Whether he intended it as a warning or as a wish for her safety, she did not know. Nor did she get the opportunity to ask. In a blink he was gone, leaving Isabail staring at the fur panel flapping in the wind.
* * *
Aiden accepted a bundle of dried meat and cheese from Beathag and packed it in the pouch slung over the rump of his horse. They would not be stopping for food, only to sleep. That meant they would eat in the saddle, and any supplies had to be easily consumed.
“Did she tell you anything about the castle defenses?” asked Niall as he strapped his bow to his back.
“Save to say it was impregnable, nay.”
Niall snorted. “Grand.”
Aiden put his foot in the stirrup and hoisted himself into the saddle. He was taking a small party—his best twelve men. “It’s a sea-bound fortress, so unless you can swim, there’s only one way in.”
“Through the front gate.”
“Aye.”
Niall swung into the saddle. “Bonnie bloody hell. Have I mentioned how much I enjoy our little excursions, brother? Truly, without you, my life would be dull.”
Aiden snorted and turned his mount toward the path. “‘Twasn’t I who insisted you break into Duthes Castle, enrage a mad friar, and rescue a maiden from a burning pyre. I think you find enough trouble without my help, bratling.”
He urged his massive bay warhorse into a canter and led the way down the hill and out of the glen. The one advantage to leaving in the middle of the night—they were unlikely to meet up with one of MacPherson’s patrols.
* * *
“Ha!” crowed Isabail as she reached the door. “I told you I was feeling stronger. You truly are a miracle worker, Ana.”
The redhead rolled to her side of the mattress and pulled the blankets up around her ears. “You should be sleeping,” she grumbled. “Not wearing a groove in the floor.”
“We cannot stay here and allow needless deaths to occur. I would have thought a healer would be more concerned about the loss of life and limb.”
“You are a madwoman,” tossed Ana from beneath the covers. “We are but two lasses. We cannot cross the length of Scotia on our own. No matter how great the benefit.”
“Why not?” demanded Isabail, walking slowly but successfully over to the bed. “I can wield a bow, and I’ve seen you fillet a fish with that knife. We are not so helpless as men would have us believe.”
“I will not do it,” Ana said, sitting up. “I’ve been alone on the road, and I assure you it wasn’t pleasant. There are dangers you cannot imagine. Don’t be a fool, Isabail. Give up this ridiculous notion.”
Isabail plopped down on the stool. “I cannot.”
The healer sighed. “Why not?”
“It is my fault that the crown was stolen. And my fault that Daniel took Jamie hostage. If I had but held my tongue instead of sharing all that I did with the traitorous cur, he would still be lying in the hut under guard, and the crown would be safe.”
“Nay.” Ana braided her hair and tied a leather thong around the end. “Daniel came here with the intent to steal the necklace. One way or another, he would have found a way—or died trying. You are not to blame for his scurrilous acts.”
“Even his presence here was my fault,” Isabail said with a shake of her head. “He followed me.”
“Nonsense.” Ana tugged a gown over her shift. “He followed MacCurran.”
Everything Ana said rang true, but her words did not ease the dread in Isabail’s belly. She knew she held the key to breaching the walls of Tayteath, and if she did nothing to help, good men would die. Jamie might die.
Isabail surged to her feet. “If you will not come with me, then I must go alone.”
Ana grabbed her arm. “Nay, Isabail. If you insist on going, let us try to convince some of the Black Warriors to come with us.”
A notion Isabail had already considered and dismissed. “I’m a prisoner, remember? He has surely instructed them to keep me here, and they will never disobey their laird. Believe me, I attempted to sway their loyalty once before—to no avail. Nay. I must go alone and I must go now.”
A resigned look crept over Ana’s face. “I cannot let you go alone. I will come with you.”
