“Or do anything else that would keep ye from leaving this night, aye. I ken how important this is to ye. ’Tis important to me for ye to be ready, as well. Despite Kenneth’s wishes, we may have to fight.”
“No’ if I can prevent it,” Calum told him, determined to keep them out of trouble. For him to be fully accepted, they must succeed.
“Have ye heard?”
Muireall’s voice snapped Ella out of the daydream she’d been having as she folded dry bedding she’d helped pull from the lines before the latest rain shower blew through. In her musings, Calum had come to her and apologized. Begged her forgiveness. Sworn his undying love and devotion, then kissed her senseless. Almost. Muireall entering her chamber pulled her from her fantasy before it got any better, damn it.
“Heard what?” She dropped what she was doing and faced her friend.
Muireall took one look at her and grinned. “And what’s been on yer mind, eh? Ye are blushing. Have ye talked to Calum about training ye yet like I suggested?”
“Naught to do with ye, and nay. I dinna ken if I can face him when he turns me down.” She waved a hand in front of her face as if brushing aside that idea. “What news have ye brought me?”
Muireall crossed her arms, looking for a moment as if she’d continue to interrogate Ella, but she sobered. “The scouts are going out. Starting tonight, looking for bands of men who’ve been stealing from travelers, and looting and burning crofts. Gallowglass men, they think, left behind from the army Domhnall took to Harlaw.”
“’Tis terrible news,” Ella said, realizing what this meant. “There will be fighting.”
“Aye, likely. Though scouts have been told to avoid it and report back if they find any large groups of men.”
“How many men are going?”
“Dinna ye mean, is Calum going? Aye, he is. With Euan at least, who will keep him safe. They’re first out. Tonight.”
Ella dropped onto the bed, her knees weak. “He canna fight. Why would Iain send him?”
“Because he’s needed. Ye ken he’s one of the best scouts. They both ken he’s vulnerable. Euan will protect him. They’ll avoid trouble and come back here to report anything they find.”
Ella thought back to her walk around the bailey with Calum while his eyes were still covered. She had done her best to convince him that with his other senses, he was still a Brodie scout. “It’s what he’s lived for,” she told Muireall. “So why does the idea now make my heart race?”
“Because it is again real,” Muireall told her. “No’ just something he hopes for.”
“What if he gets hurt—or killed?” She forced herself to her feet. “I should speak to him. Apologize. I canna let him go into danger feeling about me—about us—the way he does.”
“’Tis after the midday meal. He and Euan will be on the practice ground. But Ella, he is preparing for his first mission since he was hurt. He may no’ want to speak with ye. And to confront him where the other men can see and hear? I wouldna.”
“I’ll wait nearby ’til they’re done.”
“Where he can see ye? Ye’ll distract him when he needs to focus on proving himself. And if he gets hurt there because he notices ye, and he canna go tonight, he’ll blame ye, and ye will lose him forever.”
Ella sank back down onto the bed. “What should I do? I have to see him before he leaves.”
Muireall sank down beside her and picked up her hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. “Dinna fash. I have an idea. I’ll help ye.”
The great hallwas already filled with the low rumble of conversation when Calum arrived for an early supper with Euan. He’d thought to eat before the hall became crowded, but it seemed the word spread about the scouts going out to hunt raiders, and everyone gathered to learn more.
He and Euan would not leave for hours yet. Daylight faded earlier this time of year, but they must wait for full dark to escape detection. The later it got, the more eager Calum became.
Euan found him waiting at the entrance to the hall, watching it fill.
“Iain wants a word,” he told him.
Calum froze. Was Iain about to tell him he was going to confine him to the keep? After Kenneth’s vote of confidence, he’d never expected to get pulled from this mission, but why else would Iain summon them now save to give Euan time to find another partner tonight? With a heavy heart, Calum followed his friend to the laird’s solar. Euan entered and stepped aside to let Calum enter. But then Euan pivoted behind him, out of the chamber and closed the door. Calum wheeled to the door,surprised. What was Euan up to? When he turned back around, he knew.
“Ye.” Not Iain.
Ella stood up from her chair by the hearth, her hands twisting together in front of her waist.
So, another deception, and this time, Euan was in on it. Muireall, no doubt, asked him to do this. Was there no one he could trust?
