“Aye.” She briefly explained the precarious deal she had with her aunt about keeping each other’s secrets.
“’Tis brilliant.” Keegan grinned. “You are more cunning than I realized.”
Truth was she’d do anything for him, to keep him safe.
“And you’ve already proven yourself a lady warrior.”
“I thank you.” She enjoyed the look of pride in his blue eyes.
Too soon, he sobered. “We’ll be heading out in a few minutes. Once we draw nearer to Gillenmor, Haldane will become more of a threat. Do you remember our knife-fighting lessons?”
A chill passed over her. “Aye.”
“And you still carry the knife I gave you?”
“Of course.” She placed her hand upon the weapon strapped to the inside of her forearm. ’Twas her most valued possession.
Keegan nodded. “I pray you won’t need it, but just in case. We suspect Haldane may increase his efforts in capturing you the closer we get to Gillenmor. He may have hired more men. We must be ready for anything.”
∞∞∞
Seona, her aunt, and their two maids rode in the center of the two dozen men in their party. She was happy that Keegan rode to her left most of the way. She often watched him out of the corner of her eye. He and the rest of the guards were ever on alert. Talking was kept to a minimum, the only sounds the horses’ hooves striking the ground. She had been through this area a few times and knew they were only a mile or two from Gillenmor. Anguish weighed heavily on her heart with each step they took forward.
Up ahead, the narrow muddy road snaked through a small dark forest. Seona dreaded riding through there.
“Halt!” Keegan lifted his hand. “’Tis likely they are hiding in that wood, waiting to ambush us.”
The other men nodded, murmuring their agreement.
“I need ten or twelve of you to scout the wood and kill the outlaws if you find them,” Keegan said.
“Aye,” several of the men said, their eyes lighting with eagerness.
Fourteen men, both MacKays and MacKenzies, rode swiftly toward the wood. Everyone else waited in silence, watching. The breeze picked up, blowing the vibrant green grasses of the gently sloping meadows where cattle and sheep grazed. Crofters tended their crops in the distance, the soil rich and dark. Stone dykes and low-growing bushes divided up the fields.
’Twas a beautiful, calm area. Seona’s home. But it did not feel like home to her anymore. Nay. Now her home was the rough and craggy northern Highlands around Durness. ’Twas a wild and untamed place, filled with rocky terrain, prickly yellow gorse bushes, deep icy lochs and turbulent skies, but its beauty reminded her of Keegan. If she could be with him, she would be at home.
She glanced aside at him. His sharp gaze was fixed on the wood, as if he could almost see what was hidden in the trees. His whole body was tense, as if he was prepared to launch into battle at any moment. She prayed there would be no battle, no ambush or attacks. Why could Haldane not get it through is daft head she would never willingly marry him?
Keegan glanced at her, catching her gaze. The color of his eyes made her think of a blue flame, so intense and practically glowing with vibrant life. He gave her a faint, warm grin, then turned his attention back to the forest. How she loved his protectiveness and his strength of character.
A quarter hour later, the MacKay and MacKenzie men emerged from the forest. She counted all fourteen of them as they approached. Thank heavens no one had been hurt.
“We saw neither hide nor hair of them,” MacMillan reported.
“’Slud. Where are they hiding?” Keegan muttered. “We ride on, then. Be ever on alert.”
“Aye.”
They all urged their horses forward again, at a quicker pacethan before, and were soon enshrouded by the forest. Seona had always been afraid of traveling through this area because of how dark it was, with the thick trees blocking out the sun. The air was cool and dank and smelled of rotting leaves. Some even said the wood was haunted because of the many people who had been murdered here. She had never seen a spirit, but she always got chills here.
Thankfully, the men increased their speed even more once within the wood. She was eager to leave it as well.
As they emerged from the trees, one of the guards on her far right yelled out a warning.
“There they are!” Keegan said. “The bastards.”
Haldane’s archer, Gil, was letting fly his arrows as fast as his arms would move. Two more men were shooting bows as well.
