Highland Mist (21 page)

Dartayous’ smile grew when Conall placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Finally,” Dartayous said, and took a step toward Conall.

“Stop,” Frang said to Dartayous. For the first time in his life, Conall watched as Frang allowed his weariness to show. “We’ll keep your family safe, Conall.”

“I think not. You didn’t keep Iona safe, nor my father, for that matter. I’ll take care of them myself,” he said, and strode back toward the castle.

Conall waited for a parting remark from Frang and was relieved when none came. His vow hung over his head like a dark thundercloud ready to unleash its power. He wanted peace. He wanted a family. He wanted happiness. Was it too much to ask for? He didn’t ask for riches or power. His wishes were simple but beyond his reach it seemed.

He had slept little after the attempt on Ailsa’s and Glenna’s lives. Someone, somewhere wanted them dead. Whether it was the same man or not, Conall was determined to find him. He would tell Angus to increase the questioning of his clan.

Most of his clan, once they heard Glenna wasn’t a MacNeil, had readily accepted her. Despite his order to Angus and Gregor, the clan quickly learned what had happened to Glenna. Their outrage warmed his heart.

Conall stepped into the hall and took the chair at the head of the table where Angus and Gregor sat.

“I thought we’d have found the man by now,” Angus grumbled, and bit into a fresh tart.

Gregor nodded.

Conall looked around the hall and his men that mingled about. “Our clan numbers near two hundred, Angus. You didn’t expect to talk to everyone in two days, did you?”

“Aye,” came the surly answer. “It has to be a man.”

Gregor nodded again, but Conall recalled something Glenna said. “What if it wasn’t?”

Angus and Gregor looked at him as if he had sprouted horns. “A woman wouldn’t have that kind of strength,” Gregor reasoned.

“Wouldn’t she?” Conall asked. “We know a man attacked Glenna, but what if it was a woman who shot the arrow?”

“The two could be related somehow,” Angus said slowly.

They all looked at each other.

“Guess we better start questioning the women,” Gregor said, and leaned back in his chair.

Conall rose to his feet. “And I know who to start with.”

* * * * *

“I already told you I was here in the kitchens when Glenna was attacked.”

Conall narrowed his eyes at Effie while she kneaded the dough for bread. As soon as she had seen him, she attempted to run. After a great amount of effort, his power told him she told the truth. Still, he couldn’t understand why she was so defensive. “Why do you hate Glenna?”

“She’s a MacNeil,” Effie said, and continued to roll the dough.

“You know she’s not. I know how fast word spreads in a clan.”

She shrugged. “She may not be blood to the MacNeils, but she was reared as one of them. It’s all the same to me.”

He watched as she ripped apart the dough, showing her agitation. Once again he reached out with his power to see if she spoke true, and for a moment there was nothing. Immediately he stopped. “Then tell me why you don’t like my daughter?”

Her head jerked up, her eyes round from her surprise. “I…I don’t know what you mean.”

“Aye, lass, you do.” He didn’t need his power to know she was lying. “What has that child ever done to you?”

Again she shrugged and continued to beat the dough. “She’s just a child. She means nothing to me.”

He clenched his jaw and crossed his arms over his chest. “If you keep beating that dough to death it’ll never rise.” He waited for her to look at him, and when she didn’t, he placed his hands atop hers to gain her attention. “Tell me who harmed Glenna.”

“I wouldn’t know.”

Without even trying his power told him the truth.
Liar
. He wanted to throttle her. “Did you shoot the arrow at Ailsa?”

Her blue eyes glared up at him. “You were never supposed to know you had a daughter.”

“And I suppose you were responsible for that,” he spat. How could he have ever thought her remotely pretty?

She threw the dough across the room, her eyes shooting daggers. “I was supposed to be the one who gave you children.”

“I can safely say that will never happen. Now. Answer me. Did you try to kill Ailsa?”

She laughed hysterically. “Nay.”

He struggled with his powers but couldn’t determine if she lied or not. “I will find out, and if you had anything to do with the attempts on either Ailsa’s or Glenna’s lives, I’ll banish you.”

He almost smiled when she went white at his threat. He turned on his heel and walked from the kitchen.

“Well?” Angus and Gregor asked him when he slid into his chair at the table.

“She knows who did it.”

“And you didn’t make her tell you?” Gregor sighed. “In my clan…”

Conall waited for him to finish. “I thought you said you didn’t have a clan.”

“I don’t. Not anymore.”

“Just what clan did ye belong to?” Angus wanted to know.

Gregor quickly changed the subject. “How long are you going to give her to tell you?”

“A day. She’s afraid she’ll be banished. She’ll tell me,” Conall said, assured of his victory.

* * * * *

Gregor waited until Angus and Conall left the hall before he made his way to the kitchen. Effie sat on the floor, rocking back and forth. He was about to go to her to seek out information when the hiss of a whisper reached his ears.

Effie jerked her head around and scrambled near the shadows by the back door. Gregor’s instinct told him it was the cloaked man they searched for. He could attack now and take him down, but if he did they would never find all the answers.

His conscience warred within him. What he wanted to be and what he was fought a battle that soon had his head pounding.

I’ll follow her and see what I find. I’m not taking any side in doing this small thing.

Why can’t I chose what’s right?
he thought to himself. Was he as wicked as his father claimed him to be?

The scurrying of feet signaled Gregor he could no longer debate himself. He quickly followed Effie and the stranger as they made their way toward Effie’s hut. Before they reached the hut, the man stopped and bent next to her.

