embarrassment over fainting was now swamped by frustration and fury and a helplessness she’d never felt before that made it all worse. Too late she realised that when Bram stepped away from the door, he’d stepped towards her. It only reinforced the damage done.
She felt like kicking Bram, shouting at Aindreas and shoving the children out the door, but she could do none of it. She was trapped.
‘Are you harmed?’ Aindreas kept his eyes on Bram.
‘Nae harmed—merely plagued.’
‘What is he doing here, Lioslath?’ Aindreas asked. ‘How did he get here?’
Neither question could she answer and already she saw the children’s comprehension that Bram was inside the keep, though the gates were closed. ‘It’s not as it seems,’ she said.
‘Not as it seems!’ Aindreas almost roared. ‘He’s in your—’
‘The children!’ she interrupted.
Aindreas clenched his jaw as his eyes, warning of retribution, returned to Bram. ‘Did you harm any?’
‘Nae harm and I came alone,’ Bram said calmly, yet there was no mistaking the silent challenge in his words. Lioslath and Aindreas had observed Bram training his men. He was daunting from afar, now, up close, he was formidable.
‘Why are you here?’ Aindreas said.
‘That is between Lioslath and me,’ Bram said.
‘Not while I have breath in my body, Colquhoun. You are leaving. Now.’
‘Why would I do that?’ Bram said.
Aindreas raised the axe again, his stance widening. He was skilled in axe throwing, but Bram stood too near to Lioslath and her siblings were here. He couldn’t throw it and he couldn’t attack. They all knew it, but Aindreas looked as though he was beyond caring.
‘He will go now,’ she said. ‘He knows by staying the consequences will be dire.’
‘You’re unwell,’ Bram said.
Did he think her a fool to believe that he stayed because of that? ‘I have care now,’ she pointed out.
Something about Bram’s demeanour said he didn’t like that. ‘Nae good enough. We need to negotiate.’
‘You’ll negotiate,’ Aindreas said, ‘only at the end of my axe.’
Lioslath knew it was up to her to end this. The room was brightening with the rising sun. She could hear people waking and she needed no witnesses to her fainting embarrassment.
‘Aindreas, you need to leave and take the children.’ She turned. ‘And you three need to keep quiet.’
‘Nae!’ Aindreas waved his axe. ‘He’s trapped. We can use him to barter. We have an advantage.’
‘Do you truly?’ Bram said, amusement lacing his words.
Lioslath’s insides roiled. Did he find nothing serious?
No, he did. She’d been watching him all these weeks, and Bram was Laird Colquhoun and a warrior in every sense. The years, the authority and the training were ingrained in the way he held himself. Even without a weapon, he was too worthy a foe. And his all-too-knowing smile that belied a friendly easiness told her he wouldn’t leave here quietly.
Her siblings, for once, remained still, but they were not silent. Increasing her alarm, they held hands and whispered something between them.
‘Aindreas, go, please. Keep them quiet and nae harm will come to me. I’ll converse with Laird Colquhoun and we can end this.’
‘Alone? You expect me to leave a man in your room alone?’
‘I was alone with her before we were interrupted,’ Bram said.
Lioslath’s breath left her lungs. ‘Mere moments and unwanted! Aindreas, only we know he is here. If we delay much longer, this cannot be kept secret!’
Aindreas eased his axe hold. ‘To negotiate?’
She nodded. ‘I trust this to you.’
Aindreas lowered his axe and nodded. ‘I’ll take them to the courtyard outside the Hall’s door. Nae more.’
It was the most she could ask.
‘Wait,’ Bram said, turning to the children. ‘Who are you?’ he asked.
‘This isn’t necessary,’ Lioslath interrupted.
‘I won’t go,’ Bram said. He meant it.
Her siblings visibly twitched, but Eoin and Fyfa faced this intimidating man with their chins stubbornly set. She’d seen them like this when facing her, but never with someone they should fear.
‘Did you... Did you hurt her?’ Fyfa asked, a fierceness to her eyes.
‘Nae,’ Bram said, ‘but it’ll hurt your sister if I stay.’
Aindreas made some sound, while Lioslath tried not to reveal her surprise at her siblings’ bravery.
‘How will it hurt her if you stay?’ Eoin asked.
Fyfa tugged on her brother’s arm. ‘I’ll tell you later. Now they want us to pretend he wasn’t here.’
‘How are we to do that?’ Eoin said. ‘He’s huge!’
‘Later,’ she hissed at her brother before turning her eyes to Bram again. This time there was a gleam to them. ‘What do we get in return?’
Her siblings had been chattering to themselves and this was what they planned? It was confusing. Their protectiveness was confusing. As was Bram’s increasing amusement.
‘Do you know what you want?’ he asked.
Eoin and Fyfa nodded, but Gillean, who remained by Aindreas’s side, looked lost.
Bram pointed to him. ‘When he knows, come to me to discuss your terms.’
‘Are you finished?’ Aindreas demanded.
Bram shrugged. ‘For now. When you return, bring food. She needs it.’
Aindreas’s lips thinned as he looked at Lioslath. She nodded. For now, she was safe. She’d deal with the Colquhoun’s arrogance after the children left.
Keeping his eyes on Bram, Aindreas ushered the children out of the room.
The door latch clicked with an ominous sound and Lioslath felt more alone with Bram now than she had before. At the very least she was more...aware of him. Which made little sense, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he was suddenly, vibrantly here.
Had he always been this tall or broad of shoulder? He was a well-trained man and it showed in this
