“Emmet, I want you on this landing for now. I'll send one of your men up.” Colin turned and looked into the room.
As Colin began to step through the door, Alec took Celia's arm, winking at her. “Jack, my good squire,” he said, loud enough to stop Colin in his tracks. “I'll be needing you to help me with my armor.”
Colin glared at him over Celia's smiling head. “If you need any help with your gear, Macpherson, I'll come in and help you.”
Taking her other arm, Colin detached Alec's hand from her elbow and pulled her into the room.
“Emmet,” he said, taking one of the torches from the landing wall. “You're here to guard my squire from any intruders—including the one next door.”
Colin closed the door behind him and moved across the room, placing the torch in a sconce on the wall by the curtained bed.
Celia watched in silence as the warrior investigated every inch of the small room. The only furniture in the room was the bed, and the narrow archer's slit in the wall served for a window. The opening was covered with a piece of skin that flapped about in the chilly breeze.
The wood floor was covered with rushes, but nowhere were the rushes thick enough to hide a trapdoor. Nonetheless, Celia watched him inspecting the floorboards, peering under the bed and out the window, then running his fingers over the internal stone walls, obviously searching for another entrance. This was a lesson in itself.
Once he'd completed his search, he turned around and placed his dripping cloak and satchel on one of the pegs near the bed.
Based on what she'd seen already, she could almost understand Father William's hesitation over having Kit brought out here any sooner than necessary. The castle and its surroundings were filthy, but more importantly, the obvious lack of discipline that the earl of Argyll allowed made Celia wonder if he could even protect himself, never mind Kit. It was hard to believe that this man was married at one time to so noble a lady as Kit's aunt.
Celia had not known her; she had left the court for the west and her marriage to Argyll long before Celia had arrived in Scotland. But although she had been illegitimate by birth, she was still of the noblest blood of the realm and had brought wealth and honor to Argyll’s household.
“I can see there is no love lost between you and the earl,” Celia said, remembering Colin's shortness with Argyll.
“I do not trust him,” Colin said, removing his light armor. “And neither should you.”
Colin had known the man all his life and never liked him. But Argyll was kin to the king, and had been James IV’s strong arm in the west early in his reign. While the Campbells had kept their distance from the court, Argyll had actively traveled the avenues of power. When the Highlanders had openly rebelled against the Stewarts years earlier, Argyll had been the royal force in the west, while the earl of Huntly had taken James’s battle to the Northwest Highlands.
For years now, Argyll had been living off the rewards of that loyalty, draining the lands of their value, living a life of personal luxury, never building for the future. By contrast, Huntly had used his power and prestige to build a better, more unified Scotland.
Right now Huntly was working to secure the future for the young King James V. That was what the Campbells and the Macphersons and a few other powerful clans wanted as well. That is why Colin had come to Argyll’s winter castle. He wanted the earl’s written commitment that he had not forgotten his allegiance.
“We're going back down to the hall, aren't we?” she asked. Celia was eager to get another look at the earl himself. She realized that, so far, her judgment of him had been based solely on the condition of his keep and the village, but that was not quite fair. It was only until Huntly finished the negotiations that she and Kit would have to stay with Argyll. But Celia knew that she would not come here until she at least felt safe.
“I am,” Colin answered. “But you are not. If one of those wenches were to get close to you, you'd be discovered in a moment. And who knows what would happen then.”
“But—”
“No buts, Celia,” he continued in a commanding tone. “We'll get you to your priest friend tomorrow. But until then, you stay put.”
Colin was not going to lose the sight of her in that crowded hall downstairs. But it was even more than her safety that he was concerned about right now. He knew that never on her father's ships, nor at court, would she have witnessed the type of sordid entertainment that Argyll would probably be providing.
“Well, now I know what Emmet is really out there for,” she responded stubbornly. “To keep me locked up here.”
