by Jane Stain
Instantly, his legs relaxed, and at the same time, he coughed, a dry cough that didn’t have much convincing motivation behind it at all.
Her victory smile grew larger. Pity he couldn’t see it.
His voice came to her resignedly, softly. “I hae always felt this way, ye ken.”
What was he talking about? “What way?” He’d only known her a year, so he couldn’t mean he’d felt like protecting her all this time.
His voice grew more urgent, as if letting out thoughts he’d held pent-up forever that were now flowing out over a broken dam that had been holding them back. “I hae always felt as if I did na belong, first at my uncle’s house, and then even at my friends’ house. There has always been the fear that I would be exiled, nay matter where I lived, ever since I can remember, really.”
He’d never spoken to her so candidly. It did something to her, made her yearn for more. “How old were ye, when ye left yer uncle’s house?”
He breathed in and out steadily for a few moments, not quite sighing, but breathing forcibly enough that she noticed his chest expanding, through both of their garments.
It made her think of jumping off the horse, but she didn’t.
His voice was more sure now. “Uncle kenned I disagreed with his methods long afore I left his clan. I’m still na sure why he allowed me tae become a warrior under his trainers. As soon as I could achieve that, I did leave. Only now, years later, does it occur tae me how against his interest this was. Why did he allow me tae bide long enough tae learn all I did? Mayhap he cares enough for me as his nephew that he wull listen tae what I hae tae say now. I hae tae try tae save Scotland’s natural beauty and avoid having oor lives filled with bloodshed and strife against those we should hold dear, oor kin.”
She couldn’t bring herself to apologize, but she did relax against him to show him she trusted him.
He stopped the horse. Ever so gently, he turned in the saddle, until their faces were inches apart and he was studying her mouth.
She couldn’t let him kiss her. She would see him through this, but then she was going home. Grabbing the saddle, she brought up her leg between them and got off the horse.
He dismounted as well but put the horse between them so they couldn’t see each other.
They walked this way in silence for a time before he spoke again, his voice genuinely puzzled and a little hurt, but not angry. “Why did ye come along then?”
She threw her arms up in the air and let them drop with a thwack against her sides. “I telt ye already. I came along tae get ye oot if things gae sour with yer uncle. Ye hae na idea what he is capable o’ now, all this time after ye left. Lauren telt me some sorry things aboot him. The man is a monster, I still canna believe ye are going tae him.”
Just his eyes peered over the horse’s neck at her, and they were incredulous. “And I asked ye afore, what help could ye possibly be tae me on this journey?”
A snarl escaped her lips before she was able to control herself. The man was so aggravating, so willfully ignorant.
“Lauren’s druid friend, Kelsey, shook hands with me afore Lauren’s druid dagger brought us here tae yer time,” she told him as patiently as she could under the circumstances, “sae Kelsey is able tae bring me intae her dreams, where I can ask her tae get help. Donald’s ex druid Roland was nice enough tae help us back here and all, but ye hae tae admit, Kelsey is oor best bet at escape.”
She waited for him to acknowledge her offer in some way.
When it wasn’t quickly forthcoming, she lost all patience. “Dinna ye ken? I am yer only hope!”
“Why would yer precious Kelsey help me?” Luag asked hotly. But there was hurt in his voice.
“Because I’m Lauren’s friend, Kelsey is Lauren’s friend, and ye are my friend.”
“Am I really yer friend?”
“Two days ago, I would hae said no, but I hae coome all this way tae help ye, sae aye, I ken now ye are my friend.”
He kicked a stick and it went skittering across the grass. “It does na matter. Even among my friends, I hae always been an ootsider. I never truly belong. Ye should na hae coome, Katherine. I will only let ye doon.”
A voice came from the top of the hill beside them. “That may be, Luag, but we canna let ye run around loose sae near camp, now can we?”
Katherine looked up and saw two highlanders up on top of the hill. Even from a distance, they looked menacing. “If we get on Steam, we can get away from them,” she whispered.
