"Me interest in ye is that I like ye," Ann said simply. "Ye're a nice lass and a good friend. As for why I'm in the castle, it's a little more complicated."
Maeve waited, not speaking. Their mares paused to drink from a river, and only after they started to move again did Ann continue.
"I'm part of a network. We're kent as the White Sparrows," Ann explained. "Our leader… well, ye'll find out about her in due time, I guess. Morag's story is not mine tae tell. But we're undercover operatives, most but not all of us women, and we have one main purpose in our lives."
"And that is?"
There was fire and conviction in Ann's voice as she said, "Tae overthrow the False King. That's why I was in Darach Castle. Everyone kens that Malcolm and his ilk are traitors and loyalists tae that… that…manwho dares sit upon our throne. I was there tae gather information tae eventually overthrow that terrible man."
Maeve's mind was racing. "So…didyedo it, then?"
"Kill him?" Ann asked. "No, I didnae, and none of me people did either. We are spies and rebels; we only kill if we have tae, and never in so cowardly a way as tae slit a man's throat while he sleeps."
Quietly, Maeve asked, "Have ye killed before?"
Ann didn't answer. Instead, she said, "We do what we must. Dinnae ye wonder, though, about whoreallykilled Malcolm Darach?"
"I dinnae understand who could have," Maeve said slowly. "In his own bed, as ye say, well, I suspected a lover, but…"
"Ye suspected correctly. His lover killed him in order tae take power." Ann replied. She eyed Maeve. "Kyle Darach, Eoin's father, is the one who murdered yer husband and framed ye for it. It's one of the reasons Eoin kent he needed tae act quickly."
Shock flooded Maeve. "Kyle did it?" she asked. Like the other Darachs, Kyle was a cruel man, so it wasn't so surprising, but… "And the two were…?"
"Does that shock ye?" Ann asked.
Maeve thought about it. "I suppose… I suppose I suspected as much about Malcolm," she admitted. "But Kyle…"
"Kyle is an opportunist," Ann said darkly. "Malcolm was a cruel chieftain, but Kyle will be significantly worse. He's an evil man who'll take advantage of anyone if it serves his purposes, and I worry that things will only grow darker with him in charge."
Maeve had known one more man who had preferred the company of other men, a gentle cook in her father's home. He'd been so nice and kind that everyone pretended not to know his open secret, but it seemed that, just like everything else, there was good and evil on all sides. "I see," she said quietly. "I suppose the world is much wider than I'd ever known."
"And now maybe ye'll get tae experience it. Ye've always deserved tae do so," Ann told her. "Ye can do anythin' ye want. I'm gonnae take ye somewhere safe, but it's up tae ye where that is."
Maeve swallowed. "What are me choices?" she asked.
"Ye can join me and return tae our base. Ye can become a Sparrow," Ann told her. "Or I can take ye somewhere else so ye can live life however ye want tae. It's up tae ye. What doyewant to do?"
It was the first time in her life that Maeve had ever been asked that question. Now all she had to do was find the answer.
3
Chapter Three
Cailean was exhausted after the day's training, invigorated but tired all at once, as only battle could bring out in him. He hadn't fought anyone in earnest in a long time, but Darren had put up a no-holds-barred fight today on the sparring field, and the two of them had left black and blue and satisfied with their work. Cailean knew he'd regret it in the morning when his muscles would be screaming at him, but that was what training was for; to prepare him for the worst so that he'd be ready when it happened for real.
"Cailean."
He looked up to see Kier standing there with a look on his face that was both mildly amused and slightly proud, without any sort of pity within it whatsoever. The older man had been watching the battle between Cailean and his son, and had seemed pleased that the two friends had not held back.
"Aye, sir," Cailean said, immediately getting to his feet as a sign of respect. Kier never expected him to refer to him assir, but Cailean did so anyway; he had nothing but respect for the four elder members of the rebellion who made up their council, and his own blood history did not overshadow the structure and strength they gave to this camp. "What do ye need from me?"
"Relax, son," Kier replied, rubbing his hand through his beard. "Ye're needed in the war room. Come with me."
Cailean had been planning to take a long, hot bath to soothe his aching muscles, but he did not protest. He immediately nodded, knowing that his long day was far from over as he followed Kier toward the large hut that served as their war room and strategy center.
As he entered the war room, the other members of the council who were not out on a mission were there. Ewan and Hamish were two men who Cailean had known for a long, long time; they had been members of the McNair guard when he was a boy, and had been steadfast and loyal ever since. The two of them had retained their life during the massacre by happenstance. Ewan had been on a scouting mission for Cailean's father, while Hamish had been on a leave of absence to visit a sick aunt in a different clan. When they'd returned home, they'd found McNair Castle burned to the ground and the family gone.
Morag had been the one to find them, as Cailean found out later. She'd brought Cailean to the rebels twenty years ago to keep him safe, then gone back to the McNair lands to scout for survivors and send them in this direction. Cailean hadn't seen Morag since, but he knew that she was still a close ally of the rebel forces, doing whatever work it was she had found since then.
