They reached the bend in the road that brought them into view of the house, and his heart eased a little at the sight of the sturdy structure, the green veins of the local granite that formed its walls—the same prized granite that had been carted the length of the country to build the palace at Kingswell two centuries ago—shining in the sun. Before his father’s father had died, when Cameron had been just short of five years old, they had lived here at the northern holdings for a year or so when the main house at Loch Kenzie had undergone some much-needed renovations. It had been the freest time in Cameron’s life, and he and his brothers had been left to run much wilder than they had been before.
In a way, he envied Alec for getting to live here now, with all those pleasant memories and tucked away from his father’s immediate line of sight. “Almost there, milady,” he said, turning back to Sophie. From the direction of the house, a storm of barking started up. Alec’s hounds had noticed them even if no one else had yet.
The dogs came bounding down the road as they came closer to the house, their warning barks changing to something more friendly as Ludo, the largest of the pack, recognized Cameron and loped over to try to lick him to death. Cameron told him to get down with a stern “Off.” Ludo complied but only as far as to stop licking and sit at his feet, leaning his not inconsiderable weight against Cam’s leg.
To his right, Sophie was ringed by the other five dogs, two more banehounds like Ludo, large and shaggy beasts of red-and-black fur, who came up past her waist and were butting their heads against her for pats whilst the other three—two quicksilver white-and-gray herders and Lucy’s aging small brown curly dog, Bit, whose parentage had never been fully distinguished, darted around her legs. She was smiling and patting and talking softly to all of them, seemingly not bothered by so many dogs at once. But, then, she’d grown up on a small estate, too. She would be used to animals.
She looked beautiful with the smile lighting her face and chasing away the tension. Like she had earlier when he—
No. He wasn’t going to think that. Wasn’t going to watch her. It only made his hands tingle with an oddly strong urge to touch her.
Ludo barked then, a soft greeting whuff of welcome that Cameron recognized. He turned his gaze from Sophie and saw Alec had emerged from the house and was walking toward them. His brother was dressed in head-to-toe black.
CHAPTER SIX
Sophie saw the smile on Cameron’s face die and turned to see what he was looking at. A man dressed all in black was walking toward them. From the height and the dark hair and the clearly Mackenzie angles of jaw and cheeks, Sophie gathered this was Cameron’s brother Alec.
Dressed in mourning clothes.
For whom, exactly?
The pleasure she’d felt in the wagging tails and soft fur of the dogs surrounding her drained away in an instant, replaced by the return of the sick gray worry that had become so familiar in the last two days.
“Who?” Cameron demanded as Alec reached them.
Alec put his hand on Cameron’s arm. “Come inside, little brother.”
“Who?” Cameron repeated.
Alec shook his head and then slanted his gaze at Sophie. “You’ll be Lady Sophia, then, milady?”
She nodded, not trusting herself to be able to answer without also asking who.
Relief flashed over Alec’s face, and he gestured back at the house. “There was word from the capital that you would likely be with my brother, milady. Please come inside.”
Sophie was worried that Cameron was going to come to blows with his brother by the time they were seated inside in what would have been a comfortably cozy parlor if it were not for the tension filling the air. She suspected the only thing stopping Cam was the presence of Alec’s wife, Lucy, a tiny woman who had come armed with a baby strategically placed on her hip.
“Who is—” Cameron demanded again, and Lucy shook her head.
“Not yet,” Lucy said decisively. “You need something to eat and drink. There won’t be much—” She cut off the words, shook her head. “You can wait a few more minutes.”
Won’t be much what? Time? Sophie didn’t like the sound of that. She felt the urge to go to Cameron, to touch him for reassurance, but that would hardly be wise. He had been clear that there wasn’t to be a repeat of the morning.
She bit her lip, tried not to watch the muscles clenching and unclenching in Cameron’s jaw and neck as he tried to stay silent.
Food and tea appeared as Lucy busied herself making sure Sophie was comfortable. Sophie sipped the hot tea gratefully, but she wasn’t sure that her stomach would deal with food just now. Not until she had heard the news.
“Enough,” Cameron said abruptly. Lucy gave him a sidelong glance, but she didn’t say anything.
Cameron turned to Alec. “Tell us. What’s happened? Who is the black for? What’s happening in Kingswell?”
Alec’s face was bleak. “I assume, because you’re both here, that you know about the attack.”
“We were in Kingswell when it started,” Cameron said. “But out of the palace. So we left.” His shoulders squared a little, as though he was bracing himself for criticism, but Alec just nodded.
“Well, that was wise. There was a lot of damage.”
“We saw the explosion,” Cameron said. “We know there’s damage. I don’t care about the palace. What about the people?”
“Long live the queen-to-be,” Alec said.
Sophie heard the words, but it took a moment for them to make any sense. When her brain finally assigned them a meaning, the breath left her body in a rush, like she’d fallen and winded herself.
“The king is dead?” Cameron asked. “Eloisa is queen?”
“She will be, once she can be crowned,” Alec said. “The queen-to-be was hurt, but she is recovering.”
“Hurt how?” Cameron demanded, a little too fiercely. Something twisted in Sophie’s stomach. Cameron was one of Elly’s bodyguards, but there was something in his tone that sounded . . . more.
“There were no details in the message that came. Just that the Red Guard has control of the palace once more and to send you and Lady Sophia back if you should turn up.”
“And Margaretta?” Sophie asked.
“She is alive,” Alec said. “The message said that much.”
Well, that was a relief. It meant that Eloisa had an heir for now. Which would buy Eloisa some time to marry and beget some more direct heirs.