shoulder, telling Alex that his guess was correct. Busby was not loyal to the Scottish. He was a traitor, unlike DeFry.
“What promise?” The words were spoken in an undertone, Busby clearly hoping not to reveal himself to DeFry.
“A promise to leave my clan be. I’ll turn myself over if King Edward pledges to leave the rest of my clan alone.”
The traitor couldn’t hide his excitement over this revelation, and Alex wanted to reach over and choke him. But he kept quiet.
“I’ll take you to the garrison, but without DeFry and without your warriors. Then you have my word your clan will be left alone.” The purse of his lips told Alex exactly what he needed to know.
Busby was a lying traitor.
But his character didn’t matter.
“When?” Alex asked.
“I’ll take you now.”
“If you hurt my clan, you know you’ll pay dearly. Clan Grant has many allies. Do with me as you see fit, but my clan is to remain unharmed.”
“Aye, I’ll see to it if you go with me now.” He glanced over his shoulder, still watching to see if DeFry was paying attention. “I have one man who will travel with us.”
“Who?”
“Hamish. He stands in the rear of the group, brushing my horse.”
Alex glanced over his shoulder, and a quick spark of recognition struck him. He knew Hamish from somewhere in his past, but he’d met too many warriors over the years to recall where he’d met this one. If the man knew him, it could actually work out for the best. He might agree to help Alex when he arrived on English soil.
“Agreed. Now or I’ll change my mind.”
Busby smiled, an evil grin that told Alex even more about the bastard, but he’d already made up his mind. “Agreed.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Since they had reached an area where they could ride abreast, Derric rode beside Dyna, intent on talking to her. This situation was too personal for her, and it was interfering with her judgment. “Mayhap we should wait for your cousins,” he said. “If you are correct, and I trust that you are, then we could use the assistance of the spectral swords. I’m not fool enough to deny what I’ve seen with my own eyes, and we both know the power helped us retrieve Emmalin and your aunt Kyla. We’re all here.”
“Nay, I’ll not wait. They’ll meet us at the overlook if they’re ready. If not… We could lose him if we stay back for too long, and I refuse to fail Grandsire.”
He thought he heard her voice crack. “Diamond, no matter what you say or do, no one would ever think you’d failed your grandsire. Why would you say such a thing? He never would. You’re the most loyal person I’ve ever met.”
“I’m not doing well, of late. Did you forget that Grandsire disappeared after he got to Cameron land? ’Tis my fault.”
“You take too much upon your shoulders, and you talk as if he’s a wee bairn. Think you he would not have gotten away if you’d escorted him to the keep?”
“Mayhap I should have stayed with him. Promised to escort him to Grant land. Something. I’m sick with worry.”
Derric couldn’t believe she was taking this situation onto her shoulders. “Alex Grant is just as capable of getting away from his sister as he is escaping from his granddaughter. You’re being too hard on yourself.”
“Nay, I’m not hard enough on myself. Claray is terrified someone is watching her, yet I left her alone. I doubt anyone’s there, but she believes it. She always believes it. She’s a mess, and I don’t know how to help her.” She swiped at her eyes. And a feeling of helplessness unfurled in Derric. He wanted to help her shoulder her problems—the responsibilities that clearly weighed on her—but he had no idea how to tell her to help her sister.
“Don’t you think that helping Claray is more your mother’s job?”
“’Tis mine, too. And Papa’s. But Claray isn’t getting better. She’s worse now than she’s been in a verra long time. How do I convince her that no one is watching her?”
“I don’t know, Diamond, but you take too much fault on your shoulders. You give everything to your clan and to the spectral swords. How much more could you give?”
Dyna slowed her horse.
He could see the mountain top through the fluttering tree leaves, the wind picking up as they rode. Was that what drew her?
They climbed the peak, winding higher and higher, and she stopped at an overlook point, a spot where you