Page 58 of A Bride for the Kilted Beast

“Well, I kent that all along,” he said matter-of-factly.

“What d’ye mean, ye kent it all along? How could ye?” Diarmaid demanded to know, slightly riled by his brother’s claim. After all, he had only recently admitted to himself that he loved Lillie.

Ciarán made a sound with his lips that seemed to suggest he thought his brother was an idiot.

“Ye think ye’re so good at hidin’ things from me, ye dummart, but ye’re an open book, man. All those long looks and puppy eyes ye’ve been exchangin’ between ye, did ye think I didnae notice? I even talked tae ye in the healer’s room, remember? But nay, ye kenned better!”

Irritated to learn how easily his brother had read the situation, Diarmaid frowned.

“All right, all right. The main thing is, we have tae make a plan. How dae we get Maddison back and keep Lillie?”

“Let’s order some breakfast and go to the study tae work on it,” Ciarán suggested.

“Ach, ye and yer bottomless guts,” Diarmaid grumbled before they set off together, discussing their options in hushed tones, lest anyone should overhear.

An hour later, the brothers were sitting around the desk in the study, with the wreckage of their breakfast scattered untidily over its surface.

“Let’s go through it one last time,” Diarmaid was saying. He leaned back in his chair and propped his boots up on the desk.

“We send Odhrán a note to agree to the exchange—but we insist it has tae take place at Castle Lennox, with ye takin’ Lillie with ye,” Ciarán outlined. Diarmaid nodded. “I’ll be outside the castle with our men, waitin’ fer them tae open the gate so ye can come out with Maddison. Ye’ll send her out tae safety but linger at the gate, and that’s when me and the men attack, getting’ through the gate and intae the castle.”

“And?”

“And then, we take care o’ Odhrán and his faither, and finally avenge Maither, Faither, and Rónán’s deaths.”

“Aye, and high time too. D’ye reckon we can dae it?” Diarmaid asked.

Ciarán nodded. “Aye, I dae. I cannae wait tae see Maddison.” he paused and looked searchingly at Diarmaid. “What about Lillie?”

“We cannae tell her anythin’. If she kens about the exchange, she’s likely tae ruin everythin’.”

“Right. Now, we’d better write this note to Odhrán and get things movin’, eh?” Ciarán said, picking up a quill and parchment.

A couple of hours later, with the important business well in hand, Diarmaid left the final arrangements to Ciarán and went outside. The pressure of the situation was starting to weigh on him, and he felt the need to do something to let off some steam.

He wandered around to the practice yards, thinking he might find someone to spar with. Instead, he found some of the men entertaining themselves throwing axes at the archery targets.

“Ye comin’ tae throw a few axes with us, m’laird?” Archie asked, greeting him with a hearty slap on the back.

“Aye, we need someone to show these young lads how nae tae dae it!” Duncan jested, clapping Diarmaid’s shoulder. Duncan stuck a brace of throwing axes in his hand, and when Diarmaid stood before the target and threw them with an accuracy that had many of the younger men gasping in admiration, the tightness in his neck muscles began to ease off.

“More,” he said.

“Lads,” Duncan called to a couple of the soldiers watching and pointed to a nearby barrel of axes. “Bring that over here fer yer laird, will ye?” The men scrambled, rushing to pick the barrel up and bring it over, plonking it down with a thump at Diarmaid’s side.

“Thanks, lads,” he said, picking up another of the axes and weighing it in his hand. He took aim, imagining the bullseye was Odhrán’s head. When it hit with a satisfying thunk, he was pleased to think that if it had been, Lennoxs’ skull would have been cleaved neatly in two.

Thud, thud, thud went the flying blades as they sank into the tightly woven straw targets, always hitting their mark.

The younger men were clearly impressed. “Can ye teach us tae throw like that, m’laird,” one of the lads asked him excitedly.

“Aye, m’laird, give us some pointers,” begged another. So, he spent another hour or so showing them how to stand and how to hold and throw the axes for maximum impact and deadly precision in hitting their targets. He had to admit that was exactly what he had needed. He had actually enjoyed himself.

During that time, some of them shared with him their admiration for the new Lady Kincaid.

“To see her playing with the bairns as if she were one herself is a sight fer sore eyes,” Duncan told him with an approving smile. “They dinnae like many folks, but I think they’ve adopted her as one of their own.”

“That’s because she’s very kind,” said one of the younger men. “She helped me the other day when I was trying tae write a letter tae me Ma in the dinin’ hall. Writin’s never been me strong point, and she must have seen me strugglin’ because she came over and asked if she could help. Me Ma’s gonnae be so pleased with that letter when she gets it!”