Page 7 of The Anguish of the Scottish Lairds
Logan glanced over at Sloan, then back at Dermot. “Keep him inside the walls. And everyone else. There’s a madman who wishes to take over Mull, but he comes by boat. No one knows where he’s from, so be aware.”
Dermot looked at Sloan and said, “I told you!”
Sloan sighed and stepped outside, Logan along with him. “Many thanks to you. I have a flask in the stables I’ll give you. Send Derric when he’s ready. Our men will work with him whenever he arrives.”
He settled with the old warrior and sent him on his way, just as Ingelram approached.
“Did Rinaldo come this way?”
Sloan shook his head. “Why?”
“He disappeared on me again. He was going to work in the lists.”
“I’ll worry about my brother. Go back to the lists.” Sloan knew that Rinaldo was too weak in the head to handle much physical exertion, so he let him do as he wished.
Sometimes they had no idea what he did with his day.
CHAPTER THREE
Eva
Eva leaned over the parapets to watch the activity taking place down near the water. Voices carried so well over the sound that she could hear everything as clearly as though the speakers stood next to her.
“It’s too cold, Lennox,” Meg declared. “I’m not going in.”
Her brother removed his tunic and his plaid, now dressed only in his trews. “You’re going in with me.” Lennox took two steps toward his wife and Meg squealed, running off in the opposite direction.
“Run, Meg!” her sister shouted after her. Tamsin had married Thane MacQuarie and they visited often.
That made spying on the four Eva’s favorite pastime. How she loved watching her serious brother turn into someone completely different, and only because he’d become smitten with Meg and married her quickly. Their antics entertained her more than anything else these days, and the love between Tamsin and Thane gave her hope that someday she’d find her own partner to love. One who would love her for who she was and not what they wished she could be.
Down the bank, she heard a loud scream and an ever louder splash from Lennox lifting Meg and jumping into the sound with his wife. She came up sputtering and pushed his head back underwater, but Lennox tugged her under with him.
The two laughed so much that it made Eva smile.
Tamsin headed toward the two, but Thane rushed along behind her. “Careful, love. There are tree roots sticking up. Don’t trip.”
“Thane, I’m not going to fall into the water. I am much better at swimming than I used to be.”
Eva listened with a twinge of jealousy. Meg had told her that she thought Tamsin might be carrying, but her sister hadn’t said anything yet.
Eva let out a sigh as a golden bird approached, closer than any bird had ever done before. Eva sat up straight, leaning back, and the bird landed on the edge of the parapets, moving across it as if it were king of the isle.
“Greetings to you, mighty bird. Where did you get such bright feathers? I’ve seen many yellow birds, but you are the first golden one I’ve ever seen.”
The bird squawked and pranced a bit, then stopped to stare at her, an eerie feeling creeping up her neck.
“What do you want?” The first word that popped into her mind was marriage. Eva laughed. “I don’t think I can marry a bird, though you are quite regal.”
The bird flew off toward the northwest corner, then returned. Eva had never seen a bird try to communicate with anyone. Was this bird making an attempt to tell her something?
Once it landed again, it lifted its left leg, revealing a scratch down the extremity. “Your leg has a scratch. That must have been painful.”
The bird let out a loud squawk, then took off because footsteps from the staircase carried to them.
Her mother opened the door and asked, “What about a scratched leg? Yours?”
“Nay. A bird. A silly bird that sat on the parapets and stared at me.” She glanced around the area, but the flying creature had disappeared.
