"He took an arrow to the shoulder," he informed her, his little freckled face solemn.
"An arrow?" Seonaid echoed with horror.
"Aye, but Lady Iliana tended to it right quick an' says he'll be fine."
"Oh, good," she breathed the word, then asked, "a-an' Duncan?"
"He's fine. He was off tryin' to rescue ye from the Colquhouns."
"The Colquhouns?" Seonaid stared at him in confusion.
"Aye. We got news ye'd been kidnaped by the Colquhouns. Duncan took most of the men an' rode out to get ye back. But it was a trick. Greenweld was jest tryin' to lure the men out so he could lay siege to the castle. He planned to take over before the men could return to stop him. But Lady Iliana's smart an' she held them off. Gave 'em a good fight too."
"Iliana? What about Father?"
"Well, he took that arrow," Willie reminded her. "He's fine now, but fer a while there he was unconscious an'--" He shrugged. "Lady Iliana had to take over. She did a right fine job o' it too. Did us proud."
Seonaid nodded but was a bit amazed that her sister-in-law had managed to hold off Greenweld. Iliana was such a tiny little thing, which didn't mean much, she supposed, Aeldra was small too, but skilled in battle. However, Iliana wasn't. She was small and pretty and ladylike and knew all there was to know about being a wife, but the news that she had the ability to hold off an army set Seonaid to thinking. She had thought they were opposites--Lady Iliana skilled at female things while Seonaid boasted battle skills. It would seem, however, that Iliana was a far more talented woman. It was a depressing realization.
"What about Allistair an' Giorsal an' everyone else?" Aeldra asked, and Seonaid glanced to the side with surprise, not having realized that the other woman was there.
Suddenly aware that Willie hadn't answered the question, Seonaid turned back to the boy. The expression on his face and the way he was now staring at the ground made her stomach drop. She could only think the news was bad, and immediately suspected it was about Giorsal, Aeldra and Allistair's aunt. Her cousins had come to live with their mother's sister when their own parents had died. Giorsal was a mother to them. Whatever the bad news was, it had to be about her. Allistair would have been with Duncan and the other men.
"Is it Giorsal?" Aeldra asked, her thoughts apparently running along the same lines as Seonaid's.
Willie shook his head but still wouldn't look up.
"Did Allistair no' go with Duncan?" Seonaid asked and her stomach sank even further when the boy shook his head again. If Allistair had been here and able, he would have been the one to take over when Angus had been felled. But Iliana had.
"Is Allistair ... ?" Aeldra's voice broke as Willie raised sad eyes to her. Whirling, the petite blonde raced down the stairs and charged off across the bailey. Seonaid was right behind her. Taller and able to take longer strides, she could have easily caught up and overtaken her cousin, but she stayed behind, knowing she was heading for Giorsal's cottage to find out what had happened. Allistair was Aeldra's brother, she had the right to know first.
She had nearly reached Giorsal's cottage when Seonaid was suddenly caught by the arm and drawn up short. Whirling to face her captor, she scowled to find Blake had run after her and caught up to her.
"Let me go," she hissed, glancing over her shoulder to see Aeldra disappearing into the nearby cottage.
"Nay, my lady. There will be no more running away. You--"
"I'm no runnin' away," Seonaid snapped impatiently. "Let me go."
"You are not running away?" Blake asked slowly.
"Nay. Something has happened to Allistair, Aeldra's brother. I think he may be dead," her voice cracked on the word. Rallying herself, she gave her arm a shake, trying to free herself of his hold. "Now let me go. Aeldra needs me."
Blake released her at once and stepped back, watching as she turned away and hurried after Aeldra. Seonaid almost expected the man to follow her into the cottage, but a glance over her shoulder before she slipped inside showed her that he was still where she'd left him, simply watching. Little George was approaching from the keep at a gallop. The man was large and strong but not overly quick, and was just catching up.
In the next moment, Seonaid forgot all about the two men as Aeldra's distressed cry drew her attention to the conversation she had walked in on.
