“Make haste, MacKay,” Fraser called out with a teasing grin.
Keegan darted a glare at him, then turned to Seona again. “Would you like me to help you board?”
“Aye and I thank you.”
After she slipped her hand around his elbow, he led her to the galley, then took her hand and helped her aboard, wishing he didn’t have to release her so soon. Nay, he wished he could lift her into his arms and carry her off to a very private bedchamber where they would not be disturbed for a few days.
But that was not going to happen anytime soon—if ever.
∞∞∞
Seona sat beside Aunt Patience and their two maids within the polished wood hull of thebirlinn. Keegan took a seat with Fraser and Rebbie somewhere behind her and to the left. Listening to his deep voice as he talked to the other men, she closed her eyes, wishing she could watch him, for she found each day his face, his hair, his eyes, his body… everything about him fascinated her more and more. The beautiful words he’d spoken to her the night before haunted her…I love you.
Thebirlinnrocked and swayed upon the water as the last of the men stepped aboard. The oarsmen set to work, rowing the two large boats away from the sea gate and along the loch.
Seona waved to Isobel, tears burning her eyes, her throat tightening. She hoped she would see her good friend again very soon. She’d never had a friend as close as Isobel, whom she could tell anything and trust her to keep it a secret. Of course, Seona was close to her sister, but since Talia was younger, there were many things she couldn’t talk to her about. With Isobel, she could discuss anything.
Besides that, Isobel was a genuine, caring person. Seona would miss her greatly.
“Oh heavens,” her aunt muttered a few minutes later, pressing a hand to her stomach.
“Do you feel seasick?” Seona asked.
“’Tis starting.”
“This calm loch surely can’t be as bad as the rough sea was.”
“Nay.” Aunt Patience swallowed and appeared to be focusing on not growing nauseous.
They moved smoothly along the dark, glassy surface of the loch, the oarsmen singing a song in rhythm to their rowing. She’d always found rowing songs to be very soothing.
When the wind picked up, the crews of each vessel raised the square sail, making the trip far faster and easier for them.
Just over an hour later, they disembarked at the end of LochDuich.
For two days, their party traveled, sometimes on horseback and sometimes on ferries orbirlinnsalong the lochs, and each night they were fortunate enough to obtain lodgings in a castle or manor house. Fraser and Dermott knew the important people of the area.
Though Seona wished to speak to Keegan far longer than the brief greetings they exchanged in passing, her aunt watched her even more closely than she had before she’d found Keegan in Seona’s room. Sometimes his gaze caught and held hers for a long moment when no one was watching. His eyes were so expressive she could almost read his thoughts. When his eyes darkened, he seemed to be envisioning something passionate and intense; other times, his light blue eyes emanated happiness and mischief.
Her own emotions were tossed upon a stormy sea. Simply to look at Keegan filled her with giddiness, excitement and joy. But thoughts of her future, her home, and her father shrouded her in a smothering darkness.
On the third evening, a misty rain fell, and they arrived at a large fortified castle held by the Mackintosh Clan.
Seona was glad to escape the rain and eat a warm meal in the great hall. Though she wasn’t fortunate enough to sit by Keegan, he wasn’t too far away and she slipped a few glances his way. Once, his gaze caught hers and he smiled, heating her from the inside out.
Afterward, she and her aunt were shown to a large bedchamber containing two beds and a large pallet for their maids.
Seona and the other women were so exhausted, they went to bed early and slept all night. The rain continued and grew harder the next morn. The men of their party decided to stay another night, which Seona was glad for. Though she needed to see about her sister, she was thankful for any sort of delay that kept her from home. Once she arrived there, her time with Keegan would be very short.
∞∞∞
Haldane led his men east, through the green glens and along the lochs, toward the Inverness area. He only had eight men now. Damn Keegan and the MacKenzies for seizing two of them. Though annoying, their capture didn’t put a damper on his plans. The two miscreants had been his least valuable men. As warriors, their skills were sorely lacking, and he was glad he hadn’t paid them much.
“’Tis there,” McMurdo said, pausing on top of the small rise and pointing at the sizable castle in the distance. “Gillenmor Castle.”
Haldane and the rest of the men stopped in the middle of the well-worn, muddy road.
“’Tis impressive,” Haldane said. The fifteen-foot, gray stone walls surrounding the castle appeared to be impermeable. Several guards patrolled the battlements, visible above the high wall. A fitting place for an admirable lady like Seona to have grown up. A good-sized village lay only a short distance from the castle.
