Page 49 of Rebellion's Fire

Fergus smiled. “Well, I have a few ideas there. I’ll say no more than that I have friends in many useful places.”

*

While the lord—whopreferred the title king—of Galloway was shown to the best guest quarters and offered every hospitality before dinner, Adam went to his own chamber to wash and change his traveling clothes.

As he pulled on a fresh tunic, Donald entered and closed the door. “What do you think of him?” he demanded. Excitement sparkled in Donald’s wide eyes. It was clear whathethought.

“I think he’s a wily old fox, and we can’t trust him or his sons.”

Donald frowned at him. “I thought you were all for such an alliance! It was your idea!”

“For therightalliance.” Adam considered. “But yes, we have to ally with Fergus. It leads to…”

“To what?” Donald demanded with a fresh scowl of impatience.

Adam shrugged. “To what we want.”

Donald looked at him. “What did you see? When you touched him?”

“Chaos,” Adam said vaguely. “And open gates.”

Donald drew in his breath. “Father’s prison gates? He will be freed with this alliance?”

“Someone will be. I think it’s him.”

Grinning from ear to ear, Donald spun around and headed for the door. But Adam was remembering the rest of the dream, which didn’t yet make much sense. Sometimes, visions were more metaphorical than real. Either that or he was as insane as people used to whisper. Still whispered, probably, though he no longer cared enough to listen.

“You’re not quite sane, are you?”

Out of my head Cairistiona de Lanson.

“Donald?” he said aloud.

His brother paused, his hand on the still-closed door, and glanced back over his shoulder.

“Youshouldn’t have anything to do with him. Or his sons.”

“Why not? We’re together in this, always.”

“Together is good,” Adam said feeling his way. “Separately, not so much.”

Donald winked. “It’s all right. I’ll hold your hand.”

*

Guests of theimportance of Fergus of Galloway were rare enough to ensure that Gormflaith attended dinner in her best gown. Not that she wished to attach Fergus, who was old and whose sons were appalling, but, bored with her constant waiting, she was happy to flirt.

And Fergus, clearly, liked to look. On the other hand, his attention frequently wandered to her mother, who seemed to fascinate him.

Well, the years of care and hard work had not dimmed her mother’s beauty. Several years ago, now, when her uncle Somerled had come here with his following, Gormflaith had begun to see her mother through the eyes of others, mainly the tall, fighting men in Somerled’s train, and most of them had not been old, even to her youthful eyes.

Her mother was calm, regal, and easily commanding. She had presence without stridence. More than that, she held all the attractions of unswerving loyalty and faithfulness to her incarcerated husband. Most men dreamed of loyalty like that. And in her thirties, she was still beautiful. Steady blue eyes and soft, flawless, firm skin. Somerled’s men had been dazzled. The bolder among them, who tried to pay court to her, were discouraged with amiable but firm reminders of her status—and perhaps a growl from her brother.

Fergus, too, was caught in the unconscious, invisible web of the Lady of Ross. At least, Gormflaiththoughtit was unconscious. At any rate, with the attentions of both women, Fergus looked inordinately pleased with himself.

Not that he neglected Gormflaith’s brothers, asking Donald sensible questions and appearing no more than amused by Adam’s odd mixture of bluntness and vagueness. They talked about marriage alliances. Fergus, apparently, had an unmarried daughter he would be happy to bestow upon Donald.

Adam frowned at that and seemed about to speak, although he shut his mouth upon the words. Donald and the lady both welcomed the offer, after which they talked about the possibility of Gormflaith’s marriage to Fergus’s son Gilbert as an alternative. Gormflaith bit her tongue to prevent herself from protesting. There was no point if the alliance never happened. She would just have annoyed everyone for nothing. She even left the more obvious objections to her mother.

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