The stone wallsof the keep loomed as Lachlan watched his brothers and kinsmen pitch their tents on the surrounding fields. His heart weighed heavy with the burden of parting from Ailis. He did not trust that she would be safe, so he spoke with Kevin. “I need ye to guard Ailis through the night. She is staying in the keep, and we’re out here in tents. I worry that something will happen to her and her sisters.”
“Ye’ll guard her with yer life,” Lachlan told Kevin firmly. The young man stood outside Ailis’s door, entrusted with a duty Lachlan wished he could bear himself. “No harm will come to Lady Ailis on me watch,” Kevin assured him.
Lachlan paced the hallway unhappily, since he couldn’t be inside the keep with her. The night air whispered through narrow windows, offering little comfort. He paused, letting the cool breeze touch his face before murmuring into the darkness, “Keep her safe.”
He walked back out to the tent he would be sharing with Brodie and shook his head. “I dinnae think we should have let them separate us. As soon as we heard the women would sleep inside, and we would sleep outside, we should have turned and gone straight back. This doesn’t feel right.”
Brodie shook his head. “I dinnae like it either. Together we will watch over the lasses. Kevin will help, and Alisdair is in the next chamber. Surely we can make it through the few days of the games before we head back.”
Lachlan sighed. “Yes, we can. But I dinna like the idea of her being unprotected.”
“They are not unprotected,” Brodie reminded him. “And we must make certain that the reputation of both the McClains and McAfees remains untarnished.”
