“Nay, you stay here. The clan needs you.”
“The clan needs you as well,” Dirk grumbled.
“You are the chief,” Keegan argued, matching his cousin’s fearsome glare.
“Do you think that matters? Haldane is my problem and I’ll deal with him.”
“I’m ready to go after him and McMurdo,” Rebbie said, eager battle-lust gleaming in his dark brown eyes.
“We’ll all go,” Dirk said, motioning to a half dozen of his men.
∞∞∞
Lady Seona Murray watched with sickened dread as Keegan, Dirk and several more men charged boldly toward the hill where the outlaws lurked.
She’d stayed with the MacKays for several months and almost considered them her clan now. They had certainly shown her morecare and consideration than her own clan had.
“Dirk,” Lady Isobel called, but not too loud. If her husband heard, he ignored her. “He is mad,” she grumbled through clenched teeth as the men disappeared from sight, the eerie mist enfolding them. “Haldane will kill him if he has half a chance.”
“They are capable warriors,” Seona said, knowing she was right, but at the same time realizing they were not invincible. She said a silent prayer for their safety.
“Aye,” Isobel said, her dark brows furrowed.
The eight well-armed guards would not let the women move from the cover of the huge rocks surrounding them on three sides.
Seona was equally worried about Keegan, but could not voice her concerns. Her Aunt Patience, standing on Isobel’s other side, could never know that Seona held Keegan MacKay in such high regard. All winter and spring he had made a point to greet Seona at every opportunity with a charming smile and a bow. Sometimes she would catch him watching her with an intense focus from the other side of the great hall, but he had not done anything more intimate than usher her to the high table and pull out a chair for her almost every evening.
His pale blue eyes enchanted her, made her feel vibrantly alive. They reflected great interest and longing. She wanted to do naught but stare into his eyes for hours. His thick, tawny mane looked as if it would be soft and silky; her fingers itched to find out. Though he was a tall, broad-shouldered warrior, his size did not intimidate her, for he had an easy smile. The only part of him she had touched was his arm when he escorted her. Each time she slipped her hand around his elbow, she savored the hardness of his well-developed muscles.
A few times this spring, on rare and precious sunny days, she and Isobel had watched the men training with swords in the walled barmkin outside Castle Dunnakeil. She could not tear her gaze away from Keegan then, especially when he grew warm and threw off his doublet. His muscles were obvious through the thin damp linen of his shirt, and his calf muscles beneath the bottom edge of his plaid intriguing.
She only hoped he would be careful as he and the men pursued the outlaws. With each minute that passed in relative silence, Seona’s stomach ached more and more. The mist before them, strangely lit from behind by morning sunlight, hurt her eyes.She squinted against the brilliance.
“Why have they not returned?” Isobel grumbled a quarter hour later.
Having no answer for her friend, Seona shook her head. Indeed, what could be taking so long? Had they been ambushed and killed silently? A chill passed over her.
“Will one of you go check on them?” Isobel asked the bearded guard closest to her.
“Nay. The chief has commanded us to stay and protect you ladies,” he said in a brusque tone.
A sound from within the white mist caught Seona’s attention and then a movement, low to the ground.
Seona shoved Isobel into her aunt, toward the left side of the stony enclosure. Something struck the sandstone, spraying rock particles over them.
“What on earth?” Aunt Patience squawked.
The women ended up in a heap on the ground. Seona’s knee pained her, but she hoped she hadn’t injured the others.
Seona looked behind her. “An arrow,” she said, pointing to the broken shaft and feathers on the ground where it had bounced off the rocks exactly where Isobel had been standing.
“Men advancing from the rear!” a guard shouted. Aclunkagainst wood sounded as an arrow drove into his targe.
The other guards cursed and moved into position to better shield the women.
“Saints, Seona, you saved my life,” Isobel said in a stunned voice.
Seona knew not what to say; she’d simply acted on instinct. Isobel had become like a sister to her over the past few months, and obviously she’d help her in any way she could. Just as she wished to return home and help her own sister.
