“You’re not really his brother are you?”
He turned quite pale but recovered quickly. It couldn’t have been that big of a secret. I’d not met Niall yet, but Baodan had dark hair and eyes. E-o looked more like he could’ve been my brother, with the same red hair and skin tone as myself.
“I am in every way that matters, lass, but ye are right. I am no his brother by blood.”
He didn’t seem to want to elaborate so I didn’t press him. “Can I ask you just one more? Last one, I swear.”
“Aye.”
“Is Baodan wrong about Niall as well?”
Anger flashed across his face, and I knew his answer before he spoke. “No, if anything, Baodan doesna realize how dangerous Niall can be.”
“And that’s why you sit outside here?”
He nodded somberly. “Aye, but lass,” he paused and reached out to grab my hand. “I’m afraid I willna be here tonight. There is something I must attend to before Baodan’s return. I shall lock yer bedchamber door, and Rhona will have the only other key. I am sure that I have been over-cautious. Doona worry. The guards will be outside yer doorway as well.”
Suddenly chilled, I nodded and pulled my hands away from him to run my hands up and down my sleeves as I watched him stand to leave. “What is it that you have to do?”
He shut the door, and I could hear his footsteps fading away along with the sound of his voice. “I’m afraid that I canna tell ye that. And lass…please doona call me E-o, I’ll teach ye how to properly say me name next time I see ye.”
I laughed as his footsteps retreated, any worry that I’d felt due to his concern for my safety gone as quickly as it came.
*
Eoghanan reached the alchemist’s cottage by sunset. As he slipped off his horse, he led the beast to the back, securing it safely out of sight so that none would see him.
He could see the old man working inside. He was alone, just as he’d hoped. The man appeared small and frail. It wouldn’t be difficult to overpower him, but Eoghanan hoped he wouldn’t put up a fight. He wished to hurt the alchemist as little as possible.
Peeking around the corner of the home to make sure that no one watched, he stepped inside without knocking. Approaching him from behind, he raised his fist and brought it down hard upon the back of the man’s head.
One blow was all it took. Catching him as he went limp, Eoghanan gathered his target and strapped him to the back of his horse then rode in the direction of McMillan Castle’s dungeons.
Chapter 12
My stomach growled loudly, reminding me that it was past time for another measly meal of some sort of meat I would unlikely want to eat. Usually food arrived right at sunset, but the sun set hours ago, and my stomach rumbled in response to it.
Just as I contemplated whether I should holler at one of the guards to see what the hang up was, I heard the key jiggle inside the lock. I moved to a small table against the farthest wall of the room and sat with my back to the door to await my food.
The door latched into place, and I froze in my seat. Rhona never stayed long enough to bother closing the door. I knew before I turned that it was not her in the room with me. I’d nearly forgotten Eoghanan’s warning and the concern on his face at having to leave me alone but, as rocks settled in my stomach, I knew who I would find as I twisted in my chair.
“You must be Niall.”
He nodded as he moved to set the food down in front of me and then went to lean against the wall beside the small table so that he looked right at me.
I expected him to be tall and menacing. Instead, he stood much shorter than both Baodan and Eoghanan and his face was unusually pretty for a male. He was good looking, no doubt, and he knew it too. He displayed it in the way he held himself. I suspected he denied himself little.
“Aye, lass, right ye are. ’Tis a pleasure to finally meet she who has all in the castle busy with gossip.”
Unlike the ease I felt with both other brothers, I held my breath in Niall’s presence. I wondered if I would have felt the same way if Eoghanan withheld his warning. Regardless, something inside told me to tread carefully. “Where’s Rhona? She usually brings me my meals.”
He waved his hand dismissively and stepped closer in my direction. “Eat, lass. Rhona dinna feel well, so she went abed and left yer meal in the hand of her kitchen maid. I told her I’d be happy to take it to ye as I was anxious to introduce meself. When I arrived, I found that both the guards were no feeling so well either. Seems something has spread throughout the castle.”
“Ah.” I ate slowly, hardly looking up from my plate in the hopes that he would take his leave. Inside, I knew better. If he had any intention of leaving, he wouldn’t have closed the door behind him.