Page 34 of Kilty Until Proven Innocent
“I didnae,” the other man hurried to assure him. “But I keep close eye on my stock, and a fortnight ago some was missing.”
Drum dropped his hand to glare. “What do ye mean?”
“When I woke up, someone had been in my cottage.” The sorcerer gestured around him. “Nae idea how he got in so quietly, mayhap he’d been here before. But one of my wee bottles was missing.”
He groped sideways, reaching for a shelf, his hand closing around a small vial. Then he held it up in illustration.
Drum took it, turning it over in his hands as he examined the thing, mind skipping ahead. Such a small bottle could be easily hidden on a person, then slipped into the wine at any point during the process. Hell, it could have even been on the goblet itself!
He’d have to interrogate Lawrence again.
“I’m keeping this,” he growled, curling his fingers around the bottle. “I’ll return it when my investigation’s done.”
Charles the Thirty-Seventh shrugged. “Please do. I’m just happy to have visitors.Quidquid Latine dictum sit, altum videtur.”
What an incredibly strange person.
Still clutching the bottle, and keeping both eyes on the happily humming sorcerer, Drum slowly backed out of the open door.
And right into a wall. A wall he knew well.
“Drum! How in the hell are ye?”
There was only one man in Scotland who had shoulders like that, was strong enough to wrap his arms around Drum and lift him from behind…andwho knew him well enough to call himDrum.
“Craig,” wheezed Drum. “What are ye doing here?”
“Looking for ye, of course. Just got lucky to run into ye here.Ha! I guess ye ran intome.”
Awkwardly, Drum patted the other man’s forearm. “Ha-ha. Now put me down, ye great ox.”
Craig Oliphant had been one of his Hunters before the man had retired to marry a Sinclair lady, the widowed mother of a young earl. Craig’s assignment had been to protect them, but apparently the King had passed on his blessings for the marriage, which meant the huge blacksmith-turned-Hunter-turned-stepfather was settling into his role.
As Drum straightened, he knocked his friend’s shoulder. “Now, what are ye doing inScone? Is the family well?”
“Och, aye, but Robbie was invited to a meeting with some other earls, and I’m along as his guard. He’s verra important, ye ken.”
Smiling, Drum patted his friend again. “Aye, and ye’re a good da, I can tell. I hope ye’ll make some time for me? To catch up?”
They fell into step, long used to working together. “Why do ye think I was looking for ye? I ken ye have nae good advice for women, but I wanted to tell ye all about Dungotit and the lassies and—Why are ye looking at me like that?”
Drum wasn’t the sort of man who couldn’t admit he’d made a mistake.
After a decade of warning his men to take care in their dealings with and missions involving women, he’d gone and made the same stupid mistake. He took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry I ever pretended to be knowledgeable in that area, Craig. Ye shouldnae have taken my advice.”
“I didnae,” the large man said cheerfully as they entered the courtyard. “I married Elspeth, did I no’? She’s far above me, but I love her and the bairns more than life itself, and for some reason they love me.”
“Because ye’re a good man,” Drum said.Dumb as an ox, but good. “And I’m glad ye’ve all found happiness.” He paused, considering his men. “Ye, and Barclay, and Payton. Ye’ve all found love.”
“And ye?”
At Craig’s question, Drum stopped and twisted. “What?” he barked. “What do ye mean?”
Craig shrugged, looking like an affable idiot. “Have ye found love? Ye said ye were wrong about working with women. So…?”
Damnation.
