Page 122 of The Laird’s Sinful Obsession

Lachlann took it.

He did not open it immediately. He looked at the vessel first.

A single craft, smaller than the ships he'd seen from the tower the night before, which meant those others were holding position somewhere beyond the headland, waiting.

There were six men on the dock beside the messenger, armed but not drawn, standing with the particular stillness of men who had been told to look capable and had taken the instruction seriously.

He broke the seal and read.

It did not take long.

The language was formal and the meaning was not complicated:

By the authority of the king, the Lady Alba was tae be returned tae her family's custody without delay.

Her presence in Lachlann's household was described, in careful diplomatic phrasing, as an irregularity that required correction. Torquil MacLeod was named as the instrument of that correction.

Lachlann folded the letter.

"Ye've read it?" the messenger asked.

"I have."

"And?"

Lachlann looked at him steadily. "And ye'll leave me lands."

The man's expression didn't change, but something in his posture did a slight adjustment, a recalibration. "Me instructions are tae await yer response and escort the lady."

"Yer instructions," Lachlann said, "are nae me concern. Mine are these: the lady's family situation is nae what Torquil MacLeod has represented tae the king. When the truth of it is made clear, this letter will carry no more weight than the paper it's written on." He held the man's gaze. "In the meantime, ye'll leave. Every man of yers, and the vessel with ye."

"Ye cannae tell us tae leave."

"I can. Ye're on me land," Lachlann said. "And I'm tellin' ye tae leave it."

The silence on the dock stretched.

The messenger looked at him, looked at the men ranged behind Lachlann, five men, hands not on weapons but not far from them, and made the calculation that men in his position made when the arithmetic was clear.

"We'll hold position in the water," the man said. "Beyond the port."

"Ye'll dae as ye see fit," Lachlann said. "And I'll dae as I see fit. That's understood between us."

"Torquil willnae let this lie."

"I dinnae expect him tae." Lachlann stepped back from the dock's edge, a clear dismissal. "Safe crossin’."

He watched them push off without waiting to see if the courtesy was received. Beside him, James came up quietly.

"They'll signal the others," James said.

"Aye." Lachlann watched the small vessel move back through the grey water. "They will."

"How long dae ye think we have?"

"Less time than I'd like. More than they're countin' on." He turned from the water. "Get Fearchar and the others. I want scouts on the headland by nightfall and men on every approach road by mornin’. Tell them nae tae engage unless engaged. I want eyes, nae blood. Nae yet."

"And the village?"