He leaned close. “The balance of these axes is shite,” he whispered. “They pull to the left. Aim slightly to the right.”
She blinked, surprised that he would help her. She aimed as he’d said and with a deep breath, she let the ax go. There was a split second of silence as everyone watched its trajectory and then erupted into cheers when it struck the target and stuck. Anna let out a whoop.
“Yes!” she cried, punching the air.
Duncan laughed. “Ha! Nice throw, lass!”
Anna grinned at him. This was not the afternoon she’d envisaged when she’d woken this morning. Yet here she was, standing among burly Highland men, throwing axes at targets and thoroughly enjoying herself. Go figure.
“Thanks for the tip,” she said to Duncan.
“My pleasure. Anything to see these crusty old bastards shook up a bit. I thought Marshall’s heart would give out when ye said ye wanted to take part.” He nodded towards the balding man who’d first made fun of her.
“Honestly?” Anna said. “I thoughtIwould have a heart attack when I stepped up here. Do you ever get these ideasin your head that make sense at the time but end up turning out to be completely idiotic?”
Duncan snorted. “All the time, lass. All the time.” He glanced over at where the other contestants were lining up for their final throws. “Well, ready for the grand finale?”
“Of course.”
Anna squared her shoulders, feeling a thrill of excitement in her stomach. Around her, the crowd hushed. One by one, the other throwers took their turn, eliciting oohs and aahs from the crowd.
Duncan stepped up to throw before her, his movement graceful and smooth. The ax twirled through the air, sunlight glinting off its sharp edges in mid-flight before it embedded itself once again into the heart of the target. A smug grin flashed on Duncan’s face as he bowed to the cheering crowd before stepping back.
“Ye are up,” Duncan said, handing Anna an ax. “Remember what I told ye.”
Anna nodded. She took a few steps back for momentum then ran, releasing the ax with all the strength she could muster. It spun as if in slow motion, revolving end over end until it thudded into the target with a satisfying smack—nowhere near the center but at least it hadn’t gone spinning into the crowd.
The crowd erupted with cheering. It wasn’t a winning shot. In fact, Duncan had won, and she’d come last, but it had been great fun and the crowd were now most definitely on her side. She put her arm across her stomach and gave everyone a bow then turned to see Duncan MacDonald grinning.
“Nicely done,” he said. “Ye’ll be the talk around here for weeks. The outland lass who took on all the men at ax throwing. Ye will be famous!”
His words made the euphoria rushing through Anna’s veins subside into sudden unease.I’ve done it again,she thought.I’ve made a spectacle of myself.
She turned to look at the crowd and her eyes were drawn to Lady Maria. The woman was watching her intently. There was no smile on her face now, just a hard scrutiny and a thoughtful, almost calculating expression. She gave a slow nod of approval. This did nothing to ease the dread that suddenly pooled in Anna’s stomach. In fact, it made it worse.
“Well at least Lady Maria looks pleased,” she said to Duncan.
He turned to look at Maria and the smile slid off his face. “Aye. My grandmother loves to be proven right.”
“Your grandmother?”
“Aye. My mother’s mother. She came to live with us after my mother died. Lucky us, eh?”
Anna didn’t know what to say to that. Duncan’s words were heavy with sarcasm and despite the deference he showed to Lady Maria, she detected none of this in his tone. In fact, he sounded...resentful.
And she’d thoughtherfamily was complicated. There were more undercurrents swirling between these Highland families than in the ocean during a winter storm.
And why did she feel like she’d landed right in the middle of them?
THE ARROW THUNKED INTOthe target dead center and the crowd roared.
“Our winner! Emeric Mackintosh!” shouted the announcer.
Emeric plastered a gracious smile onto his face, bowed to the spectators, then handed his bow and quiver over to a squire. He turned to leave, aching to get away from the adulation.
The archery competition hadn’t soothed his tension the way he hoped it would. He’d found himself wound-up and out of sorts and his first two shots hadn’t hit the bullseye—a rarity for him. He’d struggled to find that center of calm that he normally did when shooting arrows, that peace where the world fell away and there was only himself and the target. It had come eventually, and just in time to allow him to win the competition, but he still felt edgy and rattled.
He’d not seen Anna since the games had started and he couldn’t help feeling a twinge of disappointment that she’d not come to watch him shoot. He walked off, determined to go find her.
