“What’s happened?” Elise cried, running up to him.
“An attack. The king’s men have just landed at a fishing village in the east. Phillip knows we’re here and he’s trying to draw us out.”
“Then you’d be stupid to fall for it!” Elise snapped, panic making her voice sharp. “If he’s trying to lure you out, then you should stay right here!”
“How can I do that?” he replied, his eyes glinting with fury. “How can I sit here safe behind these walls while asking my people to risk themselves for me? How can I let the people of that fishing village bear the brunt of the king’s fury when it’s me they are really after? What kind of chieftain would I be then?”
He was right and Elise knew it, but that didn’t stop a cold, sick fear curdling in her stomach. How had Phillip discovered where they were? Were his powers more extensive than she’d thought? Had he managed to scry Jamie even across this distance?
“Then I’m coming with you,” she announced.
Jamie shook his head. “No, lass. Ye are not.” She opened her mouth for an angry retort but he held up a hand to stop her. “Please. Dinna argue with me for once. I need ye to remain here. I need to know ye are safe. Can ye do that for me?”
Elise swallowed.No, she wanted to shout.I can’t! I can’t sit here and do nothing while you ride into danger!But the look in his eyes stopped her. His gaze was full of pleading.
“All right,” she breathed. “I’ll stay. But you be careful, you hear? I expect you back here unscathed and whole, otherwise you’ll have me to answer to!”
He gave a crooked smile. “Aye, my lady. Cailean and I are riding out with his warriors, but Arran will remain here to command the castle defense in Cailean’s absence.” He reached out and gently cupped her face. “This is only a raid to test us. They will likely flee when they see us coming. I’ll be back before ye know it.”
“You’d better be.”
She went up on tiptoes and kissed him. He returned the kiss with a passion that spoke of need and longing. But it lasted only an instant before he was turning away, mounting his horse, and galloping out of the gates towards the harbor where a ship waited to carry Cailean’s men around the coastline.
The gate slammed shut behind them and Elise felt a sudden coldness that had nothing to do with the wind. Was this how Jenna and Rose felt every time Arran and Cailean rode into danger? How did they stand it?
She turned away, refusing to stare at the closed gates, and walked over to a secluded spot at the far end of the courtyard. There she closed her eyes and began practicing again, determined to get the shield magic to work.
It was perhaps half an hour later when Rose’s voice cut through her concentration.
“Elise! Have you seen Catriona?”
Elise’s eyes popped open. Rose was hurrying towards her, looking worried. “Not since breakfast. Why?”
Rose was a little pale. “I canna find her anywhere.”
“I’m sure she’ll turn up. Look, Patch is still here so she can’t be far away.”
The little black-and-white dog that was always at Catriona’s heels was sitting by the gate, where Jenna and her husband, Arran, were discussing Dun Mallach’s defense with the guards.
“That’s what worries me,” Rose replied. “She never goes anywhere without Patch, so where the hell is she?”
Suddenly Patch sprang to his feet and began barking frantically at the gate. Elise and Rose hurried over just as Arran ordered the guards to open it. The big double doors swung open to reveal Catriona standing outside. She was soaked to the skin with her hair plastered to her cheeks.
The girl squirmed through the gates the instant the gap was wide enough. “Rose!” she cried. “Uncle Arran! They’re coming!”
“Who is coming? Cat, what happened?” Rose demanded, putting her hands on her stepdaughter’s shoulders. “Where have you been?”
Catriona gulped in air, voice trembling. “I went to watch Father’s ships sail out.” She swallowed. “He forbade me to leave the castle so I…I snuck out. I took the cliff path down to the cove. But there were men down there. At the base of the cliff. Hiding.”
A cold spike of dread slid down Elise’s spine.
“How many?” Jenna asked sharply.
“I dinna know. A lot. They waited until Father and the others had sailed away. Then they started climbing up towards the castle. I ran back as fast I could. I dinna think they saw me.”
Men in hiding. An attack on a village down the coast. Elise felt the pieces fall into place with awful clarity. The attack was just a distraction. The real attack was cominghere.
Arran reached the same conclusion. He turned and began bellowing orders. “Close the gates! Archers to the walls! Move!”
