The older man, who’d mostly remained silent, cleared his throat before he spoke. “Godspeed with you. I don’t like men who bother bairns and lasses. They have no honor. Remember that, lad, when you stare the evil ones in the eye.”
A chill ran down Merryn’s spine at the look on the man’s face, his words worse than his expression. What were they going to find ahead? She’d known Kelvan for three years. He’d not been terribly kind to Nara, spending more time away from her than with her, but he’d appeared to love Shealee.
When he was around.
What kind of operation was he running? How had he become involved with the others? And what were his plans with the bairns? Selling them to anyone struck her as one of the cruelest choices possible.
But Kelvan had always put his needs ahead of others. Even at meals, he filled his plate first. Now that Merryn knew histrue character, she recalled different moments that should have warned them all of what was coming.
How Nara kept her head bowed whenever he was around.
How she had to remove Shealee from the chamber if she cried around Kelvan.
How she had to change her raggies outside.
How Kelvan only spoke to other men. That was part of the reason that she’d never formed much of an opinion of him. He was rarely around, and if he was, he never spoke to Merryn or her mother.
Only their father.
“Broc, do you think a woman is as wise as a man?”
He arched a brow at her. “That would depend on which woman and which man. I’ve known many women who were wiser than most men. And some who are more intelligent than nearly all men.”
“Who do you consider the wisest?”
He shrugged. “I can think of a few, but the one you are most familiar with would be Dyna. She could outsmart all her cousins when she was three summers old. Our grandfather always came to her when the lads were in trouble. She could always outthink them.”
“Because she was a seer?”
“Nay. Being a seer helped in many cases, but she was smarter than all of them.”
“Which three?”
“Alasdair, Elshander, and Alick. Alasdair became much wiser as he grew, but Dyna was given the lairdship of Clan Grantham for a reason. She’s a verra wise woman.”
“Any others I know?”
“Logan would tell you that Gwyneth was the smartest of all. They were spies and she could always outthink the enemy.And my father always said Mama was the smartest in our small family.”
Merryn peered up at Broc, at his chiseled jawline, and he smiled at her, his blue eyes the finest shade she’d ever seen. They sparkled when she was close, something she preferred to believe happened just for her. His answer was perfect, and her father had thought the same about her mother. It was a matter of effort, skill, and hard work.
Not like Kelvan who believed all men were superior to any woman.
As they came around a bend of trees, a cottage came into view. Broc stopped to listen, scanned the area, then whispered, “This is an isolated cottage. It could be the right one. It’s still a distance from the shore.”
They checked the area, not seeing anything but a path that continued toward the shoreline. Since they were on land that sat much higher than the coast, they could look clearly down the path to the sea. Multiple boats sat tied up, but Broc had no way of knowing who they belonged to.
Merryn glanced around, checking off a list in her mind: no other cottages, no men about, and no horses. There was a small forest behind the cottage that could hide a few men, but she wasn’t about to go search the wooded area.
Broc nodded to her, handing her a dagger while he unsheathed his sword. He tried the door, but it was locked. Pointing over his head, a key rested on a nail right next to them. He grabbed it and forced the key into the lock, wiggling it a bit to get it to fit, but then stood back, standing off to the side and throwing the door open in case anyone was ready to come at them.
Inside was the main part of the hut with a hearth at the far end and a door in the back, but no one was there. A sound carried to them from down a short passageway. “There, Broc,”she whispered. They headed that way, found another key, and unlocked the door.
Merryn peered inside, shocked to see the bairns huddled around Kyla on a bed in the farthest corner.
“Mama?”
“Broc? Is that you?”
