Hall hated dragging more men into this battle, but the one thing they simply could not afford was to allow the Elven Scrolls of Niflheim and the Sword of the Ancients to fall into Fenrir’s possession.
Six
MEN WERE, WITHOUTany question, the most annoyingly arrogant creatures walking the land. And the most predictable.
“I’ve no changed my mind, little sister. My answer is still a resoundingno. Yer to stay here, where you’ll be safe.”
Jamesy hadn’t even waited for Brie to speak when she entered the stable. He’d jumped to his own conclusions and cut her off before she’d opened her mouth.
It was exactly as she’d expected he’d behave as he and the others prepared to ride out with Patrick in his quest to catch up with Halldor O’Donar.
“Yer making a mistake. You need me with you.” Though she was wasting her breath, she had no choice but to argue. Anything else would risk raising her brother’s suspicions. He knew her too well.
“I said no,” Jamesy insisted, softening his words with a hand to her shoulder. “What I need is for you to stay here and keep watch over Eleyne in case her cousin comes looking for her, as you claim he will. This is where you can be the most help to me.”
He gave her his best smile, as if that settled everything. As if she would believe his nonsense about this being the best place for her. Here, left behind, while he ran off to stand with Halldor against the Beast’s men.
Had he honestly thought she hadn’t seen when Patrick had ridden into the bailey, his horse frothing with the effort of their hard ride? Had he thought she hadn’t heard the impassioned arguments spilling out of their laird’s solar just because she’d not been allowed to attend their meeting?
That exclusion in and of itself still rankled.
She set her lips in a tight grimace and met his gaze.
“I am no the least bit happy about this,” she grumbled, drawing her traveling cloak close around her to ward off the chill of the morning. “I’ve every right to go with you.”
“I ken you think that to be truth, little sister. But believe me, my way in this is the best.”
It took every bit of willpower under her command for her to keep her mouth shut. It didn’t matter what he said. Since her arguments were solely to allay his suspicions, there was no point in allowing herself to be upset by his reaction. All this was playing out exactly as she had expected it would.
“There’s a good lass,” Jamesy consoled, and after a quick hug he mounted his horse. “Take yer things back to yer rooms and dinna waste yer energy thinking upon any of this. Oh, and keep a close watch over the minstrel’s cousin, aye?”
“I’ll take care of my things once yer gone,” she answered, following beside him as he made his way to join the others. “I’m headed to the wall walk first, to see you off.”
Her brother’s relief flashed in the smile he gave her as he joined his friends and the whole company of men headed out through the gate.
She raced up the narrow stairs to a visible spot at the wall and lifted her arm in a wave of farewell. Dutifully, she kept a smile pasted on her face until the group of men disappeared into the distance.
Men. Annoyingly arrogant, completely predictable, and, above all else, unbelievably gullible. It was one of the more valuable lessons her mother had taught her early in life.
And still her uncle had the lack of good sense to wonder why she didn’t want a man of her own. Not for her. Not now, not ever. She had a much higher purpose in life than tending to the needs of some dullard.
As if to plague her, the memory of Halldor pulling her close to steal a kiss danced through her mind.
“Ha!” she huffed, smacking her hand against the stone hard enough for the sting to drive away the vision.
Of all the men she didn’t want, most especially she did not want that one.
With the riders far enough away that she could no longer see any trace of them, she hurried down from the wall walk, across the bailey and beyond, out to the small gate at the back of the castle grounds.
In Jamesy’s haste to leave her behind, he’d never even noticed her horse was missing from the stable. Just as no one had noticed, in the midst of all the activity, when she’d saddled the animal and tethered him out near the back of the castle grounds.
Reins held loosely in her hand, she led her mount through the small gate and then secured it behind her before hoisting herself up into the saddle and trotting into the nearby woods.
Da had always claimed that the only thing that kept her from being Jamesy’s equal as a warrior was her lack of patience and her inability to control her temper. What he hadn’t counted on was her superior cunning and determination. Those traits more than made up for her small lapses of temper. Or so she consoled herself in those times when her temper got the best of her.
She traveled beside the main trail, keeping to the trees until she was far enough away from the castle to be out of danger of anyone spotting her.
Lucky for her she’d spent so much of her childhood on horseback trailing after her da. Once, when she was young, she’d even been all the way to Skye with him. The thought of again pitching across the waves on that pitiful excuse for a ferry did not appeal to her in the least, but she pushed those concerns away. That was a minor inconvenience she would deal with when the time came.
