Since she didn’t plan to leave until everyone else was abed, his request was reasonable enough. She nodded, and he beamed back at her.
A shout went up from the courtyard that Mairin and Crispen heard all the way up the hillside. She turned in the direction of the noise to see a procession of soldiers on horses parading over the bridge and into the keep.
Crispen launched himself from her hold and ran several feet before stopping. “A0;’Tis Uncle Caelen! He’s back!”
“Then of course you must go greet him,” Mairin said with a smile.
He ran back to her and grabbed her hand, attempting to pull her up. “You come, too.”
She shook her head and pulled her hand away. “I’ll just stay here. You go ahead. I’ll be along in a little while.”
The last thing she needed was to make the acquaintance of yet another McCabe brother. She shuddered. He was probably just as infuriating as Ewan and Alaric.
Ewan arrived to greet Caelen just as Caelen slid from his horse and strode in Ewan’s direction.
“Is it true? Has Crispen been returned?” Caelen demanded.
“Aye, ’tis true. Alaric brought him home yesterday.”
“Well, where is the little brat?”
Ewan smiled just as Crispen tore through the courtyard shouting “Uncle Caelen” at the top of his lungs. Caelen went white and staggered backward before righting himself and catching the mass of wiggling boy that hurled himself into Caelen’s arms.
“God be praised,” Caelen breathed. “You’re alive.”
Crispen threw his arms around Caelen’s neck and hung on for dear life. “I’m sorry, Uncle Caelen. I didn’t mean to frighten you and Papa. But don’t worry, Mairin took good care of me.”
Ewan’s eyebrows went up. Beside him Alaric also took note of Crispen’s slip.
Caelen scowled over Crispen’s head at Ewan. “Who the hell is Mairin?”
Crispen went rigid in Caelen’s arms, and then he struggled until Caelen finally put him down. He turned stricken eyes toward Ewan, torment in his gaze.
“Oh nay, Papa, I broke my promise. I broke it!”
Ewan reached for his son and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “You didn’t mean to, son. If it’ll make you feel better, I’ll order Alaric and Caelen to forget it immediately.”
“And you, Papa?” Crispen asked anxiously. “Will you forget it as well?”
Ewan suppressed a chuckle and then glanced at his brothers. “We will all three endeavor to forget.”
“Will someone tell me what the blazes is going on?” Caelen demanded. “And does it have anything to do with the strange woman sitting on the hillside?”
Ewan followed Caelen’s gaze to where Mairin sat on the hill that overlooked the keep. Trust Caelen to have immediately observed a stranger in the keep. He was exceedingly cautious about who gained access. A lesson learned the hard way.
“She’s not staying,” Crispen said unhappily.
Ewan turned sharply toward his son. “Why do you say that?”
“She said she couldn’t.”
“Ewan? Am I going to have to beat the information from you?” Caelen asked.
Ewan held up his hand to silence Caelen. “Did she say anything else, Crispen?”
Crispen frowned and opened his mouth but then shut it promptly again, his lips forming a tight, mutinous line. “I already broke my promise,” he muttered. “I shouldn’t say anything else.”
Ewan sighed and shook his head. This whole bloody mess was enough to give him a giant ache in his temples. God save him from stubborn, secretive females. Worse, she’d completely won his son’s heart, and she couldn’t leave the keep fast enough.
He frowned at that thought. It wasn’t as though he wanted her to stay. He didn’t want Crispen hurt, but neither did he want the hassle of a difficult woman or the trouble she brought with her.
“Why don’t you run along so I can properly welcome your uncle home. I have much I need to discuss with Caelen and Alaric.”
Instead of looking offended, Crispen’s eyes glimmered with relief. He turned and headed straight back up the hill toward where Mairin had sat. Only now she was gone. Ewan glanced around for the direction she’d taken, but she was nowhere to be seen.
“Mairin? Who the hell is Mairin and what does she have to do with Crispen? Furthermore, what is she doing
Ewan jerked his thumb in Alaric’s direction. “He brought her.”
As expected, Alaric immediately denied his part in the whole mess. Ewan held back his laughter at the weariness in Alaric’s voice.
Caelen was close to losing his patience, not that he had much, so Ewan told him everything he knew. Alaric filled in some of the information, and when they were done, Caelen looked at Ewan in disbelief.
“She would tell you nothing? And you allowed this?”
