Page 124 of The Laird’s Sinful Obsession

Her expression told him she'd expected that and hadn't liked it. "That isnae an answer."

"It's the one I have fer ye right now." He held her gaze. "I'm nae keepin' ye from this. Ye ken what's happenin', ye ken why, and if there are decisions tae be made that concern ye, I'll come tae ye. But right now, what I need is tae ken that ye're inside the walls and nae somewhere I have tae divide me attention tae protect." He paused. "Can ye give me that?"

She held his gaze for a long moment.

He could see her working through it. The same as she always did, weighing the request against her own instincts, deciding whether the logic was sound or merely convenient.

"Aye," she said. "But ye'll tell me. When ye ken more."

"Ye have me word."

She nodded once and stepped back from the doorway.

She didn't leave immediately. She stood for a moment with her hand on the doorframe, looking at the room, at the crates and the blades and the organized, quiet readiness of it. And just then he thought he could see her placing herself inside the reality of it, accepting the shape of what was coming rather than looking away from it.

Then she left.

He watched the empty doorway for a half-second before turning back to James.

"The eastern stores," he said. "Let's see what we have."

The messenger arrived before midday.

He came in at a hard pace, his horse lathered, and he was off before the animal had fully stopped and moving toward Lachlann with the particular urgency that meant the news had not improved in the telling.

"Torquil's men," the lad said, breathing hard. "In the village. Three of them, me laird, they came up the south road an hour past. They're nae causin' trouble yet, but they're there, and the village kens it."

"Armed?"

"Aye."

"How many in the village total at present?"

"Market day, maybe hundred or more of our own. Plus the men."

Lachlann was already moving. "James. Six men, horses, light arms. Now." He turned to Ruadhri. "Hold the castle. Nobody in or out that ye dinnae personally ken. If anything comes from the north while I'm gone, ye send for me immediately."

"Aye, me laird."

"And find the lady. Tell her I've gone to the village and I'll be back within the hour. Tell her tae stay inside."

Ruadhri's expression shifted by approximately one degree. "Aye," he said.

The ride to the village was short and gave him nothing useful to do except think, which was rarely helpful.

He thought about the ships beyond the headland. He thought about the letter in his pocket with the king's seal on it. He thought about Torquil, who was patient in the way that men were patient when they had decided they were owed something and were simply waiting for the right moment to collect.

He thought about Alba in the armory doorway, her hand on the frame, looking at the blades laid out on the table.

He put that thought down and rode to the village. It felt like the longest ride.

The three men were at the far end of the village market when he got there. They were standing beside their horses with drinks in their hands and expressions designed to communicate that they were simply passing through, which convinced no one.

The villagers had arranged themselves at a careful distance, not cowering––his people didn't cower––but giving the space that armed strangers warranted.

Lachlann dismounted.

The tallest of the three turned to face him with a studied ease that had been practiced. He was broad and fair-haired, with Torquil's look about the jaw.