‘Tis good to see a friendly face, lass. A man gets lonely out here with just the mouldering bones of old monks for company.’
She pushed his hands away. ‘Have you been spying on me?’
‘Aye. What of it? You did not come to Inverness to find me, so I decided to come to you.’
Maren looked around for the lad. ‘Where is your little dog who brings messages?’
‘Sent him off on another,’ said Drayton. ‘He will be gone a good while.’ He smiled and raked his fingers through his jet hair. ‘I wanted to be alone with you, Maren.’
Her heart seemed lodge in her throat. The sly lad was no ally, but now she was alone with Drayton, and if he had laid a trap, it had snapped shut about her. If she was to emerge unscathed, the monster in him had to be managed.
Drayton took a strand of her hair and ran it through his fingers. ‘How silky this feels, and how well-fed you look, lass, like a veal calf fattened for slaughter. It becomes you, that glow you have, all dewy from the morning mist. I see a light in your eyes. Did your lover put it there, I wonder?’
She was on dangerous ground talking of Bryce, so she dissembled. ‘You sent that lad telling me to come here with information. So here I am, Drayton.’
‘I told you to come and find the lad in Inverness when you found something of value to me. Yet you did not come. It irks me that I have to seek you out, woman.’
‘I cannot just ride off for Inverness whenever I feel like it. I am watched, you know.’
‘Not that closely. Rumour has it you spent the night away from your marital bed. You strayed, lass, and as you seem unscathed, I must assume your man did not beat you to within an inch of your life for such a transgression. Though maybe he stayed clear of your bonnie face. Shall I strip you and see?’
‘No,’ said Maren, recoiling from him. ‘Bryce did not beat me, and he would not.’
‘More fool him,’ snarled Drayton. ‘I would have throttled you if you strayed. Where did you go, lass?’
‘Nowhere that concerns you.’ Maren put every ounce of strength and courage into her voice. ‘Now, do you want my information or not?’
‘Alright. Be not in haste, my love. It is lonely out here. Come, sit by the fire and warm yourself.’ Drayton threw a log on, and the fire hissed in the silence. Sparks flew up like little orange jewels into the air, fading to nothing.
Maren had no choice but to humour him. So they sat shoulder to shoulder before the flames, almost like everyday folk, just a couple of weary travellers taking their ease or a lover and his blushing sweetheart enjoying a tryst. Instead, Maren thought, ‘If I am not clever, I may die this day or suffer a worse fate.’
‘‘Tell me what you have discovered,’ said Drayton abruptly, eyes fixed on her face. He would know if she was lying.
Maren recounted Jasper’s exchange with Hew Dunbar, but it did little to appease Drayton.
‘So, nephew is pitted against uncle, and the Dunbars are running scared of the Baron. I already knew of that little arrangement, so this is useless to me.’
‘But I have forewarned you that they are wary and will gather men against you.’
‘No. You have told me of a family quarrel. I know that folk think the Baron is back, and I am happy to let that mistruth hold. Scared men are easier to dupe. What I need is information about where the Cullans keep their wealth, when they ship grain and livestock. I want to know which men to bribe to keep quiet and which to kill to clear my path. I want letters, papers, something I can hold in my hand and use as a weapon.’
‘It is all I have been able to discover so far, Drayton. They do not trust me and rarely discuss business in my presence.’
‘Perhaps you should spend more nights at home softening up your new husband to glean his secrets.’ He shrugged and leered. ‘Or hardening him, whichever works best, lass. Mark me, Maren. I want more, and you will find it, or your lover will suffer the consequences. I will give you a day or two, and then the boy will come to summon you.’
Maren looked down at her hands. Bryce’s name coming out of Drayton’s mouth was a violation. It spoiled that fine, pure feeling when she lay with the handsome blonde man she wanted with all her heart. How she hated to lay bare their affection to this heartless ghoul, to spy on Bryce, to taint their growing trust with lies. She could not. She would not.
Drayton was watching her face intently. ‘You spill your worthless secrets so coldly, woman. You sit there beside me with so little show of feeling. Have you no curiosity, no compassion, that makes you want to know where I have been since I died.’
‘I expected you to be burning in hell.’
Drayton laughed, deep in his belly. ‘You always did have a tart tongue on you. Aye, ‘twas hell parting with your sweetness,’ he said. His black eyes met hers, and there was a practised charm oozing from his look. Drayton could be the ardent suitor when needed, his handsome and rugged features not sly and vicious but changed to tender and earnest. It was as if he slipped on a mask to trap the unwary, a lure to jerk before a hungry fish.
Maren looked away into the fire. His vanity had always been his weakness. Play to that. ‘I thought you might have truly cared for me once, Drayton. You pursued me long enough.’
‘Aye, no mean feat given how vigilant your father was and how closely he guarded your virtue. He only gave you to me because I was useful to him. I had to earn your hand with the blood of his enemies, but it was a price worth paying a thousand times over.’ He reached out and stroked a finger down Maren’s cheek. ‘You know, I have never wanted anyone as much as I wanted you that night we wed. It was a struggle to show restraint when you lay so pale and perfect beneath me.’
Restraint? It had not felt like that.
