“Nay, lass.” Tam laughed. “Ye’ve only come to your senses and seen what fine people we Scots are—and to a lesser degree, the Montgomerys.”
Elizabeth joined in the laughter with him, as did the men around them.
Later, as Elizabeth sat on a stone of the ancient fallen-down castle, she watched the men below her, realized that she wasn’t really afraid of them and thought how good that felt. She owed much to Miles Montgomery.
Because she was so intent upon the sight before her and perhaps because her wariness had dulled in the last few months, she didn’t at first hear the whistle coming from the trees behind her. When it did penetrate her peace-drugged brain, every cell of her body came alert. First she looked to see if any of the MacArrans had heard the sound. Kit was playing with young Alex and making a great deal of noise while the others looked on fondly.
Slowly, as if she were going nowhere really, Elizabeth left the boulders and disappeared into the trees with all the noise of a puff of smoke. Once inside, she stood still and waited and her mind was taken back to the days of her childhood.
Brian had always been the one to be protected. Older than Elizabeth but seeming younger, he’d never been able to develop the protective techniques that Elizabeth had. If a man attacked Elizabeth, she had no qualms about drawing a knife on him, but Brian couldn’t. Time after time Elizabeth had rescued Brian from some gaggle of men Edmund had brought to their home. While Edmund roared with laughter, shouting insults at his weakling of a brother, Roger and Elizabeth had soothed the young, crippled Brian.
There had been so many days that Brian had spent in hiding, without food or drink, that they’d devised a way of signaling. Roger and Elizabeth were the only ones who knew the high-pitched whistle and they’d always come when Brian called.
Now, Elizabeth stood still, waiting for Brian to appear. Was he alone or with Roger?
The young man who stepped into the clearing was a stranger to Elizabeth and for a moment she could only gape at him. He’d always been handsome in a delicate way, but now he looked wraithlike and his face was that of some terrible specter.
“Brian?” she whispered.
&nbs
p; He gave her a curt nod. “You look healthy. Does captivity agree with you?”
Elizabeth was nearly knocked speechless by this. She’d never heard her young brother say such a thing to anyone, much less to her. “Is…is Roger with you?”
Brian’s sunken features darkened even more. “Do not say that vile name in my presence.”
“What?” she gasped, moving toward him. “What are you talking about?”
For a moment, his eyes softened and he lifted a hand to caress Elizabeth’s temple, but fell away before he touched her. “Many things have happened since we last saw each other.”
“Tell me,” she whispered.
Brian moved away from her. “Roger kidnapped Mary Montgomery.”
“I had heard that but I can’t imagine Roger…”
Brian turned on her with eyes like hot coals. “Do you think he’s related to Edmund with no taint of blood? Do you think any of us escaped the evil that controlled our eldest brother?”
“But Roger…” she began.
“Do not even speak the name to me. I loved the woman Mary, loved her such as I could never love again. She was good and kind without a single wish to harm, but he—your brother—raped her and she cast herself from a window in horror.”
“No,” Elizabeth said calmly. “I cannot believe it. Roger is good. He doesn’t harm people. He never wanted this war between the Montgomerys and Chatworths. He took in Alice when her own family wouldn’t have her. And he—”
“He attacked Stephen Montgomery’s back. He lied to Bronwyn MacArran and held her prisoner for a while. When Mary died, I released Bronwyn and took Mary back to Gavin. Did they tell you of the rage of Miles Montgomery when he saw his sister? It lasted for days.”
“No,” Elizabeth whispered, vividly imagining Miles’s fury. “They have said little about any of the war.” After the first few days, it seemed to be a silent mutual agreement that she and Miles would not speak of their families’ problems.
“Brian,” she said softly. “You look tired and worn. Come back to Larenston with me and rest. Bronwyn will—”
“I’ll not rest as long as my brother is alive.”
Elizabeth gaped at him. “Brian, you cannot mean what you say. We’ll contact Roger, then we’ll sit down and talk about this.”
“You don’t understand, do you? I mean to kill Roger Chatworth.”
“Brian! You can’t forget a lifetime of good in one day. Remember how Roger always protected us? Remember how he risked his life to save you the day Edmund ran you down and crushed your leg?”