"A good kind of overwhelmin', I hope," Cailean teased gently.
Maeve winked. "Always." She nudged Breana. "Shall we tell him the good news?"
"Good news?" Cailean asked, raising an eyebrow. "Even more?"
"Eoin heard back from Fergus at the Campbell Clan, where they have been hiding Lady McKenzie," Breana explained, her eyes shining. "The plan is workin'. The False King still believes that Campbell is on his side—and Murtagh McKenzie believes that Fergus is Laird Campbell's nephew and heir."
Neala tilted her head. She had not heard about this plan. She knew of Murtagh McKenzie, of course, and of Lady McKenzie'smiraculous escape from his clutches. Still, she could not imagine what integrating Fergus with the Campbell clan in such a way would do to help the rebellion. Laird Campbell had no male heir, but it was widely suspected that the lairdship would be passed to his son-in-law, who had taken on the Campbell name years before. Why would Fergus appear as a false nephew to oppose that, especially if Campbell was on their side?
"So he's been fooled!" Cailean said triumphantly. "Flora will be thrilled."
Maeve clapped her hands together excitedly. "Murtagh accepted the proposal on his reception of the letter two nights ago, in exchange for half the Campbell lands after the wedding. Sorcha is already on her way to Campbell Castle. By the time Murtagh realizes that it was all a lie and Fergus has nae rights to the lands, it'll be too late—Sorcha will be with her aunt again, and she'll be safe, just like I promised her."
A wide smile spread across Cailean's face. "Good," he said. "Good. Fergus has done well. And who kens—perhaps he'll be able tae cheer the lass up a bit while he's there. Lord kens she needs a friend."
Neala listened to all of this, and her admiration for this group of people kept growing more and more. She had grown up amongst the White Sparrows and knew more about honor and loyalty than many people would ever learn in a lifetime. But she'd found a different kind of nobility here amongst the rebels. The Sparrows knew that sometimes sacrifice was necessary, and the rebels, for the most part, knew that too. But to see the most important figures in the rebellion band together in this way just to save the life of one lost daughter of a terrible man… it filled Neala's heart with hope and love in a way she couldn't even begin to describe.
"Ye're amazin'," she said. "All of ye. Ye're just amazin'."
Cailean laughed. "Dinnae flatter me too much, Neala. I'm still yer older brother, and I gather we're supposed tae bicker."
"Och, let her get tae ken ye better. Ye'll be arguin' before ye ken it," Maeve replied.
All four of them laughed. They continued to chat and good-naturedly tease each other for some time. Neala stayed back from most of it at first but soon warmed up and was even joining in with the jokes by the time the fifth person arrived.
They were all laughing at a comment Cailean had made when a shadow fell over them, and they looked up to see Eoin smiling down at them.
"Nae laughin' at somethin' I did, I hope?" Eoin asked. "Me wife has many stories tae share, I'm sure."
Neala raised a hand over her mouth to hide her smile. In the days since Breana and Eoin's wedding, the two had called each other "my husband" and "my wife" to the point of exhaustion. Many of the men had started to tease Eoin about it, but Neala herself thought it sweet. It was as though the two of them couldn't believe their luck.
"Dinnae be so paranoid," Maeve told him. "Come, join us. We were just discussin' Cailean's early days trainin' under Senan and Kier. Apparently, our king had two left feet as a wee lad."
Eoin smiled, but Neala, with her years of training in body language, noticed a stiffness to his shoulders and a tightness to his expression. Something was wrong. Her own body tensed in response, her eyes flicking to the rolled-up letter he was holding in his hand.
"Who is that from?" she asked.
Everyone looked at her in surprise, then, as one, turned their eyes to Eoin.
He sighed and lifted the hand holding the letter. "It's from Darren," he explained. "I brought it for ye, Cailean."
"So ye're here as a captain of the guard rather than me husband," Breana said softly. "That doesnae bode well."
Eoin gave her an apologetic look but nodded.
Cailean pressed his lips together for a moment before speaking, accepting the letter from Eoin's hand. "I suppose this is the end of our run of good news, then?"
"It seems like it, I'm afraid," Eoin replied. He hesitated as Cailean scanned his eyes over the letter, and all of them watched as the young king's expression grew dark.
"What?" Maeve demanded. "What is it? Let me see."
Neala's heart thudded in her ears. Her whole life had been filled with covert messages passed back and forth, and she'd seen this reaction before. Something terrible had happened—something that was going to shatter the brief peace they had found. She wanted to run, to block her ears, to doanythingto prevent herself from hearing the following words.
"It seems," Eoin said after a long pause during which Cailean did not speak, "That the False King has made his next move. Darren is on his way back from O'Sullivan Castle as we speak."
"Nessa wouldnae come with him?" Breana asked, looking crestfallen. "We kent it was a possibility, but…"
"What do ye meanhis next move?" Maeve asked sharply. "Has he hurt her? Is she?—?"
