the arm in a show of greeting. “What news do you bring?”
For several moments no one spoke, and then Ciaran met all their gazes. “The men we both sent tae the building yesterday have nae returned.”
§ § § §
May 28, 4831: Lochwood Castle
“Good, you haven’t gone out to the lists yet.”
Ciaran yawned and looked up from his porridge to find Marcus standing across the table from him. He also noticed that for the most part his men had cleared out. There were only a handful still eating, and the maids were already starting to clear off the trenchers. Apparently, he’d been sitting here longer than he’d thought.
Marcus’s eyes widened as Ciaran met his gaze.
After setting his cane on the table, Marcus leaned forward and put his hands flat on the surface, then proceeded to lift one leg over the bench, and then the other. “You look like I feel. Glad I’m not the only one whose arse is dragging this morning.” Which was saying a lot, because Marcus didn’t look all that great. There were bags under his eyes. And a very pronounced grimace as he’d sat.
“Ye leg is bothering ye?”
“Don’t start that.” Marcus gave him a pointed look that Ciaran had always thought of as parental. “I’ve heard enough from Patrick, thank you very much. So back to you. I know why I didn’t sleep, but why didn’t you?”
“Thinking about our men.” Among other things. That kiss had haunted him all night long. He’d waffled between his yearning for Red and his yearning for revenge. “We need tae find them.”
“Patrick and I have a plan for that.” He glanced around the great hall, then leaned forward and lowered his voice. “We’re going tonight to have a peek around after everyone is asleep. Patrick has already sent word to have some of the Campbells meet us there.”
Ciaran didn’t miss the wince as Marcus shifted his weight. He made a mental note to talk to Agatha and see if she had anything for pain for Marcus, and then he veered his thoughts back to their conversation and asked the question that had been bothering him. “Do ye think they are still alive? I keep wondering if I had gotten out there yesterday, if the outcome would be any different?”
“I doubt it.” The words hung in the air between them for a moment. “Their presence at the site was probably why you were attacked in the first place.”
Which did not bode well for their men. Ciaran pushed the porridge away.
A maid came over and took the trencher.
After she left, Marcus asked, “What have you said to the council about the attack?”
“Nothing. I dinna tell them where I was going or that I’d sent men out there. But if they ask, I’ll tell them the truth.” Ciaran shrugged.
Marcus shook his head as though he disagreed, but Ciaran wasn’t going to be cowed by a few old men and an old woman.
“Where is Patrick?” He glanced around, searching for his mentor. Where were Red and Louisa? He had not seen them this morn either, and he had looked… for Red at least.
Interlacing his fingers together and placing them on the table in front of him, Marcus grinned, looking pleased with himself.
Ciaran raised a brow.
“Outside, training your men to use fraggers.”
“What? I thought we couldnae use the fraggers?” Something about them not working after a day or so because they ran on electricity, which Skye did not possess.
The grin got bigger, and for the first time since they started talking, Marcus gave him a real smile. “Last night while I was not sleeping, I started messing with the spare parts we retrieved from the crashed shuttle. I was able to rig a couple of solar chargers for the fraggers. Some efficiency will be lost due to cloud cover, but they should still work. That way we can use a few of them.” They’d gathered the weapons from all the battles they’d engaged in. There must be almost a hundred by now. “How many is a few?”
“They charge pretty quickly, but still with only two chargers….” He glanced up at the ceiling as if calculating in his head. “Twenty-five or so.”
“Can ye make more chargers?”
“Possibly. I need to save some parts to try and make some sort of satellite, but after you were attacked yesterday and we got the news about the missing men, I started trying to come up with a way to even out our odds some.” He rocked back a little and turned,