“Sire, ye detect a noble speech, because this woman, the healer, is a noble.”
I whirled toward the voice, forgetting the king, and my heart dropped to the ground. At the threshold of the solar stood Alec, easily recognizable despite the years since I’d last seen him. He had aged well, with only a few lines around his eyes, which were still sharp, and silver now threaded his once dark locks. He had stayed lean. My heart did not so much as flutter at the sight of him; it did, however, flutter in anticipation that this might mean my sister Millisandre was here, and then dread hit me. I would be revealed and hanged. I was certain of it. A knot lodged in my throat, my palms began to sweat, and the room began to tilt. Just when I thought things could not possibly get worse, James appeared behind Alec, looking every bit as handsome as I remembered and decidedly no worse for the whack Conn had given him on the head.
Before I could fully process any of this, the king boomed, “Ye are late for court, Buchanan.”
“Apologies,” Alec said as he moved past me into the room. I could not tear my gaze from James, whose gaze was locked on me.
“James,” the king said, laughter in his voice. “So nice of ye to join us. Come in. Come in.”
James strode into the room and stopped right beside me, his presence nearly overwhelming as I felt his stare.
“Aye, the healer is bonny, James, but I’m afraid ye missed yer chance to ken her. Conn here has delivered her first and fair, though I must admit I had wagered on ye to win the prizes. Ye will tell me later what held ye back from victory.”
James glared at Conn, who smirked in return.
“James,” the king continued, “do ye ken Buchanan?”
“Nay, Sire,” James said.
“Well, he’s on my council, and he currently holds the Renfrewshire stronghold since his wife’s death.”
A cry escaped me at the news of my sister’s departure, and I had to slap my hand over my mouth. James reached for my arm, concern on his face, but I jerked away.
“What is this outburst?” the king demanded, walking to the dais to lean against it and scowl.
Alec spoke before I could. “’Tis what I was about to tell ye, Sire. When I came into the solar, I heard ye mention that nae anyone keened the healer’s last name.” Alec motioned to me, and the room tilted. I feared I would faint. “This lass, the healer, is the long-lost daughter of the deceased Laird and Lady Wallace, making her my dead wife Millisandre’s sister.”
My heart twisted at Alec’s words. I had suspected my da would be dead, but my mama, too, and Millisandre. It was too much. My throat constricted as tears tried to claw their way out. I was so upset at the news that I forgot to be frightened about being named a witch, that was, until the king stepped right in front of me, and looked at me as if I were some rare creature he was examining.
“How do ye ken this is the missing lass?”
“The missing heir,” Alec corrected the king, nearly buckling my knees. “She and her sister, Millicent, are the only two remaining heirs of Laird Wallace, and Katreine is the eldest.”
My nostrils flared at the news that Euphemia was also dead. Never, in my worst nightmares, had I imagined I would have only one sister left alive. I had to swallow again and again to keep the tears at bay, and just when I thought they would best me, the king said, “Come to me, healer.”
Fear shoved the tears down as I left James’s side, feeling as if I were leaving my only friend behind. Funny, considering how he’d lied to me. I took tentative steps toward the king, trying and failing to think how I might explain my unlined face, andwhen I stood before him, he gripped my chin and turned my face left and right. I was certain this was it, the end of me. I could practically feel the rough, scratchy rope of the hangman’s noose around my neck.
“How are ye certain this is Katreine Wallace?” the king asked Alec, as if I didn’t have a tongue of my own. Of course, even if I dared to speak, I had no notion what to say, for fear of saying something that would get my head lopped off.
Alec came to stand directly beside me, and all I could think was the irony that my wish to have him as mine had put me here, and now my greatest wish was that he would disappear. “Sire,” Alec said, “her face has nae changed so much since last I saw her that I can recognize her. And she’s the Wallace family eyes, and if ye’ll permit me to tug down her gown at her right shoulder, I vow ye’ll find a star pattern there.” Behind me, I heard what sounded like a low growl, and I could have sworn it came from James.
The king’s attention flicked over my shoulder even as he continued to grip my chin and motioned for Alec to do as he had just requested. As Alec’s hands came to my bodice and loosened it, I could only stand stiff, struggling to hold my tongue and praying I would escape this meeting with the king with my life intact.
“James, something is vexing ye?” the king demanded.
“Aye, Sire. I hardly think it appropriate to loosen the lass’s gown and examine her like a prized pig in front of us men.”
I was grateful for his words, even as a streak of bitterness toward him flowed through me. He’d thought it perfectly appropriate to join with me, knowing he was using me for his own gain.
“Stand silent,” the king commanded. “I did nae ask yer opinion.”
I had to clench my teeth to keep from saying that, in point of fact, the king had asked James what vexed him. James said, “Aye, Sire,” but having spent so much time with him recently, I heard the caged irritation in his voice. Still, he was smart enough to know to hold his tongue to keep his neck.
My gown was tugged off my shoulder, and Alec pointed to my freckle pattern. “As I said, she’s a star’s marking.”
“Cover her,” the king commanded Alec as his majesty studied me. “She does nae look more than twenty-three summers.”
“I do believe she was around ten summers when she disappeared,” Alec lied so smoothly that my lips parted in shock. “And she’s been missing for fifteen summers, so that would make her twenty-five summers.”
