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the same for speaking to him nay as a mon to a child, but as a mon to a mon. He is the most wounded of them all and I think the hurting began ere Roderick got his filthy fingers on the lad.” She sighed and shook her head. “I dinnae think all the scarsupon his poor, wee heart will e’er be healed.”
    “Nay, probably not.” He smiled faintly when she winced. “He can still be a strong, good mon, Kirstie. He has the strength, in heart and mind, and his plans for his future are to grow strong, learn to fight, and protect the bairns. The fact that he speaks of protecting, nay killing, should give ye some hope.”
    “I suspect he means to protect by killing.”
    “Aye, but he is still young. Restraint and clear judgment can yet be taught.” He stood up, took her hand in his, and, ignoring her shock, kissed her fingers. “Now, I am off to the king’s court to whisper in a few weel chosen ears and find out all I can.”
    “And I am to creep off into a wee hidey-hole, aye?”
    “Aye. And, it would be verra wise if ye crept into it and stayed there until I say ye can come out.”
     
    Payton almost smiled as the soft-bellied laird he had been talking to hurried off to find his young son. The man was not particularly keen-witted, yet had understood Payton’s subtle hints about Sir Roderick MacIye with an impressive speed. There had to be some past knowledge or crime for such a man to grasp the meaning of Payton’s words so quickly, to look so stricken, and to race off through the crowded great hall to find his child as if a blade was already pressing against the boy’s throat. It was quite possible that Sir Roderick had already shown an unhealthy interest in the boy.
    “Greetings, my bonny knight,” purred a familiar voice in his ear, followed by a few teasing licks of a warm tongue.
    When Payton turned to face Lady Fraser, he was surprised to feel not even the smallest flicker of interest. He knew he was lusting after Kirstie, but he had lusted after more than one woman at a time in the past. He had also been without a woman for longer than he had ever been since he was a very young man. Yet, the welcoming look in the lady’s eyes, and the press of her fulsome body against his side, did not move him at all. Payton was both intrigued and alarmed. Was he weary of the games one played with women like Lady Fraser or had he, for the first time in his life, become physically bound to only one woman? And, if he had, what could he do about it and how long would it last?
    “My husband has been summoned to his father’s bedside,” she said as she stroked his arm. “He will be gone for days. And nights. Many long, lonely nights.”
    “Ah, my sweet dove, how ye do tempt this poor, weak mon,” he murmured as he took her hand from his arm and kissed her fingers. “I weep to think of the treasure I must turn away from.”
    “Turn away from?” She snatched her hand away and glared at him. “Ye refuse me?”
    “My fair one, I must, though it stabs me to the heart. The king’s men rarely ask anything of me,” he began.
    “Ha! The old king and now the heir’s regents keep ye at their beck and call.” She frowned in the direction Payton’s previous companion had fled. “And what could that silly fool have to do with the regents’ business?”
    “Now, my bonny pigeon, ye ken that a mon cannae talk about such things. But, I will say that that mon and I only spoke about his young son. He seeks to foster the lad, to begin his training and all. The mon sought my opinion on a few men.” Payton suddenlyrealized there was one other thing Lady Fraser was well known for. She was an avid collector and disperser of gossip. “He was curious about Sir Lesley MacNicol and Sir Roderick MacIye. I fear I wasnae verra helpful. I dinnae ken MacIye weel, though I have heard a whisper or two about the mon.”
    “He is odd,” Lady Fraser murmured, glancing around the crowded room as if searching for the man. “He is frequently at