Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

" Nay ."

For a moment, Agnes thought her husband would drop to his knees.

"Get to the horses," he said, running toward Fafnir. "Leave all that. We must get back."

His words were sharp with a fear that smote Agnes's heart, and she darted toward Glimmer, heaving herself up as Leo took off.

The mare caught up with ease, even as a peculiar dread crept over Agnes. She almost wished that she had not said anything, that they were still in that clearing together, laughing and talking.

Slowly, as they raced along, it occurred to her that she was not worried about herself, but Leo. What made him act so, that he had no eyes for anything except that smoke?

Did he know what was burning? Something in Mosage? A villager's house in Orsal? Her breath caught. Surely not Briorn?

Something painful flashed through Agnes's mind. She glanced at Leo, who was bent low over Fafnir, and saw his mask. Now, the snatches of stories she'd heard about the old MacLarsen Castle across the loch took on a different meaning. And with a sinking heart, she suspected she knew what had happened—how Leo had gotten such scars.

Please let everyone be all right.

The ride seemed to take an age and no time at all. As they went along, the shadows grew, and Agnes had an impression that the light fled from them, save for the great splashes of crimson across the forest floor. Finally, they broke free of the tree line and into a cool breeze coming off the loch.

Here, they paused, and Agnes now looked at her husband.

The wind ruffled his hair, and he stared down at Briorn Castle, wreathed in shadow. His hands tightened around the reins, his knuckles going white, and a sudden shift of the wind caused the pungent smoke to assault them. Agnes had coughed, but Leo seemed unaffected—until she heard him make a low, pained sound, like an animal in distress.

Before she could blink, he was charging up the road, Fafnir nothing but a streak of night in the bloodied light. Agnes clucked at Glimmer, who took off, but she knew they would not catch them this time.

When she rode up to the castle, Leo was swinging down from Fafnir, and several men were sprinting up. But he ignored them all, charging forward to pull Kristie into an embrace and look her over. From a distance, as she swung down from Glimmer, Agnes could tell that Leo's sister was trying to reassure him. Only, he kept shaking his head.

Granny Ro appeared then, and Leo embraced her as well. The small woman's face contorted with sudden grief as she patted her grandson's back and then put a hand to his face.

Agnes drew even as she heard Granny Ro say, "Nay one is hurt, Leo. I swear to ye."

"And the fire is mostly out," Kristie added, though she sounded exhausted, and she swayed as though she might sink to the grass at any moment.

"I-I should've been here," he said and stared up at the castle walls, the graying smoke growing fainter against the deep blue of twilight. "What the hell happened?"

Fergus rushed toward them then, and Leo met him halfway, the two men pulling each other in a rough hug. When Leo let go, they exchanged a wordless glance, and then Fergus immediately went to Kristie to pull her close. His red hair was streaked with dark soot, and dirt was smeared across his brow. But Kristie did not seem to care a whit and pulled him down for a kiss.

"Enough," Leo barked, even though Agnes could see a flicker of amusement and relief in his eyes. As though, despite everything, there were still good things amid the chaos. For she could hear shouts from the men inside, and in the distance, lads rushed by with buckets of water. "Shite! Do our men need aid, Fergus?"

"Nay," Fergus said and lifted his head. "‘Tis nearly out."

"What in the hell happened?" Leo glanced around. "An accident?"

Fergus went to speak, then hesitated, glancing at Granny Ro, who had pursed her lips. "We dinnae ken, Leo."

" What ?" Leo grabbed his blade. "Then we need to?—"

"Assess the damage and think carefully about what to do next," Granny Ro said in an even tone, folding her hands over the top of her cane. "Me guess is that it is a warning—someone torched the old woodshed just inside the keep."

"We had been meanin' to tear that down, so p'raps they did us a favor," Fergus tried to jibe.

"Och, aye, so grateful those ol' nameless bastards didnae try to burn us alive this time," Kristie snapped and finally sank down to the grass. Her hands clutched at her belly, and she trembled all over. "After all, we ken they well could. Wouldnae be the first time, would it?"

Agnes started at that, and a cold feeling wrapped around her heart. What? She looked at Leo, his mask, and recalled the scars she'd seen when he emerged from the water. She'd thought it had been a tragic accident, but had it been… an attack? Her throat closed up. Had someone inflicted such wounds on her husband?

