Page 103 of The Rogue’s Redemption

“To the armory. Will you join us, Ansley?”

“Nay, my lord. ’Tis your gift to give.”

Aidan shot a curious look at Reid then, but he would not reveal his purpose just yet. As they walked past the training yard, where men from Clan Kerr and Clan Scott trained side by side, Reid couldn’t help but reflect, “I fear they will be using those skills in truth soon.”

Aidan frowned. “They’ve been doing so for years.”

Reid looked up as a strong wind made its way inside the castle walls. A storm was approaching. “Against reivers, aye. And in the occasional clan fight. But not against trained English armies.”

They ascended a set of uncovered stone stairs spotted with moss.

“You are in good spirits, despite everything,” Aidan said.

Toren was meeting with the elders that afternoon. They’d insisted on beginning the proceedings to declare the chief’s second in command. His brother had wanted to wait until after the wedding, but the task had been put off too long. The clan demanded otherwise. Even Reid could admit it needed to be done. Now that they’d rejected him as a choice, another needed to be chosen.

“I am getting married to the woman I love in four days’ time,” he said, attempting to dismiss Aidan’s concern. “War has not broken out . . .”

Aidan frowned.

“Yet.” He ducked under an archway and opened the door that led to their destination. “And Lady Gillian actually smiled at me this morn.”

They stood inside a large room that held every manner of weapon, some in need of repair and others freshly forged. The distinct smell made him feel oddly at home. He watched as Aidan walked through the room admiring Ansley’s work.

“I had no doubt you would win her to your side . . . eventually.”

“Which is the very topic I brought you here to discuss.”

Aidan picked up a dirk by its studded handle and turned it around in his hand. “Lady Gillian?”

“Nay, your support with . . . Allie.” He nearly said my wife. Trying not to smile like a young lad who’d just been given his first weapon, he pushed aside thoughts of the night they’d exchanged vows.

Aidan laid down the dirk. “I’ve known you for a long time.”

He said no more, but it was enough. Reid would not talk about all the misdeeds Aidan had overlooked. He would no longer apologize for the man he was when he’d first met Allie. Though he still needed to make restitution for his past behavior, it was in the past. He cared more for the future now.

“You have,” he agreed, moving toward the very same dirk that had attracted Aidan’s attention. Picking up the one next to it, Reid handed the weapon over. The hardwood handle bore a chevron pattern and the blade itself was engraved.

“Thank you, Aidan,” he said. “I bested you that day with the longsword because my will to win, and train Lady Allie, could not be matched. But I know well if it were a test of skill with that”—he nodded to the dirk—“you’d have claimed victory.”

Tales of Aidan’s accuracy with the blade were not exaggerated. Reid had seen him use it more than once and was glad to be the man’s ally rather than his foe.

“It is yours.”

Aidan looked up in confusion.

“I’d commissioned it for myself a while back. When I decided it should be yours, I asked Ansley to carve that into the blade.”

“Sero sed serio,” Aidan said aloud. “The Clan Kerr motto?”

“Aye,” he explained. “Late but in earnest. To remind you that the man who married Allie is the one you championed. You will never regret doing so.”

Aidan’s slow smile reached his eyes. It would be easy to forget that such an affable man could be so deadly. “I never expected to.”

“There you are!”

Both men turned toward the sweet sound of Allie’s voice. She burst into the armory, releasing her skirts as she attempted to catch her breath. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Seeing Aidan with him, she hastily greeted her brother-in-law, then turned back to Reid.

“Toren sent me to find you. Douglas is here.”