‘Never!’ Turgeis’s features contorted. ‘I will never willingly surrender, not when I’m winning.’
‘Are you winning?’
‘Why are you here, Ingebord? I thought you’d have been in Tara, making eyes at the high king, hoping he will hear your petition about Agthir’s potential peril.’
Svanna tried to keep the fear about what he could do to her and to Birdie tamped down deep inside her. ‘I could ask you the same thing. Why are you here? In a country which is hostile to you.’
‘My needs outweigh the risks.’
‘Do your men know the bounty on your head?’ She cupped her hands about her mouth and repeated the words in Gaelic.
Turgeis gave a cruel smile. ‘You have dispensed with hospitality. Good.’
‘Hospitality is only given to those who come in peace.’ She inclined her head. ‘You’ve never come in peace, Turgeis. Not at Agthir. Not in Islay. And most definitely not today.’
He yawned. ‘I have had enough of womanish wittering. Let me speak man to man with your husband.’
The men behind him laughed as if this was a good joke.
Svanna went cold. Had Rand ridden out into a trap? Were they now holding him? Or, worse, was he lying dead in some ditch? It did not bear thinking about, particularly as she knew how much he was starting to mean to her. What if he never knew that she loved him? Why hadn’t she taken a risk and said something? All she could hope was that, somehow, he was on his way back, realised the situation and sought reinforcements from the King. They could hold out until then. And when it was all over, she’d try to explain a little.
‘Rhiannon despises you.’
The warrior started and all amusement fled from his face. ‘What do you know about Rhiannon and me?’
‘That you care for her, or think you do.’ Svanna ticked the points off. ‘You met at her father’s court. You probably thought she’d marry you, but her father rejected your suit. She confided in you the plan to marry her off to an old man and begged you to save her. Maybe she let slip that the dowager Queen of Agthir and her daughter were visiting him. And the dowager Queen was working hard to get him proclaimed the high king of Islay.’
Turgeis’s eyes widened with surprise. ‘How did you know he rejected my suit?’
Svanna forced her face to stay smooth. Her words had hit a raw place. In his way, perhaps he did care for Rhiannon, but she doubted that they’d ever be happy. Turgeis possessed far too cruel a nature.
‘I know many things, Turgeis,’ she said, trying to keep her voice level. ‘You came to Islay to rescue her, because you thought she’d gone meekly with the man Máel Sechnaill sent to negotiate the marriage like you suggested. You bided your time in the far harbour, waiting for her arrival.’
Turgeis made a turning gesture with his hand. ‘Go on. I seem to recall your fascination with stories, Ingebord.’
‘We thought you were waiting for the gathering, but that was merely a bonus distraction while you sought your true prize—Rhiannon, the woman you desired.’ She waited and allowed the words to sink in. ‘But she never got on that ship. She never wanted to marry you. When she met a real man, one who cared deeply for her, she eloped with him, even though she knew the scheme you’d concocted.’
Turgeis’s face contorted, becoming red, and Svanna could see a vein in his forehead pulsing. ‘You lie! Lord Randolfr never allowed her to board.’
‘Rhiannon tricked you. She only wanted a way out of a political marriage. When she encountered someone more to her taste, she abandoned you.’
‘No one ever abandons me!’ Turgeis shouted, his voice becoming ever shriller.
‘Why didn’t she travel to Islay? Why has she fled?’
‘I’ll tear this fort down stone by bloody stone to find her where she hides.’
‘Rhiannon is no longer here, Turgeis.’ Svanna raised her hands. ‘I swear upon Var. She and her new husband departed. Your eldest brother tried and failed. He now lies dead in a clearing.’
‘Details fail to matter. And you lie about my brother.’ Turgeis smiled. ‘All in all, you have saved me a lot of bother. You and I have unfinished business, business from years ago, to settle.’
‘Any business between us finished years ago,’ she shouted back, giving in to her anger. ‘You repulse me.’
‘Pity there is the little hostage to consider. Perhaps you will change your mind.’
Ice crept down her back. Hostage? What hostage? He hadn’t been expecting her. Who? That person must be Birdie. Turgeis knew the location of the secret passageways. She silently prayed that the man she’d sent had secured Birdie first.
‘Let me see this hostage of yours, Turgeis. I know you of old—all whispered threats but no actual substance.’ She clapped her hands together. ‘Produce this hostage.’
