Page 134 of Forbidden

Simon and Sven exchanged another glance.

“She may have been touching the man for the purpose of gaining knowledge,” Simon said in a clipped voice, “but she looked more like a maid with her lover.”

“What does it matter?” Dominic asked with growing impatience. “It is Duncan who concerns me, not some Celtic witch.”

“That is just the problem,” Simon retorted. “The witch’s companion was Duncan of Maxwell.”

Instantly Dominic’s posture changed. He became like a falcon spotting prey from afar, poised for the sudden stoop.

And the kill.

“Was Duncan captive?” Dominic demanded.

“He wore novisiblebonds, save Amber’s fingers laid against his wrist.”

“Hardly enough to restrain a warrior of Duncan’s size,” Dominic said dryly. “Unless this Amber is a new Boadicea come to slay men with her mighty sword.”

“The sword she used to slay Duncan—”

“What?” Meg interrupted starkly. “You said Duncan was well!”

Simon looked into Meg’s clear green eyes and wished himself anywhere else.

“I know you have tenderness for him,” Simon said.

Dominic looked grim. Despite his certainty of Meg’s love, Dominic found he had little liking of his wife’s affection for her childhood friend, Duncan of Maxwell.

“But,” Simon continued grimly, “I fear the hell-witch Amber has taken Duncan’s soul.”

“Is he dead?” Dominic demanded.

“No. Nor is he alive, not in the way we knew him.”

“Explain.”

The quality of Dominic’s voice made Sven shift and look at his lord’s mantle uneasily. The eyes of the great pin glittered with reflected firelight as though intelligent, alive, and every bit as savage as the man who wore it.

“It is as I told you,” Simon said distinctly. “Duncan remembers nothing of the time before he came to the Disputed Lands.”

“Are you certain?” Dominic asked. “Could he not be like Sven, pretending to be someone he isn’t in order to spy out the land?”

“I prayed that was the truth,” Simon said.

Meg simply shook her head. Tears glittered in her eyes as she remembered Duncan’s forthright nature.

“He is not like Sven,” Meg said, “an actor capable of many roles.”

“A man may learn to act when his life depends on it,” Dominic pointed out.

Meg closed her eyes for a moment. When they opened again, they were those of an unflinching Glendruid healer. It was the same when she spoke, her voice devoid of all emotion.

“Continue, Simon,” Meg said. “I would hear more of Duncan’s transformation. I would heareverything.”

Uneasily Simon looked at Dominic. There was nothing in Dominic’s face to comfort Simon.

“I showed no sign I recognized Duncan,” Simon said, turning back to Meg. “He kept staring at me as though trying to decide if he knew me.”

“How was he introduced to you?” she asked.