Page 37 of Highland Spy

It all made sense now.

The way Sylvi had acted at practice and her drive to kill. She wanted vengeance.

And somehow Connor had already had his.

By the time they arrived in Connor’s solar, Sylvi was already there, standing by the fire with her arms crossed over her chest. The black ribbon gleamed, reflecting the firelight.

It made sense now too, the ribbon, and what she now knew for certain what it covered.

A scar.

A reminder.

Ariana’s heart squeezed in empathy.

Connor stood on the other end of the hearth in a mirror image of serious contemplation. He didn’t speak until the door was closed.

“We need to go out and gather some information.” There was a heaviness to his tone Ariana hadn’t heard before. “We’re looking for a man named Angus MacAlister and his retinue. There are several nearby towns where he could be.”

“Is there any information we need to listen for specifically?” Delilah asked.

The muscle in Connor’s jaw flexed. “Aye, if ye hear anything about a lass in a nunnery being wed. And, of course, the usual treasonous activity. The man moves fast. We’ll need to head out tonight.”

He nodded toward Delilah. “Ye go with Sylvi to the east toward Castleton, I’ll take the west toward Auchendryne.”

Ariana waited for her orders, but they did not come. Suddenly she felt like an outsider standing in a conversation not meant for her ears.

“And what of me?” she asked.

Connor’s gaze flicked over at her. “Ye’re no’ coming.”

Indignation jerked her back ramrod straight. “I’ve been training for two months now. I can do this.”

Delilah stepped forward. “She can. And you know I wouldn’t speak up if I didn’t believe it.”

Connor’s forefinger tapped against his bicep where his arms were folded. He was quiet for a long moment. “Verra well, but ye come with me so I can keep an eye on ye, and if ye slow me down, I’ll send ye back.”

Ariana’s heart tamped out an erratic beat and her cheeks went hot with excitement.

She was going on a mission.

“Of course,” Ariana replied with measured calm.

He stared at her a moment more and his finger tapped a few more times. “We’ll do taverns tonight. Get some food in ye and ready yerselves. We leave within the hour.”

Chapter 9

Ariana and Connor stepped into what appeared to be the middle of a dark forest.

Connor led the horses to a crude stable, secured them, and closed the door. “We’ll have a ways to walk, but at least we willna have to worry about the horses.”

Whether he’d built the stable after years of coming to the small town or had happened upon it at some point, Ariana did not know, and it seemed a pointless thing to ask.

She pulled the velvet drawstring bag from her pocket and let her fingers sift through the lumps of the three vials within, all from Percy.

The shortest one for masking the color of her eyes, the long, slender one for making a man appear more drunk than he was, and a round stoppered one if she found herself in a situation she could not escape.

She had been warned enough times about the last one to make her hesitant to even touch it.