Read Online The Raven's Moon by Susan King - Free Book Online Page B

cattle and a sack o' goods. That alone is March treason."
    "Iain is innocent."
    "Do you know it for certain? He should ken better than to ride wi' Alec Scott, who left your brother to be caught out alone. That Spanish gold he carried proves he has some part in this spy chain that both governments are looking for."
    "I do not believe that," she said.
    "Then I am sorry for you." He stared down at her.
    She tipped up her chin. "Alec Scott is your spy and your scoundrel. Capture him before you condemn my brother."
    "They are both involved. A shame your brother took up wi' that lad. Those Blackdrummond Scotts are all scoundrels. They ride wi' the devil."
    Mairi was silent—remembering vividly the laird of Blackdrummond in her very keeping, the dark, lean, handsome man now in the dungeon at Lincraig. The only devil with that Blackdrummond Scott was his guard, young Devil's Christie.
    "We will soon have more trouble from that quarter," Simon was saying.
    She glanced at him quickly. "What quarter?"
    "I received word that the privy council is sending me a new deputy. Rowan Scott—Alec's own brother."
    Mairi started, gripping her shawl. "R-Rowan Scott?"
    "Aye. He should have arrived by now. Where he is I do not ken—wenching and drunk in some inn, I trow. When he finally shows, we will see more o' the devil at night than we have ever seen afore. The Black Laird, they call him. He was always the first to ride reiving when the moon was high, and the last to return when the sun rose. Devil indeed."
    Mairi gave him a beatific smile, though her heart slammed. "But—he is a deputy, and will keep the peace—"
    "Hah," he grunted.
    "Will... Rowan Scott go after his own brother?"
    "He will. That family is all rufflers and scoundrels, from the Auld Laird down to his two grandsons. Should you meet this Rowan Scott, be wary, lass."
    She kept her gaze calm. "Why would the council make such a man a deputy?"
    Simon leaned forward. "To catch the highway thieves that ride out near Lincraig," he growled.
    "Th—thieves?"
    "The Lincraig riders, the ones who've taken down the council's messengers of late. I wrote to the council regarding the trouble they've caused here. So what does the council do? Sends me another deputy, and a bigger troublemaker than those petty thieves." He spat. "I have a deputy already, and three land sergeants, and a host o' troopers inside my tower walls. Christ hisself! I coulda used wheel-lock pistols and powder shot, and a small cannon. But I get another ruffling Scott." He swore under his breath.
    "The council must have their reasons," she said.
    "The council are madmen, to send a Blackdrummond to depute here, where his kin feud with my own kin. But I hear he's knowledgeable about laws—hah, outlaws too—and if he comes here, I will find a use for him."
    "You will—send him after the highway riders, then?"
    "Aye. But I cannot send him after his brother. Alec Scott will scheme a new scheme and win Rowan back. There's devilish charm in those Blackdrummond rascals. You be wary, lass, should you meet him," he warned again.
    Mairi nodded, grateful for the darkness. An idea, risky and dangerous, began to form. If this Black Laird, Rowan Scott, went after the Lincraig riders, she and Christie were doomed.
    But Christie was only seventeen, too young for prison. And despite all they had done, their efforts to help Iain had failed miserably. She could not let Christie be brought down too.
    Christie was conalready convinced that Rowan Scott would toss them into a cell as soon as he could. They would both fry in their own fat, as the saying went. And Iain would have no hope at all short of escape or an unlikely pardon.
    But she had one last chance, one mad thing to try.
    As she stood in the darkness, listening to Simon's mutterings, she made her decision. She would offer herself in Iain's place as a pledge.
    As a warden, Simon knew the rules regarding pledges, and might allow it. Iain could return to his family, even flee with them