Page 52 of Highland Hearts
“We are done here!” Cree declared, with a single pound of his fist on the table. “Sloan will provide you both with the drawings, then you will take your leave. My warriors will escort you off my land. I suggest you make haste to report your findings. I am certain both kings would prefer to be the first to receive the news.”
Cree sent Cavell a gesture that he was to stay, and he did, the others following Sloan out of the keep, Cree’s warriors trailing behind them.
“Kirk will share a brew with you, Cavell, while I see to my wife,” Cree said and turned, not giving him a chance to disagree, not that he thought he would. There were things Cavell needed to tell him and Cree intended to make sure he got the truth.
Cree was prepared for an argument from his wife and instead he was greeted with outstretched arms. Her response worried him. She had to be in great discomfort not to remain in the Great Hall when he confronted Cavell.
He eased her out of the chair, and she leaned heavily on him when they walked. When they reached the stairs and he saw the agonizing look on her face as she glanced up the curving flight, he did not hesitate. He lifted her as gently as he could and carried her without a word of protest from her to their bedchamber.
“You will remain in bed,” Cree ordered once he got all her garments off, but her shift.
Dawn nodded, aware she needed the rest.
“I will have Elsa brought to you.”
“I am already here, my lord,” Elsa said from the open doorway. “I thought it was time the bruise was bathed with the comfrey, and I will make a brew that will help ease the pain some.”
“Then I will leave my wife in your capable hands,” Cree said and leaned down to kiss his wife. “I will tell you all later.”
Dawn smiled as she slipped her hands around to the back of his head and pressed her brow to his after they kissed as if she did not want to let him go.
“I love you. Rest and we will talk later,” he whispered and kissed her once more before leaving her side. “Keep the pain from her as best you can,” he said, stopping next to Elsa. “I hate to see her in pain.”
“I will do all I can, my lord,” Elsa said.
Cree glanced at his wife, her eyes already closed, and relieved that she was finally resting, returned to the Great Hall. He joined Kirk and Cavell where they sat at a table near the hearth, a servant filling a tankard with ale for him after he sat.
“All has worked out well,” Cavell said, partially raising his tankard in a salute to victory. “You are as wise as you have always been. Now let’s talk about my payment of coins.”
“First, the truth,” Cree said. “As I said earlier, you would have never allowed your plan to be highjacked. It was your plan all along to be highjacked. Your plan also included me rescuing you and the punch I gave Ulf should have been for you since it was you who ordered him to ride with a show of force on my home.”
“I knew it would not be easy to fool you,” Cavell said with a laugh.
“Yet you continue to think you can,” Cree challenged. “I do believe what you told me about your da. He was always a selfish and greedy bastard, but that is where my belief ends and your lies begin. So, if you command Ulf and his crew, where did you get the motley crew you used to capture my men?”
“A ragtag bunch of mercenaries whose garments alone make them appear much in need of coin which was my intention,” Cavell said.
“Now comes the moment of truth, Cavell,” Cree said, partially raising his tankard in victory. “You purposely led me to believe you were in a mess and needed my help to survive and yet you formed the plan that got you here and you lead the Gallowglass troop that was sent here to gather information on me and my home and to see who I would defend in a battle of two powerful rulers. So, what truly brought you here to me? What is it? A mess you’ve gotten yourself into or need of survival? Or is it neither? Is it possible you just want coin to buy yourself out of the Gallowglass?”
“You are not going to believe this,” Cavell said, anger marring his scarred face even more. “I had no intentions of you learning the truth. I convinced myself that my plan would work, that you would never find out and I would get what the Gallowglass wanted and get what I desperately needed.”
“And what do you desperately need?”
“I would say my soul but that is beyond redemption,” Cavell said and grew quiet.
Cree recalled Old Mary’s words about feeling a soullessness. He would have never imagined it to be Cavell. The man had been confident, overly so, and he had good reason for it. He was an exceptional warrior and he once had fine features and a tongue that could cajole and convince easily.
Cavell shook his head as if clearing it. “I want my freedom and I need coin to do it.”
Cree’s brow creased in question. “Why not simply come ask me for coin to free yourself from the Gallowglass instead of creating this elaborate scheme?”
“This mission was for the Gallowglass and how to achieve was left to me. If I was successful, I would finally be granted permission to leave the Gallowglass.”
“I don’t understand,” Cree said. “This mission was a success. You got what you came for… freedom is yours now. The Gallowglass got what they wanted.”
Cavell laughed. “Like you, Cree, I am no fool. Those drawings you so generously shared are no doubt worthless as are the words you sent to both kings, though both will think otherwise, and the problem thereby solved… for now. My problem should be so easy.
“If it is not freedom from the Gallowglass you seek, then who?”