Page 62 of Keepers of the Highland Crown
“Then you should be as sour as the unripe blaeberry there, Sir Brayden,” Holger huffed, nodding at the bramble the horses stomped over before staring at, “Lady Fawnella, you were rather extraordinary.” Holger practically batted his eye lashes at her. Callum’s fist tightened on the rein. “I would care for you to join me at King Magnus’s court once we are from here.” Nella pursed her lips.Aye, she is not going anywhere with you!
Holger winked with his eye which was re-opening from the earlier swelling while he boasted, “I will save my sister first by slaying the treacherous Sir James, then the three of us sail off to—”
Kameron’s voice boomed. “Shite, are you daft, Lord Kolson?”Thank you, Kameron, couldn’t agree more.Holger glared at the young lad who rode up on Nella’s far side. “I believe you missed a few steps in there. What of Sir Callum’s brother, Alec, or our lord king’s life or the treaty?”
“I believe placing Sir Sean in irons should be upon that list as well,” Brayden added.
“Agreed.” Callum looked toward Nella. “Any insights on who our mysterious lord is that stole Sèidrich and Sir Sean’s loyalty from Keithen? The same lord Keithen was going to name before being killed.”
Nella shook her head. “Nae; however, there are many missives Keithen wrote about who he was considering to approach once the crown was acquired.” Nella handed over a missive with titles written. Sir Brayden on his right, they scanned over the list.
A groan etched with a reply sounded from Brayden. “Half the king’s court is listed upon there and it states this is a lone page of two. There is nae second page?”
“Nae, Lord MacMardan must have laid it to waste in the hearth before we could reach him.”
“Impressive.” Holger’s lips twitched upward. “Such a loyal following in the kingdom of Scots.”
“Lord Kolson,” Nella called.
“Yes, my lady?”
“Here is the list, which did survive, on those whom Lord MacMardan thought to approach in King Magnus’s court.”
A low chuckle sounded by Kameron. “Ah, Northmen, they are forever loyal unto their kings.” Holger glared at Kameron before he snatched the parchment from Nella’s outstretched grasp.
“That weasel bastard! I should have known never to trust him,” Callum heard the Northman curse as he scanned his possible traitors to the Kingdom of Norway’s crown.
Callum looked at Nella. “Keep searching, my lady.” She nodded, re-raising the parchments in her grip when a breeze ruffled all their garments as Kameron fell back to tell the pair of young lads about the development.
Perth. Callum’s eyes searched the darkened forest beyond the bright meadow they currently rode through. The lather under Luss’s mane declared after hours traveling they could not ride onward indefinite toward the burgh. Sometime after late nightfall they would have to rest the horses before the final stretch. How to do this and not lay prey to the Sèidrich’s hunters who certainly would be trailing them? Had Nella told him what Sèidrich’s final words had been when they escaped? Aye. Yet somehow, they had to reach their first before the Keithen’s slayer found them or Chief MacHarris.
Holger broke his thoughts as if sensing his dilemma. “We must reach Perth first and I must seek Sir James before boldness, which runs the bastard’s veins, causes him to act upon a plan of his own with any of these.” The Northman’s mirth gone as he ruffled the parchment so loud his horse leapt forward a stride. “I shall be taking my leave of you to do just this. I know the path the clergy were to travel with Sir James for the treaty signing. It lies north of Perth. I believe my lord king would wish the same as yours regarding ‘discretion’. Thus, I shall quietly ensure Sir James is not present at the signing nor any harm befalls my sister.”
Callum took a breath, about to reply, when Nella whimpered.
“Nella?” His concern outweighed her title’s propriety.
Her eyes flicked up to meet his. No pain. His shoulders lowered.
“Two matters, my knight,” she whispered… Wait, she whispered; why? His gaze darted further into the forest whose edges they had just reached. The shadows from the pines were dark like gates to hell on the ground. “We must halt, the MacHarris encampment is to be just beyond that stream.”
Luss’s stride paused mid-step as Callum pulled on Nella’s reins, stopping her horse. Everyone followed their lead.
“Perfect,” Holger muttered, “perhaps we should introduce the king’s hunters to our hunters.”
Nella’s attention snapped toward the Northman. “Perhaps.”
“’Twas a jest, my lady,” he retorted in a low tone. “Do not act daft, ’tis not becoming.”
“Lord Kolson,” Callum growled, “before one more step forth there is a matter we must settle. You dare insult or order or place one more flirtatious comment at my lady’s feet,I shall finish what Lord MacMardan began upon your face, understood?”
Holger narrowed his eyes. “’Tis a rather un-knightly threat there,Scotsman.”
“Nae threat but a matter in fact if you seek another word torn at her in an uncomely manner,Northman,” Callum countered. “If not for her efforts, your hide would have been bolted onto the trees by those crossbows outside Lord MacMardan’s keep after Sèidrich’s order.” He released Luss’s rein to jab his finger toward where they had come.
Holger looked at him a hard moment before he nodded toward Nella. “Pardon, my lady.”
Callum lowered his hand then looked at the one whose lips were parted with surprise. “My lady, what is the second?”
