"Truly, Father, would ye?"
The priest studied Agnes' feeble looks, realized he was staring at her too long and looked away. "And William, ye will swear it 'twas yer uncle?"
"I will," said William. He wondered for a moment just how much trouble he was going to be in with God, but the damage was done and it was too late. Besides, the crime Agnes plotted was far worse than his tiny little lie. When he looked, both of her sons were staring at her and she was backing away.
"My father will not take me back if I am accused o' adultery."
Macoran finally stood up. "Then ye have a problem, my dear, because I will not have ye either."
"What will I do, where can I go?"
It was something Macoran had not considered and he paused to think about it. "If ye will leave, and leave quickly, and if the priest agrees, what happened here today will not cross our lips. What ye tell yer father be up to ye." Inwardly he smiled. The twins would surely tell on her and she deserved punishment.
"And my sons?"
"Take them with ye. Should they ever grow up to be lads o' honor, I will welcome them back. But I suspect they will be far happier with the Brodies. Are we agreed?"
She had no choice. The priest was nearly finished writing on the parchment and all Macoran had to do was sign it. "Ye will send a guard with us?"
"Aye, I will send them until ye are across Limond land, after that…" he watched her dart up the stairs, heard her screech at her sons to gather their things and then slam the door to her bedchamber. Macoran went to the front door, opened it, yelled for his guard to make ready and came back to the table. He wanted desperately to smile, to laugh, to jump for joy. But he held his emotions until he made his mark on the parchment, thanked the priest and handed him a gold coin for his trouble.
It was another tedious hour before Agnes had her things situated, the horses loaded, and the boys in tow. Macoran stood on the landing, watched the three of them mount their horses and then nodded for his guard to take them away. He wanted to savor the moment and when Agnes glared back at him, he blew her a kiss.
*
Stefan and Kannak would have stayed on the hill top the rest of the day just holding each other, but there was some sort of commotion in the village. Both of them moved quickly to the place where they could see the shore. There were no longships.