Page 96 of Promised to the Forbidden Laird

“Send pairs,” he amended. “Nae one must enter unfamiliar ground alone.”

The captain nodded.

Hamish leaned over the southern portion of the map. “The river crossings must be tightened. Cormac will need supplies if he intends tae remain in hiding. Food, weapons and messages will all pass through someone’s hands.”

“Search wagons entering MacNicol lands,” Malcolm suggested.

“And anger every merchant before winter?” Donaldina asked.

“A delayed wagon is preferable tae an armed rebellion.”

“Aye, but hunger creates rebels more quickly than Cormac’s speeches.”

Roy watched her move two markers from the central bridge to the smaller ford farther south.

“Search only at the crossings,” she told them. “Dinnae hold merchants once their goods are inspected. Grain and salt wagons are tae receive priority.”

Roy understood her reasoning before she finished.

“Add a written token from the watch captain,” he ordered. “A searched wagon neednae be stopped again unless the seal is broken.”

Hamish nodded. “That will keep the roads moving.”

It happened so naturally that Roy did not notice until afterward. Donaldina observed the people, while Roy created a protective barrier for them. The council had started to wait for both before proceeding, as if leadership had shifted from the head of the table to the subtle dialogue shared between their chairs.

Malcolm pointed toward the lower cliffs.

“There are old paths beneath the southern wall. Smugglers used them during Lachlan’s father’s rule.”

“They collapse in winter,” Finlay said.

“Nae all of them,” Donaldina corrected. “One reaches the shore below the apiary garden.”

Roy’s attention sharpened. “The beehives?”

Donaldina’s fingers closed lightly over one another.

“Cormac has used places important tae me before. He kent the apiary garden was sheltered and poorly visible from the western tower. The storm damaged the hives, but nae every broken board came from weather.”

Roy looked toward her. She had not told him that.

“Ye believe they were sabotaged?”

“I believe it is possible.”

“Why was this nae reported?”

Donaldina’s chin lifted. “Because at the time, we had a castle rebellion, damaged stores and a council divided over whether ye were an invader. Several broken hives appeared a lesser matter.”

“There is nae lesser matter if Cormac touched it.”

The words came too fiercely. Several men around the table became still. Donaldina held his gaze. There was no fear in her expression, but something quieter and more painful: understanding.

Roy turned toward Hamish. “Double the watch along the apiary wall.”

“Roy—” Donaldina began.

“Two men by day. Four after dusk. The lower cliff path is tae be inspected before every change of watch.”