Kevin had not sent a message to the King of England for years and he wasn't quite sure how to accomplish it now. In bed with his arms wrapped around his wife, he was trying to explain. "The word is 'hollow' and the message must contain the word somehow."

"How did Athena get a message to him?"

"Athena walked right into his court."

Anna's eyes widened. "And you let her?"

"My love, I could hardly stop her. She was an elder, you might recall. Even a laird must respect the wishes of an elder."

"I could take the message."

"That, I can prevent."

"But Kevin, I am your best choice. I am English and I can go anywhere without anyone noticing."

He took a deep breath, released her and rolled on to his back. "I could not bear it if anything happened to you. We have not been apart in years and I would be beside myself with worry."

"I will take a full guard and wait for the king on MacGreagor land just as you did. He will come to me quickly and I will be gone but a few days. I will be safe."

"The only place you are truly safe is in my arms."

She moved closer and kissed his neck. "And I have loved being safe in your arms."

"I promised to keep you safe and I also promised never to lie to you. Yet I did lie. I let you think I was with another woman in your mother's cottage."

"You had to protect Charlet and get her away quickly. That is what a good lad is supposed to do. You expected me to be upset because you didn't tell me about Charlet, and you did not have time to deal with it. You would have been right, you know. I am not always a reasonable lass."

He smiled and kissed her lips. "You know me too well. The truth is I hardly remembered Charlet was not ours to keep or I would have told you."

"Let me go to England. 'Tis the only way to know if the king arranged her marriage. If he did, we can bring her home."

*

It was dark, Charlet was cold, and the fire was going out. At least he had given her a plaid to keep her warm, an apple and some cheese to eat. She felt better after that. But how was she supposed to close her eyes and sleep with a strange man only a few feet from her? She had only one choice. She would stay awake the whole night. Her head was still hurting and even the cold, wet cloth he brought her didn't help. She watched him lay down on the other side of the fire and thought maybe he did not mean her any harm. So she slowly stretched out and closed her eyes.




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