he would not do so without knowing that he could keep that promise. He would talk to her later, more privately, and if she wanted to fratch with him then, she could. He could tell from Ivor’s expression that he would not extend the discussion to soothe her temper and that Ivor still had more to say to him.
The silence lengthened for another beat or two before Ivor said lightly, “I could tell you some fine tales about Fin’s days at St. Andrews, Cat. But I fear that he may have worse ones to tell about me.”
She smiled then. “I’ll coax those tales out of both of you one day.”
“Aye, sure, you will,” he said. “For now, though, you must leave us to our talk. We do thank you for the wine, although I have a strong suspicion that it was your own notion and not Grandame’s to bring it to us.”
Chuckling, she bade them both goodnight and left the chamber.
Ivor said, “Don’t imagine that you are going anywhere, my lad.”
“I don’t,” Fin said, holding out his goblet. “But I want more wine.”
Ivor refilled both goblets, saying, “It occurs to me that I still don’t know exactly who you are. Don’t you think that it’s time you told me?”
“I do, aye,” Fin said, as several ways of saying it flashed through his mind. Opting for bluntness, he said, “My father was Teàrlach MacGillony.”
“The king of archers, who died at Perth. He must be the man by whom you were kneeling when I saw you. I wasn’t sure then that it was you, not until you stood up. So you are a full Cameron then and not from one of the minor tribes. Have you revealed that interesting fact to my grandfather?”
“I didn’t have to. He said that I look just like my father and took me severely to task for telling Lady Annis that his name was Teàrlach MacGill. Said my da would have clouted me good for saying such a thing. He would have, too.”
“That was a terrible day, that battle at Perth,” Ivor said soberly. “We’re going to have to make a clean breast of it to them, you know.”
“What do you mean?” Fin asked, hoping that his own deeper thoughts about vengeance and sacred oaths had not revealed themselves. “Did you not—?”
“I fear that I was not entirely truthful afterward with my father and others of Clan Chattan, and James was not there. He wields a sword skillfully, but he has not won his knighthood. And, as you will recall, the royal command was for thirty champions on each side that day.”
“So you are a better swordsman than James. That does not surprise me, Hawk. You are more skilled than most, albeit not as skilled as you are with a bow.”
“Not skilled enough with a sword to defeat you, Lion. Sakes, though, I expect that we’d better start calling each other Fin and Ivor now.”
“What did you tell your people?”
“After you dove in, Father asked what you had said to me. That was easy enough, since neither of us had said much of consequence.”
“I said your name,” Fin told him. “I don’t recall what I said after that.” Then he did remember more. “I said that they’d flay you, but you told me you’d be a hero. Not until afterward did I realize that you had meant that they would call me coward. And so I was, I expect. But I could not fight you.”
“Don’t be daft, man. Would you have gone into that river had I not urged you to go? And don’t pretend that I did not. You heard and understood me plainly.”
“Did I? I doubt that I was thinking at all by then.”
“Would you say to my face that I had nowt to do with your departure?”
Fin shook his head. “You know I won’t do that. But neither do I agree that you should tell them that it was your idea. I made the choice, my friend.”
“Are we still friends then? Nowt has changed?”
“As far as I am concerned, you and I are still as close as brothers. Sakes, I feel closer to you than I ever felt to Ewan.” Memory of the vengeance that he had sworn to claim stirred then so harshly that it was all he could do not to wince in response to it. But how could he ever kill his best friend’s father, Catriona’s father? He heard her voice then in his mind: “Life is always more important than