The Scot's Quest - Keira Montclair Page 0,43
as he asked and wait for him. But she was starting to feel a desperate need for word about her dear grandfather.
A small group of horses approached the camp, and her eyes caught the familiar colors of their plaids. Grant warriors. She hurried over to where the other Grant guards had gathered, and together they awaited the arrival of the newcomers.
Her heart hammered in her chest as they waited. This new group had to be bearing a message.
“What is it?” she bellowed, not wishing to wait any longer.
She noticed that King Robert had joined them and was watching with interest.
The lead horse slowed, the horse foaming a little at the mouth from having been pushed too hard. The warrior jumped down and said, “I bear a message for you, Dyna, from your sire. You’re needed at home.”
She spun around, ready to find her horse and mount up, but Robert’s question gave her pause. “Why? Is there trouble with the English?”
“We were not told, my king. We were instructed to fetch Dyna only and escort her home.”
King Robert stared at the man, a look that usually yielded results, she was sure, but the messenger said no more. The king finally nodded. “Grab yourselves an ale and water your horses at the burn before you leave.”
The men dismounted, but one of them said, “We leave for the return trip in a quarter hour.”
The king approached her. “If this involves another kidnapping of one of your clan,” he said in an undertone, “I wish to be apprised of the matter immediately.”
He was fully aware of all that had happened to their clan—to wee John, to Kyla, to Alex Grant—and if the English were to succeed in convincing the Grant lairds to use their warriors against Robert, it would effectively crush his efforts. Of course, her clan would never agree to that, but she couldn’t fault him for his concern.
“I promise to send a messenger if so,” she said. “How far away is Corbett? I expect he’ll stay with you, but will you tell him where I’ve gone, if you please?”
“I will. He’ll return by high sun.” Something flickered in his eyes, and he added, “I’ll make sure he gets your message.”
The King of the Scots said no more, and she didn’t dare push the man.
She moved to the burn to fill her skin, then mounted her horse, motioning for the nearly twenty Grant guards to follow. She only posed one more question to the new arrivals. “And this message was from my sire, correct? Not from my grandsire?”
“Aye, my lady,” the leader said. “Connor Grant sent me. Alexander Grant has not returned from Cameron land.”
That decided things. Her intuition told her this was about her grandfather. She’d be a wreck until she found out he was hale. Although she wished Derric would go with her, she could not wait for him to return.
***
Derric didn’t have any trouble finding the village. He intended to keep his word to King Robert—he wasn’t about to ask Guinne directly about the child’s parentage—but he also didn’t want to hide around the outside of the village as if he were a spy. He strode into the middle of a group of lasses talking near a well.
“I’m looking for Guinne.”
The lasses looked him up and down, taking his measure, but one of them finally pointed to the last cottage, the one farthest away from the well, just as Robert had advised him. Only now he wouldn’t need to explain how he knew.
He strode down the beaten path, attracting the notice of many curious onlookers, but no one stopped him. Before he could approach the door and knock, a man stepped out of the cottage. He carried an empty bucket, but he stopped to appraise Derric. “Do I know you?”
“Are you Guinne? Heard you’d traveled with King Robert’s warriors. I was wondering if you could tell me where to find them.” He did his best to look innocent, but he was paying close attention to the man who’d caught Senga’s eye.
Guinne was average height, stocky, but his weight was more from muscle than flab. His hair and full beard were both the color of the first carrot in summer, still young and bright. His skin bore the freckles common to redheads.
A loud cry came from inside the cottage. He shook his head and broke into a crooked grin. “We woke up the bairn, and she’s got a fierce belly on her.”
Derric didn’t say a word, waiting for the man to