into his saddle packs, Jankyn noticed that Efrica had felt no need to wait for his help in mounting her horse, and so he mounted his. “Is anything wrong?” he asked when he caught her frowning.
“Actually,” she replied, nudging her horse into motion, “I was but wondering where Malcolm got that thing he wore about his neck. Tisnae something one has just lying about the house.”
Jankyn laughed softly as he rode beside her. “I suspect he had it made when word came that a Callan had married a MacNachton. Dinnae scowl. I took no insult.”
Efrica was not so sure she believed that, but did not argue it. Malcolm’s reaction to Jankyn only reaffirmed her opinion that she was a fool to be so attracted to a MacNachton, to even consider a future with the man. If even members of the Callan clan could not be at ease around Jankyn, how could she ever hope to have a normal life with the man?
Six
“It wouldnae hurt ye to spend a wee bit more time at court.”
Jankyn looked up from the writings he had been carefully reading to frown at Malcolm. For the past four nights he had spent long hours searching through Malcolm’s research, meticulously recording each and every mention of MacNachtons, including a few old, dark tales very similar to the ones whispered in the villages near Cambrun. It appeared that, back in the far, misty past, MacNachtons had found a way to travel farther afield than they did now. Malcolm had grown more at ease in his presence, although he still wore that odd piece of armor around his neck. Obviously Malcolm had read one too many of the tales of dark, wolf-eyed men riding through the night and leaving death behind them.
“Why?” he asked. “I cannae find the answers I seek there.”
“I would have thought a mon of your ilk would have learned to keep his ear to the ground.”
“What do ye mean?”
“Whispers and rumors, laddie. Whispers and rumors.”
“Such things have always swirled about the MacNachtons.”
“Aye, and nay heeding them has sent more than a few of your clan to their deaths. Hard, gruesome deaths and unblessed graves.”
Jankyn tensed. “What have ye heard?”
“What do ye think, eh? That ye ne’er show your bonnie face when the sun is up, that ye have an unnatural strength, that ye—”
“Enough. I ken it all, but I wonder how ye hear such things when it doesnae appear that ye e’er leave this house.”
Malcolm sat on a bench across the table from Jankyn and crossed his arms. “Everyone who comes to me for information about their clan, or the bloodlines of someone who wishes to marry into their clan, gives me the promise that they will inform me of any news they can, rumor or fact. Tis rare that a day passes which doesnae bring me a missive, some messenger, or e’en some copied book, scroll, or ledger. There are several people at court right now who visit me from time to time to tell me all the news. Aye, things such as how two cruel bastards stalk my wee cousin Efrica and how there is a woman who is determined to have ye crawl back into her bed. Indeed, a woman who grows angrier each time ye shun her welcome.”
Between trying to keep a safe distance between himself and Efrica and becoming engrossed in his research, Jankyn had not realized that Lachlan and Thomas had renewed their pursuit of Efrica. Given what those two men were capable of, Efrica could still be in very real danger. Her cousin Barbara was a good woman, but little protection. Lachlan and Thomas just needed to catch Efrica alone once, and Jankyn did not feel very confident that the opportunity would never present itself. Just thinking of what they had already tried to do to her made him furious.
Then Jankyn saw Malcolm’s eyes widen and realized his fury was revealing itself in his face. He struggled to control his anger and watched Malcolm visibly shore up his courage. Jankyn suspected it was only the man’s concern and affection for Efrica that kept him from fleeing the room.
“I dinnae think ye ought to go racing back and toss the bastards round the garden again,” Malcolm said.
“Did Efrica tell ye about that?”
“Nay. Ye were seen that day. An old friend of mine saw her peril and rushed from his bedchamber to go to her aid. He arrived in the garden just as ye rescued her. As he told me, ye threw the men aside as if they weighed naught.”
This was alarming news. “He is the one spreading the rumors?”
“Nay. I convinced him that, e’en though ye are a slender mon, ye are a strong one. Can win any caber toss, and all that. Also said the MacNachtons can oftimes be spurred into a fierce rage when one of their own is threatened. Explained about the laird of the MacNachtons being wed to Bridget and all that. He still puzzled o’er how ye could pick each mon up, one in each hand, and mentioned how he had caught a fleeting glimpse of a verra alarming look upon your face.” Malcolm nodded when Jankyn cursed. “I finally managed to get him to believe that blind rage had given ye such power, and weel, wasnae it shown by your near swoon afterward that ye had used up all your strength and may have e’en injured yourself a wee bit.”
“Ye feel certain he willnae be telling that tale to anyone else?”
“Aye, e’en if he thinks on it all again and begins to doubt all my clever explanations. I made it verra clear that I wouldnae be pleased to hear such tales spread about the clan my most beloved cousin is now a part of. I didnae threaten to retaliate by revealing a few embarrassing truths about his family, but he understood the implication. The important question is, is he the only one who saw ye that day? He believes ’tis only those two men and the lady who whisper about ye, but one hopes there is no one else who saw ye and thus can affirm those spreading rumors.”
After cursing again over that dire possibility, Jankyn hastily finished the work he had been in the midst of when Malcolm had arrived. The moment he was done, he collected up his completed work and started out of the room, Malcolm at his heels, obviously intending to tightly lock the gates after Jankyn had left. Jankyn knew he was close to unlocking a few secrets about his bloodlines, but the security of the MacNachton secrets and Efrica’s safety were far more important. He could always pay Malcolm handsomely to continue the work for him, knowing the man would protect the MacNachton secrets as well as he protected those of his own clan. After all, people descended from some pagan priestess rumored to be a shape-shifter could be marked as demons and the devil’s minions as easily as any MacNachton.
Once back at the castle, Jankyn hurried to his chambers to secure his work and wash the ink from his hands. He then went in search of Efrica, needing to see with his own eyes that she was safe and was well aware of the danger stalking her little heels. An odd noise echoed through the hallway, and Jankyn halted, hoping the noise would come again so that he could determine exactly where it was coming from and whether or not he should trail it to its source.
“Cursed cats,” muttered a man who hurried past Jankyn. “Hate the sly beasts, but they keep the vermin under control, aye?”
Jankyn murmured a polite agreement and the man disappeared into a room. Now Jankyn knew why the sound had so firmly caught his interest. It was similar to the one a cat made when caught in a fight. This cat, however, was probably facing two-legged vermin she would not be able to control. He listened intently, thankful for the empty silence of the hallway he stood in, and was rewarded with a soft sound that unmistakably was a hiss. Clinging to the shadows, moving swiftly and silently, Jankyn headed in the direction the sound had come from, a sound that
