Evan didnae leave through choice.
Her thoughts went flying back to the merchant caravan, to that night up on the moors. The clash of steel. The smoke. Theshouting. Evan shoving her toward safety. That look on his face—grim and resolved.
He always made the choice that would keep her safe, no matter the cost to himself. He’d done it that night after the merchant caravan had been attacked, walking alone into the darkness in order to draw their attackers away, and he’d done it again now.
This had been his life. Always running. And she—she had thought he’d left because he didn’t want her enough.
Shame burned through her chest. Of course he’d left to protect her. Of course he had. Her heart clenched painfully. How many times had he stood alone on some dark road believing it was the only way to keep others safe? How many times had he told himself it was better that way?
Bryce was still speaking. “...We need to know exactly what MacInnes wants from Evan—”
Ruby lifted her hand sharply. “Stop.”
All eyes fixed on her.
“Enough talking. We have to go after him.”
Charlie turned to her. “But we don’t know where he’s gone.”
“No,” she agreed. “Buttheydo.” She pointed at Bryce and Niall. “Or at least, I bet they can guess.”
She was pleased when her voice didn’t shake, even though inside she was trembling—anger and love and fear braided tight into a knot. She wouldnotlet him make this choice for both of them. She would not let him disappear into whatever lonely exile he thought he deserved.
“Where would he go?” she demanded. “What route would he take?”
The brothers exchanged a look.
“Edinburgh, I think,” Niall said at last. “It’s the easiest place to vanish. Crowds, trade, traffic. MacInnes’ men would have difficulty tracking him in the city.”
“But he wouldnae take the main road,” Bryce added. “Too exposed. Too predictable.”
“He’ll cut across country,” Niall said, turning to look out over the hills to the east. “Through the lower moors, past the old quarry track. There’s a narrow ridge path above the burn that leads toward the approach. Hard riding, but faster if ye ken the ground.”
Ruby nodded. “Fine. You can show me. Let’s go.”
Bryce studied her for a moment. Something shifted in his expression—a reassessment, perhaps. Then he nodded. “Aye.”
Charlie dismounted, allowing Niall to take her horse, while another was brought from the stable for Bryce. In moments, Ruby, Niall, and Bryce were ready to go. Hamish and Charlie watched with worried expressions as Niall led the way through the gates.
They clattered onto the road but soon turned off it, making their way through fields and meadowland. The land rolled ahead—green and lazy beneath the evening sun—but Ruby barely noticed any of it. Urgency boiled in her gut like acid. She had to find Evan.
Niall took the lead, cutting diagonally across pasture toward a break in a low stone wall. He vaulted it cleanly, Bryce close behind. Ruby clung to the saddle, almost losing her seat as her own mount followed.
As they moved, the land began to change. Open pasture gave way to scrub and heather. The earth grew uneven, rocky beneath the grass.
“Up there,” Niall called over his shoulder, pointing toward a rise that sloped into a narrow ridge. “If he rides hard, he’ll take the heights. It’s empty up there. Less chance of being seen.”
They angled upward. The climb was steep, and her horse snorted, working hard, but kept pace. Bryce rode slightly behind her now, watchful but silent. She’d had no time to appraiseEvan’s eldest brother, the one who, according to Evan, had caused all the strife in the family.
Was Bryce thinking about that right now? Was he wondering what kind of reception he would receive from the brother he hadn’t seen in years? Or was his mind entirely on the information he thought Evan could provide him?
They reached the top of the ridge, and Ruby glanced back, seeing the land spread out below like a huge quilted blanket. Had Evan paused here? Had he looked back, just like she was doing now?
The wind was stronger up here, grass flattened in long streaming lines. From this vantage, the land toward Edinburgh unfolded in muted blues and grays—distant woods, the suggestion of roads, faint glimmers of habitation.
Evan could be anywhere. What if Bryce and Niall were wrong? What if he’d doubled back? Taken a different turn? What if they couldn’t find him?
They rode on. Stands of pine began to dot the landscape and the raucous cries of crows joined the moan of the wind. They crested another rise and Niall drew up sharply. He stood in his stirrups, shading his eyes as he gazed out, and then pointed.
