The Recruit (Highland Guard #6)(54)

“Oh?” She couldn’t completely hide her disappointment. He’d promised to take her for a ride tomorrow and bring Davey along. Of course, he’d left that part out. Clearly, he was trying to stake some kind of claim, as if he’d sensed something between her and Sir Kenneth.

But there was nothing between them. There couldn’t be.

“Something has come up,” he explained. “I will be away from the castle for a day or two, but I promise we shall go as soon as I return.”

She didn’t need to look at Sir Kenneth to see him tense. She could feel the anger radiating from him in hot, powerful waves. She was beginning to feel like a meaty bone being fought over by two snarling hounds, and she’d had enough of it. Neither man had a claim on her.

But a tiny voice in the back of her head told her that wasn’t completely true. And the longer she stayed here, the more danger she was in of Kenneth discovering the truth. She had to leave. But where could she go? And what of Davey? They’d only just begun to get to know one another again.

Feeling as if her world was being ripped apart all over again, Mary fought the urge to run and started slowly away. But she’d taken only a few steps when his voice reached out to snake around her.

“Lady Mary.”

She gave a cautious turn over her shoulder.

He smiled. A smile that twisted through her chest and coiled low in her belly. “I look forward to renewing our acquaintance.”

She felt the gasp rise in her throat and only barely managed to prevent it from escaping. She could only hope her expression gave no hint of the panic surging in her chest. She nodded, as if it had merely been a polite comment, as innocuous as it sounded.

But it wasn’t polite or innocuous. His meaning rang clear to her. The moment she passed through the entry of the Great Hall, she started to run. Only later, when she’d reached the safety of her chamber, did she remember her attendants.

Twelve

By the time they neared the place in the royal Ettrick Forest where they would “surprise” Bruce’s men who were lying in wait to attack the supply cart from Carlisle, it was taking everything Kenneth had not to give Felton the fight for which he was so obviously clamoring. During the long ride west from Berwick Castle, Percy’s champion knight took every opportunity to insult, discredit, and argue with him about every facet of the mission.

Kenneth knew he should be used to it. Hell, he’d heard far worse from MacKay over the years. And after the past few months of nonstop prodding by the other members of the Highland Guard, he’d thought he had a steel rein on his temper and ice in his veins.

He did. Except, it seemed, when it came to one subject. Each time Felton mentioned Lady Mary—which seemed to be in every other sentence—Kenneth could feel that steel rein start to slip between his fingers. The muscles in his shoulders were so knotted with tension, he’d developed a damned crick in his neck.

If Felton was to be believed, they were as good as betrothed. And if Felton’s relationship with the young earl was any indication, it was probably true.

David Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl, had come along as one of Percy’s squires. At dawn, when they’d gathered in the courtyard to depart, Kenneth had taken one look at Lady Mary’s young son and had argued against it.

“It’s too dangerous for the lad,” he’d said to Percy. “He would be a valuable prisoner if something were to go wrong and Bruce’s men were to get hold of him.”

It was the truth. Hell, Bruce would love to get his hands on the young Earl of Atholl. So why was he trying to prevent it?

Percy had seemed about to agree when Felton interrupted. “If Sutherland is telling the truth, the danger should be minimal.” His voice left no doubt as to his thoughts on the matter. “If he isn’t, I will watch out for the lad. He won’t come to any harm under my command. He’ll stay in the rear, well protected and well away from any danger. Besides, the lad is ready to see action beyond the practice yard, aren’t you, David.”

The solemn lad with his mother’s startling blue-green eyes had looked uncertain, but at Felton’s praise he puffed up considerably. “Aye, my lord,” he said to Percy. To Kenneth, he cast an unfriendly glare. “I’m ready, and I should like to be there to see the usurper’s phantoms captured.”

The lad sounded so bloody English, it was hard to believe his father had died for that “usurper.”

Kenneth hadn’t known the previous Earl of Atholl well, but from the way he was spoken of amongst Bruce and the Guard, Lady Mary’s former husband had been a fierce patriot, gallant knight, and skilled warrior. An honest-to-God hero, Kenneth thought, not knowing why his jaw was clenched so tight.

In any event, Felton’s recommendation and the boy’s eagerness proved enough for Percy. “ ’Twill be good experience for the lad. I was his age when I served as squire in my first battle. Just keep a good eye on him, Felton.”

Felton nodded as Percy rode forward and cast a smug look of victory at Kenneth.

It was to David that Felton spoke of Lady Mary during the long day of riding, but Kenneth knew it was more for his benefit than the lad’s. Felton was making his claim loud and clear. The boy seemed thrilled by the prospect of a union between his mother and the lauded knight.

Kenneth, however, felt his blood growing hotter and hotter by the minute. His teeth had been clenched for so long his jaw had start to hurt. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought he was jealous.