“Can I come?” Fib asked, his eyes lighting up.
Sir William ruffled the lad’s already unkempt hair. “No’ this time. Mayhap the next, aye?”
Fib’s eagerness dimmed, but he nodded obligingly.
“Ye can tell Kinsey what we’ll need her to do,” Sir William said.
That brought a smile back to Fib’s face, and he spent the rest of the time until the sun sank in the sky telling Kinsey how she would need to act inconspicuous at the tavern and what to listen for.
When she joined Sir William, Reid and a stocky man named Duff, Fib stood on the outskirts of their camp and watched as they departed.
“I hope he’s no’ bothering ye.” Sir William nodded back to camp as they rode off, indicating Fib.
“Nay.” Kinsey glanced back at the solitary figure in the middle of the forest. “He’s eager to join ye.”
Sir William’s handsome mouth pulled down in a frown. “He’s too young to be here.”
Kinsey didn’t disagree. “Then why is he here?”
“I couldna keep him from coming.” He rode his horse confidently, his body gliding with a comfortable grace on the massive destrier. “I can, however, keep him from danger.”
Kinsey suddenly regretted leaving her bow at camp. “Is there danger at the tavern?”
“He’s a lad.”
“And there’s always danger where there are Englishmen,” Reid added, to which Duff grunted his assent.
Kinsey put a hand to her belt to ensure her dagger was in place. Her fingertips met the braided leather wrapped around the hilt of her blade.
She couldn’t throw daggers like Clara, but if left to defend herself, she would make sure she walked away alive.
* * *
William followed Duff to the tavern. The man had ridden ahead earlier that day to find it while they set up camp and rested their horses.
No doubt they’d be able to glean some information before spying on the castle the next day. Anything would be beneficial.
Bringing Kinsey, however, had been a risk. William knew that. But part of him thought the crisp English edge to her Scottish accent might put more people at ease. That and, if he was being completely honest with himself, he wanted to witness the interaction between Kinsey and Reid.
Not that he ought to give it a second thought.
If she was interested in his closest friend, so be it. However, he couldn’t shake the suspicion that she wasn’t being truthful. It wasn’t arrogance that made him question her, but a feeling in his gut.
Mayhap her claim about Reid was simply to put off William.
But surely that couldn’t be the case.
They entered a small village, no larger than the one where he’d found Kinsey and meandered toward the large, whitewashed building with a thatch roof and a picture of a mug of ale on a swinging wooden sign. Inside, there was the usual sight of reivers and travelers alike, swigging from mugs and flirting with serving wenches. The air was hot and stank of tallow candles, fatty meat stew and too many people.
If Kinsey was nervous, she hid it well beneath the confident tilt of her chin. There was a cockiness to it as if she were daring anyone to challenge her. It gave him pause as he questioned once more if bringing her had been a good idea.
A buxom blonde turned from a table, nearly running into William’s chest. She blinked up at him, fluttering her lashes. “Can I help you with something?”
He indicated the group of them as they sat at an empty table. “Ales if ye please.”
“Ahhh, a Scotsman.” She sucked her teeth. “I like how brawny you Scots are. You know how to please a lady.”
William chuckled in reply. Were it any ordinary night, he’d indulge her flirtation and let it carry them on to see exactly how much she enjoyed the company of a Scotsman. But this was no ordinary night. Not only because he had a woman with him, but because that lass was Kinsey, whose beauty was so fiery and bright, all others dimmed in her presence.
Which, of course, meant she’d attracted her own fair share of attention. Several men were openly staring; one hadn’t even bothered to blink as he gaped at her, open-mouthed. The serving lass returned with another woman at her side, this one brunette, who beamed at William as they set the heavy mugs to the table.
After the two left, William and his party, pretending to be mercenaries seeking a paying job, kept their conversation light to ensure any of them could stop speaking and listen to those around them at any time. Thus far, nothing had been said about Mabrick Castle. But William wasn’t discouraged. With the castle so close, there was bound to be gossip.
What he did notice, however, was how one man, in particular, stared at Kinsey. He was large with dark, neatly trimmed hair, like a soldier, his square jaw set.
Eventually, Duff left the table as planned, in search of whatever else he might find. The brunette wench returned to the table with her sights set on Reid. And while the man never took advantage of affection offered his way, he was never one to turn down the opportunity for information. As he let the woman lead him away, William couldn’t stop his gaze from gliding over to Kinsey. Her expression remained blank with disinterest.
Even when they were all speaking, she had paid him little mind.
If she really were interested in him, wouldn’t she have glared at the woman or tried to turn Reid’s head with suggestive conversation when they were at the table?
“’Tis just the two of us.” William lifted his mug. “Sorry about Reid.”
The corner of her lips quirked upward. “Nay, ye’re not.”
He grinned. “No’ entirely.”
She rolled her eyes, though the action was absent any malice. “Don’t ye have enough women fawning over ye?”
It had been his resolve to set aside any discussion of a relationship with Kinsey after their talk earlier—at least for a bit. But since she’d brought it up…
“There’s someone else I’m keen on.” He lifted his brows slightly.
She
