Bhaltair's Pledge: Highlander Fate, Lairds of the Isles Book Two

by Knight, Stella

  “Aye. And ye. Are things well at the castle?” Bhaltair asked. “We were ambushed by the aingidh as we left. Was anyone harmed?”

  “No,” Hamish said, though he went pale at the mention of the aingidh. “Ye nor Cadha werenae harmed?”

  “No. Avery warned us and helped us escape. She’s agreed tae stay and help with the aingidh.”

  “Ah, that’s good,” Hamish said, relief once again flickering across his face. “And yer niece? She’s well?”

  “Aye. She was frightened at first, but she’s been brave,” Bhaltair said, pride swelling in his chest as he thought of how well Cadha was handling their forced exile.

  Hamish smiled before his expression turned grave. He met the eyes of both Bhaltair and Daileas, who hovered behind Bhaltair.

  “I told the nobles and everyone at the castle that ye left so abruptly tae visit an ailing family member, and ye chose tae take Cadha with ye. Odhran has been the most concerned; he keeps asking me where ye both are and who this family member is so he can visit as well. But I kept tae yer orders, and I’ve nae told anyone where ye truly are.”

  Bhaltair started to tell Hamish that he could tell Odhran their location; he was to be Cadha’s guardian after all. But something made him hesitate for a reason he couldn’t quite identify. Ye’re just being cautious, he told himself.

  “I thank ye. I’ll need more time until we tell others where we are.”

  Hamish nodded his agreement, and Bhaltair told him everything that had happened since he, Avery, and Cadha had fled the castle. The attack from the aingidh, their stay in Lioslaith’s cave, their arrival at Daileas’ home.

  “I still cannae believe the aingidh was on the castle grounds,” Hamish said when Bhaltair had finished, shaking his head in disbelief. “It was quiet the night ye left, and the guards were at their posts when I checked. The aingidh must have used some dark magic tae lure them away, tae make them forget leaving their posts. There were no disturbances reported by the guards. Why didnae he attack once ye left?”

  Bhaltair raked his hand through his hair; he had wondered the same thing.

  “I donnae ken,” he admitted. “But regardless of the reason he spared us the first time, we have tae make certain we’re ready for him when he returns. And he will return, of that I have no doubt. I’ll need tae ken more about him, anything we can find out will help Avery defeat him.”

  “Our spies havenae been able tae find anything. He’s a mystery tae us all. We donnae even ken how the men of Clan Roideach found him.”

  “Tell them tae work harder tae find anything they can,” Bhaltair said firmly. “And we also need tae make a list of the men we can trust—men who will fight with me.”

  “Aye,” Hamish agreed, taking a seat opposite him. “First, I propose the McCadish brothers; they’ve been loyal tae a fault. Yer brother trusted them with his life.”

  They spent the rest of the afternoon coming up with a list of men they trusted to fight with them, men who had proven nothing but loyal to Boyd and Clan MacAidh. Yet in the back of his mind, Bhaltair feared that one—or more—of these men could be working with their enemies, and that was how the dark witch had made it onto the castle grounds.

  “Ye’re right tae be cautious,” Hamish said, when Bhaltair voiced this concern aloud. “I’ll keep a close eye on our men. And when ye meet with them, it can be in a neutral place so that no one kens where Cadha is staying.”

  Hamish stood, reaching out to place a firm hand on Bhaltair’s shoulder.

  “I’ll send a trusted messenger when I have the men and a safe meeting spot. And stay alive,” he added gruffly. “For Clan MacAidh and for yer niece.”

  Bhaltair remained holed up in Daileas’ study long after Hamish left, discussing potential battle strategies they could use against Clan Roideach with Daileas until it was time for dinner. For someone who had long left his duties to the clan behind, Daileas was adept at battle tactics, and it reminded Bhaltair of what a fierce fighter Daileas had been during his younger years.

  As if reading his thoughts, Daileas gave him a light smile.

  “Just because I choose tae no longer fight doesnae mean I’ve forgotten battle tactics, young Bhaltair. I can still fight, and I intend tae for ye and the wee lass.”

  “I ken ye can,” Bhaltair said, returning his smile. Do ye miss it?”