"What? But Allistair--"
"He should have been laird," Giorsal hissed, interrupting the blonde. "As yer fither should have before him. Angus and he were twins. He had as much right to rule, and he should have ruled the Dunbars. And Allistair should have ruled after him."
"But Father didna want to rule. He was happy to let Uncle Angus--"
"They claim Allistair was killed by Greenweld," the old woman went on bitterly, as if Aeldra hadn't even spoken. "But it isna true, I tell ye. Greenweld would no have killed him. They were working together."
"What?" It was an almost breathless gasp of horror from Aeldra. "Allistair was with Greenweld? Why?"
"To get back what was rightfully his," Giorsal said grimly. "Greenweld was goin' to help him get Dunbar back."
"But what about Uncle Angus an' Duncan?"
Giorsal shrugged. "With them out o' the way, Allistair'd be laird."
"An' Seonaid?" Aeldra asked grimly.
"He wanted to marry her. He said it would strengthen his claim."
"So Allistair plotted with that vile Greenweld an' betrayed everyone?"
Giorsal nodded with satisfaction. "It was my idea. He didna want to at first, but I convinced him. Necessity makes strange bedfellows, an' I kenned Greenweld could help Allistair to gain possession of the keep an' the clan chief's seat. He deserved it. But he didna agree until I pointed out he could have Seonaid that way, that Greenweld could send men out to kill the Englishman an' she'd be free to marry him, that in her grief for her father an' brother, she'd be easily led into marriage were he there to offer her support. It would have worked too," she said furiously, "but Duncan returned earlier than he was supposed to an' killed my baby."
"You convinced him to do this? To betray his own people?"
Seonaid's eyes had been frozen with fascinated horror on the old woman's bitter face up to now, but the flat sound of Aeldra's voice drew her gaze down to her. Aeldra had been on her knees at Giorsal's feet with her back to the door when Seonaid had entered. She still was, but where she had seemed like a collapsed doll then, she was stiff now, as if a stick had been slid up her back. Her head was erect and slightly lifted and her tone of voice was dead, but with an undercurrent of cold fury that made Seonaid's heart ache. Allistair had died while attempting to betray them all, but he had been led into doing so by Giorsal. Aeldra had lost both members of her closest family in a matter of moments, for while the old woman still lived, she would be dead in Aeldra's heart forever more.
"Betray who? That arrogant old bastard Angus? Who sat up in the castle while ye an' Allistair an' I lived here in this tiny cottage like peasants?" she asked bitterly. "We should have been in the castle! We should have--"
Seonaid didn't know who was more stunned when Aeldra suddenly slapped Giorsal.
Aeldra didn't say a word. She got slowly to her feet, turned her back on the woman who had raised her, and walked out of the cottage, neither slowing her step when she reached Seonaid nor even glancing her way.
Seonaid started to follow her, then paused and glanced back to ask, "How long ha'e ye hated us?"
Giorsal's mouth twisted bitterly. "Yer whole life."
Seonaid merely nodded and walked wearily out of the cottage. She looked around for Aeldra, but the girl must have broken into a run the moment she was out the door. Her cousin was nowhere in sight. Neither was Little George, she noted. Blake was still there, however. Seonaid debated her chances of avoiding him, but it seemed unlikely. He had that stubborn set to his shoulders she was starting to recognize.
That thought gave her something of a start. It was surprising that she was beginning to recognize anything about him.
&n
bsp; "Your cousin is dead?" Blake asked the question in quiet sympathetic tones as soon as she paused before him.
Seonaid nodded. It was all she had intended to do, but suddenly she found herself blurting out what she had learned; Allistair's perfidy, Giorsal's hatred, and their plans for her and her family and even for himself. She finished with, "Aeldra is sore upset."
"Aye." Blake nodded, then added softly, "As are you."
Much to her horror, Seonaid felt tears rush to her eyes at those words and the sympathy he offered. She struggled to force them back, but they would not go.