He was only annoyed.
“She believes you?” Ula touched his arm. “About Dublin?”
“Aye. Grim and the others played their parts, as was necessary. If she knew the truth and blurted it to the wrong soul, even the Skerries wouldn’t be far enough to keep her safe,” he finished, wishing it wasn’t so. “Dinnae think I’ve done this gladly.”
Ula pushed a curl of spray-dampened hair out of her eyes. “You are right, of course.”
“As are you.” Callum reached out to steady her as Wind-Dancer rolled and pitched over a few long swells. “A while yet, and I’ll speak with her.”
“Cousin.” A tap on his shoulder ruined his night. “The lady wishes a word with you,” Grim said, his voice low.
“Hordes of Thor,” Callum grumbled, sure his mood was about to worsen even more. “Stay here then, keep a sharp eye on the horizon – and all around us.”
“Nae worries.” Grim nodded once, then stepped into Callum’s place in the bow.
Ula touched Callum’s arm, her eyes twinkling again. “Remember what I told you.Pale gold hair like a cascade of moonlight, eyes the blue of a deep northern sea.”
She lowered her hand, clearly biting back a laugh, damn her.
“A Valkyrie, well-made and bold,” she said then, making it sound like she’d announced the Queen of Scotland.
Callum glanced at the glassy swells, then back to her. “Should you no’ grab a few plaids and sleep a bit?”
Her laugh broke free. “Who will win? The sky goddess or you with your Mackintosh Berserker blood?”
Behind them, Grim chuckled.
Ula tipped back her head, spread her arms to the star-studded heavens. “I’m betting on the Valkyrie.”
Before she could say something to annoy him even more, Callum made his way down the ship’s aisle, ignoring the men pulling on the oars, his gaze on the bonnie fair-haired lass tapping her foot, scorching him with her fury.
“Lady Alanna?” He dropped to one knee before her. “Are you no’ comfortable? I can rig a sailcloth curtain if you-”
“I have no such need,” she snapped. “We are sailing north. Ireland lies in another direction.”
“So it does,” Callum admitted, done with keeping the truth from her. “Dublin and its slave mart was ne’er our destination,” he told her, speaking as gently as he could. “We’re heading to the Skerries, taking you there because-”
“What?” Her eyes rounded, her confusion lancing him. “The Skerries are as bad as an Irish slave auction. There’s no such place. It’s a mythical cluster of robber isles, a bard’s fable.”
“That’s your enchanted trees, sweeting.” Something made him reach out, cup her chin and glide his thumb along her cheek. When she didn’t pull back, he went on, “The Skerries are real enough. They just aren’t on anyone’s map. You’ll see for yourself when we reach Skerray, the main island.”
“Assuming it exists, why are you taking me there?”
“For safekeeping, my lady.” He told her true. “It would seem you have friends in lofty places. King Robert himself ordered us to fetch you, secreting you away from mainland Scotland until his men find and deal with whoever has been killing members of your family and others close to you.” He lowered his hand, not liking how his heart thumped when he’d touched her. “Above all, he wishes you in the care of men willing and able to protect you.
“That is the reason for such secrecy, and why you couldn’t be told till now,” he continued, feeling like an arse all the same. “We do not yet know who would harm you, how powerful he is, or even where he is, how many men in his employ. We could’ve been followed on land, or at sea. Were you captured, it was thought best if you knew nothing about the Skerries.
“We would’ve gone after you,” he finished, “but if you’d mentioned the place we intended to take you, the craven could send men after you there as well.”
“Oh, my.” She let out a long sigh. “So it was all a ruse? The guisers and the kidnapping, everything?”
Callum nodded. “Highest command in the land.”
She looked out at the night-blackened sea, then back to him. “But I do not know King Robert. I’ve never even been to court.”
“Aye, well. He knows you.”
Her eyes rounded. “Oh! Is that why you killed Dunwhinnie? Did the King suspect him?”
