Page 73 of Promises to Keep

“Maybe now that your kingdom is secure and your lineage strengthened, maybe he just didn’t feel like his life was at risk anymore — he’s just a cousin, right? Maybe what seems suspicious about him is his natural moving away from you. Maybe he’s just breaking up with Lady Mairead. Maybe she suspects him because he’s moving on.”

“But someone brought me tae the kingdom and deposited me intae the middle of a fight with Ormr and Domnall, and without Lochinvar I would hae died.”

I placed my hand on my injured shoulder, and moved the joint around in a circle. I barely noticed when I did it, but I did it whenever we spoke on that last arena battle.

She asked, “And we suspect Hammond did that?”

“He would hae been in a position tae do it, one of the few people in the history of the world. If itwashim, it was a good plan. He wanted me dead, and he would hae gotten away with it.” I shook my head. “This all means he has allied himself with someone else, which means...”

“Which means all those years of friendship are for naught.” She looked around the room and then continued, “We should check on him first, right? We should go to Riaghalbane, find out. We don’tknow-know.”

“Tis nae a we, Kaitlyn, I am taking ye back tae the rest of the family, then I will sort it with Hammond.”

“I’m grounded?”

“This has gotten much more dire than it was before, mo reul-iuil.”

“And we’re no closer to finding Lady Mairead.”

“We hae a list of places tae look, but I think I ken where she is.”

“Really, where?”

“I think she is bein’ held at Agnie MacLeod’s Montana ranch in 1872.”

Kaitlyn looked down at the list I had passed her. “How did you get to that point?”

I said, “Agnie inna going tae take Lady Mairead tae Dunscaith Castle, it is in Scotland. Although tis dreary, would be too comfortable for Lady Mairead even with the dreariness, also, tis verra important tae remember, Agnie would ken we haeallcome tae Dunscaith. We ken tis her family castle. We ken too much about it. She winna take Lady Mairead there, scratch it off the list. The beach house in the South of France inna going tae be where they keep Lady Mairead, tis too pleasant, everyone likes a beach house. Scratch that off the list. Which brings us tae the ranch in Montana in the year 1872, it sounds like a horrid place for Lady Mairead, daena it?”

“It does: cowboys, dust, lawlessness, hanging trees, duels in the one road town — yes it definitely does.”

“If ye wanted tae keep Lady Mairead at a place and time which would be purposely unpleasant for her, twould be the top of yer list.”

“True that, besides, you know, Vesuvius. Or the Titanic.”

I waved it away. “Och she would escape those, she is verra robust and relentless.”

“Great description of her.”

“The way tae really destroy Lady Mairead would be tae put her in a place with nae art, nae society, nae control over her life, and tae force her tae live in the dust of a terrible land. I ken where she is, now I just hae tae go get her. But I must deal with Hammond first. Or finding Lady Mairead may nae be the end of it.”

There was a loud bangin’ on the front door.

Kaitlyn’s eyes went wide, she whispered, “Who is it?”

I quietly went tae the window and looked down at the front stoop. “A neighbor checking in. I did break the window.”

“Oh true, man, that took the neighbors long enough, glad we weren’t robbers, wait, are they going to think we’re robbers?”

I moved to the stairs.

Kaitlyn whispered, “Careful!”

CHAPTER 37 - KAITLYN

Iheard his low voice, speaking his halting French, and a few minutes later he returned upstairs. “I explained it, and somehow they believed me. They kent m’mother so we talked on her for a moment. I said I was her son, and he said he could see the likeness. They offered tae send a glazier over, I gave him money for the repair.”

“That’s a symptom of how handsome you are, they just offer to help. You’ve clearly broken in and they’re all, ‘can we send someone to repair the window, sir?’”

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