Luag held his hand up to stop her from getting on while he called up to the people on top of the hill. “I planned on gaun’ae yer camp anyway. Take me tae my uncle.”
14
Gehrig, Igor, meet my wife, Katherine.”
Katherine’s heart pounded, but their captors didn’t touch her. That might’ve had something to do with Luag’s hand being possessively around her waist.
Gehrig took Steam and climbed on, while Igor followed her and Luag, gesturing for them to follow the horse. It had all the provisions, so obviously they were going to go along peacefully. Besides, Luag had backed away and allowed the horse to be taken.
What did these men think of their erstwhile clansman? Did they scorn him? It was impossible to tell, with their stoic exteriors.
It didn’t take long at all to reach the camp. Igor tied the horse with Luag’s soldiering bag up with the rest of the horses and then moved on. Katherine was glad she had her backpack. Just like PenUlt’s website said, she had all the necessities right there on her person in an emergency.
“Gae and tell Donald Luag is here and wishes tae see him,” Gehrig told a boy, then turned to Luag. “Ye will pardon me for not offering ye refreshment.”
Apparently this was a joke, because Luag chuckled a note.
Gehrig moved his mouth the tiniest bit toward a smile.
The three of them stood there in silence amid the busy camp with people passing by, pointedly ignoring Luag. Some of them moved their mouths the slightest as Gehrig had, but no one said anything to Luag.
He took it in stride, standing there just as stoically as Gehrig was.
Katherine was glad for his hand on her waist. Because she was with ‘the man who must na be greeted,’ no one said anything to her, either. There were no catcalls, which were what she could normally expect when entering a camp full of strange men.
Suddenly, everyone parted ways, forming a column of people to the left and the right.
Laird Donald all but strutted down the resulting aisle, his face full of fake surprise.
She half expected a fanfare to sound.
Donald stopped a few feet short of Luag, looking Katherine over with interest that was obvious to her, but perhaps not so much to Luag, which worried her a bit.
Lauren had been at this man’s mercy and had told Katherine all kinds of horrors.
This man was not to be trusted. How could Luag not see that?
At least he probably wouldn’t kill her. She didn’t possess what he wanted: Lauren’s druid dagger. What he likely would do to her was much less pleasant to think about. She didn’t want to show weakness, but she cowered away from the man nonetheless.
This got her an amused eye from the Laird o’ the Isles, but the lion’s share of his attention was focused on his nephew. “After ye snuck off in the night all those years ago, I did na think tae ever be graced again with yer presence, nephew.”
Well, this was Luag’s chance to speak. Katherine hoped he didn’t waste it.
He didn’t. “Uncle, after living for years in a backward toon among those whom I had tae instruct in hand-tae-hand combat, I hae seen the error o’ my ways. I hae bought my wife Katherine with me back tae ye who will be king.” With this, Luag bowed his head to Donald.
The Laird gave Luag a smile of thanks, but Katherine wasn’t fooled one bit.
The horse was too far away for her to run. How was she going to get Luag away so he could live long enough for Kelsey to help them?
Making a show of cl
inging to Luag, she whispered, “I’m gaun’ae run off. While they are distracted, ye can get away.”
Luag grabbed her wrist and held it as tight as the vice grip of his legs had been earlier. He was more of a fool than she thought. Barely audible even to her, he whispered, “All will be well sae long as we show faith in Donald. Ye hae tae trust me, lass.”
“Ye, I trust. ‘Tis yer uncle I dinna.”
Donald was still smiling at Luag in thanks, slowly walking around the two of them, looking them over. Perhaps Luag saw a doting uncle checking out the amount Luag had changed over the past ten years.
Katherine saw a man sizing them up as animals and calculating how soon they would be ready for the slaughter. She didn’t want to be right. Not this time.
Donald’s countenance turned cold when he had circled all the way around and come face-to-face with Luag. He held his nephew’s gaze a few seconds, sternly rebuking him with only his eyes before he called out to his men, “Prepare tae hang him as a traitor,” and stepped back another few feet out of the way while a bunch of highlander warriors encircled them with pikes raised high and daggers pointing at them.
