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“Well,” he says, “we have our work cut out for us, do we nae?”
“Our work?”
“Aye,” he says. “We need to figure out why you’re here.”
“We need to stop your clan from going to war.”
“Tha’ will nae be easy,” he says. “They’re on the way to fight as we speak.”
I grab his shoulders and grip them tight.
“Duncan, we have to stop them. If we don’t…” I swallow hard. “It’s bad.”
“I hear ya,” he says. “All we can do is try.”
The first rays of the sunrise stretch across the highlands. I take a deep breath, inhaling the fresh, cold Scottish air. The scent of peat and heather are heavy and fill my head, clearing my thoughts.
“There is no try,” I say with my eyes closed. I open them and meet his icy-blue ones. “It’s do or do not. And we must do. No matter how dangerous it is.”
Chapter Thirty
“They’ve quite the lead,” Duncan says, holding out his hand. I take his hand as he points past the standing stone, away from the village. “If we run, we might be able to cut across the Highlands and intercept them.”
“We have to try,” I say.
Running in full length, layered skirts with rough leather shoes is a lot harder than I would have ever given it credit. Any girl who manages it has my admiration. We don’t get far before I’m breathing heavily, stumbling to a stop.
“Maybe you should run ahead,” I huff.
“This is nae our territory. I cannae leave you here alone.”
Gasping to try and catch my breath with hands on knees, I look around. “We're still in the highlands.”
“Aye, but once we went past that standing stone, we entered into lands claimed by Clan Bruce.”
“Ah. Okay,” I say, straightening. I heave in a deep breath and nod. “I’ll try.”
I push myself towards a run but the best I manage is a jog. The ground is uneven, and the thick grass randomly gives way to soft peat. When I step on a patch, my foot sinks in and I stumble. When we hit patches of heather, they’re the worst to get through. Duncan avoids them whenever possible, cutting around them even if it is off our intended path.
“You’re doin’ fine,” he says, never letting go of my hand.
“Liar,” I say, coming to a halt again.
The sun is not quite up to midday, but I’m exhausted. Duncan offers me his water skin which I accept gratefully. The stale water is like the finest cup of fresh ground coffee. I'm so thirsty I gulp it down.
“Ach, we’ve not made bad time.”
“But not good enough, right?” I ask, wiping sweat off my brow and shoving the cork back into his water skin. I hand it back to him as he frowns and shakes his head.
“Probably not.”
I take a deep breath then try unsuccessfully to suppress a yawn.
“You need to rest. You’ll be better if you do.”
“We don’t have time,” I say. “If we don’t stop them from killing the Colquhouns, it’s all over.”
“I know that’s what you saw in the Fae realms,” he says. “And I know you’re from the future or what have you, but are ya sure? How do ya know ya haven’t already changed fate? Also how do ya know ya can trust the Fae?”
