Page 66 of Awoken
The abbess straightened her spine, her own gaze narrowing to match his hard stare. She was glad that she’d had the foresight to briefly return to her hall and strap on some knives to her person before coming out to meet him.
She’d never trusted MacKinnon, and of late her relationship with the clan-chief had gone from strained to acrimonious.
One look at his face, and she knew he’d journeyed here to confront her.
His men hung back from MacKinnon, forming a horse-shoe behind him. However, the abbess could see they were all at the ready, hands lightly resting upon the pommel of their swords.
At the foot of the kirk steps, a group of nuns had clustered. Mother Shona’s gaze swept over them, and she was relieved to see that Sister Coira was among the group. The nun was taller than her companions and stood at the back of the crowd.
It reassured the abbess to spy Coira there; the nun was one of her most able fighters. Should this conversation go ill, she’d need Coira’s assistance.
“Where is she, abbess?” MacKinnon’s voice lashed through the cool morning air. “I know ye are hiding Lady Leanna.”
Mother Shona didn’t reply. Instead, she stopped a few yards back from MacKinnon and eyed him coldly.
“Answer me, woman,” MacKinnon snarled, his right hand straying to the pommel of his sword, “before I make ye.”
Surreptitiously, Mother Shona’s own right hand moved to the hilt of the knife she kept secreted in a special fold in the skirts of her habit.
Cold anger pulsed through her, and her senses sharpened.
“Don’t threaten me, MacKinnon,” she replied, her own voice cutting. “Ye should know thatSisterLeanna departed Kilbride a week ago now and never returned. The last I heard of her, the MacDonald party bound for Duncaith had been attacked and Sister Leanna taken.” She paused there, her gaze never leaving his. “Did ye have any part in that?”
MacKinnon scowled. “None of yer business.”
“It is my business if ye turn up on my doorstep accusing me of hiding a nun who rightfully belongs here.” Rage pulsed in time with Mother Shona’s heartbeat now. She hadn’t been this angry in years, not since she’d been in her twenties and running wild with a band of outlaws who’d taken her in after her convent had been destroyed. The years had tamed her, as had her role as abbess. Yet the same woman, the same fire, lay dormant underneath. “I’d wager that ye killed the MacDonald warriors and stole Sister Leanna away. What happened? Did she escape?”
A nerve flickered under MacKinnon’s left eye, and Mother Shona saw that she’d driven straight to the truth of things.
“Sister Leanna is no fool,” she continued, her voice icy now. “If she managed to flee from ye, the last place she’d come would be here. I hope for her sake that she’s left these shores.”
Silence settled in the yard, one charged with menace. MacKinnon’s fingers closed over the hilt of his claidheamh-mor—as did Mother Shona’s over the handle of her dirk.
I’m ready for ye.
However, as the moments stretched out, good sense prevailed. MacKinnon had ridden here enraged; it would take little to unleash the beast. If the situation here unraveled, there would be no going back.
The abbess realized that her aggression was putting all the sisters within these walls at risk. If MacKinnon attacked her, she’d defend herself. Until then, she needed to keep her temper tethered.
“But I can see that ye do not believe me,” she said finally, her voice chill. “Go then … search the abbey … leave no stone unturned. Ye will see that I do not lie.”
Duncan’s fingers clenched around the hilt of his sword.
Fury churned in his already aching gut, and the urge to cut Mother Shona down became unbearable.
The woman’s arrogance, her impertinence, would have to be dealt with.
He’d never encountered such a strong woman; even his own mother hadn’t held a man’s eye with such fierceness.
Her utter lack of fear perplexed him. Was her faith in God so strong that she wasn’t afraid of death?
“Iwillsearch this place,” he growled finally, barely able to prevent himself from drawing his claidheamh-mor and lunging for her. “And if I discover ye have been hiding Lady Leanna and Ross Campbell … my wrath will be terrible.”
The abbess’s brown eyes widened at that. With a jolt, Duncan realized that it wasn’t his threat that had shocked her, but his revelation.
She didn’t know about Campbell.
Maybe she’s telling the truth.
