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My scouts have returned with little in the way of information, and thus, I am relying upon your communication alone to give me what I need.

Please reply to this missive with haste telling me of anything you have already discovered.

R.

Clearly, she was going to have to double her efforts. It wasn’t as though the information she needed was just going to fall into her lap, was it? Tucking the letter into her cloak and wondering if she should burn it, Katherine left the library and headed to her bedchamber. There, she wrote a reply, for she did not want to keep her brother waiting. She had nothing to convey, but even telling him such would assure him that she was still alive and well.

Finding the same message boy, she inquired from where he had received her message.

“A man in the village gave it tae me, me lady,” the young lad said.

“Very well. Take this and find him again, will you?” As she said so, she pressed a coin into his hand. “And let’s keep this between us. It will be our little secret.”

The boy’s eyes lit up, and with a beaming smile, he nodded eagerly. “O’ course, me lady.”

When the boy had left, Katherine gazed up and down the corridor. She wanted to make certain she had not been seen, and was relieved to discover no one was about. But now, she had another problem.

How am I to find what Reginald is looking for?

For a moment, she pondered that question, but when several moments had passed, a flash of inspiration came to her completely out of the blue.Of course. Now, she knew exactly where she ought to go.

Hurrying down the corridor, she met a maid coming the other way.

“Excuse me,” she said, bringing the young woman to a halt.

“Aye, me lady?”

“Do you know where the laird is at this moment?”

The girl nodded. “I dae, me lady. He’s in the great hall getting it ready fer the Yule log. Would ye like me tae tak’ ye tae him?”

Katherine quickly shook her head. “No. No. I’m sure I can find my way. Thank you.”

“Ye’re welcome, me lady.”

Katherine waited for the maid to hurry off to her duties before turning in the opposite direction to the great hall. If the laird was there, he wasn’t where she wanted to be, which suited her plans perfectly.

With her head on a swivel, Katherine hurried through the corridors, smiling politely at anyone she met. When she finally arrived at the corridor she was looking for, she slowed her pace, and, trying to calm her thumping heart, took longer breaths.

She came to a slow stop at the study door, that the twins had pointed out to her when they were showing her around the castle one day, looked up and down the corridor again, and when she was certain no other could see her, she lifted her hand and turned the handle. But to her utter dismay, the room was locked.

Why did I not realize it would be?She reprimanded herself silently.

Reginald’s study was always locked, and thus, of course, Domhnall’s ought to be no different.

So, what am I to do now?

For a moment, Katherine stood there feeling a little flummoxed. The worry running through her at the thought of getting caught was hardly helping her critical thinking process, but taking some deep breaths, she forced herself to settle.

Turning from the room, she wandered down the corridor and continued to think. If Domhnall did return unexpectedly, she did not want to be found lingering around his study. As she rounded the corner, however, she noticed a maid leaving a bedchamber, and as she did so, the woman took hold of a ring of keys. They were attached to her waist by a cord. She then proceeded to lock the door.

Inspiration flew into Katherine’s mind, and after taking a second to get her story straight, she approached the maid.

“Good day, me lady,” the woman said, bowing her head reverently at Katherine’s approach.

“Good day. I see you have the key to the rooms,” Katherine said, glancing down at the ring still in the woman’s hand. “The laird has sent me to fetch something from his study, but in my rush to do so, I forgot to get the key for him. He is in rather a hurry, and,” Katherine looked a little worried, trying to sell her story as well as she could, “I do not want to keep him waiting.”

Immediately, the maid nodded, as though knowing well that her laird’s patience could run rather thin. “O’ course, me lady. Come, and I will open it fer ye.”