Chapter 13 #2
The young man leaped nimbly down from the saddle, dusting himself down.
The other men remained on horseback. She noticed that they were all on high alert, glancing around with suspicious eyes, hands always inching towards the swords strapped to their belts.
Argentum finally stopped barking, although he retreated to stand beside Brendan, eyeing the men warily.
“What do ye want, Noah?” Brendan spoke, and Freya shivered.
They know him. He knows them. These aren’t the soldiers who attacked him in town. I’ve never seen these men before, but they are Grahame men.
Are they here for me?
A horrible, sickening idea occurred to her.
Could Brendan have given her up? Was this all a trap?
She considered running for her life now, but how?
The only entrance and exit out of the barn was the front one, the one that was currently looking out into the clearing.
She could hardly creep out in full view of all those soldiers.
Just wait a moment, she told herself, swallowing thickly. All will be well if ye just wait. See what happens.
The young man—Noah—sighed, shaking his head. “So unfriendly. We were close once, weren’t we, Brendan?”
Brendan clenched his jaw. “Once. Ye promised ye wouldn’t arrive without sending me word. I could have had guests.”
Noah spread out his hands. “Do ye have guests?”
A muscle feathered in Brendan’s cheek. Freya held her breath.
“No,” he said at last, and she released her breath in a quiet gasp.
Of course, he hadn’t betrayed her. How could she have thought that he would? It was wrong of her, to be sure. Whatever was happening here, it had nothing to do with her.
Brendan must have known that she was in the barn, as he’d instructed, but he didn’t glance her way even once. His self-control was remarkable.
Even one look in this direction, and that man will sense that something’s up.
“I’m sorry to come without warning,” Noah said eventually, “but no harm done, eh? Ye know I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.”
Brendan swallowed thickly. She could see the movement of his throat even from here. He was nervous, she realized. It wasn’t clear whether the other man understood that, or was simply ignoring it.
“Is he dead?” Brendan said, at last. “Is that why ye are here? I think that is the only circumstance where I’d be happy to see ye.”
Noah shifted uncomfortably, glancing around at his men. “It’s illegal to speak of the laird’s death, lad.”
Brendan gave a harsh bark of laughter. “What? Since when?”
“It was put in place a few months back. We’re not to speak of it, nobody is.”
Laird Grahame, she realized. They’re talking about Laird Grahame.
“And so what, the implication is that he’ll live forever?” Brendan sneered. “It’s nonsense. And what has this new law to do with me?”
Noah sighed. “I’m not here to discuss the new law with ye.”
“Good, because it’s madness.”
“The time for discussing it is gone,” Noah continued, his voice suddenly accusing. He jabbed a finger towards him. “The only one who could have spoken up against him was not there, were ye?”
Wait. Wait. Had Brendan once been in Keep Grahame? Was he once close to the laird? An advisor, perhaps? Freya’s heart thudded so loud she was sure that the men outside must have heard it.
I knew he must have been a captain and a warrior, a leader of men. But what else?
What am I missing?
“Don’t ye dare blame me for all this,” Brendan growled, stepping forward until he and Noah were almost nose-to-nose.
“Ye think he would have listened to me? Ye think he ever listened to me? I was no more than a piece on his chessboard, moved to wherever he wished. What do ye do if a pawn starts talking back? Ye remove it, aye? That’s what he’d have done.
If I hadn’t taken myself off the board, I’m fairly sure that somebody else would have done it for me. ”
Noah held his gaze for a moment, then sighed, looking away. He took a step back, raising his palms in the universal gesture of surrender.
“I don’t want to fight, Brendan. I didn’t come here to throw accusations or to start an argument. I’m here because we have things to discuss, ye and I. Can we talk inside?”
“No.”
Noah sighed again. “Fine. Out here it is, then. I’ve not bothered ye before, have I? I knew where ye were, and yet I kept yer secret. It can’t go on, Brendan. Ye have to come home.”
Secret? What secret?
“This is my home,” Brendan responded, but it sounded mechanical, almost false. “I’m not going back there, laddie.”
“Ye must,” Noah insisted. “Laird Grahame is… Well, he’s… Ach, I can’t explain in just a few words. The danger is increasing, and it’s time for ye to take up yer duties.”
“Don’t speak to me of duty, Noah.”
There was real anger in Brendan’s voice now. Freya crept closer to the door again, resting her forehead on the cool, rough wood.
She knew, somehow, what the next reveal would be.
“Ye have to go back to Keep Grahame,” Noah said, calm and firm. “Ye have to go back. We need ye. The clan needs ye. It’s time for the only Grahame heir to come out of hiding at long last.”