“Ionly have the word of the Hays,” said Ruari.
“‘Tisas trustworthy as your own.”
Neilfinished her drink and looked for the ewer to refill her tankard. Malcolmscrambled to his feet and nearly upended the ewer in his efforts to be the oneto serve her. She smiled her thanks, eyeing him a little warily, and Ruarialmost laughed.
Thehumorous interlude was not enough to soothe his rising temper completely,however. Everyone steadfastly said that he would not be able to get his moneyback, that the Hays did not have it and could not raise it. He was starting tobelieve it, but that left him in a very precarious position. How could he calla halt to this and return the Hays women without taking any money for them, butstill salvage his pride? He could not see a way to do that, which irritatedhim. He had backed himself into a tight corner, and it was going to take a lotof wriggling to get out of it without looking like a complete fool. For now,until he could think of some solution, he would act as if he did not reallybelieve their claims of poverty or as if he did not care.
“Yewill tell Dougal Hay that he can have his sister and cousin back when hereturns the money he took as my ransom. That is my offer for their lives, and Iwillnae bend on it.”
“Thenplay out your fool’s game if ye must. I have the strength to ride ‘twixt hereand home a hundred times if need be.” She slowly stood up. “Now, I should liketo see my nieces.”
“Ifear I cannae allow that. Ye forget, m’lady, I spent several weeks in Dunweare.I soon learned the risk of allowing a few Hays to put their heads together,especially the women.”
“Yehad best not hurt those lasses, Ruari Kerr. I think ye ken that it isnae anempty threat when I tell ye I will hunt ye down and gut ye like a pig if anyharm comes to my nieces.”
“Oh,I ken the value of your threats, Neil Hay. And ye can trust in my word that Ishall not hurt a hair on either lass’s head.”
“Andmayhap ye could show a wee bit of concern for more than keeping them hale. Idinnae just refer to bodily harm when I talk of hurting them.” She nodded whenhe frowned, clearly understanding her. “Dinnae fear. I willnae fault ye forwhat happens ‘twixt Margaret and Beatham. I cannae expect ye to control thatfoolishness better than we did, and we did a right poor job of it. Nay, ‘tis mySorcha ye had best tread carefully with, laddie. Verra carefully indeed.”
“Ithink ye worry unduly, m’lady. Sorcha can take care of herself.”
“Oh,aye, but dinnae go thinking she is stronger than she is. Now, I had best beginthe journey back to Dunweare. I dinnae like to spend too many nights sleepingon the hard ground.”
Malcolmstood up so fast he tipped over the small stool he had been perched on. “Allowme to escort ye to your mount, m’lady.” He moved to her side and crooked hisbone-thin arm for her to hook hers through.
Ruari’seyes widened with surprise when he caught the ghost of a smile curling Neil’sfull lips. She feigned a curtsy and slipped her arm through Malcolm’s. Ruari’sastonishment increased tenfold when he saw a faint affectionate look in Neil’seyes as she gazed down at the top of Malcolm’s head. He murmured a farewell asthe woman left, too stunned to say more. He was still mulling over the incidentin disbelief when Rosse joined him, sprawling in the seat to his left andhelping himself to some mead.
“Didshe leave?” he finally asked.
“Aye.Did ye ken that she came alone?” Rosse asked.
“Nay.That seems a dangerous thing to do.”
“Sothought our Malcolm, and he insisted that, at least while she rode overGartmhor lands, she would have a small escort.”
“Malcolmtook it upon himself to order my men to ride with her?”
“Heordered one to go along and appointed himself as her second guard.” Rossegrinned when Ruari stared at him in open-mouthed surprise for a full minutebefore laughing heartily.
Sorchatapped her foot in a gesture of impatience as she waited for Ivor to stoplaughing. She was not sure what he found so funny as he had not completed afull sentence before he had begun to laugh. From what she had gathered, his amusementhad something to do with her Aunt Neil and Malcolm, Ruari’s timid cleric.
“Ah,lass, ye should have seen it,” Ivor said at last, his voice hoarse fromlaughter.
“Iwasnae allowed to. That is why I sent ye to the great hall. I am waiting for yeto tell me what happened.”
“Iwas telling ye.”
“Nay,ye said something about my aunt being a glorious woman, then about Malcolmbeing a lovesick oaf, and then ye laughed. That doesnae tell me verra much atall.”
Ivorheld his hands out as if he were fending her off. “Dinnae get angry, lass. Iwill tell ye every word that passed between your aunt and my stubborn nephew.”
ToSorcha’s relief, Ivor proved better able to tell a story from start to end thanCrayton ever had. When he told her about Neil and Malcolm, she could understandhis being diverted. It was certainly something she would like to know moreabout, but that would have to wait until she could talk to Neil, and shesuspected Ruari would hold firm to his decision to keep her from her kinsmenduring her stay at Gartmhor.
“So,the fool continues to ask for coin my clan doesnae have,” she murmured as shesat on the bed, fixing her mind firmly on the matter of her ransoming.
“Hecannae do much else, lass,” Ivor said as he floated closer to the edge of the bigbed. “He has taken ye and your cousin for ransom. He cannae just say he issorry, he misunderstood, and give ye back.”
“Mayhapnot, but he has to believe by now that the Hays cannae give him back his money,so why does he insist upon it?”