  “Sometimes, aye,” Daileas confessed. “But I wouldnae give up the peaceful life I’ve had with Fenella and our sons since choosing tae leave. The love of a good lass is far better than any victory in battle.”

  Daileas gave him a long, probing look as he spoke the words, and an image of Avery sprang to his mind; her stunning blue eyes, her golden hair that glowed in the moonlight, her lips yielding to his when he kissed her . . .

  Bhaltair abruptly got to his feet, shifting his gaze away from Daileas.

  “I imagine ’tis time for dinner.”

  He didn’t miss the amused glint in the older man’s eyes as he murmured, “Aye.”

  When they stepped out into the main dining area, Fenella, Avery and Cadha were already gathered.

  “’Tis about time,” Fenella grumbled, though she smiled and pecked her husband on the cheek. “I was about tae fetch ye both. Ye cannae be discussing battle all the time.”

  “’Tis necessary,” Daileas said, though he was smiling as well. “But ye ken me, wife. I’d never miss dinner.”

  Bhaltair’s eyes met Avery’s, and all thoughts of the aingidh and Clan Roideach disappeared as that familiar feeling of warmth—and need—spiraled through him. Just looking at her had a profound affect on him, and he wondered if she’d worked some kind of spell on him with her witchcraft.

  “Uncle,” Cadha said, making him tear his gaze away from Avery. He smiled warmly down at his niece, ruffling her hair as he sat down at her side. “Can I go for a hunt? I’ve seen wild hare in the forest—I think I can catch ‘em. I asked Avery and Fenella, but they told me I’d have tae ask ye.”

  “Hunting’s for grown men, niece. Nae wee lasses such as yerself.”

  “Some ladies hunt. Even Lady Erskina admitted it,” Cadha returned with a stubborn scowl.

  “She has a point,” Avery said, winking at Cadha.

  “Aye. The lass is right,” Fenella chimed in. “I’ve hunted these lands plenty with Daileas. Our sons have said I’m a better hunter than their father.”

  Daileas shot his wife a playful scowl, but he let out a low chuckle.

  “My Fenella is right,” he said. “Ye can take Cadha for a hunt. Ye can use my traps.”

  Bhaltair glared at the adults; they outnumbered him on this issue. He looked down at Cadha, who was now looking at him with even more hope now, and his heart clenched. How had his brother done it? He could deny the wee lass nothing. It wouldn’t hurt to teach her how to trap a small hare.

  “All right, lass,” he said, laughing as she let out a triumphant yelp.

  * * *

  The next morning, Bhaltair, Cadha, and Avery set off after the morning meal, loaded with traps Daileas had provided.

  Once they entered the nearby patch of forest, they worked out a system of sorts: Bhaltair would locate the hare, Cadha would set the trap, and they’d worked as a team to catch it. This worked surprisingly well, and they caught two hares before midday.

  While they stalked their prey through the forest, he couldn’t help but notice how . . . content Cadha seemed. She’d grown up in a castle surrounded by servants, yet she seemed perfectly at home hunting. His gaze shifted to Avery, who hovered at Cadha’s side. Even Avery looked in her element out here in the forest, this witch from another time.

  He took them both in, and something struck him in his chest, something he hadn’t felt in a long time, perhaps ever. A completeness. A sense of being whole. A pure, unadulterated joy. He imagined this as one of many days they spent together, whether out here in the forest on a hunt or back on the castle grounds. Avery and Cadha playing their games in the castle’s courtyards. Avery and Bhaltair put
ting Cadha to bed . . . together. Avery at his side during feasts, in his bed at nights. The three of them rebuilding the family he’d lost with Boyd’s death.

  But the joy dissipated. Avery wasn’t an ordinary lass; she was a witch from another time. Cadha was in grave danger, and they were still in hiding. It was foolish of him to indulge in such fantasy. He had a duty to adhere to, a pledge to uphold.

  He straightened, clearing his throat. Cadha and Avery straightened as well, the smiles on their faces dying at the stern look on his face.

  “We’ve been out here long enough,” he said shortly, making himself look away from their stark disappointment. “We should return.”

