“Haldane!” It was Keegan’s voice. “I’ll kill you. Have no doubt of it.”
God protect us, Seona prayed silently.
More men joined them in battle.
Seona drew back. “Everyone, wake up,” she whispered loudly, grabbing herarisaidto wrap about her. “We may have to flee.”
“Lord, help us. Is it a battle?” one of their maids asked. Someone was sobbing and another of them was praying aloud.
“Aye. Haldane and his band of outlaws have attacked. We must dress and ready ourselves to run,” Seona whispered.
A knife blade sliced through their tent’s fabric over the maids’ heads. Her aunt and the maids screamed as they scrambled towardthe opposite side, a couple of them crawling over Seona.
“Remain calm,” she said, pulling her legs free of them.
She couldn’t draw her knife now or she might inadvertently cut one of the other women in such close quarters. They sat frozen in fear as they listened to the sounds outside—men’s angry yells, footsteps thumping, blades clashing.
Someone burst into the dark tent. Seona’s heart felt as if it rammed up into her throat.
The maids shrieked and scrambled backward.
“’Tis me, Keegan. Come, all of you.”
A couple of the maids were crying in earnest now, one of them frantic.
“Calm yourselves!” Keegan commanded. “Lady Seona, where are you?”
“Here,” she said, regaining her breath.
He took her hand and dragged her from the tent. She saw MacMillan and a couple more guards standing outside, holding horses.
“Wait!” Seona said. “I have not—”
“There is no time.” Keegan lifted her onto the bareback horse as if she weighed no more than a child, then, grabbing the reins, he leapt on behind her. He wrapped a strong arm around her and kicked the horse into a gallop.
“What about Aunt Patience?” she asked, turning and attempting to look back, but she couldn’t see beyond his shoulder.
“The guards will see to her and the maids’ safety. Dirk told me to slip you away from the battle and hide you.”
Why? Seona wanted to ask, but found it almost impossible to hold a conversation with the horse galloping at such great speed, and her frantic heartbeat keeping the same rhythm. They flew along a trail, opposite the way they’d come earlier that day. Keegan’s arm around her near squeezed the breath from her. But she felt safe.
Moonlight reflected off a wide, sparkling burn that flowed alongside the trail. After a few minutes, Keegan slowed the horse to a trot but kept going. Unexpectedly, he guided the horse into a copse of trees. The fresh scent of pine was strong. The horse walked deeper, his breath wooshing in and out.
After a few hundred yards, Keegan stopped the horse and turned it about. They listened to the silence. No hoof beatsapproached.
“Were you injured in the fighting?” she asked.
“Nay.”
“Did you kill Haldane?”
“Hmph. He fled like a frightened rat.” Keegan’s arm tightened around her again, tugging her back against the hard wall of his chest. “He’s trying to steal you away,” Keegan whispered, his warm breath stirring her hair.
“What on earth? Why?”
“He said you were meant to be his.”
A shiver of revulsion passed over Seona. The last person on earth she would want to marry was Haldane. “’Tis because of the marriage contract the MacKays had with my father.”
