“The MacDonalds don’t have enough warriors to take this castle,” Erik said. “But if you’re right and the MacDonalds do attack, you can have the lad then. No one will blame me if he is killed or disappears in the chaos of the battle.”
Erik had given the MacQuillan lad very little thought, but he pictured him in his mind now. He was a fine-looking lad, tall for his age, and surprisingly quiet for having fiery red hair.
Red hair…No, it couldn’t be. There were ginger-haired men and lads all over Scotland and Ireland. Yet the more Erik thought of it, the more it seemed to him that there was a resemblance between the MacDonald spy and the lad. And the lad’s mother was Moira MacDonald.
“Ye say our spy has been friends with the MacDonald chieftain since they were lads?” Erik asked. “Was he friendly with the chieftain’s sister as well?”
“Duncan’s mother was nursemaid to Connor and his sister Moira,” Hugh said with a shrug. “They all grew up together at Dunscaith.”
So it was possible…The lad was supposed to be MacQuillan’s, but, God knew, women were deceitful. Erik would not risk his life for a son, but many men would. This Duncan MacDonald struck him as that sort of man.
“From what I hear, there’s more between Duncan and Moira than childhood memories,” Hugh said as he leaned forward to spear another herring with his dirk. “They say Moira is a rare beauty like her mother—and that she is Duncan’s only weakness.”
Erik smiled to himself. If he was right, he knew how to get the attack plan from the MacDonald spy.
It was almost too simple.
Chapter 36
Duncan kicked furiously at the rat crawling toward his foot. Frustration burned through him. God help him, he had failed on a grand scale. While the safety of his clansmen, including his son, his chieftain, and his best friends, depended upon him, Duncan was in the dungeon of Trotternish Castle chained to the goddamned wall like an animal.
“Arrgh!” He jerked the chain again, though it served no purpose but to cause the chain to bite into his bloody wrists.
He tried to guess how long he had been in this godforsaken hole. Judging from the quiet above him, it was night again. That meant Alex would be in his boat, watching for the signal and waiting for the rope that would never be dropped.
Duncan leaned his head back against the wall to keep the blood from running into his eyes. The beatings were getting fiercer, but he’d suffered worse. Though he was chained, the men seemed afraid to get close enough to do him serious harm.
The silence was broken by the echo of boots on the stone steps on the other side of the iron grate. Only one man this time, so he was braver than the others. Duncan got to his feet. He would be prepared if the guard gave him the slightest chance to overpower him.
When the man reached the bottom step, the light from the torch he carried shone on his face—and Duncan saw that it was Erik. Rage roared in his ears.
Erik waited to speak until he unlocked the iron grate door and stepped inside. Unfortunately, Duncan’s chains were not long enough for him to reach Erik.
“You can save us both trouble and tell me now what I want to know,” Erik said. “Or ye can wait for me to bring the lad down here.”
An unfamiliar jolt of fear went through Duncan.No, Erik could not know about Ragnall.
“What lad?” Duncan attempted an indifferent tone, though his heart was pounding so hard Erik could probably hear it.
“I’m talking about your son,” Erik said. “Ragnall.”
Erik paced in front of Duncan, just beyond his reach. A few inches closer, and Duncan would wrap his chain around Erik’s throat and strangle the life out of him.
“He’s just a bairn,” Erik said. “Don’t make me hurt him.”
“You wouldn’t.” Duncan forced himself to speak calmly. “Your chieftain undertook a solemn duty to protect him.”
“His duty is to the MacQuillans,” Erik said. “But Ragnall is not a MacQuillan, is he?”
“What man can truly know if a child is his?” Duncan shrugged. “The MacQuillans believe Ragnall is their chieftain’s son, as does Alastair MacLeod, and that’s what matters.”
“’Tis true that my chieftain feels an obligation to the lad.” Erik folded his arms and shook his head. “But there are so many ways a child can have an accident. And if it should look suspicious, I can blame Hugh Dubh. The fool as much as told my chieftain that he wants Ragnall dead.”
Duncan believed Erik was capable of harming a child, and he knew for certain that Hugh was. Together, they were like a two-headed viper.
“If ye want to save your son, ye must tell me the things I need to know.”
God have mercy on me.To buy time, Duncan said, “I was to report on any weaknesses I saw, that is all.”