  Chapter 10

  Avery could see Bhaltair shut down before them; it was like watching storm clouds cover the sun. She wondered what had happened. One moment they’d all been enjoying themselves, and in the next, Bhaltair had completely shut down. She noticed Cadha’s disappointment which she tried to hide as she dutifully followed her uncle out of the forest.

  Avery tried not to let her own disappointment linger. She needed to focus on the task she was here for, which was to fight the aingidh, a task she still didn’t feel equipped for. She should have let Cadha and Bhaltair enjoy the hunt while she focused on her spells.

  But in spite of herself, her disappointment lingered for the rest of the day and into the next morning, during which Bhaltair barely looked at her, speaking mostly to Daileas, Fenella, and Cadha. It irritated her that it was so easy for him to ignore her, while it was hard for Avery to keep her eyes off him, no matter how much she tried. Her thoughts kept straying to that look of unadulterated joy in his eyes during the hunt, the smile that made his gorgeous face even more so. It seemed as if he were growing more handsome as the days progressed, especially when he let his guard down and his face lit up with one of those heart-stopping smiles of his.

  Avery distracted herself by memorizing spells from Lioslaith’s grimoire. Her grasp on the spells in Old Gaelic and Latin were becoming better, though she still cursed herself on a near daily basis for not paying better attention during her training when she was younger. It made her again long for her sister, who no doubt knew such spells back and forth.

  Still, she was making progress, committing the most useful ones to memory, reciting them over and over until they were second nature, and she could tell her magic’s command over them was becoming more assured.

  After an afternoon of practicing spells, she emerged from the forest to head toward Daileas’ cottage. Bhaltair approached her as she drew near, and as always, awareness flared to life at the sight of him.

  “A messenger arrived today from the castle. Hamish worked quickly. A group of my men can meet on the morrow,” Bhaltair said, pride gleaming in his eyes. “He’s also arranged for a place where we can all meet.”

  “That’s great,” she said. She took a deep breath, meeting his eyes, hoping he wouldn’t offer a protest to what she was about to suggest. “I need to come to this meeting. I need any information I can get on this aingidh they’re working with.”

  Bhaltair’s smile slipped, replaced by a look of hesitation.

  “Bhaltair—” Avery began, ready to argue her point, but he held up his hand.

  “No. Ye’re right. Ye should come,” he said.

  “Come where?”

  They turned, where Cadha now hovered behind them, a worried frown etched on her young features. Bhaltair knelt down before his niece, smiling.

  “Yer uncle needs tae meet with his men tae stop the bad men from coming after ye.”

  “Oh.” Cadha bit her lip, her eyes briefly meeting Avery’s before returning to Bhaltair. “Will—will ye return?”

  “Aye, lass,” he said with a laugh of surprise. “Of course I’ll return.”

  “The last time Mother and Father left, they never came back,” Cadha replied, her voice barely above a whisper, and Avery’s heart broke for the little girl.

  At her words, fierce emotion sprang into Bhaltair’s eyes.

  “I cannae predict what will happen, but ken this. I will never leave ye willingly. And yer parents didnae chose tae leave ye. Ye must be strong, aye? I’ll only be gone for a short while on the morrow.”

  Cadha swallowed hard and nodded, moving forward to wind her arms around her uncle’s neck. To Avery’s surprise, Cadha gave her a quick embrace as well.

  “When we get back, I think we need to play another game of hide-and-seek. You keep winning,” Avery said, wanting to provide some levity.

  During their games, Cadha had the eerie ability to locate Avery, no matter how well she hid.

  Her words succeeded. The tension dissipated from Cadha’s shoulders and she grinned.

  When Avery turned to look at Bhaltair, her heart lurched in her chest at his expression. It was a look of open affection, a look not just aimed at Cadha—but at her as well. A rush of warmth spread throughout her body, and she tentatively returned his smile.

  But her smile seemed to shatter the spell, and his face returned to its stoic mask. He gave her a gruff nod and turned to head back toward the cottage, Cadha skipping alongside him, leaving Avery with a gnawing sense of emptiness.

  * * *

  Early the next morning, Avery and Bhaltair rode out to the meeting spot that Hamish had arranged—a tavern in a small fishing village not far from Daileas’ cottage.

