Page 100 of The Splendor of Fire
Thank you!
But she didn’t know her limits, not on this. She was a skilled warrior, but dangerously ignorant. “Did she know her limits when she disobeyed direct orders from Hector and destroyed the siege engine and fifty men?”
She shot to her feet.How dare you!
Hector got to his feet and held up a hand to her. “Birdy, sit down. Léo, enough.”
Memories crashed in on him hard and fast. Malvina’s abuse. The dozens of times she’d tried to trick, trap, and kill Maman and himself. His mother’s tears through the wall, the fear that consumed her every minute.
Léo’s voice trembled with finality. “I refuse to sail her back with me. Do you hear me? I refuse.”
Fine. I’ll walk. I don’t need you.
An annoyed growl emitted from Hector’s throat and he brought his hands to his head. “Enough!”
Everyone around the table jumped except for Eilidh and Eoghan who whispered to each other at the end of the table, clearly amused.
“Léo, the fact of the matter is Iain and Moira are correct. We need her on the inside to keep watch for any pertinent information.”
“NO—”
Hector held up his hands. “Hold it! Moira, I trust you. I’ll send you back into Dun Rungill, but with one important directive. As soon as Léo tells you to leave, you go. You’re to listen to him because he’s second-in-command, and he…he…”
David leaned over to Angus bark-whispering, “He what?”
Murdoch smoothed a hand over his mustache and whispered back. “He loves her, it’s obvious.”
Calum nodded. “Och. I’ll say. He’s letting it get in the way of the mission.”
Moira glared at him, triumphant, arms still crossed.
Hector shook his head. “I meant he has a better instinct for danger.”
Fear heaved Léo’s stomach and prickled along his neck. “Which is why she shouldn’t be going back. She needs to stay here, out of danger. There’s only one person in this room who grew up in that household and knows what they’re capable of.”
Eoghan raised his hand. “Moira’s had both of her parents murdered by them. I think she may have an inkling.”
Moira put a hand to her hip and stared at Léo, gloating.
It was all he could take. He burst out of his chair his voice rising against all others in the room, frustrated that they discounted everything he said. “No shedoesn’t have an inklingof what it’s like to be plotted against from the moment you take your first breath. To have your mother terrorized and nearly killed half a dozen times. To watch as your parents are poisoned to death because of a stupid dream you had.”
All mirth drained from every face around the table.
“She doesn’t know what it’s like to grow up on constant vigil for the trap they’ve set. To never trust anyone. To be seven years old and have your maman claw a hole in a dungeon wall for your escape in case she dies. To train in French all day, every day because you may have to sail for family in a foreign land, because you cannot trust your father to keep you safe if your maman is dead.” Tears sprang to his eyes, and he regretted revealing so much, but he couldn’t make himself stop. “I know the evil in their hearts and how it stains everything they do. She may not think Malvina and Fingon are on to her yet, but I promise you they are. They’ll destroy her!”
Stinging with betrayal, he advanced on Hector and grabbed his cuirass in his hands. “You warned me once about hurting Cara, and I’m warning you now. If you send Moira back in there and they harm her in any way, I won’t ever forgive you. No more chances.” Hector’s ice blue eyes investigated his own and he nodded. Léo let him go and turned back to the open mouths around the table.
“If I wasn’t positive she’d head immediately to Dun Ringill, I’d go to Calais right now and forget this whole mess and all of you. I don’t want any of this at the cost of her safety, or worse, her life. So now, instead of going to my boy, I’m going to follow her. Because you’re right. I do love her. And I know no matter what I say, no matter how I beg her, nomatter how much I love her or how much it destroys me to see her hurt, she will put herself in danger to help all of you. I won’t forget how you’ve helped her do this. If something happens to her I won’t ever forgive any of you.”
He couldn’t bring himself to look at Moira, or her quick-signing hands. He needed to be alone. Striding out of the hall, nauseating truth dawned on him in fast, violent waves. He wanted all of her, by his side, forever, but she wanted none of a life with him.
Chapter 29
DUN RINGILL CASTLE - SEPTEMBER 20, 1385
Léo had refused to talk to her beyond basic polite conversation for days. Each twilight Moira invited him to join her at Albhainn Pond to train, but he made excuses and apologies and wouldn’t go. Each morning he saw her into the care of Isobel while he went to store the harvests with Gordon, and each afternoon he sat stoically reading in Niall’s solar, keeping steadfast vigil over her when she must interact with Fingon and Malvina. Each night, he waited for her to slip inside her room and bolt the door before going to bed.
His heart had closed to her, and now no matter how hard she knocked, he wouldn’t open it again. Today, after a week of distance, she decided to confront him. Rising before lauds, she slipped down to the kitchens to wait for him to wake. She eased the door open, endeavoring not to rouse Isobel sleeping next door.
