“The villagers of Inchkeith are in dire straits, though. Now, I don’t want to get your hopes up, but a woman has come into the camp. She was meant to be going to Struan, but we caught her and brought her here. She is a wonderful healer, and she gives me hope when I need it most, but I don’t want to put her in danger. I might be closer to taking back the castle with her help.”
Amanda could not hear his words clearly, but he was obviously asking questions as though seeking advice, since he paused from time to time as if listening for an answer.
“Do I love her?” he asked, and his voice held a note of surprise. “I-I am fond of her. She seems to be a good woman, but love? The way you two loved each other? I’m not sure.” he shrugged. “There is no time for love in my life. I am using all my love to look after my people, and I am not sure I have any to spare.”
Then Amanda remembered hearing him doing the same thing when she was riding alongside him; this was obviously the way he kept in touch with his parents, who were no longer able to communicate with him here on earth. If Hamish thought they could hear him and talk back to him, it gave him comfort, and she did not think less of him for that, since there had obviously been a lot of love between them.
How she envied him that love…
Amanda stepped forward to hear him better, then stood on a twig which snapped under her feet. The noise was only a little crack, but in the stillness of the forest it sounded like a musket shot, and Hamish leapt to his feet and whipped around in one fluid movement.
He picked up the sword he had placed on the ground beside him and raised it as if to bring it down on her head, and his expression as he met her eyes was a fierce glare. Yet, there were tears in his eyes and on his cheeks, and as he looked at her, his expression softened.
Amanda gasped and took a step backwards. “I-I’m sorry,” she said. “I did not mean to intrude on your privacy.”
Hamish opened his mouth to answer her, but at that moment there was a harsh cry from behind them.
“Trespassers! Trespassers!” someone was shouting as he crashed through the trees on his horse.
Hamish gave a growl then, before Amanda could say a word, she found herself seated on Hamish’s stallion, then he leapt up in front of her and turned his horse in a tight circle to follow the guard.
She heard hooves thundering behind them and screamed as an arrow whistled past her ear, then bent down in the saddle, trying to make herself as small a target as possible. She screwed her eyes shut and clamped her hands over her ears.
Amanda had never been so terrified in her life, and became even more so as she heard the keening scream of an injured horse behind her and realised that her own mare had been hurt. Her blood ran cold, and she almost felt the poor animal’s pain herself. She wanted to jump off Hamish’s mount to run back and tend to her injured mare, but of course, that was impossible.
Amanda had seen plenty of injured people and animals in her time, and knew what the poor creature was going through. The worst of it all was that an animal had no understanding of why it was in pain, and no idea that it could be helped, and she felt her heartbreaking for her faithful little horse.
However, after another arrow whizzed past them, she forgot about everything else but staying alive. The hoofbeats of one of the guards’ horses were so close that Amanda could feel the ground vibrating under them. When she heard an almighty yell from its rider ordering them to stop, she almost begged Hamish to obey him. She was so consumed by fear that she could not imagine anything worse than sitting on Hamish’s stallion waiting to die.
Hamish would not have been human if he had not felt fear, but his overwhelming emotion was rage—an overwhelming wrath against his brother, the likes of which he had never felt before. He yelled a filthy obscenity at Struan’s man, then threw a dagger at him.
It had no effect on the rider, but it narrowly missed the horse’s ear, and caused it to swerve, rear, and give a frightened neigh, its eyes wild with fear. When its front feet landed on solid ground again, the animal was so confused and panicked that it galloped backwards into the throng of other horses that were chasing them, scattering them so that they ran in all directions. Any further pursuit was now impossible.
Hamish urged his stallion on, and soon they had left their enemies behind. Amanda almost fainted with relief.
As soon as they arrived back at the camp, Hamish swung down from his stallion then pulled Amanda down after him, and for a moment, he did nothing but stare down at her.
He was a picture of rage, his brows drawn down over eyes that blazed with fury, then he ran his hand back through his hair and gave a deep growl.
“What were you thinking?” he demanded. “Why did you follow me so close to the castle? Don’t you know how dangerous it is?”
Amanda’s rage flared up to meet his. “And how would I know how close to the castle we are?” she demanded. “I have no idea where we are.” She sighed, letting herself cool down. “I am so sorry for intruding on your privacy, Hamish.”
“I’m not worried too much about my privacy,” he snapped. “Only the danger we were in. Struan’s guards are ruthless, and they almost caught us.”
“But tell me, how are we going to get my horse back?” Amanda was anxious. “She was injured, and might be suffering… I’m worried about her.”
“Dying is the best thing that could happen to her,” Hamish barked. “She will be lucky if they don’t torture her before they kill her.”
Amanda’s heart twisted with pain, thinking of the lovely, patient young horse who was suffering because of her. Although she was in pain because of Hamish’s cruelty, she held her tears back with a great effort, then turned and walked away from him. Now she had other things to think about; there were men who needed her help, and they came first. It was time for her to do what she did best and forget about her own troubles.
When she had finished her work for the day, Amanda threw herself onto her cot and began to weep until she had no tears left. The day which had started off so well had descended into an utter disaster, and now even Hamish hated her.
She could not drag her thoughts away from her poor horse. If she had broken her leg she would likely be put down, hopefully in a merciful fashion, but now Amanda would never know.
That evening, she ate nothing, and did not leave the tent once. It seemed that all of a sudden she had no reason to do so.
15
