Chapter 20

DUN RINGILL CASTLE - JULY 21, 1385

M oira stood at the edge of the solar, lingering near Niall's desk, keen to stay unnoticed as Malvina raged at Léo and Gordon.

"What do you mean, you didnae catch him?"

Gordon shrugged. "None of us saw him except for Léo. We think the man shot an arrow set alight, they found this in the rubble."

Gordon held out a blackened, basket-tipped arrowhead, warped from extreme heat. Malvina yanked it out of his hand and examined it. "It was a small man, you say?"

Léo's eyebrow quirked. "Aye. Five foot five, light on his feet, scrappy."

Malvina eyed him with suspicion, correct in her skepticism that a man that small could put a mark on his six-foot-five frame. "That's smaller than Moira."

At the sound of her name she looked up from decanting the uisge-beatha, but no one bothered to notice her.

Her eyes traveled over the correspondence left unattended on the desk. Relief passed over her. Niall would be in Lochindorb until Michaelmas. The time for an uprising was upon them.

Gordon snapped his fingers. "Uisge-beatha. "

Stifling an eye roll, she replaced the cork in the bottle and carried two uisge-beathas to the fire. One for Gordon…and one for the miserable donkey who couldn't stop insulting her. Léo tried to meet her eyes and she ignored him.

Taking the seat beside Malvina on Niall's bench, Moira sat calm and empty-headed, finding the place in the plaster above Gordon's head where it cracked apart and moisture eased out of the mouldering walls.

Malvina rubbed the deep creases in her forehead. "Which direction did he travel?"

Léo sipped the whisky and coughed, his voice coming out ragged. Toad. "I chased him to Loch na Beiste where he caught me in the jaw on the shore. Then he boarded a skiff and sailed away toward the mainland." He pointed to the shadow of bruise on his jaw where Calum had punched him.

"You expect me to believe that a man almost a foot shorter than you got the best of you?"

Léo shrugged. "It is embarrassing. Prison has left me weakened."

Malvina's face drew tight. "It doesn't look like it has."

On this, she had to agree with Malvina. Sitting beside the fire, his clothing clinging to his muscles, skin tanned, sun-streaked blond in his sandy hair, Léo didn't seem to have experienced one day in hardship. He caught her looking at him and she returned her eyes to the crack in the plaster.

Gordon slurped his drink. "We sent the guard across to the MacKenzies and are confident they will be able to obtain the difference in grain stores. They're our trusted allies."

Moira smiled to herself. Rock. Best wishes trying to get him to agree to that. Léo caught her smile and lifted the corner of his mouth at her. She looked away.

Malvina clucked. "Since David MacKenzie has taken over as chief of Clan Chattan, he's been difficult with Niall. Doesn't know his place. How a leader of a nothing clan got to lead Chattan I will never know."

Moira gave her eyes a break from staring at the crack and found Léo's warm amber eyes on her. She expected him to look away, but he didn't.

With a sigh, Malvina brought her uisge-beatha to her lips. "I'll be grateful when Niall comes back and can deal with these ruffians. No mercy. That's what these people need."

Moira tried to keep her face neutral. No mercy is what Malvina deserved.

"Are you quite sure the man you saw wasn't MacLean?"

Léo nodded. " Absolument ."

Malvina rose to her feet and trudged to the decanter, pouring herself a second heaping glass of uisge-beatha. "I find it very hard to believe indeed that one person could be responsible for destruction on that scale."

Léo's gaze moved to Moira again, something crossing his expression. His tunic gapped open at the neck. Firelight danced off the gold disc resting against his solid chest… the crack. Keep your eyes on the crack. Stupid necklace. Stupid broken heart.

"Gordon, do you think you could run the keep for a few days? I've been summoned to Iona to attend Fingon."

Gordon looked up from the fire, appearing startled. "Aye. How long is Your ladyship going to be gone?"

"Michaelmas. My son needs assistance reconciling the tithe books."

Moira and Léo looked at each other. Finding funds from the church accounts to replenish the Wolf's stores? It must be dire indeed for Malvina to leave her roost.

Gordon smiled. "I'd be more than happy to keep an eye out for Mistress Allen and Léonid until you and Niall return."

Moira stiffened. She could only imagine what he had in mind.

Malvina shrugged. "Do what you wish with her. Sometimes I feel she doesn't understand a thing we're saying. Niall left her behind, perhaps he grows tired of her."

Across from Moira, Léo's eyes locked on Gordon. Hard.

Gordon chuckled. "I'm certain I can keep her entertained."

A pop sounded, then a clatter, liquid spilling across the floor.

Malvina's face became florid. "You fool. What have you done?"

Léo got to his knees and picked up the bowl which had split from the collar of his cup and rolled under his chair. "I'm sorry, it just…fell apart."

Malvina snapped her fingers at her. "Clean it up."

Grateful for the chance to leave the oppressive solar, Moira made her way to the hall and down to the entresol, plucking a cloth from the basket Isobel kept there for a quick tidy.

Léo exited the solar wiping his drenched tunic as she stepped into the doorway. He spotted her and hurried down the stairs, shutting himself in with her. She made to leave and he blocked her path.

His voice was a bare whisper. "Please, Moira, don't leave."

She raised her hands to sign, then realized he didn't know any of her signs, just as he didn't know her at all. She pointed to the door and mouthed the word, move.

" Meet me at the tunnel after Malvina departs for Iona."

Moira shook her head, annoyed that thanks to his interference in the attack and their predawn return to Dun Ringill, he now knew how to follow her and deprive her of the only privacy she had.

He followed her and put his arms out for her. "Please, Moira. I want to talk."

She crossed her arms. NO.

"Mon amour…I'm sorry." His hands came to her cheeks and he leaned in to kiss her.

She contorted, bending backward away from his embrace and walking her feet over her head, making a small oo f as she kicked off his chest .

Wrenching open the door, she stomped back to the solar. She began cleaning up the mess beneath Léo's chair, expecting him to reappear, but he made no move to follow her back in.

Gordon kept his voice low. "No. It isn't chance. He had something to do with it, I'm certain."

Her ears attuned to their conversation, but her expression remained blank as she blotted uisge-beatha from the floor and picked bits of crystal from the cracks in the wood.

Malvina whispered. "I want you to keep an eye on everything he does in the fields. Keep track of his coming and going. If there is anything out of the ordinary, send word to me on Iona right away."

Moira picked up the glass and made her way back to the hall, her heart beating as she lingered outside the door, searching for Léo, and listening .

"I'm sure I could be persuaded to make a close study of all his activity for the right price."

Malvina made a sound of irritation. "Always a price for these things. What's yours?"

"Moira Allen." Her stomach turned. Vile man .

"Done. Make sure you cover your tracks when you're finished with her. Make her disappear. No trace. Do it before Michaelmas when we return."

"Thank you, My Lady." The sound of chair scraping against floor lit through the room.

Moira hurried down the hall and threw the broken glass down the garderobe before heading to her room to change. Like it or not, Léo still needed her.