Isla's Heart

The Spy

The great hall was alive with cheery voices and drunken men. Mackenzie mixed with Cameron until a celebration had formed. Sitting upon the laird's dais, Isla gazed upon it all with unease. Caleb's untimely arrival smelled like trouble. His men drunk and grabbing at any woman that happened by was even more so.

Caleb approached, as she knew he would.

"Cousin." He gave a mockery of a bow.

"Cousin." She inclined her head in greeting.

"Why do you keep yourself isolated here? Do you not wish to visit with your father's men?"

"You know I do not, Caleb." She stood and joined him in front of the dais. "We'll speak now?"

He smiled a wicked mockery of a grin, took her arm and ushered her away from the hall. No good would come from it but Isla was willing to take the chance if it would help Conall in the end. Her heart felt bruised and ill used by him but she found that same battered heart could not let any harm come to him. She'd take whatever punishment was about to be dealt her if it was for the greater good.

Just outside the great hall a carved nook offered seclusion for anyone wishing a private moment. Caleb backed her into the dark corner and blocked the exit with his large frame. One candle lit the area and the yellow flicker cast odd shadows across his angular face, accentuating his malicious scrutiny. Fingering her eating knife hidden within the billowing folds of her gray gown she focused on his every movement. Caleb's actions were unpredictable at the best of times, now hardly seemed the time to underestimate him.

"What do you have to say for yourself, cousin?" Leaning against the wall he crossed his beefy arms over his massive chest. His emerald gaze narrowed on Isla's face as though he looked for any hint of deception.

"Concerning what my dearest cousin?" Playing coy was not a strength she'd ever possessed, but there seemed to be no other course of action. Every word she said would be weighed and measured and at the end she could not be found wanting. She knew it could mean the difference between life and death. Going back to her father's keep was not an option she wished to ponder.

"Concerning what my men and I witnessed in that field today." Stepping in he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, roughly jerking her head up and leaning in. She loathed the the heat of his breath on her face but managed to mask her contempt of his close proximity.

"You witnessed my clumsiness. It is not the first time you've seen me in such a position." It was difficult to speak with his hard grasp upon her face but she forced the words through gritted teeth, "There is nothing else to say of it, cousin. I promise you." Lying was new to her and she found it caused a throbbing pain behind her right eye. Or perhaps that was the pressure her cousin was subjecting her skull to.

"I remember you falling upon my feet once. Your gown flew up and revealed your legs to me.... Still, I did not touch you the way The Black Wolf touched you today."

Frustration overrode good sense and she knocked Caleb's hand away from her face as she tried to put distance between their bodies in the cramped space. "Your sullied mind draws pictures that are untrue, cousin." Forcing a bright look into her gaze she looked up at her cousin now. "Why would a man like the laird choose me when he has my sister to bed?" Honesty suited her and she found it worked in her favor here.

Laughing he encroached on her space once more. "Ye ask a good question, Isla. " He ran one filthy finger along her taut jaw. "I'll forget the incident but there is something you must do for me."

Unease caused Isla's stomach to churn. "I am always at your service, Caleb. You have but to ask." She'd say anything to hurry the meeting along. The smell of his drunkeness was beginning to take its toll on her senses, the threat of being ill becoming a growing reality.

"Your father would like you to spy upon your new lord. Find his weaknesses.... Although I'd say you've already been well at the task." His chuckle huffed against the side of her face. She swallowed forcibly.

"Why?"

She'd never known her father to be treacherous. Such an action took motivation and the only thing that motivated her father was a good drink and perhaps a backhand to her face when she was foolish enough to find herself in his company. What was the man up to? He was crazy if he thought she held any loyalty to him. The second she'd passed off his lands she left behind any binding she had to him.

As though he reading her mind, Caleb pushed her against the wall, wrapping one large hand around her slender neck. "I'll be watching you, Isla. If I even suspect you've warned Cameron of our intentions I'll make sure you pay dearly.... You and your whore sister."

"I understand, Caleb." Unable to keep the bile at bay now she doubled over and retched on the brute's worn boots.

"You little idiot!" Kicking her to the side he swore and stomped away.

Once her stomach was calm Isla sat back and stared at the ceiling. She had no doubt Caleb meant what he said. There would be swift and painful repercussions if she were to go against his demands. Whatever her father was up to, there was no good in it. Not for any of the parties involved. He'd get his men killed and his two daughters along with them. She had to stop this insanity and she'd have to do so as secretly as possible.