He turned back to his food.
“Let us hope so,” he said. “Ye’ve paid a good deal for The Beast not tae have him disappoint ye.”
Drostan scrutinized his new warrior a few moments longer before pointing to the entry. “There’s a chamber just inside the door,” he told the man. “That belongs tae ye now. ’Tis a place of honor. Go there and wait for me.”
The Beast did as he was told. Rising, he marched out of the hall, back straight and gait proud. Drostan watched him go before returning his attention to Ternan.
“God’s Bones, Ternan,” he muttered. “I told ye tae bring me a barbarian and ye did.”
Ternan was well into his meal. “That I did, Dros. He took all the money I had.”
“If he performs as we hope he will, then it will have been worth it,” Drostan said. “Ye made it back from Edinburgh so quickly.”
“Ye told me tae make haste and I did.”
“Are ye sure he’s the best one?”
“He is.” Ternan wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve. “One of the trainers told me that he’d been beaten only once by a warrior he called The Lion.”
“The Lion?”
“Aye—The Lion of Caledonia.”
“And that warrior was not for sale?”
Ternan shook his head. “Someone was smart enough tae make an offer for him already,” he said. “There was quite a crop of warriors and trainees, in fact.Novicius, they call them. I kept an eye out for Cam Netherton among them but I dinna see him. I wonder if he ever made it tae The Cal.”
“Did ye ask?”
“Nay.”
Drostan shrugged, unconcerned with the life of a smithy from Netherton. “It has been many months since Cam left us. ’Tis more than likely he was killed in the streets of Edinburgh. ’Twould be a blessing for us if he was.”
“True.”
Drostan didn’t waste any further time on the subject of Cam. His thoughts returned to the mountain of a man who now served him. When he took a seat at the old feasting table, his expression of satisfaction was evident.
“Tomorrow morning, The Beast will go intae the vale and we’ll solve our problem once and for all,” he muttered. “Gather what women ye can find but leave some tae return tae Niall tae tell him what they saw. I want tae put the fear of God intae Niall with our new warrior. When he knows we have a barbarian, those lands are as good as ours.”
Typical scheming when it came to Drostan, but this time, Ternan though he might actually be on to something. Only a madman would resist a warrior known as The Beast.
“I’ll see tae it,” Ternan said. “But remember—ye promised no attacks. If ye do and the Keith go tae Angus Murray about it…”
Drostan understood. “I know,” he said, holding up an impatient hand. “We could have the man down around us. Make sure The Beast knows it, too.”
Ternan would. He seemed to be the only man in Drostan’s stable of men who had half a heart and half a brain, so he wouldensure The Beast knew what his limits were and he could only hope that the barbarian understood.
Tomorrow would tell the tale.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The Vale of Morning (Vale of Demons)
This was wherethey’d first met.
It was almost in this very spot, in fact. Right at the crest of the path that ran through the vale, closer to Lindsay lands than to Keith. As Isadora plunged through the icy foliage that had grown up over the footpath, she remembered that day very well. It was the day her life had changed forever, although she didn’t know it at the time.
She certainly knew it now.
