Niall shook his head. “We have allies, lad, but not close ones. No one that would want tae involve themselves.”
But Cam shook his head too. “I dunna speak of allies. I speak of enemies.”
“Enemies?”
“Aye. Lindsay enemies.” He looked between Isadora and her father. “There is an old saying which states that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Therefore, in the interest of filling out yer ranks, who is the enemy of the Lindsay?”
Isadora looked to her father in surprise as Niall rubbed at his chin. “Ogilvy,” he said. “My wife was an Ogilvy.”
“Then I say ye go tae Clan Ogilvy and ask for help,” Cam said. “I’ll go with ye and tell them how Drostan tried tae trick me after burning Netherton. Between the two of us, we might be able tae convince them tae help.”
It was an idea that made a good deal of sense. “I’m not sure why I dinna think of that,” Niall said. “I was thinking we had no allies tae support us. It never occurred tae me tae seek an enemy of the Lindsay.”
“Ogilvy is tae the north of Kirkburn,” Cam said. “They are a big clan.”
“With a thousand warriors,” Niall added. “It would be a clan war if they were involved and I’m not sure they would risk such a thing.”
“Ye can ask,” Cam said. “What is the worst they can do? They’ll send us home and we’d be no worse off than we were before. Meanwhile, we can gather all the men in the village and teach them a few things. How well do they know tae fight?”
Niall shrugged. “Well enough,” he said. “We’ve had a few rows with the Lindsay and with the Ruthven when they tried tae use our lands tae fight their wars with Clan Hay. Our men can defend themselves.”
“Mayhap I could teach them what I learned at The Cal.”
Niall liked that idea. In fact, he was feeling rather hopeful with Cam’s suggestions, simple as they were. But perhaps they’d needed an outsider to point out the obvious.
“We’ll do that,” he said. “Isadora and Ewan and Ossian will spread the word. We can work with them tomorrow and mayhap even a little training will help fortify their courage. It has been a long time since we’ve had cause tae hope.”
It seemed like a plan.
Thoughts of fighting and enemies were pushed aside, however, with the introduction of the meal. As Cam accepted his wooden bowl of the stew that was salty and hot, Isadora cut off big hunks of bread and doled them out.
It was a satisfying meal as the rain outside pounded, but all the while, Cam kept looking over at Isadora. He was trying not to be obvious about it, but he couldn’t help it. She was sitting between her father and Ossian, but she was directly in his line of sight. He was fairly certain that was on purpose.
The woman he couldn’t do without.
When the meal was finished, Ewan took the bowls outside to wash out in the rain and Isadora’s task was to see to the horses for the night. She’d been so busy staring at Cam that Niall had to remind her of it. There was a livery a short way down the hill where their horses were kept, including Cam’s, and Isadora reluctantly excused herself to see to her chores before retiring for the night.
Cam watched her go, or triednotto watch her go, fearful that the brothers or Niall might figure out that Isadora had his attention and he didn’t want the complication until he was ready to make his intentions clear.
But thoughts of Isadora were soon pushed aside because Niall wanted to speak more on future plans for the defense of his village. Cam found himself engaged in that for the rest of the night. Isadora eventually rejoined them and sat next to Cam,chiming in with advice now and then. Cam could feel her body heat, giving him comfort such as he’d never known.
It was an evening of battle discussions and warfare, but it was also an evening of bonding with Niall and Ewan and Ossian. Men he would be related to, someday.
And Cam couldn’t have been more at peace with it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Kirkburn Castle
“Ye wanted ananimal, Dros. I found one.”
In Kirkburn’s great hall, Drostan found himself looking at a man who appeared as if he were more animal than human. Tall and bulky, and excessively hairy, he had the look of a barbarian, which pleased Drostan immensely.
“Beautiful,” he said as he walked a slow circle around the man, inspecting him. “Absolutely beautiful. His name?”
“The Beast.”
“Brilliant!”
