Page 20 of The Refuge

“Magnificent?” Niall asked with a smile.

“Aye!” exclaimed Giric.

Catrìona thought so, too. Kessog was a fine example of a tiercel, brightly plumed and perfect of form.

“I want to see him fly,” said Giric.

“And you shall,” Catrìona assured him. “But you will have to look sharp. He is very fast in the hunt.”

“There is a field not far from the tower,” offered Machar. “The burn runs near it. It will have ducks and room for your falcon to hunt.”

Thanking him, she took Kessog on her gauntlet and left the mews with Niall.

Giric ran ahead. “I know the field!”

She and Niall walked along, at first not saying much. Then Niall asked, “Do you ever think of Deidre? I have wondered about her and the others who were taken.”

It had been a year but she did not hesitate. “Yea, she was more like a younger sister to me than a maidservant. She would be seventeen summers.” Catrìona felt a pang of remorse and her brow furrowed. “I have oft woken from a bad dream to see her face before me.”

“They might have made her a slave…” His voice trailed off.

Catrìona did not like to think about what had been the fate of the pretty young woman. “’Tis possible, mayhap even likely.”

“I would get her back if I could,” he said solemnly.