Page 56 of Outlaw Ever After

“I nay ken what to believe. He nay struck me as a liar before.”

“Did ye find such a missive?”

She bit her lip, looking down, hurt panging again, as she fiddled with the beadwork on her bodice. “I suppose it’s why it hurt when he didna come for me, to realize he was one.”

Seamus took her arms gently and rubbed. “I nay mock yer innocence, Pegs, but he lied to ye, for I am a man and I ken how men think. He wanted to-to swive ye,” he spat the word as if he’d had to force it up his throat, “and if he’d kenned a shred of honor, he’d have wed ye immediately. I’m nay a hard one to find. Everyone kens ye’re my sister. He nay came for ye and is only entering this tourney to be a thorn in my side and gain an opportunity now that he kens ye’re attached to such a valuable prize.”

“I told him my christened name. Nay Peigi. And I never told him my surname.”

Seamus turned away, shaking his head and resting his hands on his hips, then whirled around again.

“Ye were going to elope with a man ye just met?” He searched her face, His jaw pumping. “Make me understand.”

“Ye met Elizabeth for the first time at the kirk altar. And yet, ye’ve grown to love her.”

He huffed with frustration at her reasoning used against him and raked a hand through his hair. “Who is he? No mere parchment pusher can fight off nine of my men. He’s a skilled warrior.”

“He made a living as a warrior for a Highland clan, aye, but he accomplished his studies and gained an employ with the Crown.”

“Aye, the Earl of Arran, in his ongoing efforts of peace, has decided to subdue those warring clans, nay by fighting them, but by employing them.”

“Mayhap, but he said he wanted to lay down his sword.”

“Speaking of this royal employ…” Seamus dug out the missive Alexander had proudly thrust at him and shook it for effect. “He has a scheme up his sleeve, too. He protected ye, aye, but he’s more than he seems. He nay came here to enter a tournament, he came from Court to summon me before the Lord High Treasurer—”

“There ye are, Peigi.” Aileana rounded the corner. “Everyone is asking about ye. Yer suitors would like a dance.”

Something unreadable lanced through Seamus’s eyes at the word “suitors”.

This was her duty now. Her confusion over Alex didn’t matter anymore. She steeled herself, looped a sisterly arm through Aileana’s, and rejoined the fanfare.

…

Joslyn wagged a finger at Alexander.

“Nay think for a moment I missed what just passed betwixt ye and the lady. Does she ken yer true identity?”

Aye, she just doesna realize it…

“Nay.” And it didn’t sit well with him that he couldn’t tell her, either. How would she react? Would she run to her brother? She’d once asked him to always be honest with her. But could he risk telling her that he was the outlaw accused of murdering her sire? She might have once kissed him as a lassie, but years had passed and her clan’s hatred of him might have infiltrated her heart and turned her against him.

What were the odds he’d come here today, when his birthright was being put on the auction block, as if the fates had divined it, sucking him into their mischief.

“The only other reason I can figure for her tears is that ye once found comfort in each other’s arms,” Joslyn hedged.

He went still. Then paced a step again. Took up the flagon Peigi had left behind and knocked back another swig, smacking his lips together.

“I’ve hit the peg upon its crown,” Joslyn said. “Did ye hurt her?”

Christ. He shook his head. He’d lied to the best and worst of the world’s blackguards without a twitch of the lips, yet he’d never been able to lie to Joslyn. “I nay meant to.”

“Does her brother ken ye share a history with her?”

“I think it’s fair to say he suspects, after he nearly took off me arm, eh?” he quipped wryly, moving to the window to open it and brace the sill.

Torches lit the yard beneath him. He took stock of sentries at each post. How well each was armed. Here, in his birthright, he wasn’t just in the lion’s den, he was in its bloody jaws.

Joslyn laid a hand upon his back, feeling the olden welts but blessedly not asking about them. “Did ye…do anything regrettable?”