Even as a child Hugh had a fear of being unguarded. There had been a kidnap attempt on him when he was only five. He’d said very little about it then or since, but he never went anywhere without a guard. To wake in the morning and find a knife beside his head would more than repay him for the girl he’d taken from Stephen.
Stephen wrapped a bit of plaid around the hilt, then attached the MacArran cockade. Silently he placed the knife beside his friend. Grinning broadly, he turned toward the tapestry and the secret door.
“Seize him!” Hugh’s deep voice rang out.
Four men jumped from the dark corners of the room and ran at Stephen. He ducked the first one, and his fist slammed into the face of the second. The man staggered backward. Stephen’s reactions were faster than those of the other two men. He was at the door before he felt the tip of Hugh’s sword on the back of his neck.
“Well done!” Hugh said with admiration. “I can see you didn’t neglect your training in Scotland.” He drew back his sword so Stephen could turn around.
Hugh was fully dressed. He held the sword at Stephen’s throat, motioned his guards to surround his friend, then picked up the knife on his pillow. “MacArran, isn’t it?” He tossed the knife in his left hand. “It’s good to see you again, Stephen.”
Stephen grinned broadly. “Damn you! How did you know?”
“Gavin came by a couple of days ago and said he was expecting you. He’d heard some tale of your getting into trouble in Scotland, and he was beginning to worry. He thought perhaps you’d stop here first.”
Stephen shook his head. “Be
trayed by my own brother.” He looked up in surprise. “But even expecting me, how…?” He knew he looked quite different from the English Stephen he had been.
Hugh smiled, his eyes lighting warmly. “One of the songs you sang was one we learned together in the Lowlands, remember? How could you forget the time it took us to learn that chord?”
“Of course!” Stephen said, realizing he’d been overconfident in his disguise. “Bronwyn said it’d never work, that I’d give myself away.”
“I must say that that accent of yours is well done, but you can drop it now.”
“Accent?” Stephen asked, genuinely bewildered. “I stopped using the accent when we left the MacGregor’s land.”
Hugh laughed deeply. “Stephen, you really have become a Scot. Tell me what happened in Scotland. Did you marry that awful woman? What was she, the laird of some clan? And who was that delicious creature who kept staring at you with such lust while you played?”
Stephen frowned. “She is Bronwyn,” he said flatly.
“Bronwyn? A Welsh name, isn’t it? Did you find her in Scotland? And how did you escape your wife?”
“Bronwyn is the laird of Clan MacArran, and she is my wife.” Stephen was very stiff, his lips hardly moving as he spoke.
Hugh’s mouth dropped open. “You mean that blue-eyed angel is the chief of some clan, and you have the good fortune to be married to her?”
Stephen didn’t answer but glared at Hugh. Why was he still standing surrounded by guards? “What’s going on here?” he asked quietly.
Hugh smiled, his dark eyes sparkling. “Nothing at all. Just a little game, like the one you wanted to play on me.” He rubbed the knife between his fingers. “Bronwyn, is it?” he asked quietly. He had lowered his sword point but it was still at the ready. “Remember when we first heard the news? You kept groaning and saying you wouldn’t marry such an ugly woman. You wanted…what was her name? Elizabeth?”
“Margaret,” Stephen snapped. “Hugh, I don’t know what you have in mind, but—”
“I have in mind exactly what I had before.”
Stephen stared at him, remembering all too well seeing Meg and him in bed together. The idea that he’d even touch Bronwyn…“You touch her and I’ll kill you,” he said in deadly earnest.
Hugh blinked in surprise. “You almost sound serious.”
“I am more than serious.”
Hugh smiled. “But we’re friends. We’ve shared women before.”
“Bronwyn is my wife!” Stephen shouted before he lunged at Hugh.
All four of the guards were on him at once, but even they couldn’t hold him. Hugh moved away as quickly as he could, but Stephen still came for him. The chamber door suddenly flew open, and three more guards entered and seized Stephen.
“Take him to the tower room,” Hugh said, looking at his friend in admiration, the seven guards holding him.