Gregor strained his eyes but could make out nothing of the man other than he didn’t wear a kilt. The man moved swiftly in the shadows, and Gregor was awed at his fleetness that rivaled that of a deer.

With his attention centered on Effie, Gregor watched as she ran to her hut. He didn’t knock as he strode through her door.

She jerked around, her eyes wide. “Oh. It’s you,” she said with a smile. “If what you said is true, that you want to hurt Conall, then you can help me.”

Gregor didn’t respond to her words, but she took his silence as agreement and flung herself into his arms. “I knew you were like me.”

Never
.

“We’ll make a grand pair, you and I, and we’ll rule this castle like a king and queen.”

He pulled her out of his arms and plastered a smile on his face. Apparently it was good enough for her because she ran to finish packing.

“We must hurry,” she said while wrapping some bread. “We can ride through the night and reach MacNeil’s by tomorrow.”

Gregor’s gut twisted. He was getting deeper in this than he wanted, but he didn’t have a choice. MacNeil expected him to dupe Conall, and Conall expected him to be a friend.

Conall expected too much. Gregor was friend to no one but himself.
I could change
, he thought inwardly.

Who would ever trust the likes of you? You’ve proven only coin matters to you.

“Are you ready?” Effie asked. She walked to the door and held out her hand.

Gregor stared at it for the longest time. He could throw her over his shoulder and take her to Conall. They might be able to gain some information out of her.

Might.

But he had given his word to MacNeil, not Conall. Nay, Conall had never asked for his word because Conall knew what he was.

A mercenary.

And who was he to think he could change himself. A plan formed in his head.

* * * * *

Conall just thought Effie would tell him everything. The next morning when he went to Effie’s cottage, he found her gone.

“St. Thomas,” he bellowed. He turned to the startled woman beside him. “Liza, are you sure it was Effie?”

“Aye, laird,” The woman bobbed her white head. “Me eyesight’s not that good anymore, but there be no mistaking that red hair of hers.”

“Do you often spy on your neighbors?” Gregor asked.

Liza cackled and smiled a toothless grin. “I admit to wantin’ to see just who she’s meeting from week to week.”

“Meeting?” Conall repeated. “She often left her cottage after dark?”

“Every night.”

“Did you see anyone with her last night?”

Liza thought a moment. “Can’t says as I did, laird.”

“Who’s she been seen with lately?” Angus asked.

Liza shrugged. “That’s why I was lookin’ so hard. She’s been keepin’ him a secret. For a while I thought it was you, laird.” She looked at Conall.

Conall squeezed his eyes shut. “Angus, go talk to the castle servants to see if someone saw her this morning. Gregor, talk to the guards at the gatehouse. They wouldn’t have let her out in the middle of the night.”

He needed to talk to Glenna and Moira. If anyone knew anything it was one of those women. He walked into Glenna’s chamber and found her sitting up in the bed. The bruises had taken on a purplish-yellow tinge but were healing faster with Moira’s help.

“How are you feeling?”

She smiled. “My head still aches but I’m alive.”

He turned to Moira. “I need your help.”

“With what?” she asked as she mixed rose petals in water. She then dipped a cloth in the water. After wringing the cloth, she placed it on Glenna’s forehead. “This should help the ache in your head.”

Conall ground his teeth. He hated asking for Moira’s help because he knew she was going to lecture him before she told him anything. “Moira, I’m trying to find the man responsible for trying to kill Glenna. I searched the Druids and warriors at the circle, but none had the blue mark on their hands.”

“I know.”

“What happened?” Glenna asked, the rose-water cloth forgotten. Her eyes were wide with anticipation as she stared at him. “Do you know who did it?”

He shook his head. “But I was close. I should’ve pushed her to tell me last night, but I thought she’d come around on her own.”

“Effie,” Glenna said. “She had something to do with it?”

“Aye. She didn’t do it, but she knows who did. I told her if she didn’t tell me I’d banish her. I also think she was involved in the attempt on Ailsa.”

Moira raised her green eyes. “Effie left.”

“Last night,” he said. “She’s been seeing a man, but no one knows who he is.”

“Did she say why I was to be killed?” Glenna asked.

He shook his head. “I was hoping to get that answered today.”

“You have bigger worries,” Moira said, her face turned toward the window.

“MacNeil will be here soon.”

After one look at Glenna, he turned and strode for the door. Effie would have to wait for the moment. The lives of his clan were more important.

* * * * *

Glenna waited until Conall left before she turned to Moira. “My training isn’t finished.”

“I can train you here. We haven’t much time, and you must be ready for MacNeil.”

She nodded and replaced the rose-water cloth. It had lessened the ache in her head. If only there was something to lessen the ache in her heart.

“Don’t ever give up hope,” Moira said.

“Hope,” Glenna repeated. “Is there such a thing?”

“Many things can be accomplished with hope.”

Glenna sighed and looked at her door, wishing Conall were beside her.

“You and Conall have many obstacles to overcome, but they can be conquered.”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Moira lowered her green eyes and pointed to the hearth. “We’ll talk later. You must be ready for MacNeil.”

* * * * *

“I want every man from the clan questioned. Liza told me the names of the men Effie has seen, so we’ll start with them,” Conall told Angus.

“This is going to take days.”

“Weeks,” Conall added. “Take a man with you. You’ll need some help.”

Angus gave him a curt nod. “We’ll find him.”

We better
, thought Conall. He was chancing a lot by sending his commander away when their greatest enemy would arrive any day, but he didn’t have a choice. The attempts on Ailsa’s and Glenna’s lives left him vulnerable. Ailsa had just been given to him, he couldn’t have her taken away, and he couldn’t face his feelings toward Glenna.