“I will if ye promise me ye’ll come back alive,” Callum said firmly. “Promise?”
Ivor took a breath. He’d already wasted enough time. He needed to leave before dawn so he could set up a position to see the men when they left and follow them. If they really were heading to MacDonnell, he needed to be there. Which meant…
“I promise, Callum. I will be back.”
Callum smiled at him with an innocent, open smile, and it was like both he and Iona were speaking as he said, “I ken. I believe ye. I’ll be here when ye get back.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The Pursuit
Myrna and Jonah always met in the library these days. Apart from Eithne, nobody else in the castle frequented the large room, though Myrna couldn’t understand at all why that might be. The intricately carved wooden bookshelves and the smell of fresh books should have been temptation enough for anyone, not just her and Jonah.
It was the seventh day since Ivor left, and Eithne was finally starting to smile again. In fact, Eithne had even agreed to go for a nap that afternoon and finally claim back some of the sleep she’d lost over the last days. That was why Myrna had judged it safe to leave her sister alone to sneak away and meet with her sweetheart.
Sweetheart! How strange that I should have one. I only wish that Ivor had been able to stay so that Eithne could share in my happiness.
When she walked into the library, Jonah was staring out of the window, his foot tapping on the floor as though he was nervous. He turned quickly when the door opened but seemed to relax when he saw her face.
“Jonah,” she said, moving toward him. “I dinnae suppose ye’ve seen me missing cousin out that window?”
Jonah chuckled, but there was something odd-sounding about it. Maybe the joke wasn’t all that funny – after all, Walter now hadn’t been seen in the castle for well over a week. Gregor certainly seemed unhappy about it but wouldn’t speak. Myrna wasn’t really worried, though; she’d asked the Laird, and he’d assured her that wherever Walter was, he was probably fine.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Ye look upset. Are ye and Walter friends?”
“We arenae,” Jonah said, more sharply than Myrna would have expected from him. He seemed to realize this, and his face became chagrined. “I’m sorry. I’m just tired. I got a command today, and I have to do it tomorrow. I think—I think I’ve started to doubt meself.”
Myrna reached out and hesitantly took his hand. She smiled, enjoying how it felt on her own, but inside, her heart was breaking. “A command. Ye’re to leave soon, then?”
Jonah gave her a look that she didn’t understand. “I…aye, I’m gonnae have to leave the castle soon,” he said. “Probably after tomorrow night.”
Myrna swallowed. Her heart pounded in her ears, thumping like a pulse. She’d known this day was coming, but she’d hoped she’d have longer. Eithne only just got here, and things were only just starting to feel something resembling normal again.
But I was prepared for this. And I ken what I have to do.
“I’ll come with ye,” she said, not able to believe that the words were slipping through her lips.
Jonah’s eyes widened. “What?”
“I’ll come with ye,” she said again, and this time she was surer. “I dinnae want to leave Eithne, but she’s safe here. She’ll be alright without me, so long as we visit sometimes. Or maybe she can even come with us, I dinnae ken – whatever works best for ye.”
“Myrna—”
“Dinnae protest,” Myrna pleaded. “I saw what it did to Eithne to have to say goodbye to Ivor. I willnae do it. I want to spend me time with ye. I want to be yer wife one day. I ken it’s not been very long, but—”
“Myrna, stop,” Jonah said. It was a command, but she could hear the sorrow in his voice. “Stop. I’m nae who ye think I am. I cannae be yer husband. Ye deserve…”
“It doesnae matter what ye think I deserve,” she snapped. How dare he ruin this? “Do ye love me or not?”
“I…” he started. Pain – real pain, the kind that Myrna had felt too much herself recently – was in his expression. “Christ in heaven condemn me, lass, but aye. I was never supposed to, but I love ye as well. That’s why…I cannae…I dinnae…”
“Jonah?”
“Myrna…”
A war was going on in his head that Myrna didn’t understand. She knew she had to help him, and she hoped desperately that her words would be enough to convince him. “I ken the life of a soldier can be dangerous. Ivor, he’s a mercenary, ye ken, and it’s a similar thing. He and Eithne, on their way here, ye ken they were attacked.”
“Were they?” he asked a little faintly.
