The Scot's Quest - Keira Montclair Page 0,69
she recognizes him.”
The man stared at Connor. “I met you once. You were on the way to Lochluin Abbey when I caught up with you. I came back to advise you that Hord had found his way back and was after Sela.”
Something flickered in her sire’s eyes, but he gave no indication that he believed the man. “Get him down,” he said to Alasdair. “You and Els will guard him in the great hall, and I’ll send for Sela and Claray.”
“My thanks to you,” the older man said. “’Tis all I want.”
“I’ll keep my eye on you the whole time,” Dyna said, following her cousins as they escorted the man inside the keep. “I won’t let you get away with anything.” She would have argued with her sire that no additional escort was needed—that she could handle the situation given she’d found the man and brought him in—but a part of her knew he’d made the right decision.
She was too emotional. Too personally invested in the matter.
As she followed the others inside, Derric came up behind her, his hand on the small of her back. “Diamond, why don’t you allow your sire to take charge?” he said softly. “He’s laird, is he not?”
She glared at him but closed her mouth.
Her father, who had hung back to allow the lads to escort the stranger in first, said, “You’ve chosen a wise man, daughter. I know you think you’re doing what’s right, but you don’t understand the situation. Allow your mother to offer her opinion.”
They stepped inside the keep and her father sent all the servants out, asking one of them to fetch her mother and Claray.
Connor Grant questioned the man again while the servant left to retrieve them.
“Why are you here?”
The man nodded to the laird and said, “Forgive me, my lord, but I’m an old man. Before I leave this land, I had to make sure they were safe and well. I didn’t wish to bring up any bad memories or cause trouble. I was planning to leave on the morrow. You’ve taken good care of Sela and Claray. ’Twas all I wanted to know. If I could just speak with Sela, ’tis my only request. I promise I’ll take my leave after that.”
Dyna listened but couldn’t make any sense of his words. This man had implied he was from her mother’s past, yet to her knowledge, all of the men who’d harmed and manipulated her mother were dead. So who was this man?
Her mother appeared at the balcony with Claray, and her sister let out a scream, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. When she recovered a wee bit, she pointed at the gray-haired man.
“’Tis him! Mama, ’tis the man I saw outside the gates. He was watching me. Mama…”
Sela Grant squared her shoulders as she peered down at the intruder. “Stay here,” she said to Claray, squeezing her shoulder. Then she descended the stairs, as regal as any queen in her castle, her blue gown trailing behind her. Her eyes never left the intruder.
When her feet met the bottom of the staircase, she stopped, still staring at the man.
“Sela, I just had to see how you were,” the old man said. Tears fell down his cheeks. “See if dear Claray was hale. I’ll pass on soon, but I had to know.”
Sela strode over to stand in front of him. “Vern?” she asked, her voice revealing that she did, in fact, know him.
He nodded. “You’re as beautiful as ever, my lady.”
Dyna watched in mute shock as her mother reached for her father’s arm. “This is Vern. He’s the man who protected Claray when Hord kept her captive.” She reached up to cup the old man’s cheek. “He kept an eye on her and always let me know how she was doing.”
Connor nodded. “I thought I recognized him, but I needed to hear it from you.” He turned to a serving lass and said, “Get a trencher and an ale for our guest.”
Claray crept down the steps, her eyes on Vern, her hands not releasing their tight grip on the railing. Tears poured down her cheeks as she made her way over to him. She came to a stop a few steps behind Sela, her hand on their mother’s elbow. “Mama?”
Dyna couldn’t watch any more. “Mama, this man has been watching Claray. Mayhap he was going to kidnap her, steal her away from you. He’s guilty of causing her many sleepless nights.” Horrified that her parents were welcoming