  Anxiety swirled through Avery over meeting Bhaltair’s men, but she needed to be there. The more she knew about the aingidh, the better prepared she would be.

  Once they arrived at the village, she trailed Bhaltair to the tavern where a young stable boy took their horses. Bhaltair placed a proprietary hand on her back, making a shiver of awareness course down her spine as they made their way to the back room where a group of about ten men, including Hamish and Odhran, were gathered.

  They all gave Bhaltair respectful nods, their eyes straying toward Avery with unabashed curiosity. One of the men stepped forward, eyeing her with obvious interest.

  “Ye didnae tell us there was a bonnie lass accompanying ye, my laird,” the man said.

  Bhaltair moved in front of her, menace in his tone as he replied, “She’s nae for ye—for any of ye. She’s a stiuireadh, here tae help us defeat the aingidh working with Clan Roideach. Nothing more.”

  The man immediately stepped back, holding his hands up in acquiescence. But Bhaltair kept his frosty gaze on the man for so long that he looked away. A flare of delight coursed through her; she couldn’t help but hope that Bhaltair’s harshness was because of jealousy.

  Odhran stepped forward. At the sight of him, a chill of unease crept through Avery’s body, one she couldn’t quite explain.

  “After this meeting, I want tae ken where my niece is,” he said. “I’m worried about her. Perhaps I can see her and—”

  “Nae now,” Bhaltair returned. Odhran stiffened, but he offered no further protest as Bhaltair turned his attention to the other men. “I thank ye all for being here. Any movements from Clan Roideach, Hamish?”

  “No. None of their men have encroached on our lands.”

  “Perhaps they’ve realized ’tis fruitless tae go after young Cadha,” Odhran offered.

  Bhaltair gave his cousin a hard look.

  “I donnae think so. ’Tis more likely they’re planning something. And we need tae be prepared for when they attack,” he said. “We’ll need more men on our side who’ll be ready tae fight. And we need tae ken more about the aingidh they’re working with,” he added, turning to look at Avery.

  “Our spies havenae found anything,” Hamish said, giving Avery an apologetic look. “We donnae ken where—or when—he came from, or what his motivations are for working with Clan Roideach.”

  “They need tae find something—anything,” Bhaltair said. “It will help Avery.”

  “And if the spies cannae find anything?” asked Odhran, his eyes narrowed as they swept over Avery. “Will she nae be able tae help?”

  “I will,” Avery returned befo
re Bhaltair could respond, feigning a confidence she didn’t feel as she met Odhran’s challenging gaze. There was something about Odhran she didn’t trust, something she couldn’t quite place, but she wouldn't let him intimidate her. “When a witch goes against another, it helps to know everything about their opponent. But even with no information about him, I can still fight.”

  Odhran’s mouth tightened, while something like pride shone in Bhaltair’s eyes. He turned back to his men, informing them they would meet again in a fortnight to plan an offensive against Clan Roideach.

  “And if they strike before then?” asked a stocky, red-haired man in the rear of the group.

  “Then we’ll fight back,” Bhaltair said simply. “We have fought and died for every parcel of land that belongs tae Clan MacAidh. We protect our lands—and our people. I nae only pledged tae my brother, yer former laird, that I would keep Cadha safe. I also swore that I would protect our clan.”

  The men seemed reassured by his words and trailed out of the back room, giving him respectful nods as they did so. Soon they had all left, all except for Hamish and Odhran.

  “I insist on seeing Cadha,” Odhran said. “My wife and I are worried about her.”

  “And I told ye, she’s safe. Ye’ll ken where she is in due time,” Bhaltair said, narrowing his eyes at his cousin.

  Odhran’s fists clenched at his sides, and tension radiated from his body. Another sliver of unease coiled around Avery as she watched him.

  He finally gave Bhaltair a jerky nod and exited the tavern. Bhaltair watched his cousin go, his eyes still narrowed.

  “Avery,” Bhaltair said, still looking at the door through which Odhran had left. “Wait for me by the horses. There’s something I need tae discuss with Hamish.”

  Avery frowned, hurt piercing her at Bhaltair’s exclusion. She swallowed her pride and obliged, dutifully waiting by the horses until Bhaltair emerged, not saying a word to her as they mounted their horses and rode away from the tavern.