimed in. “Whatever will they say when you bleed your coffers dry from paying mercenaries and paying recompense to not one, but now three clans? You involved the Kennedys when these men pursued my wife and me.”
“Take him to the stocks,” Sully ordered, ignoring Alex’s comments. Alex didn’t fight the men dragging him away. He gritted his teeth against the pain when they yanked his arm to rest in the hollowed space. But he laughed when the Scotts tried to shame and humiliate him. He shook his head as though he pitied their foolishness. He planned to bide his time if he had to. Then he plotted to kill Sully Scott for even speaking Caitlyn’s name, let alone endangering her.
Twenty-Three
Caitlyn paced as another night of waiting to reunite with Alex descended on her with a crushing weight. David hadn’t returned, so now the Scotts locked two Armstrong men within Buccleuch. Abraham sent one of his men to inform Sully that he wished for his son to release Alex so the laird could enter his home, but no one returned. Caitlyn remained within the camp circle but walked the edge as she tried to keep her racing thoughts from overwhelming her.
“Lady Caitlyn.”
Caitlyn spun around, her skirts swishing at her ankles when a woman called out to her. Caitlyn peered through the trees but spied no one until a murky shadow materialized and stepped into the light. Caitlyn drew back at the sight of the pregnant woman who ducked back behind a trunk. Caitlyn scanned the men in camp and found her father talking to Brice and Tavin. She went nowhere where she couldn’t see them because she knew they couldn’t see her.
“Who are you?”
“Lady Kenzie Scott.”
Caitlyn's face shuttered as she struggled to remain calm as a fresh wave of anger roiled through her. She trusted the woman not at all if she was a Scott. “Why are you here?”
“Because ma husband will kill yers and blame it all on him.”
“Why do you care? Wouldn’t it help your husband to have mine dead?”
“Most likely, but Sully will get us all killed. I have ma bairn and weans to think aboot. We willna survive three clans attacking or a besiegement. Alex needs to leave, and Laird Scott needs to return.”
“I already know this, so why make the risky trek here to tell me? I assume you came alone.”
Kenzie shook her head, and David emerged from the shadows. “I led us out of a tunnel, and yer guard led me here.”
“Lady Caitlyn, I’m certain we came alone. I watched Lady Kenzie with her children. She wouldn’t risk her life or her weans if she weren’t certain she had to.” David eased away from the tree and made to return to camp.
“Wait!” Kenzie hissed. “I willna help ye if anyone learns I’m here. I’ll lead ye back and help ye get yer husband out. Anyone larger than ye will be questionable. Nay one will pay attention to a woman.”
“Why should I let you have the Armstrong’s heir and the Kennedy laird’s daughter?”
“Because ye are as desperate to free yer husband as I am to keep ma children safe.”
“You ask me to trust you a great deal when it’s clear we have the forces to overrun you. My father and father-by-marriage do not make war on women. They will spare you and your weans.”
“It’s Sully I dinna trust. I fear he will use me or one of the weans to force yer clans to retreat. I willna put it past him to kill me. He may love me in his own perverted way, but he loves becoming laird far more.”
