“You have done well, Angus. Get that wound tended to and then get some food inside you. What about you, Philip? How did you get on?”
All heads turned to the corner of the room where a white haired man emerged from the shadow. The MacKenzies muttered amongst themselves. No one had seen him there. Cam had to resist smiling. He could have slit Hubert’s throat from his hiding place before he even knew what was happening.
“You saw me, my Laird,” Philip said. “Your eyes grow keener.”
“And you are as loud as a pig on a frozen lake.”
Philip smiled. “I would talk to you alone, my Laird.”
“Very well. Tor, ensure our guests are as well fed as the patrols. I will be back presently.”
He stood up, the room standing as he swept past them and out into the corridor. “This way,” Philip said. “The walls have ears.”
Cam followed his old sword master out of the great hall and across the courtyard to the chapel. Once inside, Philip locked the door and then the shutters, leaving the two of them illuminated by only the light of a single candle upon the altar. “I hear you have a woman in your chambers,” Philip said, his voice low. “A woman who does not belong here.”
“Who told you that?”
“The entire castle knows. Do you remember what I told you in the burning forest?”
“That one day my fate would be decided by a woman. How could I forget?”
“She is that woman.”
“Och, that’s nonsense. She’s…”
“She’s what? Beautiful? Entrancing?”
“Odd.”
“So are you, my Laird, if you do not listen very carefully.”
Philip leaned back against the wall, motioning for Cam to sit. He did so, feeling himself a child again, an odd feeling for a Laird. It was like the old days, Philip talking to him, telling him things that no patrol could ever find out. He was silent on his travels, discovering things he had no right to know but whenever he came back, it was to impart knowledge to the Laird in waiting, knowledge that had kept Cam alive when many other Lairds had fallen in the clan wars.
“Darkness sweeps the Highlands,” Philip began. “And there is only one way to end darkness.”
“Dinnae tell me you want me to run with the MacKenzies.”
“Och, no. You confront darkness with light. The woman is the light. Take her north.”
“I will not sacrifice her.”
“That is not what I ask. She seeks Mistress Abernathy’s necklace, does she not?”
“Aye. Why do you care?”
“The necklace has gone north. You must take her after it if you are to save the clan.”
“You cannae be serious. I must stay here and defend the clan. Why build a castle if I am to abandon it when it is most needed?”
“I tell you not what makes sense. I tell you only what must be done. You must go north and you must go at once. Already you may be too late. Any more delay will be fatal to us all.”
“I hear what you say, Philip, but I cannae do it. I cannae abandon my people.”
“Then we are all doomed.” Philip headed for the door, sliding the bolt back and turning his head as he did so. “I thought I had trained you better than this.”
“You trained me to think for myself and that is what I’m doing.”
“As you say, my Laird.”
