She nodded, and he helped her to her feet. Sir Alex was a large man, but this border “Raider” lifted him off the ground and tossed him like a bag of flour over his shoulder—none too gently, either. It seemed he had no fondness for the young knight. Without further discussion, he led her through the trees.
When they entered the clearing before the broch, he hooted like an owl, obviously giving some kind of signal. Despite the time of night, there were a handful of men practicing with various weapons—swords and axes, from what she could tell. A man stood at the entry, and she knew from the size of the shadow that it was her husband. Her heart filled with relief to know that she had arrived in time. She’d done it.
He started walking toward her and she ran forward to meet him. The others gathered round, curious as to what was going on.
“Christina?” he asked, his voice sharp with disbelief. “What’s happened? Why are you here? I thought I warned you never to come here again.”
She heard the spark of anger and rushed into his arms before it could flare. They closed around her automatically, but he looked away from her long enough to see the big man drop Sir Alex at his feet. Christina was relieved to see the young knight was stirring.
Tor swore and grabbed her by the shoulders, his eyes raking her from head to toe. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “A bump on the head, that’s all. This man Raider found us.” Tor raised a questioning brow, but the brawny warrior merely shrugged as if to say he would explain later.
“Who did this to you?” his voice was as cold and deadly as she’d ever heard it.
“I don’t know, but you must listen—there isn’t much time.” In her eagerness to tell him, it all came out in a jumbled mess. Noticing his growing impatience, she simply handed him the note. He held it up to a torch. “It’s Rhuairi’s handwriting,” she said, not knowing how much he would be able to read. “He knows where you are and is planning an attack for tonight.”
“It looks like Rhuairi’s handwriting, but it doesn’t make any sense.”
She didn’t have a chance to ask why. He called out, and a moment later two men emerged from the broch. She paled, recognizing Rhuairi as one and Colyne as the other.
If Rhuairi was the spy, what was he doing here? He should be long gone by now.
She’d been so certain she was right that even when the possibility that she wasn’t hit, it didn’t quite sink in.
Rhuairi came over to read the note. He scanned it quickly and handed it back to Tor. “It’s a good likeness of my writing, but I did not write this.”
Tor’s voice was deceptively calm, but she sensed the burgeoning storm. “How did you say you came by this note?”
She explained about her exchange with Brother John.
“And he said he was going into the village?” Tor asked.
She nodded, and he swore. The look he gave her was not full of gratitude, but of derision—as if he couldn’t believe she could be so stupid.
“When?” he asked, shaking her shoulders. “How long were you unconscious?”
Her eyes widened, completely taken aback by the reaction that was so different from the one she expected. “I d-don’t know,” she stuttered. “An hour, maybe longer.”
He looked to the man Raider for confirmation. “I was patrolling to the east, Seton to the west. When the Englishman didn’t answer the call, I went looking for him. It could have been an hour, maybe more.”
“You didn’t think to go after whoever did this?”
Raider’s mouth clamped in a hard line. “I thought it more important not to leave the lass alone and to bring her to you.”
Even when the truth that she’d been tricked stared her in the face, she didn’t want to believe it. There had to be some explanation. “You’re wrong about Brother John. It couldn’t be him.”He wouldn’t do this to me. “He doesn’t know I can read.”
“Are you absolutely sure about that?” The look her husband gave her could have cut a diamond. “You’d better hope you are right. You have no idea what you might have done.”
Without another word to her, he ordered two of the men to the village via the woods to see what they could find, and the others to ready thebirlinnto return to Dunvegan by boat.
Christina was numb with horror. Had she led the spy right to her husband?“Sorry.”The voice in the darkness made sense now. She wanted to put her hand over her ears and block out the truth.Dear Lord, there has to be a mistake. Please let there be a mistake.
Tor was grim as he waited for Lamont and MacLean to return from the village. But he already knew. The clerk had followed Christina through the woods and was long gone by now. It had been dark, but Tor had to assume he’d seen enough to jeopardize everything.
Christina’s interference had put both his clan and the secrecy of Bruce’s guard at grave risk. Twenty years of war and struggle to restore his clan, the lives of his clansmen, and his own life hung in the balance. If the clerk connected him to Bruce, his life, if King Edward got hold of him, wouldn’t be worth spit. But he wouldn’t suffer alone. His clan would go down with him. And if the clerk had recognized any of Bruce’s secret guard, they would have targets on their heads as well.
How could he allow this to happen? Heknewbetter. He’d wanted to think he and Christina were different. Had he learned nothing from his parents’ deaths?
