Page 75 of Promises to Keep

“Careful, I will runyouthrough with a sword.”

“Och, ye might want tae but ye will never carry one.”

“True, I suppose you are safe, but yes, that is exactly what she’s saying. She has a parasol, there has never, in the whole entire history of the world, been a woman with a parasol who didn’t have an overly fine idea of herself.”

His eyes drew to the northern sky. It was behind our south-facing stoop, but he stepped out into the square to look. “There is a storm, near where we jumped.”

“Oh, oh!” I scrambled up, rushed up the stairs, and took off the feather boa and put it in the box, wrapped in tissue. I took off my robe and hung it on the hanger, and wriggled the dress off over my head and folded it nicely into the drawer, also wrapped in tissue. I found my plain black dress and pulled it on.

I hastily made the guest room bed, and then remembered to replace the bedding over Mairead’s bed, then rushed out to the living room and pulled the curtains closed. I grasped the heavy thick covering rolled up at one end of the sofa, and drew it out as a man’s voice came up from downstairs. I raced to the stairs as it dawned on me — that voice belonged to Hammond.

I walked down. He said, “Hello, Kaitlyn.” He didn’t call me Queen Kaitlyn, which seemed notable, and he looked nervous, but it could have been because he had been left standing in the square and Magnus stood above him on the steps and hadn’t invited him in.

“Hello Hammond, what brings you here? We were just leaving.”

He explained, “I was just coming to check on Mairead... have you seen her?”

There was something about his facial expression when he said it that made him seem not curious about Mairead at all, but curious about what we knew.

Magnus said, “Aye, we just saw her at Balloch.”

Hammond cocked his head. “Did you, good good... she was well?”

“Aye, verra well, ye haena seen her in a while? How long has it been?”

Hammond said, “I am... it has been a long—”

Magnus interrupted, “How did ye ken we were here?”

Hammond said, “Oh, I did not know, I was merely looking for Mairead and—”

I said, “That’s a weird coincidence, we just picked a random date, how come you arrived in Paris while we were here?”

Magnus narrowed his eyes. “Did ye follow us here?”

“No, how would I... no, I just came to check in.”

Magnus and Hammond looked at each other, then Magnus nodded. “How’s the kingdom?”

“We have a lot to speak of, Magnus, perhaps we should—”

“Because now that I’ve ridden the lands of Ormr and Domnall, I think we are finally safe. It might be the first time the kingdom inna under threat. Possibly we ought tae return tae my kingdom and ye can relinquish the vessel, as I daena think ye need it anymore.”

Hammond lowered his brow. “There is still much to do...”

“I’m wondering if you had any contact with Agnie MacLeod?”

There was a pause, then Hammond said, “Who?”

Magnus said, “Aye, well, we are both lookin’ for Lady Mairead then, we ought tae look taegether, daena ye think?”

Hammond said, “You said you recently saw her, that’s good enough for my purposes. We should wait for her to reappear. In the meantime, perhaps you ought to accompany me to the kingdom, there we can...”

“Iought to accompanyyou...?”

Hammond shifted his feet.

Magnus scrutinized him, then exhaled. “If ye would like me tae accompany ye, anywhere, ye daena need Kaitlyn. Ye ought tae allow Kaitlyn tae travel on tae where she was goin’, ye ken, Kaitlyn?” He pulled a vessel from his pocket and passed it to me.

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