“Aye. He went into the keep.”
“Good.”
Seamus approached. “I saw ye staring at him. He’ll take that as provocation, ye ken.”
“Good,” Anders told him, echoing her word of a moment before, then he grinned at her.
Seamus nodded and left them, making a circuit around them, checking with the other guards.
Mariota expected he would let them know he’d seen Alber go in the keep, but that didn’t mean he’d stay there.
She watched her friend for a moment, then grinned back at Anders, approving his feral implication. If Alber challenged him, it would not go well. She also liked that she was starting to see cracks in Anders’ reserve. The twins were incredibly alike, but the Anders at home in Dunrobin she recalled was much morelighthearted than he’d been since they left there. Since then, he’d been much more like his twin who’d first brought her to Sutherland. Could it be that because he was in another clan’s stronghold, he was subdued by the potential danger? MacKay and Sutherland were not exactly enemies, but not fully allies, either. Unless she married him. She studied his face as his grin faded. The more solemn his expression, the more he reminded her of Stellan. Was that why she’d felt the heat of attraction with him lately? Because he’d been acting more like Stellan than himself?
Valkyrie’s call pulled her attention from him to her raptor, approaching now with her prey clutched in her talons. Mariota held up a fist, signaling to her to drop the coney. It landed at her feet, and Mariota opened her hand, allowing Valkyrie to wheel away to continue her hunt.
“She’s enjoying this,” Anders said, bemused, his gaze shifting from the dead coney to Valkyrie and back again.
“’Tis what she’s trained for. She can feed herself, but she also provides meat for the pot, which Cook appreciates.”
“What else can she do?” He frowned and shifted his gaze to the side, clearly thinking.
“Besides protect me from Alber?”
“She got away with it once. He’ll be ready for her the next time.”
“If there is a next time. If I continue to make headway with my father, I expect to convince him to take action so Valkyrie never has to confront Alber. And never has to fear him.”
“Nor should ye need to. Seamus is right. Ye have friends here, not just him.”
“Why have they no’ spoken up to my da?”
“Perhaps they have.”
That stopped her for a moment. Perhaps they had. And if they had, what was between Alber and her da that kept him fromacting in her best interest? Seamus had offered to speak to the older warriors about the time when Alber joined the clan, to see if any recalled the circumstances. He was headed their way, so she waved him closer.
“Have ye had a chance to talk to anyone about how Alber came to be here?”
He shook his head. “Nay. We’ve only been back the day. And I have a feeling ’tis best done carefully.”
She nodded, as did Anders. “Aye. Something doesn’t seem right between them, but Da may no’ want whatever it is dug up.”
“Would it go easier coming from a Sutherland? As a stranger to the clan? Wondering why Alber seems to get away with so much?”
Seamus shrugged. “It might, at that. If one of yer men could bring it up in a group, yer man might hear naught but speculation, but there might be a kernel of truth in what he learns.”
“Very well,” Anders agreed thoughtfully. “’Twill be only one of mine, to keep word from getting out that questions are being asked. But he may never get the chance, ye ken.”
Mariota nodded. “I hope he does. We may uncover the truth of this yet.”
“Ye may still get it from yer da, if ye ask again,” Anders said. “’Twould be best coming from him.”
He was right. “If Da would answer, and if I could trust that he told me the truth, aye, it would. I will try.”
Seamus glanced skyward. “Here comes Valkyrie again.”
Mariota smiled at her hawk and raised a fist. Another coney landed at her feet. She waved off her raptor.
“I’ll let her get a few more for the pot before we go in. Cook will be pleased. And thank ye both for today. ’Tis good to be outside.”
