Highlander Betrayed (Guardians of the Targe) by Laurin Wittig

Author:Laurin Wittig [Wittig, Laurin]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Published: 2013-08-06T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

ARCHIE HAD FROZEN the moment the woman had appeared. He’d been about to make himself known to Nicholas, to find out what news the “king’s favorite” had discovered since yesterday, but then she’d called out to him, startling Nicholas out of whatever thoughts he’d been lost in. Never had Archie seen Nicholas anything but focused. Never had he been able to sneak up on the man, even when he was sleeping, and yet here he was, not six feet away and he’d not even noticed.

But when Rowan had appeared there was a softness to his expression that Archie had never seen in ten years of knowing the man.

Archie pursed his lips. Yesterday he hadn’t been able to tell, from his hiding place in the woods, exactly what passed between these two, but today it was plain that Nicholas had real feelings for the woman, not feigned. His focus would be shattered, his loyalty in conflict. Could Archie still depend upon him to complete this task? Could the king?

Was this finally a crack in Nicholas’s armor?

Glee crackled through him and he dared not give into the urge to throw back his head and crow.

For years he’d been playing second to Nicholas fitz Hugh. For years he’d been employed because Nicholas saw to it. For years he’d been kept out of the king’s regard by Nicholas—master manipulator of the king’s esteem.

But if his loyalty was compromised by this Scottish wench, then Archibald of Easton’s moment had finally come, and he was not one to let it pass. With the king’s regard came wealth, status, power. Nicholas cared only for the status, but there was so much more possible. And Archie was just the man to exploit every single one of those possibilities.

Maintaining his position with no movement, not even allowing himself the grin he could feel fluttering in his cheeks, was the hardest thing he had done in years. But everything he had endured with false smiles and feigned camaraderie by Nicholas’s side these many years was about to pay off in a grand way and he could wait a little longer to reveal his true self to Nicholas—but only a little longer.

First, Archie had to make sure. He had to test Nicholas to see if what he had surmised was true. He settled in to watch, and listen, waiting impatiently for his moment.

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