Katherine grabbed onto Luag as if to embrace him for the last time as her husband before his death —all so that she could whisper with her mouth right up to his ear so no one would hear. “Ye should hae let me run.”
The two of them were marched to a rope which had been slung over a tree above their own horse.
The highlanders forcefully pulled Luag away from her.
She tried to hold on, but they were too strong. They put Luag on the horse right in front of his soldiering bag as if he were going to ride off to battle, but then they put the noose over his neck.
The fool man was stoic and still all the while. He didn’t fight back. He didn’t lift a hand against his precious clansmen, whom he was so loyal to, that the idiotic fool didn’t mind being killed by them.
Letting her face show the anger she felt, she signed to him, “Ye had better not get me killed tae, or I wull hound ye all the way tae Hell afore I gae up tae Heaven.”
The barest hint of a smile showed on Luag’s face just as Donald strode up to swat the horse into running out from under the hanging man, allowing him to drop and be strangled.
She had to admire it, such stoicism in the face of the ultimate danger. She didn’t think such manliness existed in her time anymore, not that she had seen, not in civilization. Perhaps in the third world that still existed, but despite being the top salesperson for a survival company, she never intended to go to the third world. This year in 1410 Scotland had been more rustic charm than she’d need in her lifetime.
She was only the head salesperson because of her charisma and her business sense. She went after the CEOs of the huge retail companies that carried PenUlt’s products. She worked in a skirt and heels every day, trying on the products for the charm of it but never actually having used them before now. She had coworkers who went out into the wilds of Latin America and survived without human contact for weeks. She’d had no intention of ever doing anything like that before she was tricked into coming here by the druid trapped in her friend Lauren’s dagger.
Glad she had the survival backpack on, she reached into the pocket under her left armpit and put her hand around a strobe signal light equipped with a siren.
It would shock Donald out of slapping the horse and give her time to jump up behind Luag and remove the noose from his neck so the two of them could ride away on steam—
Donald stopped with his arm up in the air before she even had a chance to pull the strobe siren out. “Verra wull done, my faithful nephew. Even after ten years in the company o’ those lowlanders, ye held on tae yer MacDonald heritage.” He took the noose off Luag’s neck and helped him down from the horse, then handed him the reins, walked him over to Katherine, and left the two of them together. “’Tis wull ye hae coome back, nephew. Gehrig will show ye tae yer tent. Food will be brought tae ye, and then please join me in my tent for war council.”
Luag helped Katherine up on Steam behind him, then followed Gehrig to the tent Donald had set aside for the two of them.
Katherine leaned up against Luag’s front so that she could whisper, “I dinna like this. Let us just gae.”
“If ye want tae gae, ye can take the horse, but I’m staying.”
“I canna take yer horse and leave ye here.” She sighed. “I’m staying. I just want ye tae ken I dinna like it.”
“Ye hae already made that known tae me, lass. Dinna think I wull forget.”
Their camp tent was just a large plaid thrown over three low bushes. Apparently it was an honor to be awarded this much privacy, because all around her she only saw sleeping billets on the ground. In the whole camp, only a dozen such tents stood proudly.
“I suppose most o’ the men dinna bring their wives with them.”
“More dae on the mainland, but not as many among us island folk.” Luag dismounted and held out one hand to help her down and the other to indicate she should enter the tent first.
She crawled in. All that was inside was an extra-wide billet and an earthenware jar, for which she was grateful. She heard Luag entering behind her and rolled aside to give him room on the billet.
Luag climbed on top of her and kissed her!
It felt wonderful.
But what did he think he was doing?
And then she saw that Gehrig was watching through the entrance before it closed behind Luag and understood. She had the answer to her question. As soon as the flap closed, she pushed him off her.
He went willingly, but he sat right next to her on the billet and put his arm around her, pulling her close against him.
