How much easier it would have been to let Lord Bothwell slay him. She reached up and touched the brooch. She would toss the cursed thing into the loch at first opportunity. Nay. She would ride today and throw it in. "This is the brooch?" Gewain broke the silence. "'Tis my brooch," Deryll replied. He angled his head toward Airin. "A gift for my bride." This had gone far enough. Airin straightened. "I would recover my senses. Leave me." The sheriff shook his head. "My questions will be answered." She stared in amazement. "I have entertained too long in my night clothes." Deryll faced the sheriff. "We shall await her in the great hall." Gewain opened his mouth, but her father interrupted. "Leave my daughter." "I must—" " Enough." The word crackled with menace. The sheriff's hand twitched at his side, and Airin watched in stupefaction. She let out a silent breath when he turned and stalked toward the door. "And you," her father pointed a finger at Harold, "do not set a foot outside Huntley Castle." 36 The Pendulum by Tarah Scott The servant's eyes snapped onto the sheriff's retreating back.
