Well, now she knew the answer, and she feared that Alexander was about to meet his death as a result.
Chapter 25
In Cauda Venenum
The Sting is in the Tail
Alexander knew that something was amiss the second that Nathair knocked on the door rather than simply walked in as usual, and it made his heart race.
Is this it? Has he come to tell me it’s happenin’ tonight?
Alexander, Catherine, and the children were all in the old playroom. Alice was teaching them all a complicated game of cards that Alexander was reasonably sure she was making up as she went along.
“Nay, Uncle Alexander, red beats black, but me three beats yer seven,” she said with a sigh just as the knock came.
“I’ll get it! This game is weird!” Annys chirped, jumping to her feet and hurrying to the door. “Oh! Nice to see ye, Nathair! I thought ye an’ Jeanie were out all day?”
“Aye, we got headed off some,” Nathair told her. Alexander stood, worry surging in his stomach, trying to keep it from his face. He was suddenly very scared of whatever the Man-at-arms had to say, but he would not show it, not in front of the women and children.
He’s nae smilin’. When Nathair is nae wearin’ a smile, ye ken somethin’s gone wrong for real. This is it. Can I even start to protect them?
“Everythin’ all right, Chieftain?” he asked in as neutral a tone as he could manage.
Instead of answering, Nathair turned to Catherine and the children. “Catherine, me Jeanie was hopin’ ye an’ Alice could maybe come help her. She’s lookin’ for the right material for gowns for the weddin’, ye ken, an’ was hopin’ ye could come into the village.”
Alexander knew that his sister was an intelligent woman. She understood that something was suddenly very wrong, and worry creased her brow for just a moment before she gracefully got to her feet and nodded.
“Aye, all right,” Catherine said smoothly. “We can play more later. Matty, me love, do ye want to come with us? An’ ye two O’Donnels are welcome too, o’ course. I ken Jeanie’s practically a sister to ye.”
Annys looked excited, but Jamie less confident. “I dinnae ken. I want to stay here an’ wait for Cil. She’ll be sad if we a’ go away to help Jeanie without her.”
“Aye, that’s right,” Annys said suddenly, looking at her brother and nodding. “Thank ye, Madame, but me an’ Jamie will stay here.”
/> Identical looks of stress crossed both Nathair and Catherine’s faces, but Alexander said, “Aye, all right. But ye ken where the best place to wait for Cicilia would be? Up in her rooms.”
The twins looked at each other. “We’re nae allowed to go into Cil’s room when she’s not there.”
“Aye, but I’ll tell her it was me idea,” Alexander told them smoothly, trying to cover it as much as possible. “An’ ye can set up a pleasant wee surprise for her for when she gets back. Perhaps a wee tea party?”
Both twins looked excited by the idea, and after a little more conversation, they agreed to follow Nathair off up into the residential wing.
Alexander stayed where he was, relieved that he could at least protect the children from whatever was coming. If the castle was about to be under attack—and he guessed from Nathair’s face that this was the case—then at least they would be furthest from the entrance. Nathair would post guards at the entrance to the wing, too.
Nae body who is nae supposed to be here will get in or out. It’s perfect.
He was amazed that he’d managed to remain so put together during this conversation. He hadn’t wanted to alarm any of the children by insisting the twins go with them, though the idea that the little ones would still be here worried at the back of his mind like a wolf with a fresh kill.
Catherine and his niece and nephew, at least, would be out of the Castle when the attack hit, but what of his men? His servants? What about the rest of his family?
There’s nae denyin’ that the twins are family, too, now. An’ Cicilia.
Cicilia. He hoped she had the foresight to stay away. Whatever she was doing in the village with her friends, he prayed that it would take her some time. Perhaps she would even run into Catherine and the bairns, and his sister would be able to keep her out. Maybe she’d be safe.
The door opened again, and Nathair walked in this time without hesitation. “Tonight,” he said without a word of greeting. “At the settin’ o’ the sun. They’re ready.”
Alexander nodded and grimaced. “I’d hoped it would nae come to this,” he said. “Are the men ready?”
Nathair nodded. “Aye. I’ve set to positionin’ them outside the gates an’ sent the servants into a lockdown in their quarters. I’ve doubled the guard downstairs an’ tripled it up in the residential wing. Nae body who doesn’ae belong here will be gettin’ in or out, ye have me word.”