Page 119 of The Laird's Masked Passion

He dismounted and walked the length of the passage. Near the lower slope, he found the remains of a branch cut cleanly rather than broken. Someone had cleared enough of the path for mounted men to pass quickly.

“They kent the land,” Colin concluded.

Breac rose, wiping mud from his hand. “Or someone showed them.”

Murdoch looked toward the castle. “Dae ye think it could have been a villager?”

“Nae necessarily,” Colin answered. “It easily could have been a trader, a servant or a man who rode these hills years ago. Robert daesnae need loyalty. Only coin, fear, or resentment.”

The possibility followed Colin all the way back.

Before noon, he returned to the ridge with four trusted men. Two were ordered to remain concealed above the passage, where they could see anyone approaching through the hills. The others would watch the lower descent and change positions after dark.

“I want nay fire,” Colin instructed. “And nay banners. Make nay sound unless ye must. Any rider who approaches is stopped before he reaches the trees.”

“And if he refuses?” one man asked.

Colin looked into the narrow passage. “Then he daesnae leave.”

The men nodded. Only when every position had been chosen did Colin ride back to the castle.

His shoulder ached beneath the bandage, each movement of the horse pulling at the wound. He ignored it. Pain was presently less troublesome than thought.

In his study, letters waited beneath his hand like smaller weapons. He wrote first to Niall, then Domhnall and Ruaridh. He asked for men, information, and any whisper of Robert Munro’s movements. He described the prisoner’s confessionand warned them that Robert no longer intended a single attack. He meant to destroy the clan slowly, striking families, guards, tenants, and anyone whose death might cause Colin suffering.

He did not write Elspeth’s name until the final paragraph. Even then, the ink seemed darker upon the page.

Robert intended to kill her first.

Colin stared at the words before forcing himself to continue. His friends needed to understand the danger. He could not protect her by hiding the truth from men that could help him.

The following letter to the Crown was colder. He described the attack on the feast, the prisoner’s confession, and the newly discovered passage through the ridge. He requested soldiers and demanded that Robert’s threat be treated as more than merely an old quarrel between Highland families.

This was no longer vengeance spoken over whisky or carried in private letters. Robert had attacked women, children, and unarmed villagers. The Crown could either act before more blood was spilled or explain afterward why it had chosen silence.

When the final seal cooled, Breac was already standing near the door.

“Ye think they will come?”

Colin nodded without hesitation. “Me friends will.”

“And the Crown?”

Colin looked down at the royal letter. “They will come when caution begins tae resemble cowardice.”

Breac’s mouth tightened. “That may take them longer than we possess.”

“Aye.”

Colin handed the messages to three waiting riders. Each man carried a second horse and orders to avoid the main roads, where possible. By sunset, they were gone in three directions.

Colin remained at the window, watching until the last rider vanished beyond the darkening hills. Below, guards crossed the courtyard in pairs. Torches were being lit along the walls, one flame after another answering the approaching night.

Robert was searching for a way into Colin’s lands. He had found a passage. But he would not find it unguarded again.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

The letter arrived two days later. The sight of the Fraser stag pressed into dark green wax made her heart leap so sharply that pain answered beneath the healing cut at her ribs.