She let him, but she turned and gave him a look that told him he’d better have a good reason.
Their faces were inches apart, so he could whisper the tiniest bit and she heard him. “They wull come back with food, aye?”
“Aye. Sae we hae tae sit like this until then?”
“Or risk them deciding ye are na in truth my wife.”
That didn’t bear thinking about, so she relaxed against him, instinctively knowing tension was a giveaway for anxiety, whereas being relaxed was a sign of confidence. Confidence had won her more benefits in this world than anything else had. Even false confidence.
She whispered, “Sae are ye gaun’ae gain the confidence o’ everyone at the war council and then convince them Donald’s plans are na tae be followed, or what? Ye dae hae a plan?”
He whispered right next to her ear, sending shivers across her back. “I hae been thinking that ower. I will need tae work on them in private one-on-one, rather than everyone all at once in a meeting. I dinna ken if ye noticed, but Donald rules by fear, rather than by merit. There are a few key cousins who, if I can sell them on my ideas, will withdraw from his company. I feel that’s the best I can dae. It will reduce his forces significantly.”
“That sounds good. Last battle, they outnumbered us five tae one, from what Lauren and Jessica were saying.”
“Aye, and the lowlanders hae armor and far more horses. Those advantages are na small. ‘Twas a close thing at the last battle, even with all these extra forces. My argument will be that in Aberdeen, there will be even more armored knights on horses. Donald can win, but the casualties will be even more significant. How will he hold all the territory out here west, including the islands, once he has spread his forces sae thin?”
They stopped talking when someone arrived with their food.
15
Luag knew his time with Katherine was coming to an end, so he clung to her more tightly than he would have otherwise, all throughout the meal. She didn’t know, of course, so their conversation was light and casual, just the way he preferred it.
Aye, he had made the right decision in not telling her he’d be sending her on by herself tomorrow. She was as brave as brave could be, but she wasn’t made to be a warrior’s wife. For all her business sense and scheming, she was naïve about the wa
ys of warriors in a way that he found at the same time refreshing and terrifying, when it came to her safety. And now he had to leave her alone in their tent and go to the war council.
Far sooner than Luag would’ve preferred, Gehrig appeared in the tent’s entrance. “They await ye.”
“Gehrig.”
“Aye?”
“Find someone else tae escort me. And give me yer word, as a MacDonald, ye wull bide with Katherine and keep her safe whilst I am away.”
“Aye, ‘twill be sae.” Gehrig disappeared outside the tent.
Luag turned back to Katherine.
The look she gave him made him chuckle. Her lips were determined to tell him she didn’t need anyone to guard her, but her terror of being away from his protection was written all over the rest of her face. It was precisely this dual nature of hers that made her such good company. He relaxed into his chuckle and enjoyed these last bits of communication between them, their eyes drinking each other in.
The plaid parted again, and Igor was there. “I hae come tae take ye tae the Council, Luag.”
Gehrig peeked in as well. “True tae my word, I wull be oot here tae see that no one bothers yer wife.”
“I trust ye will na be bored whilst I am gone, dear wife.” In front of him where Igor and Gehrig couldn’t see, he signed to her, “Stay in the tent, and dinna call attention tae yerself.”
She gave him a reassuring look and glanced toward the knapsack on her back. “I hae some reading that I did na quite finish, ye wull recall.”
Gehrig and Igor gasped, but to their credit, they said nothing and turned to face outside.
Holding Katherine’s gaze still, Luag commented to her in what he hoped was an offhand way that would pacify his kinsmen, “I would na let it get around that ye, a lass, can read. Ye may find yerself put tae work. Remember the burden it is tae hae such a rare skill for a lass.”
Her face reddened, and her eyes moved all about the tent, particularly to Gehrig and Igor. “Oh no!”
He put a finger over her lips. “Dinna fash. Gehrig and Igor would na gae spreading word o’ anything that might take my wife away from me.”
Throat clearings could be heard from outside the tent.