Page 23 of The Hawk Laird
He shook his head. “Southrons could be patrolling the entire area. ’Tis dangerous enough to go back for my horse. I will not risk another attack by riding to Stobo. We will go south into the Ettrick Forest, the way we headed before we were ambushed. I will take you to my aunt’s house. She lives across the river, in the forest.”
Isobel looked at him in alarm. “But I must go to Stobo. Eustace promised to take me there. Now I must ask you to do that. I have nowhere else to go, no home, no kin nearby.”
“Have you no family at all to take you in?” He spoke brusquely. She half turned, puzzled by his demand, and decided that he, too, tried to think of somewhere suitable to take her.
“My father is in prison, and my mother is dead,” she said quietly. “I do not have brothers or sisters. But I have Seton kinsmen, including my cousin Sir Christopher Seton, married to one of Robert Bruce’s sisters. Another cousin, Sir William Seton, holds Dalrinnie Castle near Ettrick Forest. But I have not seen him since before the siege. You could take me to meet one of them.”
“Those places are too far from here,” he said bluntly. “I know Sir Christopher Seton, and your cousin Sir William—Liam—as well. I suppose you did not know that Dalrinnie was taken by the English.”
“I had not. Where is Liam Seton now?”
“Doing what many of us have done for the cause of Scotland. So he is not a man who is easy to find—even if he would rescue his cousin. You will stay with me.”
She blinked, stunned by his brusque tone, his hard manner. “Then the town of Stobo is closest. Father Hugh will take me in.”
“I will not go to Stobo.” He had turned to stone again in moments.
She sighed. “Then take me to Castle Wildshaw. The constable there will help me, even if you will not.”
Tension gathered in the strong hand that circled her waist. “That place is west, beyond the forest, a few hours’ ride from here.” His tone was flat.
“Sir Ralph Leslie is constable there. He will help me. If you will not take me to Stobo, then please escort me to Wildshaw.”
“Leslie? Your betrothed.”
“Aye,” she admitted. “How do you know?”
“I have heard of him. Another Scottish knight who has changed his allegiance.”
She heard the edge in his voice. “Many Scotsmen have pledged to King Edward. Sir Ralph is a worthy knight who has ties through kin to both England and Scotland. He says this is a complex war, and he tries to remain neutral.”
Lindsay laughed, short and curt. Though she had no real love for Ralph Leslie, Isobel’s temper flared. “’Tis said that you yourself changed—” she began.
“You know naught of my fealty,” he snapped. “When do you plan to wed this paragon?”
“Sir Ralph and my father wanted the marriage done a few weeks ago.”
“And you? When do you want it?”
Never,she thought. “The marriage has not happened yet because my father was captured, Sir Ralph went off to search for him, and Aberlady fell under siege.”
“Good reasons to cancel glad nuptials,” James drawled.
She did not like this cold, dark side of him or the bitterness she heard in his voice. “I do not understand why you will not help me in this,” she said carefully. “It might have to do with the wars and with your loyalty—whatever that may be. But I, too, have loyalties and desires.”
“And what are those?” he asked in a low, even tone.
“I want to see my father again. He may be at Wildshaw now—Sir Ralph promised before the siege began that he would retrieve him from an English dungeon.”
“I see. And your loyalty?”
“I am loyal to my father. And I am a Scotswoman.” She lifted her chin in answer to any doubt of her loyalty.
“Betrothed to a Scotsman with English fealties.”
“You saw the stand I took at Aberlady, I hope.” But she looked away. The matter of her betrothal had troubled her from its outset. “But I will do what my father asks of me. And I want to find him. Surely you understand that.”
“I do. I imagine that you want to be with your betrothed as well.”