"We will sort this out, Kristie," Leo said in a stern voice. "Dinnae despair."

His sister let out a bitter laugh that chilled Agnes as much as it surprised her. "I shall try, Braither."

Then she bowed her head, and Agnes's heart ached, for she knew the woman was hiding her tears. Before she could speak or move, Fergus was there, scooping his pregnant wife up and carrying her away.

Leo looked like he wanted to follow them, but then a few of his men ran up to him, explaining that the fire was out and how they'd found nothing.

Agnes tore her gaze away from Leo's face, stark with harsh lines around his lips. Her gaze snagged on Fergus, who was carrying Kristie, and she twisted her hands together. She'd never feared raids or this kind of danger—life at Craeghil had always been uneventful. Yet, that carried a certain kind of peace that now lay in pieces around her feet.

She felt a soft touch on her arm and turned to see that Granny Ro had come up to her. "Are ye all right, dearie?"

"Who would want to hurt Clan MacLarsen?" Agnes blurted out.

The old woman's eyes flickered, and she said in a low, sad voice, "Ach, lass, I wish that I didnae have to answer that question. A decade ago, the clans were at each other's throats. Rivalries ran hot as we debated a parlay with the English. Some even whispered that the English were feeding into the bloodshed. Either way, it sparked feuds."

"And raids," Agnes said, looking up. She glanced at Leo and lowered her voice. "So, is that what happened? A fire?"

"They passed seven years ago in a raid."

Her chest hurt as she tried to pull in a breath, as the words that Leo had told her suddenly came back with sharp clarity. Burned alive, Kristie had said .

God in Heaven, no wonder why Leo was so afraid.

Granny Ro gave her a soft smile. "Ye are a canny thing. Aye, the old stronghold of the clan across the loch had been burned to the ground one night, seven years ago." Her lower lip trembled, and she looked away. "The raid and fire destroyed our ancestral seat."

"Is the feud still ongoing?" Agnes asked.

"Nay, we have the treaties in place, and Leo…" Granny Ro looked over at him. "He found most of those responsible. Even without the treaty, I do wonder who would dare lift a hand against him."

Agnes thought of the bandits and this fire as a warning. "Perhaps it's not an old enemy," she said slowly. "Perhaps you have a new one."

"Aye," said Leo's voice, and both women jumped. "I fear the same thing." Granny Ro reached out and laid a comforting hand on his arm. "Gran, would ye?—"

At that moment, there was a shout, and a roll of heat came around the corner as fire appeared in the distance. Agnes gasped and started forward, realizing the garden was burning. Men surged around her, carrying buckets, and she was carried forward, closer to the blaze.

Behind her, she thought she heard someone shouting her name. As she went to turn back, however, another sound caught her ears.

The sound of something small and terrified needing her help.

Agnes turned back and ran.

" Leo ."

He turned sharply at his grandmother's voice and then followed her gaze to Agnes, who was sprinting toward the fire.

"What is she doing?" he gasped, staring.

However, that moment cost him, for his folk rushed around him to get to the garden. He fought his way through, then began to sprint after Agnes. Yet, it seemed that his legs were not long or quick enough to catch up to his dark-haired wife.

Alertness was in every line of her small form, weaving ahead of him, and again, as he had for the past years, he heard that hissing whisper.

Too late.

His heart nearly gave out when he lost sight of her, and he almost shoved aside one of his men to break through. He swept his gaze to and fro, not certain how she could have vanished.

Movement by a long row of bushes caught his eye. It abutted the small woods that extended to the lake, and often small game could be found in there. At first, he thought it was a small deer, but then he realized it was Agnes on the ground, peering beneath the bushes.

A sudden flicker of light fell over her, and he glanced sharply to the left to see that the end of the row of bushes had caught fire. His stomach dropped as he began to run again, almost stumbling, watching that red mouth of flame grow larger and larger?—

The flames at MacLarsen Castle, relentless, starving, and somewhere inside were Ma and Da, somewhere inside, they were already dead…

With a snarl, Leo pulled himself out of the memory and saw Agnes half vanish under the bushes, reaching for something. She sat back as Leo drew closer, cradling something to her chest, and then the bush closest to her caught fire. Her head snapped up, and she tried to get to her feet, but Leo was there, catching her in his arms and spinning away.

