Magnus nodded sadly.
“Ye suspected?” Kenneth asked.
“I did.”
“How?”
Magnus swore and threw one of the carvings that were scattered across the desk into the fire in his rage. He watched the little figure hit the flames, lying forlornly on the logs, and then swore again, rushing to it and pushing it out of the flames with a poker.
He gripped the smoking wood with the hem of his kilt to smother the flames and stared down at the little charred figure of his wife miserably.
He looked at Kenneth, who was watching him sadly.
“I wondered, that is all,” he confessed. “I should have thought on it more all those years ago, but I just wanted to push all thoughts of Elizabeth and me bairn out of me mind.”
Kenneth nodded.
“Before I married Elizabeth, there had been some talk, brief at best, that I might marry Edith Thompson.”
Kenneth frowned. “Laird Thompson’s daughter? But she couldnae have been…”
“Sixteen,” Magnus confirmed. “She was fifteen when her faither proposed the match, and I was five and twenty. I ken plenty of men who would have done it, but I wasnae happy with the notion. I explained to him that I didnae wish to take her as a wife, and he seemed contented enough at the time. I never really considered him a threat.”
He felt like a fool for having dismissed things so easily.
“I didnae think he cared. It was such an odd match, to begin with, and Elizabeth was more connected and closer to me clan, nae to mention me age. I felt it was obvious which bride I would choose and that he could not have had any reason to resent it. Clearly, I was wrong.”
Kenneth joined him at the table, looking over the maps himself. “We can settle this. He kidnapped yer wife—we cannaenaereact. We have enough men. I can take a dozen or so to his castle, prove that ye are ready to fight. We have had enough battles in our lives to ken we can beat him.”
“Aye.” Magnus nodded, feeling relief that Leah was leaving and would not be anywhere near the bloodshed. “Ready the men. I’ll ride with ye. I willnae have anyone believin’ they can take what’s mine and nae be punished for it.”
There was a long silence from beside him, and he looked up at Kenneth’s gentle expression.
Magnus growled. “Stop that.”
Kenneth smiled. “It’s odd, do ye nae think? Ye kidnapped her first, and now she is yer wife and ye dinnae want anyone else to do it.”
“I didnae kidnap her, she hid in the carriage. And I married her because I had nay choice. I can still knock ye out, ye ken.”
“Ye’re foolin’ nay one, Magnus,” Kenneth said solemnly. It was rare for him to call Magnus by his Christian name. “Ye care for her. I’ve never seen ye in such a frenzy as when she was taken. Ye’re foolin’ yerself more than anythin’ if ye make this about ‘what’s yours’ bein’ taken. Ye wanted her back because ye need her in yer life.”
“Or I could run ye through,” Magnus added with some feeling, but his harsh words were entirely lost on his friend as Kenneth put a hand on his shoulder.
“She’ll forgive ye for sendin’ her away.”
Magnus shrugged off the man’s hand and opened his mouth to retort when a great commotion sounded outside.
A deep voice suddenly screamed two words that echoed through the castle’s halls like the tolling of a bell.
“Magnus Shaw!”
Leah was dressed just as she had been when she arrived, in the crinkled pink dress that was still stained by the rain from the boat journey many days ago.
She felt angry and morose as she descended the steps to the shoreline. The little inlet was banked by guards, who were looking around at the surrounding scenery, their weapons drawn. Clearly, Magnus was taking no more chances with her life.
I should be grateful to him, but all I can feel is rage.
There was a shout from behind her, and she and Katie both turned around as Betty emerged from the archway above them, hobbling toward them, holding a great many items in her arms.
