Page 108 of Bride of Ice
Chapter 28
Isabel’s strategy worked. Not a single member of the clan spoke about hostages or even mentioned the names of Jenefer, Feiyan, or Colban an Curaidh all afternoon. Even forthright Ian managed to hold his tongue.
But when her cousins were still missing for dinner, Hallie knew she had to address their absence.
As it turned out, her mother wished to speak with her and her aunts in private after dinner. The four of them repaired to the solar.
Hallie closed the door, and while she had the courage, before her mother could begin, she turned to them and blurted out, “I need to tell you about Jenefer and Feiyan.”
“Bloody hell. I knew it.” Helena scowled, then collapsed onto a chair. “What has Jenefer done now?” Her daughter was constantly getting into trouble and dragging Feiyan into it.
“Are they all right?” Miriel’s dark brows furrowed in concern as she settled onto another chair.
“Aye. They’re safe and unharmed.” She prayed she was right about that.
“But?” her mother prodded, crossing her arms.
Hallie paced, carefully laying out what had happened, step by step. How the three cousins had hatched up the scheme to frighten the Highlanders away. How Jenefer had stolen away on her own and Hallie and Feiyan had followed her. How they’d ended up in a midnight scrap with Morgan Mor mac Giric and ended up as the Highlander’s “guests.” And how Hallie had managed to escape.
Her mother listened with cool detachment.
Helena muttered curses under her breath.
Miriel narrowed her eyes, as if looking for gaps in the story.
“You should know,” Hallie concluded, “when I left, I took a counter hostage.”
“A hostage!” Helena shot to her feet, fire in her eyes. “Where is this hostage?”
Miriel gave Helena’s skirts a chiding yank. “If you damageHallie’shostage, ’twill give the Highlander reason to damagehis.”
“Exactly,” Hallie explained. “’Twas only for leverage and only for a little while, to ensure the continued safety of Jenefer and Miriel until the king’s official decree could be delivered.”
“Thisdecree?” her mother said, pulling a rolled parchment from her satchel that had the king’s seal.
Hallie stared at the missive. So much depended on that small scrap of parchment. Her future. Colban’s future. The future of the clan.
“Sit down, Hallie,” her mother suggested.
Hallie sank into the chair behind her. But she felt no less nervous about what the document might contain.
“I have to admit,” her mother continued, “your story complicates matters a bit.”
“A bit?” Helena snorted, flopping back down into her chair.
Her mother silenced Helena with a dark look, then spoke to Hallie. “First, you should know the king plans to award Creagor to Jenefer.”
Hallie nodded. She wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.
How would Colban feel about losing Creagor? Would he be true to his word? Would he remain here and marry her? Or would he follow his laird and his clan back to the Highlands?
“But the request was granted on certain conditions,” her mother added.
“Conditions?” She supposed that wasn’t unusual. That was how negotiations were made. There might be an extra forty days of service in the king’s army this year or an annual rent from Creagor in the form of crops or livestock. “What conditions?”
Her mother glanced at her two sisters, who lowered their gazes to the floor. “I insisted we speak with you first before confirming anything. As a formality.”
Hallie frowned. Why would they need her permission?