At that exact moment, the bush Agnes had been under caught fire, and half of it toppled forward, right onto the spot where she'd been lying.

"Goodness," Agnes said breathlessly in his ear. "Thank you, Leo." She shivered in his arms. "Fire moves so fast—I had no idea."

Aye, I ken all too well.

Leo strode away, unable to speak, not sure he trusted himself to. He headed for higher and clearer ground, noting that Agnes was coughing a bit, and a dark rage tore through him.

I will destroy whoever did this—how dare they put me family, me wife, in danger?

"Leo, you can put me down," Agnes said in a soft voice, and he stopped, realizing he'd carried her away from the castle.

Below his boots was a gentle hill that gave him a view of the loch spreading north, with the village of Orsal to the east and the castle at their back. The evening had fallen, and from this angle, everything exuded peace.

A peace he did not feel, for was he not the Beast of Briorn? He was a dark stain upon it, even as he protected it. For here was the place that Leo had often come to and stood in those first months when he'd brought his people across the loch when they were building Briorn Castle.

Here was where he could stand, surveying his land, but almost able to pretend it was unfamiliar. After all, he'd grown up with the water to the south, and a single small village to the northwest.

"Leo?" Agnes's soft voice brought him back with a jolt. "I?—"

"What the hell were ye thinkin', Nes?"

Agnes squirmed and said, "Put me down, so I can—oh!"

Leo made a grab in the air, thinking Agnes dropped something, but instead, his hand closed around a small, warm, furry body.

"Careful," Agnes cried as he set her down with one hand and squinted at the scrap of teeth and claws hissing at him from the other. "He can barely open his eyes. I don't know how he ended up there."

"A kitten," Leo said, not sure whether to laugh or shout some more. Instead, he handed it over to Agnes and fought the warm rush when he saw her cuddle it to her chest. She was just so dear . "This is what ye risked life and limb for?"

"Of course," Agnes said. She pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and waved at him. "Learned my lesson at the Lowater never to be without one."

Leo shook his head as she began to clean the creature, taking care to wipe its face and fur, and a pale gray fur, like the soft edge of dawn, emerged. Only his wife would put her life at risk for something so small and innocent.

"I'm thinking of calling him Dusty," she said and wrinkled her nose at the small creature as it tried to bite the cloth. "Stop that, lad."

Heaving a sigh, Leo looked up at the stars and inhaled the clean, fresh air of the loch. Then he turned back to the castle and ran his eyes over the walls, then up to the sky. The fire by the garden was out, and most of the smoke was dissipating. Here, he couldn't even smell it.

In his mind, though, he could see the outline of MacLarsen Castle as it burned, the shriek and crack of the beams, the way the stone had seemed to melt. And then, waking up the next morning, into that world of ash. Everything had been sapped of color, nothing but black, burnt lines against the world. Followed by the terror and pity in the eyes that met his.

Leo pulled in a breath, imagining Agnes drained of color and covered with ash. He turned back to her sharply and said, "Dinnae ever do such a foolish thing again. Understood?"

She paused and looked up at him, something wary in her gaze. Usually, she had such an air of flippant disregard and sass. But now she had the air of a doe in the first light of a winter dawn, still even as predators drew close.

"Ye must ne'er put yerself in such danger." His eyes flicked to the cat. "Nay matter the reason."

"But if I waited?—"

"Nes," Leo cut in. "Promise me." His eyes fluttered shut, and he wanted to reach for her, but he clenched his fists by his sides. "I couldnae?—"

"All right, husband," Agnes said and touched his face with a gentle hand. He opened his eyes to see her standing in front of him, her eyes troubled. "We will not call this one of your conditions or rules, but a promise."

"Thank ye," Leo said and caught her hand, kissing her palm. "And talk to Miss Fanny in the scullery. She's a real knack with cats. Keeps our stables in tip-top shape with her mousers."

"Thank you," Agnes said.

Her bright face dimmed, and she regarded the castle. Leo turned and stood with her, the two of them watching the aftermath of the attack on their home. He wondered what Agnes was thinking.

Then she asked, "Do you know who could be behind this?"

"Nay," he said in a low voice, even as he heard that mocking laugh ringing in his head and felt the hot lash of a blade against his flesh. "But I intend to find them."

Once and for all.