Still no movement.
“Are ye trying to wake him?” Ian asked. “I’ll just knock him out again.”
“Oh, no, of course not.” She grabbed a dagger from the guard’s belt and stood.
“And what do ye plan to do with that?” Ian crossed his arms over his chest. This easy retrieval and retreat was turning out to be a little more tiresome than he’d imagined. He’d been having fun a moment ago, but he didn’t want to knock the lass out to depart. Tossing her over his shoulder wouldn’t be difficult, but it would slow his pace.
“For protection.” She jutted her chin forward, flashing him a challenging look.
“Protection? From whom?”
“From anyone.” She shrugged her dainty shoulders.
“I’ll keep ye safe from everyone.” It was his job, after all. If he returned to Scotland with any part of the lass harmed, Douglass would kill him. And then his brother would double-kill him for having to console his wife.
“Including yourself?” Rhiannon gave him a look that said she wasn’t so sure.
Och, the lass was proving to be a challenge and insulting to boot. “I am an honorable man.”
“I don’t know that.”
Ian rolled his eyes. “Ye will. Take the blade if it makes ye feel better, but I assure ye, ye’ll not have need of it with me.”
Lady Rhiannon threaded the blade through the belt at her hips and smiled at him in a way that was jarring in its radiance. “Excellent. Then, shall we?”
“Aye.” Ian held out his hand, and she stared at it as if he were offering her a handful of ocean-floor scum.
“I don’t think we need to hold hands,” she said.
Ian grunted. “I thought it a better option than me holding onto your arm.”
She squared her shoulders. “I prefer to walk without assistance. And I insist that Goosie come with us. Let us not argue the point—as you said, we need to leave quickly.”
My God, she might be more stubborn than his brother’s wife. And bossy seemed quite a tame description now that he had known her more than thirty seconds.
“Fine. But I’ll not wait around for the cat if she decides to wander off. And ye canna fall behind, nor get too far ahead. Walk beside me at all times. Otherwise, I will toss ye over my shoulder and continue despite your protestations.”
“Are we walking all the way to Scotland?” She wrinkled her brow in protest.
“Fock no.” Ian grimaced. He’d not meant to say that. Too harsh for a lady’s ears, but to his relief, Rhiannon laughed.
“Thank goodness.”
“I have got a horse up the way.” He’d left George not too far away as he snuck toward the castle to observe.
“How did you know I’d be walking today? It’s been weeks since my brother let me out.”
Weeks? Ian knew she was in a desperate situation. Something about being married off to pay a debt but let out? That sounded more as if she’d been held prisoner. As a brother himself, he couldn’t imagine locking his sisters away. And quite frankly, if Rhiannon was anything like his sisters, like her cousin, it was lucky her brother was still alive.
“I didna know, lass.”
“Oh.” She seemed surprised. Her pace faltered a moment and then picked up again beside him. “Then how did you happen upon me?”
“I’d been scouting a couple of days and was trying to figure out which window to climb into.” Her brother was most assuredly not good at protecting what was his. The guards weren’t on a regular schedule, and sometimes posts weren’t manned. Anyone could breach their fortifications with a little thought and observation.
“You think you could have breached the walls?”
“I didna think, lass. I knew.” His plan had been simple, and he would have executed it perfectly if he hadn’t happened upon her. She just seemed to make his day easier. The heavens might have intervened on his behalf.
