He eyed her for a moment, chewing his lower lip.
There’s somethin’ she isnae tellin’ me,he thought, but what thatsomethingwas remained to be seen.
“Ye helped her run away,” he said at last, hearing ice creep into his own voice. “It is nae her trust ye should care about at this moment. It’s mine. Right now, Megan, ye daenae have a single scrap of me trust.”
He put weight into his voice. He wanted her to understand just how seriously she had erred.
But Megan only lifted her chin, still holding his gaze.
“That’s nae quite true, is it, Ryder?” she murmured quietly. “Ye do trust me. At least a little. And I can tell ye now that Alaina is safe and happy with me.”
He folded his arms tightly across his chest. “Ye daenae seem to understand the weight of all this, lass. Ye daenae seem to understand just how bad this is.”
“I understand that if ye hadnae locked up yer own sister like a captive in her own castle, she wouldnae have had to escape ye just to have a wee bit of fun.”
“Fun?” he snarled. “Fun? Aye, all right, we’ll put it on her gravestone, eh?Died for a wee bit of fun. Will ye be happy then?”
“Ach, give over. Nobody’s dead. What’s more, ye ken fine well that she was safe here, and I had it all under control.”
“This place is dangerous. Do ye truly nae see the danger? Look at all these people. Anybody could slip in and out of a crowd like this. Somebody could enter the square, knife somebody in the side, and then slip out again, unseen, before the body even fell to the floor.”
“Perhaps so,” Megan shot back, visibly irritated now, “but she issafe! I’m here! And so is she. Look, she’s just over there.”
Both of them glanced in the direction Megan had pointed.
There, by the side of the dancing platform, stood…
Nobody.
Alaina was gone.
A rush of anxiety tightened Ryder’s chest. Swallowing hard, he glanced around. She must have just wandered off. She couldn’t be far, surely?
“She… she was right there,” Megan stammered, an edge of worry in her voice now. “She was, truly.”
Heat swept up Ryder’s spine. It was a familiar feeling, one he was used to enduring just before a battle or a particularly nasty council meeting. It was his body’s way of getting him ready for action, flooding his limbs with coiled strength. Getting him ready foranything.
“I brought some soldiers, but nae a whole troop,” Ryder muttered, his hand shooting to the hilt of his sword. “I had nay idea what to expect. And knowin’ thatyewere with her made me worry less.”
Why am I tellin’ her this?
It was too late to stop, though. Words kept spilling out of his mouth, more and more of them.
“I trusted ye. Trustedher, I suppose. And those guards… they’ll be punished.”
“That’s hardly fair.”
“And where was the other? There were three guards. Where is the third? It doesnae matter. We must find her.”
“I daenae think she’s been taken,” Megan said, eyes fixed on the dance floor. “She might have gone with somebody.”
“Gone with somebody? That’s the definition ofbein’ taken,” Ryder snarled. “We start the search now. Ye go that way; I’ll go this. For God’s sake, hurry!”
For once, Megan did not argue. She gave a sharp, decisive nod and scurried off in the direction he pointed. Ryder paused, making sure that she was looking carefully, and set off in the opposite direction.
Ewan stood by the village gates, grim-faced. He smothered a yawn, probably still dreaming of his soft, warm bed, and Flora asleep in it.
“She’s here,” Ryder stated. “Megan was watchin’ her, but she’s gone off now. Make sure nobody leaves the village, aye?”
