She picked a leather folder up from under her chair and put it on the table with a huff, then she removed a small knife from a sheath on her calf and placed it beside it.
He said, “Now yer pouch.”
“My pouch! It holds my own private things, John, ye canna hae them. I am a lady and I hae done nothing wrong, this is theft.”
“Put it on the table.”
I saw her give Magnus a look and then she unpinned the pouch from her waist and set it on the table with a soft thud.
Her vessel was in that bag. I was almost certain of it. And one of her books, if someone got their hands on a vessel and her book they could cause a lot of trouble. I didn’t want John to have it.
“I’ll keep her things safe.” I reached across the table.
Birk’s hand shot up, palm out. “Ye step back. Now.”
Magnus was already moving. He crossed the room in three strides and put himself between us, chest to chest with Birk.
“Did ye just threaten m’wife with yer fists?” His voice was low and menacing.
The air was charged with danger, Birk glared into Magnus’s eyes, Magnus was breathing heavily. Their chests were bowed out like two bulls deciding whether to charge.
Fraoch shouldered in between them, both hands up, trying to hold the space. “We daena need a brawl, Magnus, listen tae me...”
While every eye in the room was fixed on that standoff, I slid my hand around the strap of the bag, lifted it slowly off the table, and hid it behind my back.
Lady Mairead caught my eye and gave the smallest nod.
Fraoch held them apart, trying to talk sense. “Magnus, ye canna do this, he’s yer cousin’s man, there is already enough trouble, ye kill him and?—”
Birk scowled. “He canna kill me.”
Magnus shoved him — hard, both hands.
For a half-second, Birk stood there. Then he shifted and swung, a tight hook that caught Magnus across the cheekbone.
Magnus’s head jerked to the side, then he staggered back into the table edge, caught himself, blood already beading along a split in his cheek. He looked down at the floor. Breathed once.
Then he lowered his shoulder and drove forward, plowing into Birk with all his weight behind it, total force.
Birk flew backward into the stone pedestal in the corner. The marble figure wobbled, tipped, and crashed against the flagstone floor in three pieces.
Lady Mairead shrieked, “Magnus! Nae!”
Lizbeth said, “Magnus, stop!”
Liam and Fraoch worked together to pull the men apart.
Finally Birk was on one side of the table, and Magnus on the other, wiping his cut with his sleeve.
Birk sneered, as if it were amusing.
Magnus said, “I am goin’ tae kill ye, Birk.”
John raised his voice. “I am also placing Magnus under arrest for fighting in my presence.”
Magnus said, “Nae.”
John said, “Every word gets ye all closer tae the gallows, as it stands I only need tae build a scaffold for…” He counted on his fingers. “Three.”
