Page 25 of Hold Fast

A sudden horrified sympathy washed over him.God’s bones.

“All the doors have bars,” he said quietly. “I assume the third condition is coin? You will want to be paid for your labors?”

“Nay,” she said. “That is, Iwillwant to be paid, but that isnae the condition.”

He would more than pay her. If she saved his brother’s life, he’d have to fight the instinct to empty the clan coffers and drape Una with every jewel to be found therein. And it still wouldn’t be enough.

Una shifted uncomfortably on her feet. Whatever she was about to ask was more than simple coin.

“Come now, Una. It cannae be as terrible as all that. Out with it. There isnae time.”

“I am well aware of the time,m’laird,” she snapped, the title sounding distasteful, as if she couldn’t wait to spit it out. “My third condition is that ye must take me to the Stewarts when the business is… finished. Either way.”

“But—”

“I must go to the Stewarts, m’laird. I am expected there. You will see me safely escorted.”

In the grand scheme of requests, it was not so very large. The Stewarts were friendly, often called upon to mediate between the Camerons and the MacDonalds, and Laird Stewart had been a good friend of his father’s.

“Verra well,” he said and did not miss the way her body seemed to sag with relief, as if there was far more at stake than she’d let on.

But it wasn’t his business.Shewasn’t his business. And he would do well to remember that. Just then, Fiona appeared at his side.

“Welcome home, m’laird,” Fiona panted, clearly having run to him from wherever she’d been. “Have you brought us a healer?”

“Aye,” Ewan said with a pointed look. “I have brought a verra skilled healer to care for Connor. Una, this is Fiona. She is the housekeeper and in charge of everything, including myself.”

Fiona’s cheeks grew pink with a pleased blush before she curtsied low, and Una made a strangled sound of protest.

“You’ve come nae a moment too soon, m’laird,” Fiona said gravely, rising again.

Ewan felt as if his innards had been hurled off a cliff. He cleared his throat. “Then we best go to him. At once.”

CHAPTER10

“Come, milady,” Fiona said, reaching for Una’s satchel. “I shall take ye to him.”

“Please call me Una.”

“Verra well, Lady Una. If ye’ll follow me.”

Una took a deep breath, willing herself to speak gently. “Nae Lady Una,” she said with forced calm. “Just… Una.”

When she’d been handfasted to Laird Cameron, the staff had been instructed to call her Lady Una. Not because she was a highborn lady, but because for all purposes, for the duration of the handfast, she was Laird Cameron’s lady. The honorific made her skin crawl with memory.

Fiona stopped at the door, turning to look at her. The older woman narrowed her eyes and knit her brows together, pondering. “Alright then,just Una. Connor is in the laird’s chamber. This way.”

Una followed her into the keep’s entrance hall and to the right, ascending a wheeled staircase. They climbed to the top floor, stepping into a hallway with seven doors, three on each side and one at the end. Fiona’s shoes scraped quietly on the stone floor, the sound echoing throughout the hallway, which was wide enough for two men to stand shoulder to shoulder with room to spare.

Torches hung in intervals on the wall, and in the flickering orange light, Una saw a man sitting on the floor outside the door at the end of the hall, his forehead resting on crossed arms overtop his bent knees. Fiona hurried to his side and rested a gentle hand on his shoulder. She murmured something, her voice so quiet that Una couldn’t make it out, but the man’s head shot up, bleary eyes fixing upon her.

Dark shadows clung beneath his eyes, mirroring Ewan’s. The resemblance was strong. He staggered to his feet and shuffled toward her.

“Una, this is my brother, Rabbie.”

Una nearly jumped out of her skin as Ewan’s sudden voice filled the hallway. How long had he been there? He brushed past her and wrapped the younger man in his arms, clutching him tightly and rubbing his back. Rabbie pressed his face into Ewan’s shoulder and let go of a low sob.

“Th-th-th-thank God y-y-y’ouve brought her, Ewan. Th-th-thank God.”