"I have only one aunt and four cousins, but they do not live here."
It was the right answer and Limond held his breath. "And yer aunt's name?"
"Murdina, she be my mother's sister."
"And she lives still?"
"The last I heard o' her."
"When was that?"
"Two years." Stefan could not understand why the man wanted to know, but at least he was being allowed to talk. "What will ye do with the slaves once yer castle be built?"
"Sell them."
It was just as he expected and it irked him. "They have families."
Limond had not actually thought about that and he dismissed it now. "Tell me, why do ye say my castle will fall? Have the slaves impaired it?"
"'Tis not the slaves who decide the parts to the sod. Yer builder mixed it too thin and it will not hold. If ye let us speak, we would have told ye long ago. Now 'tis too late."
"If I let ye speak, ye would rebel?"
Stefan narrowed his eyes, "If there were a way to rebel, we would not need to speak to plan it. We have no weapons, no horses and we are men who wish to live another day hoping to see our families again."
Limond let Stefan's words hang in the air. "Do ye have a wife and children?"
"Nay, but I would have by now, had I not been snatched."
"Who snatched ye?"
"What does it matter?" Stefan did not mean to let his anger show so forcefully and he feared he would never get his medallion back if he did not calm down.
"Why were ye taken?"
"Macoran's wife arranged it."
"Macoran? What does Macoran have to do with it?"
"I lived with them for a year. I will have my medallion back."
Limond got up, walked to a window and stared out. He had a dozen questions and did not know what to ask first.
"I will have my medallion back," Stefan repeated.
"And ye will get it, but I have something to show ye first." Limond walked to him and put the medallion in Stefan's hand. Then he reached into the pouch he had hanging around his neck and produced another just like it.
Several times, Stefan looked at his and then compared it with the one Limond held. "They are the same."
"Aye. I had one made for myself, my wife and my two daughters, Sheena and Murdina."
It was Stefan's turn to stare. He wrinkled his brow and tried to accept the words. His mother might have looked like Limond, but he did not remember her face. Still, he remembered his aunt's face and the resemblance was there. "I am yer grandson?"