Watching him, Sybil thought that whoever had done Hector’s foul bidding and attempted to harm this child was a fool. Rory would find him and kill him.
And Hector should be worried, for his time would come too.
***
Rory sat with his claymore sword across his knees and watched his son’s chest rise and fall with his steady breathing. Grizel had given him a sleeping draught so that the pain from his injuries would not interfere with his rest. When Rory sent her off to get some sleep herself, she reassured him again that the lad was out of danger. But Rory knew better.
As the door creaked open, he tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword. When he saw Sybil in the glow of the candlelight, he relaxed.
“You should get some sleep.” Sybil smoothed his hair back with her fingers and kissed his forehead, a gesture he had missed without knowing he had.
“I can’t leave the lad’s side when I don’t know who I can trust,” he said. “Whoever did this is close by.”
“Ye don’t know that it was someone in the castle,” she said as she settled onto the seat beside him. “Hector could have had one of his men watching the castle for an opportunity.”
“Either way, I can’t take the chance of leaving him unguarded,” Rory said. “If you’re right that someone made his pony bolt—and I think ye are—this is not the first attempt, and it’s unlikely to be the last.” He did not know how many were involved in the plot, but the bastards were bold and determined.
“Ye can’t watch Kenneth every moment.” She propped her elbow on her knee and rested her chin on her hand. “We’ll have to find another solution.”
“Malcolm is here, and I’ll send for my brother in the morning,” he said. “We can watch the lad in turns.”
“Hmm.”
Apparently she did not think much of that plan. He had to admit it was a short-term solution at best. “What are ye thinking?”
“That the best way to keep Kenneth safe is to let him die.” When he raised his eyebrows, she said. “Nottrulydie.”
“Create a deceit, then?”
“Everyone saw ye carry his limp body into the castle,” she said. “In the morning, ye can announce the dreadful news that the poor lad didn’t survive the night.”
“Once he’s recovered, it will be difficult to keep a rambunctious lad hidden from the household for long.”
He loved how she bit her lip as she applied her quick mind to the problem. Working together felt like it used to be before their falling out. This was how it should be between them.
“Until we can eliminate the threat, the safest place for him is with the Grants,” Sybil said. “I’m sure they’ll agree to keep his presence there a secret until we can bring him home again.”
Rory did not like the idea of having Kenneth out of his sight, but she was right. The danger to him was here, from within the MacKenzie clan. The Grants would guard him well, and having him in their protection would free Rory to deal with Hector and his accomplices.
“We’ll either have to make a pretense of delivering his body to them in a funeral cart or secret him out some other way,” Rory said. “There will be trouble, though, if word of his death reaches the Grants before we can get him to Urquhart Castle.”
“We can’t let that happen.” Sybil’s hand went to her throat. “That would cause them unnecessary sorrow.”
“Not to mention a clan war, which is just what Hector wanted,” Rory said. “I’ll send a message ahead, but I doubt Grant will believe it. He doesn’t trust me when it comes to the lad.”
“Grant trusts me,” she said. “I’ll write the message and mention a private conversation we had so he knows it’s from me.”
Rory recalled that conversation all too well. “Tell him you’re not exchanging your younger husband for an older one—and that we’ll meet him just outside of Beauly, by the river.”
He could hardly believe they were actually going to try this scheme, butmúineann gá seift,need teaches a plan.
A smile played on Sybil’s lips as she leaned back and folded her arms. “Hector will believe he has succeeded, and then we will have him right where we want him.”
This was the Sybil he knew and loved. Her eyes were shining as she envisioned the defeat of his enemy. How had he ever doubted her loyalty? As Catriona said, the best luck of his life was when Sybil’s brother deceived him in a game of cards.
He pulled her onto his lap and was about to kiss her for the first time in far too long when Grizel interrupted them—again. This time, Malcolm was with her.
“Lucky we came to relieve you,” Grizel said, “or the lad might wake up to see something he shouldn’t.”