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“David was appalled because he thought Walter still intended to marry me. Walter made it verra clear that he had ne’er intended to marry me, that I was beneath him, and that he would ne’er sully his fine bloodline with an Armstrong. He just didnae wish for me to die until he had me and was weary of me.
    “The whole betrothal was naught but part of his plan. He wanted to get close to my family so that he could learn enough about them to ken how he could place blame and all suspicion on them. The mon wants rid of my whole clan. He e’en thinks that he may be able to get some of our land if he steps right and gets close to the king. Or mayhap once the king is gone, he feels the new men in power will reward him with it.” She frowned. “I think he kenned we wouldnae just cry innocent and be taken for he saw the chance that the king’s men would be verra busy trying to gather us all up. That would allow him to do as he plans for they wouldnae have the time to look anywhere else.”
    “Did he say exactly what his plan was?”
    “Nay. David spoke of ridding themselves of that foolish king, his sycophants, and all those who led him where they wished him to go. Neither mon wants any suspicion turning their way. I can only think that Walter wants my kin hunted down and hanged ere he does whate’er he now plots to do, thus giving him the chance to grab our lands. Although he did think that the new king might weel gift him with them. They went inside after that.”
    “And ye ne’er tried to find out more?”
    “I didnae have the time. Walter spoke of needing to plan his next step most carefully and of wanting to be weel rested so that he could have the pleasure of watching my family rounded up and taken away in chains. I ran for home, thinking to warn them of his plots, but my cousin Humfrey caught up with me. He told me it was already too late, that my own dagger had been in the heart of a king’s mon, and that soldiers were already pounding at the gates of Aigballa. My family gave him what I needed to travel and sent him after me to tell me to come here.” She shook her head. “And to think I thought Walter’s only real fault was that he was vain.”
    “Ye betrothed yourself to a mon ye thought was vain?”
    “He had some cause to be so and his mother spoiled him.” She pulled the letter from her father out of her pocket where she had hidden it and handed it to him. “It doesnae say much save that my father suspects Walter and that I am to come to you and seek help. So, are ye going to help me? Or, do ye send me to the king?”
    Simon did not answer her for a moment, taking the time to read the short message from her father instead. There was little to be found in the words Sir Cormac had written to help Simon make any judgment. The man simply thought to aid his daughter. The only thing that weighed in the favor of the Armstrongs was that they knew his reputation, therefore, sending Ilsabeth to him implied that they believed the truth would free them and reveal their innocence. The cynical part of Simon wondered if they hoped he would think exactly that and thus believe them cruelly wronged.
    “Nay, I willnae send ye to the king now,” Simon said as he handed her back her father’s message.
    “Howbeit, ye will be closely watched and ye had best nay leave this house.”
    Ilsabeth swallowed the angry words she ached to spit out at him. She told herself that he did not know her and he had every right to need proof of her innocence before he believed in her. She was marked a traitor and a murderer. Such crimes put anyone who helped her in danger. It had been foolish to think that her word on all that had happened would be enough. Ilsabeth welcomed the return of the children for it kept her from saying something that could push away the only man who could keep her from the brutal death handed out to traitors.
    Bega worked fast and efficiently, she thought, as Elen and Reid hurried to her side. They were both