The Enemy Within

Chapter 4

So consumed and distracted was she, by her thoughts of Eskine, Grisell forgot to enter her cottage through the back door. She was surprised to see Gadd waiting outside her door.

'Uncle Gadd?' She questioned wearily.

'Your security guards said you went to bed. I knocked there was no answer,' he said with concern. 'I sent a maid to check on you. She said your bed's not been slept in.'

'I had a headache.'
Which was gone now.
'I went for a walk,'
and had supper with the very handsome Chief of the DeMartino.

'You look ___ different,' he observed.

She swallowed nervously. "Different?"

'Your hair's untied and your eyes have a sparkle.'

'The night air must have done the trick,' she smiled, and I always sleep with my hair untied. She didn't want to offer any reasons as to why her eyes were sparkling.
'Why were you looking for me?'

'There are some livestock missing,' his eyes became grave. 'Udny suspects DeMartino is making trouble again.'

Grisell went cold. Her heart stopped for a few seconds. 'My father will blame DeMartino even when there is unseasonal rain or if the sun does not appear from behind fleecy clouds.'

Gad smiled. 'You're a fiery one today, aren't you? Fact is, cattle are missing and it needs investigating.'

'I feel that headache coming on again,' Grisell eased her fingers over her temple. 'Let's discuss this first thing in the morning,' she announced, opening her door. 'Good night uncle.'

'Your branded livestock would be difficult to hide and easy to identify. Would you like some of my men to escort you through to my ranch? You could be busy for eight days.'
He stood there majestically tall, broad shoulders standing ramrod straight, his arms folded across his chest, sturdy, boot clad feet slightly apart.
He knew his men could never have entered the Dalmahoy premises without his authority, because he had expressly forbid it.
And none of his subjects would dare disobey his direct command. Nobody took that chance against him. What he expressly decreed was followed to the letter.

Eskine wasn't being arrogant, he did have that much livestock. It was ridiculous to accuse him of theft. He had thousands more than they did. Although Grisell had to admit, she did find a thread of logic in her father's and uncle's suspicions, though there was categorically no suspicion whatsoever in her mind that Eskine would ever wilfully cause any disrepute to the Dalmahoy tribe and to her by extension, or would he? So for the sake of her sanity and to alleviate any doubt of her loyalty to her clan, she had consented to the meet.

She felt the slow assessing sweep of his gaze. Twin spots of colour on her cheek clashed with the iron will she was projecting. She fought hard to break the connection. The slow burn of his gaze was hypnotic. She hissed ___ with indomitable force.

'Our guards on boundary duty, witnessed two of your men inside our territory,' Gadd's voice thundered in the air, breaking the locked gazes of his lady chief and the enemy neighbour.

'Identify the men, Blane,' Eskine's eyes coldly swept to Gadd. 'I will personally decapitate them,' he vowed unflinchingly.

Grisell gasped at how readily he would behead a defiant member of his clan. She marvelled too, at how swiftly his eyes moved from scorching hot to arctic coldness. Gadd's eyes raged angrily. He could not identify the culprits, but he could vouch for his trusted guards. If they saw men on their property, then men were on their property.

'I cannot positively identify the men,' Gadd confessed, directing a deathly glare at Eskine, whose eyes swept to Grisell. He noticed the chief was not ganging up against him, or had she delegated to her uncle, the menial task of dealing with him for being guilty of stealing from her. He felt incensed that she even came onto his property, supporting this ridiculous charge.