Page 83 of The Warrior
“No need to alarm the household,” Ilysa warned.
Half an hour later they met, as agreed, in Connor’s chamber.
“Neither of them is in the keep,” Moira reported.
“I checked all the storerooms along the wall,” Ilysa said.
“I didn’t find them, either. But the men guarding the gate with Fergus last night saw him and Rhona fook—” Tait halted midsentence and turned bright red. “Sorry.”
“By the saints, Tait, just tell us,” Moira said.
“Well, when the other guards saw that Fergus and Rhona were…um,occupyingthemselves against the wall, they took a walk,” Tait said.
“The other guards ‘took a walk’?” Ilysa asked, arching her brows.
“Ach, it happens,” Tait said, squirming under Ilysa’s gaze. “Night guard duty is long and tedious, and if a willing lass…”
“Just tell us about Fergus and Rhona,” Moira interrupted.
“When the other guards returned, the pair was gone,” Tait said. “The men assumed Rhona and Fergus had found a more private place to carry on their business.”
“The guards did not report that Fergus had left his post?” Ilysa asked, with her hand on her hip.
“Men cover for each other for something like that, expecting—or at least hoping—to need the favor returned.” Tait was shifting his weight from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable explaining this to sweet-faced Ilysa. “They wouldn’t dare if Duncan were here for fear he’d skin them alive when he found out—which he would—but Duncan has been away a good deal lately.”
“Regardless, the pair of them are gone,” Moira said. “But if they are spies, why sneak out of Dunscaith now? ’Tis too late to warn the MacLeods. Connor left with our war galleys two days ago.”
“I can’t believe Fergus would be disloyal,” Ilysa said. “If he’s involved, Rhona must have duped him into helping her.”
“Fergus is not the sharpest knife in the kitchen, if ye know what I mean,” Tait said, glancing at Moira.
“Rhona was here at Dunscaith when Hugh held the castle,” Ilysa said. “I was never certain, but I suspected she was one of the women who wasfriendlywith Hugh then. After the four returned from France, however, Rhona attached herself to my brother like a leech.”
While Tait blathered on about the danger of a scorned woman—as if he knew—Moira tried to puzzle it out.
“I saw Rhona meet a man some distance from the castle shortly before Connor sailed out,” she told them. “I thought she was meeting a lover for a tryst, but I suppose she could have had another purpose as well.”
“Who was the man?” Ilysa asked.
“For a moment, I thought it was my father’s ghost.” Moira started to laugh at herself for her foolishness, but then she clutched Ilysa’s arm. “Do you suppose it could have been my uncle? I haven’t seen him since I was a bairn, and I don’t remember him at all.”
“If your father and Hugh had not been fifteen years apart,” Tait said, “they would have looked very much alike.”
“Then the man I saw with Rhona could have been Hugh,” Moira said. “But if she is Hugh’s spy, why would she leave now, two days after Connor set sail for Trotternish?”
“I don’t know, but I sense trouble,” Ilysa said.
“We need to find Rhona and Fergus—and stop them,” Moira said.
“I’ll go after them,” Tait said.
“No, Connor left you in charge of the defense of the castle,” Ilysa said. “We don’t know that Rhona poses a danger, and with most of our warriors away, Connor would not want you to leave.”
“He did take most of the able-bodied men,” Tait said.
“I wish I knew for certain which of the warriors he left behind are trustworthy…” Ilysa narrowed her eyes, considering. “We must be very careful who we share this with.”
“Aye,” Moira agreed. “We need a man we can absolutely trust.”
