But she had. She’d fought to stay alive. He’d always thought having a son was difficult, but a daughter proved so much more heartbreaking. How could a man teach someone as delicate as Ailith to protect herself? He had taught her to use a dagger, butshe’d been without it when she was seized at the market that day long ago.
Thankfully, Alasdair had found her before it was too late.
He tugged the net in, surprised to find three large, unfamiliar fish floundering inside. He tossed them into the bucket, pleased that fishing here wouldn’t be difficult. He would hunt deer with Dyna and Derric someday, but first, he had to follow Ailith’s lead.
If he could do it.
He sat on the rock, watching the sun peek over the horizon, ushering in the day’s most beautiful hour. Bowing his head, he offered a quick prayer for the strength to help Ailith with her mission concerning these stolen bairns.
He didn’t fault her for exploring her new talent, or for her adamant resolve to help find the bairns. He couldn’t be upset with a gift so deeply connected to Dyna, Sylvi, and Tora, all of whom he trusted completely. The one he didn’t trust was himself.
His thoughts drifted to John, whose path had been so simple. John had found his “lassie,” as he’d called Coira, when he was even younger than Daran was now. He and Coira had never been interested in anyone else, nor had they ever strayed from Grant land unless one of the clan was with them. Coira, now carrying their first, had opted to stay at Duart with Sela.
Alasdair reflected on his own family. He and Emmalin had been delighted when she carried another child to term, a strong laddie whose bellows at birth had echoed off the rafters, a blessing after they had lost another. But Daran still had years before he would be looking for his lassie.
He’d never imagined it would be so difficult to envision Ailith with a man he didn’t know.
This was the source of his current unease. He’d explained to Emmalin when they first married that, while blessed to havethree bairns, he never wanted just one. He didn’t wish to inflict on a child the loneliness he had endured himself.
Alasdair had lost his mother at eight and ten, and then his sire six moons later. An only child, he had been so distraught that he denied his father’s death for nearly a year until Dyna had forced him to confront it, descending into an awful state. He didn’t wish to do the same to their children, so having three made him deliriously happy.
The door opened, and his beautiful wife stepped out into the cool air, a plaid wrapped around her shoulders. “Fishing already, Alasdair?”
“’Tis a fine morn out here on the loch. You know I love to fish, especially in the early summer.”
She approached, and he held a hand out, helping her walk across the path of stepping stones and onto the large rock he sat on. “There’s plenty of room for you. Join me for the sounds of dawn on Islay. There’s even enough wind to keep the midges away.”
“You’ve caught fish already? What kind?”
“I think trout and they’re good-sized. We can easily put them in a stew if they aren’t sweet-tasting alone. And after seeing the lads’ appetites last evening, I think we’ll need plenty of food.”
“They’ll probably be delicious. But that’s not why I came out.”
Alasdair let out a sigh he didn’t even try to hide. “I know why you are here.”
“Why?”
“Because you are worried about me.”
“Am I?”
“Aye, you are worried that I’ll struggle when Ailith begins to forge her own path.”
“Will you?” She leaned her head on his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her, inhaling her sweetness.
“I think I’m going to struggle a bit. Watching Edan gaze at Ailith was difficult enough. I fear she might leave us, and that day could be soon.”
“Alasdair, I want our daughter to find someone to love, to marry, and have bairns with.”
“I do too.”
“Do you? Or do you wish to keep her safely at home forever?”
“I wish for both, truthfully. I’d hoped she’d find someone on Grant land or even a Ramsay lad. I’d share her with the Ramsays. Or if she found someone on Mull, it’s a small isle, and Dyna and Maitland will always be there.”
“The thought of someone anywhere else frightens you?”
“It does. It would take more than a day to get to her if she needed our help, and I don’t like that. And we wouldn’t know anyone there who could give us advice. I’m struggling with it, I’ll be honest. It’s not just a man, Em. It’sthisman. The one who’s dragging her into a faery hill. How can I not be afraid?”
