“All right.” Lachlan nodded once. “After a month with no word, we assumed ye died. After three, we prayed for a sign. Bandits denied that ye were in their hands. Some men swore they saw ye north of the river, some south. All smoke.”
“Go on.”
“The keep needed a leader,” Lachlan continued. “Folks tried to take the helm. Nay one held, but yer wife did. She kept the books with Giles, set fair weights at the stores, took over the hiring, and settled small fights before they snowballed. More politely than anyone expected.”
A muscle ticked in Neil’s jaw. “Politely.”
“She never turned down hard work,” Lachlan reported. “She had help. Her braither, Murdock, kept the yard whenever he was around. Me wife watched the maids and the parts of the castle Kristen couldnae reach. Maggie—the dog—watched the bairns.”
“The bairns.”
“Aye. Trust me, we ken as much about them as ye do,” Lachlan said. “They came a few winters ago with nay one to claim them.”
Neil looked down at the compass beside the inkpot.
“We sent men to ask quiet questions,” Lachlan added. “Nay one responded. We got nay note or anything. The lady took them in, and they immediately belonged.”
“To whom?” Neil asked.
“To her, of course. To the castle,” Lachlan answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“I see.” Neil let out a short breath.
“That is the tidy version.”
“It is enough.”
Lachlan let the quiet hold for ten seconds before muttering, “Alex is almost certainly dead.”
Neil did not move. “I daenae believe it. They’re still looking for him, which means there is still hope.”
“Maybe they are just as ignorant as ye are,” Lachlan said. “I am done holding out hope that gives nothing back.”
“Careful.”
Neil warned, as he swallowed past the lump in his throat. Was their brother truly dead? He couldn’t imagine it, no matter how hard he tried. If he were, all these years he missed were for nothing.
“What did they do to ye, Neil?” Lachlan asked, his voice low. “Ye left for a few hours, and we thought ye would come back. Then ye were just… gone.”
“What happened isnae important,” Neil replied. “Me plan failed. Keepin’ meself captive did naught but waste years.”
“Ye kept yerself captive?” Lachlan’s mouth fell open. “Why?”
“To make them think they had what they wanted.” Neil rubbed his brow. “To draw eyes from the keep. To buy ye time to look for Alex.”
“Well, we tried for years. Then we gave up.”
He pressed his thumb to a ridge of wood on the desk until the edge bit. “I am here now. I will do whatever it takes to find me braither. I will need yer help as well, Lachlan. Ye are the only one who understands what I am going through.”
“I will help however I can,” Lachlan assured, his voice soft. “He is me braither, too.”
Neil turned his gaze to the map he had laid out on the table at the corner. “He isnae dead,” he murmured. “We would have ken if he was.”
Lachlan’s throat worked. “I cannae share yer hope, Braither. But I’ll support ye.”
“We’ll find him,” Neil insisted.
Lachlan stepped around the desk, the way a brother would do when there was nothing good to offer but warmth, and rested a hand on Neil’s shoulder. His fingers found the fresh wound almost immediately.
