Jesus.Maggie’s siblings were Deirdre and Yearger Irvine. Why the hell had he not asked their names or made the damn connection?
“I see ye understand what I’m telling ye,” Dermot said, his tone grave.
“Tell me everything you can remember that my mom told you about the day King Alexander died,” Rhys said, his mind now unquestionably refuting the idea that Maggie could be involved in plotting to kill anyone, let alone the king.
Dermot sighed. “Deirdre Irvine gave Shona the note to deliver, which sheclaimedwas from the queen. Then Yearger Irvine tried to kill my sister,yer mother, on the way back to Kinghorn. Shona said after she escaped Yearger that she heard and saw one of the guards in the king’s party encourage the king to ride ahead of the party and ride fast, despite the dangers of the night. She saw another guard hiding in wait for the king and that guard scared the king’s horse, causing it to rear up and throw the king to his death.”
“Jesus.” Rhys couldn’t get anything else out. He was numb. Hearing the detailed account of the murder left him reeling. And knowing what that murder had led to, would lead to, filled him with rage. The fact that Maggie’s family was involved, her brother and sister, turned his stomach for her.
“Rhys,” Dermot said, his voice heavy with constrained emotion, “Shona believes, as my brothers and I do, that theIrvinesconspired to kill King Alexander, and that Yearger Irvine tried to kill her because of this.”
He stiffened at the implication. “Maggie is not involved,” Rhys said, completely aware of how unbending his tone was.
“How can ye be certain?” Dermot asked quietly. “By yer own account, ye have only known her a short time.”
It didn’t matter. Heknewher. Deep in his heart, he knew her. “I’m certain,” he bit out, “and I’ll ride on without you if you don’t want to help me.”
“Nay,” Dermot said. “First of all, my sister would kill me if she knew I let her son proceed into danger alone. And second, Shona did nae mention the lass, just her sister and brother, which could mean the lass might be innocent of wrongdoing.”
“Sheisinnocent,” Rhys repeated, his hands balling into fists.
“Then ye best be prepared to protect her at all costs. If she’s innocent, then her brother and sister likely are using her for gain from the baron. Even if we stop him from taking her now, other men will come for her. Lochlavine is an important border castle, and war is surely going to follow because of the king’s murder.”
“How much did my mom tell you about Scottish history?”
Dermot gave him a sheepish look. “I’m sorry to say I did nae allow her to tell me much. I was in such shock from her arrival the day I left her to go to Burntisland. I was finding it hard to believe her and Grace’s claims, even though I could nae explain how Shona had aged.” He shrugged. “I’m stubborn. ’Tis a curse of the men in my family.”
“The women, too, if the others are anything like my mother.”
Dermot laughed at that. “Aye, the women, as well. It seems ye have inherited that propensity, too.”
Rhys did not argue with that probable truth. Instead, he eyed Dermot. “What made you finally accept that what Mom and Aunt Grace said was the truth?”
“Yesterday, every guardian Shona told me would be named was, in fact, named, and then I saw ye, who she had described to perfection. I knew when I saw ye that ye were my sister’s son. That’s why I was watching ye yesterday and this morning.”
Rhys nodded. “And your father knows none of this?”
“Nay. He’s been with Bruce, and I have nae had a private moment with him since seeing ye. Shona will tell him when he returns home. We must all be verra careful who else we tell, though. I think only the closest family and most trusted people whoneedto know should be told. People will accuse ye of being the Devil’s cohort again, and Shona, too, if they think some sort of witchery has occurred. When Shona returned, we told the people in the clan that she was a sister of our mother. In truth, she has been dead for some time, so this seemed a most reasonable way to explain any resemblance. We can say ye are Shona’s son, which ye are—” Dermot grinned “—but Shona’s calling herself Ellen now.”
“We’ll work it out,” Rhys said, his thoughts already turning back to Maggie. “Dermot, in this time, what’s the best way to protect a woman from being forced to wed a man she doesn’t want to wed?”
Dermot grinned. “’Tis simple. If she’s wed to a man and he has bed her, she belongs to him and nae a man can come between them. Well, nae with the Church’s blessing. Men may try, but her husband would have the backing of his clan to protect her.”
“And what if I don’t have a clan?” he asked.
“Nephew,” Dermot replied, grasping Rhys’s forearm, “ye are a MacKinnish. We are yer clan. In this time. In yer time. For all time. And if ye vouch for the lass and call on us to protect her, we will. That’s what family does. But all the better if she is yer wife. It would make things simpler.” Dermot winked. “Think on that while we ride.”
Rhys nodded, but he didn’t need to think on it. He’d already made up his mind. It was now a matter of getting Maggie to agree to marry him. His thoughts drifted to his dad and his brothers once again. He still had no idea if any of them had time travelled. He would have thought that if they had time walked, they would have come through at the same place or close to it, but there was no sign of them.
If they were here, any of them, where the hell were they? And if they were still in the future, could they even get here? They presumably still had the cross if they were still in the future. Without the cross, Rhys could not get back. Unless his Aunt Grace had obtained another one, but where was she? There were so many unanswered questions. He could not imagine never seeing his dad or his brothers again, but he could not imagine leaving Maggie, either. Hewouldstay with Maggie, but the decision made him feel split in two.
Chapter Fifteen
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach when feeling out of sight.
