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Suddenly everyone seemed to be talking at once. Discussing how the cattle got to this spot. Where they would have come from and who may have aided them. They also discussed how to get them back.

In the end, it was decided she and Fergus would return home, where a party would be fetched to retrieve the cattle, and Ewan would travel to the chief of Clan Tannochbrae, over whose land the cattle must have been led to arrive here. Fergus was reluctant to leave his chief’s side but, remarkably, since Niall and his brother insisted on joining Ewan, he finally agreed.

“I am coming with you,” Avelina declared to Ewan as they began to set out already, even having just arrived. Fergus would be forced to sleep under the stars, but if they left immediately, Ewan believed they could reach Tannochbrae Manor by nightfall.

“Nay, you are not.”

It seemed she had been arguing with her brother since Niall arrived at their home. But there was no help for it. She simply refused to be separated from Niall yet.

“I am,” she said, returning to her horse and mounting as the others did. When she rode up to her brother, Avelina stuck out her chin and dared her brother to defy her. She tried to conjure a time when she’d wanted something within her power to achieve and failed. Avelina could not think of such a time. Her brother knew it well.

And she wanted to be with Niall Duncraig.

’Twas absurd. Illogical. Not at all characteristic of her, since losing herself over a man was not Avelina’s style. And yet, despite her strength and resolve, something about him had crept into her soul. A quality she could not name but had quickly made him the focus of her thoughts. Denying it was as futile as pretending to her brother there was any reason she wished to accompany him to Tannochbrae Manor but the opportunity to be with Niall.

For the first time since her brother attempted to waylay her, she looked at Niall. ’Twas rare to see him smiling, and he did just that. As if her defiance of her brother pleased him, and why shouldn’t it? Ewan was Niall’s greatest enemy and the reason she should not wish to be with him. The reason she should cease thinking of kissing him. But as their eyes locked, Avelina knew with certainty she’d do neither of those things.

In fact, the opposite was true.

Then they began to move. The next phase of their journey, begun.

Chapter Eleven

By the time they reached Tannochbrae Manor, their riding party had grown quiet. It had been a long day, and yet, Lina had not once asked to stop more than they had for very brief respites for their mounts. She rode as well as any of them, and Niall could not help but be impressed by her.

The chieftain of Clan Tannochbrae was an old man who had managed to remain allies with both Duncraig and MacKinlay. As they were escorted into the hall, though the chieftain had clearly been abed already, wall torches lighting their way, he greeted them personally.

“If King Alexander had been at my door, I’d have been less surprised than to learn the Duncraig second and the MacKinlay chief had arrived here together.”

Their small party was an odd one, indeed, and since they’d come into the gates they had caused a stir, even at this late hour. There were at least ten or so retainers now gathered, listening.

“Many thanks for receiving us at this late hour,” he began. “You know my brother Kieran,” Niall said.

“Aye, and good den to you,” the chieftain said.

“And to you.” Kieran inclined his head.

“And how, pray tell, do you find yourself among them?” Tannochbrae asked.

“A tale best told privately,” MacKinlay said. “You’ve met my sister, Lady Avelina, aye?”

Lina approached the old man, a widower of many years. His age did not diminish his ability to appreciate her beauty. Taking her hand and kissing it at Lina’s slight bow, the chieftain smiled kindly at her. Niall understood easily the man’s rapture with her. Lina brought those around her into a spell that was not at all cunning. It simply. . .was.

“Are you hungry, my lady?” he asked her.

“Indeed,” she said.

The chieftain’s hearty laugh at her honest answer was followed by directives to the steward. This time, however, they were not to be seated separately since one trestle table was hastily prepared for them. The chieftain himself sat with their odd group, ordering everyone, with the exception of the two maids who served them ale and stew, from the hall.

Niall attempted to ignore her, but Lina sat directly across from him, so there was no hope for that. Instead, he would simply endure her brother’s glares and even Kieran’s own annoyed ones. He and his brother rarely disagreed on matters of import, but Lina was clearly an exception.

He told the chieftain of their discovery, the journey to MacKinlay, and finding the cattle just as he and his brother had left them. It did not take long for Tannochbrae to understand why they visited his hall.

“I will make inquiries on the morrow,” he said. “That many cattle do not find their way across my land without notice. And ’tis certain they came this way.”

“Aye,” MacKinlay agreed. “If any of your people saw their movement. . . or who could have led them there. . .”

“Do you have suspects?” he asked.