Page 32 of Her Scot of the Morrow
“Aye, my King,” I replied dutifully, looking him in the eyes without batting a lash, and telling him the garnished truth. “As promised, Willow sought me out at Sutherland Castle.” I shook my head. “We didnae know nor anticipate that she would shift beforehand and arrive as a dragon. A dragon that, understandably enough, wasnae pleased by how the Sutherlands were treating me.”
I paused, wearing a grave and troubled expression as if gathering my thoughts before continuing.
“’Tis also true upon her arrival, she discovered I had been banished to the dark corners of Sutherland Castle with no food or drink for no reason other than a tree.”
I shook my head again as if trying to make sense of it all, before relenting. “So aye, she didnae like it, but her wrath could have been much worse. She flew in under the cover of darkness toward a castle full of dragons with an incoming storm, so verra few were about other than the guards on the battlements. She caused minimal damage to reduce the risk to those living above.”
Lowering my head, I released a heavy sigh and rallied myself to keep my emotions absent from my face before looking from Elspet to Dugal, slow enough to let them know I wouldn’t let them get away with this before meeting Robert’s eyes again.
“As to what happened today, Willow and I were ambushed en route to meet with ye.” I shook my head. “As ye clearly saw, none of the warriors wore Sutherland colors nor any colors I recognized, and they refused to identify themselves. We only took a life if we had no other choice.” I used a tone he knew well and could trust, keeping my eyes with his. “Ye have my word, my King. When she shifted, ‘twas only to protect me as I protected her, and ‘twas most impressive considering her newly embraced dragon might have acted far differently. And I swear on my mother and father’s souls ‘twas just as I said.”
“Then why were they all dead when I arrived?” the king asked, his tone dry because he was no fool, given Elspet and Dugal had led him there. “However convenient my timing.”
“I couldnae say other than they fell to their deaths for no apparent reason.” I shook my head again. “And I swear on my life because my dragon would know otherwise, that Willow’s dragon wasnae responsible.” Gesturing to some minor wounds and the sweat and dirt still on my brow from the exertion offighting, I pointed out the obvious. “If she were capable of such, I would think the ambush would have ended before it began, aye? Yet ye see and undoubtedly heard through the woodland ‘twas anything but.”
Robert’s gaze lingered on Willow and me for a moment as if he were trying to determine how truthful we were before he looked at Dugal, his expression hard to read. “If ye meant to attack the MacLeods without waiting to speak with me first, why were yer men not wearing Sutherland colors?”
“As ye can clearly see, ‘twas verra much our hope to speak with ye first.” Dugal gave Robert a pointed look. “But ye well know, whether they were ordered to wait or not, there was much anger amongst my warriors about the ruthless, unprovoked attack on our castle. And we all know with the bad blood betwixt our clans, ‘tis not so surprising some took matters into their own hands.” He shook his head woefully. “I couldnae say why they didnae wear Sutherland colors but only assume ‘twas so they would seem less threatening.”
“Did any of them possess dragon blood?” Robert’s eyebrows edged together. “If so, ‘tis surprising they didnae shift when Willow did or well before it.”
“None were of dragon blood,” Dugal confirmed.
“Then ‘twas truly brave of them to confront Sloan, aye?” the king said, again no fool. “I've seen his dragon and ‘tis sizeable.”
“He couldn't shift anyway,” Willow muttered under her breath, narrowing her eyes at Elspet. “Becausesomeonestoppedhim.”
Even though Robert shot Willow a frustrated look for speaking out of turn again, he addressed what Willow claimed when he looked at me. “Is that true? Ye couldnae shift to defend yerself and Willow?”
“Nay,” I confirmed, pointing out what Robert may not be aware of. “And ‘tis well known Elspet has that power.”
Robert looked Elspet’s way. “Is that true?”
“Aye,” she admitted readily enough, appearing properly innocent. “On Sutherland territory and nowhere else, which is also well known to us dragons.”
I tensed, hoping Willow knew better than to mention we suspected Elspet could have accessed the tree’s magic and used it to keep me from shifting. Thankfully, it seemed Willow did because she remained silent. It was best for now if Elspet didn’t realize how much we actually knew. We could use her ignorance against her. In that lay our greatest advantage.
“’Twas verra close to Sutherland territory though,” King Robert remarked before dismissing me and Willow so he could speak to Dugal and Elspet alone.
“How do you think that went?” Willow said softly as we waited outside, surrounded by guards.
“As well as it could have,” I said just as softly. “’Tis not an easy decision my king has to make.”
And I feared it could only go one way, but I kept that from her for now.
“I imagine it isn’t,” she murmured, no doubt knowing what I was thinking anyway. Clearly a nuisance, her hair whipped in her face as the moon rose and the wind gusted, speaking to yet another incoming storm. She was about to say more, but hesitated as her eyes seemed to fixate on my Viking blade.
“What is it?” I asked, not about to unsheathe it right now, and alarm Robert’s men.
“I don’t know.” She narrowed her eyes a little. “I could’ve sworn there was another dragon carved into the hilt, but I must have been mistaken.”
When the wind blew her hair in her face again, she slid her hand into the pocket of her fur cloak, looking for something to tie back her unruly locks, but pulled it out swiftly when the king’s men grew tense, thinking she could be reaching for a knife.Instead, she pulled out a small pin designed to clip her hair back.
Yet as harmless as it appeared, we both knew that pin hadn’t been there before. Moreover, we didn’t miss the tiny dragon carved on it as she smoothly clipped her hair back, only to confirm what we both suspected.
It was part of the Viking blade still sheathed at my back.
“It’s safe to talk within the mind again,”she said, sensing it right along with me.“Thank God.”
