Duncan frowned for a moment, then nodded. “There is a ship leaving in but a few hours. There are near to a dozen of us. I think they will be willing to help a clansmon and a wee lass.”
“Even though she is worth a great deal of coin?”
Nigel was not sure he wanted too many people knowing he and Gisele were here. That increased the chances that someone would let greed lead them, and instead of sailing for Scotland he and Gisele would find themselves captured by Sir Vachel. This time the man would not be so easily defeated, and Gisele would undoubtedly pay dearly for not staying in his bed.
“Dinnae worry so, laddie. These are good men and they willnae want blood money, either. Nay, especially when they see that the ones these French fools are hunting are a Scot and a tiny, thin lass with no hair.”
“I have hair,” Gisele muttered, but neither man paid her any heed.
“Wait here,” ordered Duncan.
“I am nay sure this place is safe for us now,” Nigel said.
“Safe enough, and far safer than many another place. Me and that fool only saw ye because I was hungering after the horses. He felt a need to see who the beasts belonged to, saw ye hiding here, and got verra excited. As I said, for a wee moment I was tempted by the coin, and he convinced me to give him a hand.” Duncan shrugged. “Fear I had already begun to change my mind when we entered the alley, but I didnae get a chance to tell him.”
“Then we will wait here until I feel the danger grows too great.”
The moment Duncan slipped away, Nigel turned to Gisele and was not surprised to see her looking at him as if he had lost his mind. He was not sure that she was entirely wrong to worry. If she had heard some of the tales he had about the MacGregors, she would be even more concerned. There was no reason to trust in Duncan, but he did. Nigel just prayed that he was not being ruled solely by the fact that the man was a Scotsman.
“You do not know this man, do you?” she asked.
“Nay. This is the first time I have e’er seen him,” Nigel replied.
“I see. Was there something about the way he held his sword at your throat that told you he was just the man you wished to trust with our lives?”
Gisele knew she sounded snide, even mildly insulting, but she could not help herself. From what little she had seen Duncan MacGregor had given no one reason to trust him about anything, let alone a matter of life and death. He simply shared a language and birthplace with Nigel.
Nigel half-smiled over the sharpness of her tongue. When Gisele decided to put a bite in her words, she put in an enviable one. He was almost tempted to look himself over carefully to be sure she had not drawn blood with her words.
“I wish I could tell ye why I think we can trust him, loving, but I cannae. I have no reason that can be put into words. I just do.” He shrugged. “Mayhap it is because he really did not attack us, revealed his reluctance to do so from the beginning.”
“Let us say that I allow you that weak reasoning to trust in Duncan. Can you safely use the same to trust in all he may tell? He admitted that he was tempted by the bounty offered for me. There may even be one for you now. May there not be more men who will be tempted? Men amongst those he is, even now, telling about us?”
“There could be.” He pulled her into his arms and gave her a brief kiss. “We are trapped, lass. Aye, we may be able to slip away from here unseen, but each port we go to will be the same. We are here. A ship is soon to sail for Scotland. I may have found someone who will help us get to that ship. Can we really give into fear and mistrust and flee from what might be our only chance to escape this land?”
Gisele cursed, and briefly paced the ground in front of him. “Non, we cannot. Is there any way we can protect ourselves just in case he is about to return with some greedy friends?”
“We can run.” He tried to soothe her glare with a quick grin, then grew serious. “Nay, there is no way to protect ourselves and trust him at the same time.”
She stared at him for one long minute before slumping against the wall again and softly cursing to herself in French. It would be wonderful to believe they had found someone to help them, but they could not trust anyone. Nigel was also right to say that they really did not have many choices left to them. There was a ship there ready to sail to Scotland. There was a man who said he would get them on it. All they had to do was wait and pray to God that he was not trying to get them to stay in one place until he could bring enough men to capture them. Gisele did not like the odds.
When Nigel leaned against the wall at her side, she sent him a crooked smile. He shared her concerns. She could read that in his amber eyes. There was no gain to be had in badgering him with them. She reached out and took his hand in hers. In truth, she was more afraid for him, but she did not want to tell him that, either. If they were about to be betrayed, they would die together. If they were taken to Vachel that death would be most unpleasant, especially for Nigel, who had struck the man. She wished she could think of some way that Nigel could better protect himself while they gambled on Duncan MacGregor, but nothing came to mind. In her heart, she knew that Nigel would not take it even if she did think of a way.
“I keep having to face the fact that I and all of my troubles could get you killed,” she murmured.
“Nay, the DeVeaux in all their madness could get me killed,” he said, gently squeezing her hand in a gesture of comfort. “Ye must cease blaming yourself for all of our difficulties. Ye are not at fault in all of this.”
“That may be true, but simply saying so does not make me feel any less at fault.”
“That is because ye are a stubborn lass who willnae heed the truth, not if it means ye must change your mind.”
“I am stubborn? This condemnation from the king of all stubbornness leaves me humbled.”
“Such a sharp tongue.”
“If the two of ye are done with your wooing, we can go now,” drawled a deep voice from right beside Nigel.
Right beside the fear that gripped Gisele at Duncan’s sudden appearance was absolute astonishment, even a hint of glee, that someone had finally snuck up on Nigel the same way he was always sneaking up on her. Nigel had already spun around, his hand on his sword, before he had realized it was Duncan. Although he did not draw his sword, and Duncan and the thin man with him showed no sign of drawing theirs, he remained tense. Gisele realized that Nigel did not really believe all he had told her in an effort to calm her. He did not completely trust Duncan, and did not like the situation they were in any better than she did.
