Page 15 of The Winter Laird

The lad with the shorter, lighter-brown hair also had blue eyes, but his nose was fashioned more like his sire’s, as were his mannerisms. His body had not quite filled out yet. He still looked young, perhaps not quite twenty. He must be Reeve. Kiernan didn’t speak overmuch about him, except to sigh and wish he’d get his head out of the herbs and into the battles.

The last one Nioclas did not recognize. He looked nothing like an O’Rourke. He was as tall as Brody, with dark eyes and hair. He entered the room behind the O’Rourkes, standing straight with a small effort. His garb was finer than most, and a dark bruise marred his right cheek. His right arm appeared stiff, and although he was eating, it was clearly difficult for him to manage with his left. But his presence was more defined than even Kiernan’s. Nioclas wondered if he was a laird in his own right, perhaps from the mainland.

Finally, the men finished their suppers and the trenches were carried away. Nioclas sat back and waited silently.

“I expect my messenger arrived this morning?” Kiernan asked, his eyebrow raised. “I did warn him you might be all day about getting to him, though. I hope you didn’t throw him in your dungeon while he waited. He’s a nervous sort.”

Nioclas folded his arms. “What do you want?”

“Never one for small talk,” Kiernan noted, nodding his head to Brody. “This is Brody, my eldest son, and Reeve, my youngest. And over there is Reilly O’Malley.”

“What happened to you?” Aidan asked without preamble. “Fall off a horse?”

O’Malley turned his attention to Nioclas. “I was riding for the O’Rourke castle when my horse’s leg was shot with an arrow. He reared, throwing us to the ground.”

“Us?” Aidan asked.

“I twisted so I would take the fall, and she fell on me. I woke up in the forest alone, but I found this on the ground.” He reached into the folds of his léine and withdrew a small silver brooch. He handed it to Nioclas with a nod. “I put it on her before we left. Somehow, it came off when she was taken by Burke’s clansmen.”

Nioclas held the brooch in his hand and his gut tightened.

“Where did you get this?” Nioclas demanded.

He’d fashioned it after a dream came upon him many nights in a row—a beautiful woman, a lake, and a flying hawk. Not even Aidan understood why he’d chosen the bird for their crest. His fingers constricted around it.

Reilly’s eyes held Nioclas’s steadily, but he didn’t answer.

Kiernan glanced between the two men before speaking. “We gave the care and keeping of our daughter to O’Malley when she was born and hid her in a place no one could get to her. We trusted in the Fates that she would be brought back to us at the right time.”

“A day before my wedding to Kildare’s daughter seems to be moreconvenientthanright.” Nioclas’s tension radiated. He ignored the small shot of energy from the brooch. “You say she is in Burke’s hands now?”

Reilly jerked his head in affirmation. “Aye.”

“Willing to risk your life on it?”

Reilly met his eyes. “Tá mé Protector mhionn.”

I am a sworn Protector.

Nioclas didn’t blink, but his jaw clenched and he swore.

Kiernan nodded briskly. “We knew you’d see it our way. Now, we need a plan to get her back.”

* * *

Brianagh tried to stop shivering,but it was a useless endeavor. She had been in this hole for an interminable amount of time. The dim light filtered through the gate above her, and she heard the whinny and soft stamping of horses.

She woke up in the underground dungeon hours ago. When she realized the floor was soft and moving, she jumped up faster than she ever thought possible and hadn’t sat since. She was filthy and her wrist hurt—perhaps she fell on it when they put her in this place? From when she fell off the horse? She had no idea.

At one point, she gathered enough courage to call out and hope someone above her would have a kind heart and let her out. Her reward was a slew of Gaelic curses, and she became a moving target for the guards above to relieve themselves.

Terrified didn’t do her current state justice.

Night surrounded her, and she felt the darkness close in. She became accustomed to the smell after the first few hours, after retching until her stomach hurt. Occasionally, she found a patch of floor that didn’t have a creature of some sort slithering along the bottom, and she stayed in that spot for a while. She dreaded the next thing that would try to climb up her leg.

At some point during the night, she began to bargain with herself. When she got out, she wouldn’t complain about wearing pantyhose ever again. In fact, she would gladly take a pair now as an extra layer between her and the slithery creatures any day of the week, and twice on Sundays. Never again would she complain about having to wear them to meet a client, or during the postdate wrap-up, or—

The bargaining didn’t last too long. As she thought of her life just a day ago, she had a sinking feeling she had lost her mind, mostly because she believed Reilly had spoken the truth when he said he had moved time.

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