Celia knew that Colin had a point about the possibility of being discovered down there. She had fooled many men with her disguise, time and time again, but with women, she hadn't had much experience. But how else could she get close enough to the earl to make a judgment of her own?
“Not to keep you locked up, but to keep you from harm as much as I can,” Colin replied, moving over and standing in front of her, his hands resting on her shoulders. His gaze locked on hers. He knew full well that he had to convince Celia to stay put in this room. Emmet would be no match for her, if she didn't agree.
“Celia,” Colin continued. “You've asked me to do things and to make promises without letting me know your reasons. But still, I have gone along with them because I trust your judgment, and because I think of you as an intelligent, reasonable person who would not endanger anybody's life, including your own. Now, I am asking you to make a promise. You have to trust my judgment on this. Going down there is a very bad idea.”
Celia knew that everything Colin said was true. From the beginning, he had been so generous, so trusting, so caring. He had accepted her for the person she was inside, and for what he could see, not for the woman he'd heard about. That was all a part of why she loved him so much. Love? she thought in amazement. Love.
“Celia, are you listening to me?”
“Aye. You were saying.”
“Promise me,” Colin said as he gently shook her shoulders. He had to get her attention.
“Promise you what?” Celia said, gradually recovering from her own admission. As if she could ever recover from that admission. She looked into those beautiful gray eyes. She could feel his strong grip on her shoulders, his fingers burning her flesh through the layers of clothing. She wished he would hold her in his embrace right now. Kiss her right now.
“Promise me you'll stay here in this room,” he said. “Promise me you will not try to leave or do anything foolish.”
Celia nodded slowly. She wanted to promise him that she would stay with him always.
“Promise me,” he said, bringing his face closer to hers. “Say it.”
“I promise,” Celia whispered.
Colin's mouth came down on hers. The kiss was hard, unyielding, warm, and it ended all too quickly. But Colin let go of her shoulders slowly, looking affectionately at those beautiful eyes and the smudged, dirty face. Smiling, he turned and left the room.
Alec was standing with Emmet, waiting for Colin, leaning against the door to his room in the hall. When Colin appeared, Alec and Emmet both chuckled at the sight of his face.
“You two have a problem?” Colin growled.
“We do not have a problem,” Alec said good-naturedly. “But we do not kiss our squires. Actually, that's a side of you I didn't know anything about.”
Colin realized that some of Celia's muddy disguise must have come off on his face. He ran his fingers over his face trying to wipe off the smudges. Laughing, Emmet and Alec both pointed out in exaggerated terms the incriminating evidence.
The woman bringing the bowl of water up the stairs was greeted at the landing by the sight of two giants trying to wipe the third one's face. Before she could even react to this, the water was taken away from her by one of them, and she was sent on her way with directions to bring more.
Celia, not knowing what else to do, began to arrange Colin's armor on the floor beside the bed. Hearing a light knock, she turned to see the door of the chamber open. Immediately reaching for the sword at her belt, she spotted a young woman carrying in the big bowl of water. The girl gave Celia a quick appraising glance, followed immediately with a half smile as she placed the water in a corner of the room. Without another word, she turned and left, leaving the door open.
From where she stood, Celia could see Emmet standing outside the door. Just a moment later the girl returned, carrying a hot brazier, which she placed next to the water after kicking the door shut with her foot. Celia just stood there, waiting for the girl to leave the room, but she didn't. She just crouched there, busying herself with the turf fuel of the brazier, glancing in Celia's direction now and then.
She was taking forever. Celia was getting very tired of the servant's slowness and scrutiny when finally the girl stood up to face Celia and asked.
“Should I stay, or come back later?”
“Stay?” Celia asked, exasperated. “What for?”
The girl gave Celia a raised eyebrow, followed by a flirtatious look. She moved closer to the bed and began to pull up her dirty smock.
“We have time before your master comes up. Unless maybe you never done this before?” The girl stopped, eyeing her prey with amusement. “Have you?”
“Of course, I have,” Celia stumbled, now understanding completely Colin's concerns.