Good. That’s exactly how I need him. His handsome young face will be good for me plans.
“The bad news is, there’s a high chance that the mercenary still lives,” Rory said. He waited while the uproar sounded around the room. Once it calmed, he said, “But the good news is I ken where he’s gone. If I ken Eithne – and I do – there’s only one place she’d flee to. I’ll be taking ye, me circle of elites, and handling this problem by meself. I’ve got nae time for incompetence. Are ye all with me?”
One by one, the men nodded. Each of them had been led to believe that Kinnear or the mercenary with Eithne had done them a personal wrong, and each must continue to believe that if Rory was to retain his iron grip over them. They never needed to know that many of their sisters, wives, and children had gone missing on Rory’s own orders.
The last in the line was Jonah Reilly. He hesitated, his young eyes wide. Rory turned to him and said, “Will ye help me get vengeance for yer faither’s sake, Jonah?”
That seemed to do the trick. Jonah’s mouth clenched in a hard line. “Aye,” he said. “Aye.”
And so, Rory laid out the plan. It wasn’t his usual style – there would be minimal loss of life. He had already lost too many good men in this search. He wouldn’t lose more. By the end of it, though, Eithne would be at his side, where she was always supposed to be.
It’s normal for a bride to panic on the eve of her wedding, me love, but dinnae worry. I’ll make sure we’re together for the rest of our lives.
When he was done explaining, there was some mumbling around the table, but a single look quelled it. “Well?” he said. “Any comments?”
“How sure are ye this will work?” asked one of the captains. “After all, it’s a dangerous risk. If anything goes wrong, our whole clan could pay for it.”
“I protect me people,” Rory said, shrugging.
“And ye going yerself?” Jonah asked. “Ye dinnae even have an heir yet. What if something is to happen?” His eyes clouded. “We ken after what happened to me faither that even the greatest men can fall to this mercenary’s sword.”
Rory frowned. A few of his captains were nodding in agreement. But of course, he didn’t have an heir yet! He was only six and twenty, and they were on their way to collect his bride. He’d make heirs a-plenty after their inevitable success.
But now that the idea was in his men’s heads, it wouldn’t leave. They may not even follow him if he didn’t deal with it quickly.
“Very well,” he said, knowing that his next words didn’t really matter. “Until such time as I get a bairn of me own, Jonah Reilly, ye can be next in line for the Lairdship.”
There was a lot of surprised mumbling around the table. “Me?” Jonah asked.
“And why not?” Rory said genially.
After all, this will only make ye easier to control, ye fool of a lad.
Jonah bowed his head. “I…I’m honored, Me Laird,” he said quietly. “Thank ye.”
“Grand,” Rory said. “Anything else?” He waited, but nobody spoke, and then he smiled. “Excellent. Then tonight, me friends, we march on Clan MacDonnell.”
Chapter Fourteen
The Orphan
They were now only a day from the center of the MacDonnell clan and the keep where Eithne’s sister awaited her. Her mixed feelings were giving way to excitement and anxiousness. It hadn’t been so long, but she felt like it had been forever since she saw the faces of any member of her family.
As they progressed, more and more silence had grown between Eithne and Ivor. It wasn’t an awkwardness, but rather a quietness of acceptance. They knew that their time together was limited, and they’d both rather enjoy it than fill it with mindless chatter.
“When we get to the keep,” Eithne said, breaking a silence that had spanned several hours, “I cannae wait to bathe. I’m disgusting.”
Ivor looked up at her. He was walking alongside Aibreann to give the horse a bit of a break while Eithne rode at a walking pace. “Ye couldnae be disgusting if ye tried,” he teased.
Eithne rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m certainly giving it a good effort,” she replied, gaining one of his wonderful deep laughs. “And ye’ll need a bath as well.”
“Perhaps I’ll join ye in yers to save us from having to heat two tubs,” Ivor suggested innocently.
Dinnae tempt me, ye villain.
“I’m nae sure that me uncle will approve of such things,” Eithne said. Her voice was pointed, but she was smiling. She was glad that Ivor had agreed to stay with her for a week until she was settled in; she didn’t know that she could go back to sleeping without him if he cut himself off entirely. “Will ye still visit me from time to time?”
Ivor didn’t answer for so long that Eithne began to suspect that he hadn’t heard her speak at all. She was about to repeat herself when he said quietly, “I’m nae sure that’s a good idea, me love.”
