“Nay, I had a devil of a time—” He stopped, his eyes narrowing. “If that’s a trick to try to get me to tell you how I got in, it isn’t going to work.”

She blinked at him innocently, which he didn’t believe for a minute.

“Christ, now I know where she got it from!”

Her brows drew together questioningly.

“Your sister. Christina gives me that look every time she’s done something naughty—which seems to be a daily occurrence.”

Joan couldn’t prevent the tiny pinch in her chest. She’d never regretted the decision not to return to Scotland with her mother after Lachlan had rescued her—Joan had chosen her path and knew it was a solitary one—but she did regret not knowing her young half siblings. She had three now: Erik, who would be five in a few months; Christina, who was three and a half; and Robbie, who was almost eighteen months.

“You know what the Bible says: ‘as ye sow, so shall ye reap.’ ”

Lachlan shook his head with a sigh. “That’s what your mother says.”

She smiled.

He told her what he knew of Edward Bruce’s plan to take the castle, which in her opinion—and Lachlan’s from the sound of it—seemed to be more a “why not take a shot as long as we are here” than a well-thought-through operation.

“So the bulk of the men will attack the main gate, while a small force in black cloaks to blend into the night will attempt to slip over the curtain wall behind the kitchens?” she summarized. “It seems like I’ve heard something like that before,” she added dryly, referring to James Douglas’s taking of Roxburgh Castle and Thomas Randolph’s taking of Edinburgh Castle, which had used similar tactics.

Lachlan shook his head. “The king’s brother will never be accused of inventiveness. But I think he is tired of hearing about Douglas and Randolph and wants to have his own ‘miraculous feat of warfare.’ Just see that you are nowhere near the kitchens after midnight.”

“No late-night snacks for me, I swear it. Even if the cook makes apple tarts.”

He shook his head and chuckled. “Now you sound like Erik. Don’t turn your back on your sweets with that one around.”

She smiled, but when their eyes met, she suspected he’d guessed what she was thinking—there was little chance she’d get that opportunity. At least not while the war was going on and while she remained undiscovered. She was too valuable here. If she were discovered . . . well, they both knew what would happen then.

“That reminds me. I have something for you,” Lachlan added.

“A tart?” she jested, trying to cover the oddly emotional moment.

It didn’t work. “Nay,” he said seriously. “This. You are one of us now, and since a tattoo isn’t appropriate, I thought this might suffice.”