If anything happened to him, there would be no fixing it. No undoing it. No waking up to find it had been a dream.
Maxwell would have failed again.
Finley’s voice broke into his thoughts. “Ye need to send riders.”
“I ken,” Maxwell said sharply.
Finley watched him. “Ye need to send them now.”
Maxwell swallowed. His control was slipping at the edges. He could feel it. Like a blade sliding in a sheath that had grown too tight.
“Ye think I daenae ken that?” Maxwell said, and his voice was harsher than he intended.
Finley’s gaze softened. “I think ye ken. I think ye’re trying nae to feel it. Which I think is foolish.”
Maxwell slammed his palm on the table.
The sound cracked through the room. Ink trembled in its pot. Finley did not flinch.
“I will nae have him die,” Maxwell said, voice low and dangerous. “Nae out there. Nae because he cannot keep his pride from putting himself in harm’s way.”
Finley nodded once. “Then we move.”
Maxwell stood abruptly, pacing to the hearth, then back again, as if motion could burn the fury out of his blood.
“He should nae be there,” Maxwell growled.
Finley followed him with his eyes. “He’s there because he thinks it’s where he’s meant to be.”
“He is meant to behere,” Maxwell snapped. “Alive.”
Finley’s mouth tightened. “And if ye order him home, he’ll run harder toward danger just to prove he’s nae yers to command.”
Maxwell stopped pacing and glared. “He is me braither.”
Finley held his gaze. “And that is exactly why this frightens ye.”
Maxwell’s hands clenched again. He could still feel the texture of the letter under his fingers. The pressure of the words. The urgency. The warning.
He forced his mind toward strategy because it was the only thing that made him feel like he could shape the world again.
“How many men can we muster without emptying the keep?” Maxwell asked, voice clipped.
Finley leaned over the table and began naming groups. “Two dozen from the inner farms. Another dozen from the river cottages. Callum could spare men from the forge villages if we pay them in coin and nae promises.”
Maxwell nodded, mind already calculating.
“We reinforce the east ridge first,” Maxwell said. “Then the ford.”
Finley nodded. “And send scouts into O’Douglas territory.”
Maxwell’s eyes narrowed. “Aye.”
Finley hesitated. “And what about yer wife?”
Maxwell’s jaw tightened. “What about her.”
Finley’s tone was careful. “She will notice the shift in the keep. The guards doubling. The men leaving.”
