Page 66 of The Bells of Triumph
21
THE PURSUIT AT SUNRISE
Finn felt uneasy, continuing to take up space in Murray Castle. Though he had made his amends to Brid, Flora, and even Seamus, he still felt under foot. They were still guarded and on edge around him. And while he did not blame them for it, he would rather not stay and continue to be an unwanted presence.
“Are ye sure ye have to go?” Brid asked.
Even as she was pleading with him to stay, she remained at Connor's side. Flora looked at him with the same imploring expression, though she had a bit more understanding.
“Aye,” he told her, speaking to the room.
Seamus and Liam were both there, too, enjoying their lunch.
“I dinnae understand why,” Brid whined. “We took Glenkirk and Murray Castle two weeks ago. There have been nay signs of Campbell. We should just move on, rather than keep making plans to find and attack him.”
Finn sighed through his nose and put down the maps he had been rolling to put in his bags.
“That is precisely why I must go,” he explained gently. “Campbell is plotting something, and we must be ready for it. Without someone there to protect it, Glenkirk is vulnerable toinvasion. So I will go and see that it stays under our command. We dinnae want to give Campbell a foothold into the clan again.”
He knew it was an excuse to cover up his real reason for leaving, but the others seemed content not to question him on it. Brid was the only one reluctant to see him leave. He stepped towards her and grasped her shoulders with both hands.
“It is nae verra far from here. Ye are always welcome. I am sure Connor will have nay problem taking ye to see me, should ye fancy a day trip.”
Connor nodded in agreement to Finn's declaration when Brid looked his way for assurance.
“We will leave ye to finish yer preparations,” Flora announced, moving forward to usher Brid out of the room. “Some villagers have requested a few of yer tonics. We dinnae want to keep them waiting too long.”
One by one, they all filed out of the room, either with a pat on the back or a word of luck. The door closed behind them and Finn went back to packing up his things. He couldn't get out and back to Glenkirk fast enough.
“Take me with ye.”
The voice surprised him. But finding that it belonged to Iona surprised him even more.
“I thought ye had gone with the others,” he told her, avoiding her demand.
But she wasn't about to let it go.
“Take me with ye, back to Glenkirk Castle.” She paused. “Please.”
He couldn't help but sense that she was desperate to go, perhaps as desperate as he was to leave Murray Castle and all its ghosts. He didn't think she had any ghosts here, though, admittedly, he knew very little about her story. From the bits and pieces she had shared, he gathered that she hadn't spent much time away from the MacKenzie Keep. He thought thather father and grandfather had kept a tight grip on her, nearly forcing her into a marriage she didn't want, and that was the reason she had given for leaving them. But her plea to go back to Glenkirk had him thinking that there was more going on than she was saying.
“Why do ye need to go with me? I thought ye would want to stay here, with Seamus and Flora and all the others.”
She shook her head rather emphatically.
“I left some herbs,” she spit out, “at Glenkirk.”
“Some herbs? Can Brid nae find what ye need here?”
“She is so busy with the warriors that I dinnae want to bother her. I ken exactly where they are.”
Finn tucked another book into his bag as he thoughtfully considered Iona's excuse, for that was exactly what it sounded like; an excuse. Part of him hoped that it was an excuse to be near him, but as quickly as the thought surfaced, he dismissed it. Coy and flirtatious requests didn't carry such an air of frantic demand.
She must have seen that he was hesitant because she added, “I-I cannae sleep without them.”
Her admission caught Finn off guard. He never imagined that she would have the kind of monsters haunting her that he did, the kind that would keep her awake. But he understood more why she was so desperate to go get whatever it was she needed.
“We will nae stop until we reach the castle,” he warned.
