Eoin wasn’t surprised. When Bruce had been exiled in the fall of 1306, he’d funded his return to claim his kingdom by sending Eoin, Lamont, Boyd, and MacGregor on similar missions to collect rents from his tenants (or former tenants according to King Edward) in Ayr. At the time their movements had been aided by Campbell, who’d been acting as an informant in the English camp, much as now they relied on information from a secret source in Roxburgh Castle they simply called the Ghost.
“That’s why I’m here,” Campbell explained. “I need you to help me set a trap for them.” He had a credible report the MacDougalls were heading to Appin—the small coastal peninsula between Loch Linnhe and Loch Creran—and wanted to be there waiting for them when they did.
The MacDougalls had a small fort on an islet just off the coast in Loch Linnhe called Stalker, with many loyal clansmen in the area. Despite Bruce’s victory at Brander a few years back, and the fact that he’d made Dunstaffnage his royal headquarters in the Highlands, there were still plenty of clansmen in the area sympathetic to the former Lords of Argyll MacDougalls, who had reigned over this part of Scotland like kings for centuries. Before the war, the MacDougalls had been the most powerful clan in the west. But their ill-fated decision to support the Comyns rather than Bruce had opened the door for the MacDonalds and the Campbells.
“How fast can you be ready?” Campbell asked.
Eoin started to respond, then hesitated.Margaret. It wasn’t just that he hadn’t discovered who had left the raven, he also knew that his leaving was sure to provoke questions. Questions that he didn’t want to answer—or rather, didn’t want tonotanswer.
Campbell mistook his silence. “Is it your knee? Have you not recovered enough to fight?”
Eoin shook his head. “I resumed training yesterday.”
“Then you are reluctant to leave your wife?” Campbell’s perceptiveness had stopped surprising him years ago. “She’ll want an explanation, and you can’t give her one.”
It wasn’t a question, and Eoin didn’t need to explain. He was sure Bruce wasn’t the only one who didn’t want Margaret to know what he did. Eoin might be ready to trust her again, but that didn’t mean his brethren felt the same.
He cursed, dragging his fingers through his hair. Why the hell did everything have to be so complicated?
“I shouldn’t have come,” Campbell said. “You need more time. I can find someone else. Maybe Hawk...”
“You don’t have time to fetch Hawk and be in position by nightfall,” Eoin said flatly.
“I have my brothers. They and a few other guardsmen will be enough.”
Eoin knew Arthur referred to his brothers Dugald and Gillespie, who served the king with Arthur at Dunstaffnage. They were both formidable warriors.
But they weren’t the Highland Guard.
This was his job—his responsibility—and he sure as hell wasn’t going to let one of his brethren down without good cause. A hypothetical threat and wish to avoid conflict wasn’t enough. If something happened because he wasn’t there, he would be responsible.
It was only a few days at most. His father would protect Margaret and Eachann with his life. And if Margaret wanted to know where he was going...
Bloody hell, he was going to have to deal with this at some point. It might as well be now.
“Give me a half hour, and I’ll be ready.”
“But what about your wife?”
“I’ll figure something out.”
He just wished he knew what.
Not again.
Margaret stared at Eoin in shock, telling herself not to overreact. But she couldn’t escape the feeling that it was happening all over again. The floor of the chamber suddenly felt as if it were a boat swaying on the ocean. Her head was spinning.
“I have to leave.”
She’d known something like this was going to happen when she’d recognized the man riding through the gate as one of the warriors from Dumfries. During the siege, he’d been quieter than the others and seemed to blend into the background, which is why she hadn’t noticed him right away. Arthur Campbell, she recalled Eoin calling him. He was the youngest brother of Neil Campbell, the chief who’d been with Robert Bruce all those years ago at Stirling Castle and was still by his side now.
Margaret had felt a trickle of unease slither down the back of her neck, sensing that the real world was about to intrude. But if this was their first test, it was a failure so far. She hadn’t missed that he hadn’t told her anything about where he was going or what he was doing.In the dark...
Eoin looked pained. “God, Maggie, don’t look at me like that. I hate leaving like this, but I have to go. It’s only a few days at the most. You’ll be safe. My father will personally see that you and Eachann are guarded.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“I know you think it wasn’t anything, but I won’t take a chance—”
