Page 19 of Seductive Scot
“Never met him,” Reikart replied, fairly sure he knew where Deirdre was going with this questioning. She had a clever mind that he liked.
“He should be the one to accompany me to court, then.”
Reikart surprised himself when a grin came to his face. What the hell was this about? Anticipation of the challenge ahead? It had nothing to do with the woman. It couldn’t. He didn’t even know her. He didn’twantto know her.
“No,” Rhys said. “He doesn’t know how to wield a sword, and—”
“And you do?” Reikart asked.
“I do. I’ve learned a lot of things since—” he glanced swiftly at Deirdre “—in my time here.”
“Then I can learn, too,” Reikart replied. This was one argument he was determined to win.
“I’ll teach him at Hightower,” Dermot said to Rhys.
When Rhys looked as if he would protest, Reikart said, “Clearly, you need to stay here for now. I need to see Ellen, and if Deirdre must go to court to get the cross, one of us should be with her.”
“What the hell do I know,” Rhys grumbled.
Bingo.
Reikart grinned. He’d won the argument. That statement was the one his brother always said when he was prepared to relent but wasn’t happy about it. He had gotten that from Dad. The thought of their dad filled Reikart with a thousand regrets. He hoped to God he had the chance to tell his dad how sorry he was that he hadn’t believed him.
What felt like an hour later—who the hell knew how long it truly had been since he had no watch or cell phone—Reikart stood by his uncle Alastair and Deirdre and watched his brother take the fealty of the last warrior waiting to give it. Dermot had gone to get horses and food ready for the journey to Hightower.
“Come on,” Rhys said when the last warrior left the great hall. “I’ll introduce you to my wife before you leave.”
“I cannot believe you’re married,” Reikart said, still shocked. His brother, who’d not even bothered talking to women in bars in the last few years because he hadn’t wanted to get involved with anyone, had not wanted “complications” as he’d put it, had awife. It was hard to wrap his mind around. “I’m looking forward to meeting the woman who managed to convert a monk,” he said, falling back on humor, but from the other side of Alastair, Deirdre gasped. She stepped forward, her face white.
“Ye broke yer vows to God?” she asked Rhys.
Reikart burst out laughing, and she arched her eyebrows at him. “I hardly think it amusing that yer brother broke vows to God. His soul is in mortal jeopardy!”
“I didn’t—” Rhys started to say, but it was just too tempting for Reikart not to cut in.
“His soul was in danger long before this,” he said, smirking at Rhys.
“Very funny, Reik,” he growled. He turned to Deirdre. “My soul is not in jeopardy.”
“How can that be?” she asked.
Rhys scrubbed a hand across his face, something he always did when he was trying to contemplate how to get out of a complicated situation. “Well, at least not for breaking any vows to God.”
“I do nae think my sister is aware of the sort of man she wed,” Deirdre said, looking worried now.
“Oh, she’s aware that I’m no monk,” Rhys replied, shooting a warning look at his brother.
Grinning, Reikart inclined his head to indicate he’d quit yanking Deirdre’s chain. Damn, he’d missed his brother. That made him think of Greyson and Ian. Where was Greyson? If he’d come through somewhere other than where Rhys had, then it stood to reason that Ian could have done the same. Did that mean Ian had the cross? Or did he not even make it back through time? Reikart needed to talk to Rhys alone for a minute before he met Rhys’s wife. He needed to know Rhys wasn’t planning on going medieval permanently if he could help it.
“Rhys, can we have a minute first?”
Rhys nodded. No one knew Reikart like his brother. He was the only person who could understand what Reikart wanted without needing to say it. “Alastair, would you mind taking Deirdre to the healing room to see Maggie?”
“Thank you!” Deirdre burst out and grabbed Alastair’s arm, fairly yanking him away and out the door.
“You’re smiling,” Rhys said.
Reikart jerked his attention away from Deirdre’s lovely hips, which swayed provocatively in her gown. He always had loved a woman with curves, and Deirdre had plenty of them. “She’s lovely,” he said simply.
