The Raven's Moon by Susan King Page A

yammer what Simon Kerr wants to hear and be off to the Debatable Land by sunrise."
    Rowan threw back the last of the sherry and stood. "Let me wash up a bit first, at least." He left the room, with his three kin grinning behind him.

 
     
     
    Chapter 9

     
    "As for your steed, he shall not want
    The best of corn and hay;
    But as to yoursel, kind sir,
    I've naething for to say."
    —"The Laird of Knotington"
    Mounted on a dappled horse from Blackdrummond's stable and wearing an old doublet and boots borrowed from his grandfather, Rowan passed Lincraig Hill at a canter. The castle looked lonely and deserted. Ahead, cattle and sheep grazed slowing over the hillsides.
    The dale supported tenant farmers who raised herds and lived in stout bastel houses, the fortified stone and thatch buildings so common in the Borders. Most of the farms had been settled generations ago, still rented from the Blackdrummond laird. The tenant families took their living from cattle and sheep, since the hard, scrubby land yielded few crops.
    The better part of many livings, Rowan knew, came from reiving in the night. Furtive and often violent trading of beasts and goods was the accepted custom of the Borders. Most of the Blackdrummond tenants engaged in some form of reiving, and defended their own goods and homes against both Scottish and English riders as well.
    Now a deputy, he was obligated to discourage such activities. But he understood the custom and had ridden out more times than he could count.
    Rowan watched tendrils of hearth smoke rise into the sky from the few squat, thatched-roof houses scattered over the hills. He was not here to harry anyone, but only to find the house of his tenant, Iain Macrae, and Macrae's bonny wee sister.
    The laird wanted his gear back. That was all—for now.
    He rode across the moorland. His recollection of the last time he rode through here on a rainy night were dim, but his memories of Mairi were clear enough.
    That lass was a blend of contradictions, peace and torment whirled together like a wild sea: stormy or serene, astonishingly beautiful, equally capable of danger or succor. He had no doubt she would try to stir the tide if she saw him again.
    Well, he would do so first. He fully intended to take her down, but it needed the right time. He owed her a few nights on a cold stone floor—although he would generously forgo the crack on the head. He had decided to leave Devil's Christie Armstrong be. The lad's father had been a good riding companion, and Rowan owed this favor to his son. And he guessed that Christie was under the charm of the lass.
    He was not interested in helping Mairi act as a pledge for her brother. Turning her over to Simon Kerr had no appeal for him. It was a mad scheme and he wanted no part of it.
    He wondered if Mairi truly understood the risk she took in riding the Lincraig highway. She would be taken down, if Rowan did not teach her a hard lesson first, to save her from Simon Kerr and Border justice.
    He thought of Mairi's blushing cheeks, her soft gray eyes. He could not allow any reiver or rough Borderman to touch her.
    Besides, if she was linked to this circle of spies, he wanted to find out before others did. Holding her at Blackdrummond Tower for a bit would give him time to find out.
    He reined in his horse and looked south. At the top of the nearest slope, a square stone house sat beside a stand of trees.
    In the yard, a bay horse, reddish coat gleaming, nuzzled at the grass. Valentine lifted his head, whickered in recognition, and stepped about, held by a tether.
    Rowan rode forward.
    * * *
    "Much trouble will come of this," Jennet said, as she stacked wooden bowls after the breakfast meal. "Do not ride out again, Mairi, I beg you."
    "Trouble, aye, now that you've freed the Black Laird," Christie said. "Here, leave that," he said hastily, grabbing an oatcake from a wooden platter.
    "Could I stop Rowan Scott when he walked out, and he twice my size?" Mairi asked irritably.