Page 31 of Kilty Until Proven Innocent
“Happy?” Since Brigit was so much shorter than the Queen—shorter thaneveryone,really—she had to tip her head back to stare incredulously. “I havenae—I cannae…” Her hands flapped about in frustration. “He hates me! He must!”
“Yes, well, that is to be expected.” The Queen straightened, her tone no-nonsense as the ladies of the court began to break away in pairs and trios, discussing the game, and Avaline collected The Hats. “He is the sort of man who does not trust easily, and you have merely confirmed that for him.”
“Thank ye,” Brigit muttered sarcastically.
“But this is a detail.” The Queen wrapped her fingers around Brigit’s forearm. “You love him. He feels strongly about you—if he did not, then he would not feel betrayed.”
The words opened a familiar pit in Brigit’s stomach. “I hadnae thought of that,” she whispered miserably.
“No, you do not understand!” The other woman shook her slightly. “If he loved you the way you love him, then this current impediment is merely a stone in the path of happiness. You must find a way to step over it! If you can, it will be easy to remind him of his feelings for you.”
Brigit refused to see hope, refused to believe it could be as simple as the Queen was saying. “And how am I supposed to do that?”
The English Queen tsked. “Must I do everything? Fine. I command you to go to him. Work with him. Ask him questions about his investigation and offer to help him—you likely have more contacts than hedoes. Offer him…offer him the crossbow if he has not seen it. Offer him the truth.”
The truth.
No more lies. No more deceptions. “You mean…I go to him as an Angel? He is a King’s Hunter, and I am a Queen’s Angel… He will be livid.”
“Yes, he will,” the other woman said dismissively. “And then he will get over it because he will realize you were doing everything in his best interest.”
“I dinnae think—”
With a sigh, the Queen released her. “You will have to trust me, dear Brigit; I have been married for some time. Wives need to be cunning to take care of the men we love, and weare. In some cases, that means not revealing we were working behind their backs. In other cases, it means ordering our loyal agent to pick herself up and climb back into the game.”
The last was said with a stern look before the Queen turned about and swept toward her other ladies.
Brigit could only stare after her.
Wives need to be cunning to take care of the men we love.
Aye, she loved Drum, but…wife?
Nay, ‘twas unlikely he’d ever forgive her for what she’d done.
But the Queen was right. She needed to discover the assassin, and experience had taught her she had the best chance if she was workingwithDrummond instead of against him.
She would tell him the truth of her past and her present. If he’d listen, she would bring him the evidence the Angels had collected and compare it to whatever he had amassed.
Together, they would identify the assassin and bring him down.
God willing.
No matter how angry he might be with her right now, Brigit had to go to him. Had to convince him to work with her.
No manipulations, no lies.
Only the truth.
And pray it would work.
Chapter 7
Drummond frownedat the neatly-kept little cottage which sat in the shade of the castle walls. Smoke spiraled lazily from the perfect chimney and flowers bloomed in the front garden.
It didn’t look like a sorcerer’s cottage.
The King of Scotland had wise men, advisors, and religious counsolers. But the Old Ways were still popular in some places and His Majesty wasn’t one to throw away things that still worked, hence the court sorcerer.
