Isla did not move but continued drinking her tea, turning his final words and the manner of his speaking over in her mind. She thought she had glimpsed a certain furtiveness in his eyes just then, as though he were keeping something to himself. It was clear that the matter of her disappearance held greater importance for him than seemed warranted, considering the situation.
She pondered for some time what it could be and what it could have to do with his apparent determination to assist Gregory by searching for her—Laird Galbraith’s missing sister. She could not forget the last thing he said about Gregory. But the only thing she could come up with that made any sense, was that if he found the missing sister alive, he intended to use her as bargaining chip to get Gregory to surrender, just as he had suggested Allan might do.
But if that were the case, then would he nae be pleased about it? It would be a great opportunity fer him tae use me tae manipulate Gregory and get the outcome tae the siege he wants. So, why would he nae have just come out and said so?
Recalling his shifty look, she could not help feeling convinced there was more to it, that by sending out a search party to findher, he was serving some hidden agenda of his own. But what it could be, she had no idea. And she was not about to ask Ewan about it.
She drummed her fingers on the table in distraction, realizing she was in greater peril of discovery than ever. Ewan was intelligent. Surely, it would not take long for him to put the pieces of the puzzle together. A strange woman turns up in his camp and tries to kill him just as Galbraith’s sister goes missing? It was too coincidental to be coincidence.
In fact, the truly surprising thing about it was that on reading the letter, he had not immediately realized the missing woman was sitting right in front of him, in the guise of the trusty Harris.
After issuing his orders to the search parties, Ewan waited until they had left the camp, his mind turning on the unexpected events of the morning. The letter from Galbraith had been a shock, and it had immediately brought back painful memories of when Allan had kidnapped Deidra the previous year. The same, tormenting questions immediately raced through his mind, stirring up his emotions:Who has her? Where is she? Is she safe and well? Is she even alive?
It was puzzling because, though Galbraith was his enemy, and he strongly suspected him of involvement in Deidra’s kidnapping, he found himself feeling a little sorry for the man.
As he started off back to the tent, he was aware that others might believe he wanted the girl to use her in manipulating Galbraith into surrendering. But he would never stoop so low, unlike Allan. However, apart from his personal sympathy for Galbraith and real concern for the girl herself, he had quickly identified other beneficial strategic reasons for trying to find her, reasons he knew Galbraith must be aware of.
He realized it must have taken Galbraith a lot of soul-searching to risk sending him that letter, and that he must have sent it without Allan’s knowledge. The maniac would never have allowed his ally to show such a sign of vulnerability, and he began to wonder if he had misjudged Galbraith according to the wicked company he kept.
Galbraith must love his sister very much.He kens I could use her tae force him tae surrender tae me, as Allan would undoubtedly dae. But I’m nae gonnae dae that. Instead, if I find her, I’ll return her safe tae her braither, as a gesture of good will. That would satisfy me and show Galbraith I’m a man of honor, who would rather have peace with him than war. It might just persuade him tae trust me instead of Allan. There’s everythin’ tae be gained by helpin’ him.
But in the meantime, he had to consider if and how he was going to reply to Galbraith’s letter, which he intended to do when he got back to the tent. As he passed the open-air stable, he spotted Harris busy shifting horse muck with a shovel. He stopped for a moment to watch, impressed by the effort the fake boy soldier was putting into the job. Harris, or Annie, was swapping good-natured banter with the other grooms, another sign that shewas well embedded in camp life. Ewan felt a warm glow of satisfaction in his chest to see it.
As it often did, his mind went back to the gloriously intimate moment which he and Annie—or whatever her name was—had shared at the pond that night. That brief connection had been tantalizing and confusing and embarrassing all at the same time. He recalled the sudden wave of desire that had washed over him as he held her naked body close to his and looked deeply into her eyes. He had almost lost control and kissed her. Oh, he had wanted to kiss her, and if she had not sensed his arousal and broken away, he suspected things might have gone a lot further than that!
The memory troubled him like a stone in his boot, causing hm to question himself repeatedly. Why should he have felt that way fer a lassie who had tried tae kill him and was almost certainly lying to him about who she was? He couldn’t fathom it. It made no sense. In truth, his own reaction had scared him more than battling Laird Allan’s army did. For a while, he had been forced to take refuge in cold silence, put distance between them, just as she had. It was a relief that they seemed to have gradually regained their previous camaraderie. But the fact remained, that as much as he yearned to trust her, he still had no good reason to to do so any further than he could throw her.
Kiss her, aye. Explore those temptin’ curves I ken are hidin’ under that lad’s clothin’, aye. Protect her with me life? Aye, all of that. But trust her? Nay.
When his initial anger had waned after catching her stealing food, despite more of her lies, he had decided to take a different track. Rather than tie her up and restrict her movements, he thought he might have more luck finding out her true identity and purpose in the camp by giving her more freedom. He figured that if she was up to something underhand, she would soon slip up, and he would catch her.
However, if she turned out to be an enemy spy, he had no idea what he would do. Because the thought of harming a hair on her head was out of the question.
All this was going through his mind as he continued to observe her and saw Colin go up and speak to her. The pair immediately became engrossed in conversation. They seemed as thick as thieves, perfectly relaxed in one another’s company. He was pleased to see them getting on so well… until a hint of jealousy suddenly crept into his thoughts and made his heart clench in his chest. He immediately brushed it aside and strode away, telling himself it was completely unwarranted.
There’s nay reason tae be possessive of her.Colin has nay idea that Harris is a woman. He kens naethin’ about her identity. As far as he’s concerned, he’s just sharin’ a laugh and a joke with a young lad.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Once back in the tent, Ewan tried to put all that out of his mind. He sat down at the table and wrote a brief note to Galbraith.
I ken naething about yer missing sister’s whereabouts. I dinnae have her captive and have never seen her. But I wish her nay harm, and so I’ve sent out search parties tae look fer her. If I find her, I’ll return her tae ye. In the meantime, I would ask ye tae reconsider me offer tae make peace with ye. The offer still stands and will have a far better outcome fer ye and yer people than if ye continue tae try tae hold out against the siege.
He signed off and sealed the letter, then he went outside to call a messenger to deliver the note to the castle gates. Before he could do so, one of his men came racing into the camp on foot from the direction of the castle.
“M’laird, m’laird, urgent news!” the man hailed him and ran towards him. Ewan recognized him as Tam Fielding, who wascurrently deployed along with several others in keeping close watch of any movement in or around the castle.
“What is it, Tam?” Ewan asked as he met Tam half way.
“A lone rider, m’laird, in Galbraith colors has managed tae slip out of the castle without the gates openin’!” the soldier panted. “We dinnae ken how he got past us. We only just spotted him makin’ off through the forest like the hounds of hell were on his tail.”
Ewan was instantly on alert. “Without the gates openin’, ye say?”
“Aye, m’laird. I’m sorry, but we just cannae figure out how he did it. There must be another exit that’s hidden from us.”
“Maybe. Ye’re certain he didnae come out of one of the gates and ye missed him?” Ewan asked, hiding his growing excitement.
“Aye, I’m certain. Me and the lads have got the whole pace covered. There’s nay way any one can get out of the place without us seein’ them. There’s got tae be a secret entrance somewhere,” Tam asserted.
