by Barbara Bard
* * *
Yet now, it all made sense, and she even wondered if all the times Lord Flynn had been going hunting he hadn't actually been hunting for Highlanders rather than for animals.
* * *
“What do you know of Lord Flynn?” she asked.
* * *
“I know that he is an evil man. Gall had done nothing tae him. This lord is typical of the English, thinking that he can go around doing whatever he wants without consequence.” Drew shook his head. “Ye are all mad.”
* * *
“You can say what you like about Lord Flynn, but do not think to imply we are all like him!” Sarah retorted. The thought of anyone thinking that she had anything in common with Lord Flynn was horrid.
* * *
“Besides,” she continued, “it is not as though you Highlanders are completely blameless. In the last war you all did terrible things. Perhaps that is the reason for this war. It is time to pay for your crimes,” she said bitterly. The hatred she had been holding onto for years now came pouring out. All the fear and festering rage suddenly spewed forth, exploding out of her like lava from a dormant volcano.
* * *
All through the years she had been terrified of coming face to face with a Highlander, and yet in her mind she had always wondered what would happen if she did. Now she had the chance. He was sitting there, wounded, but still dangerous. And yet it was not at all like she had imagined. Drew wasn't some raging maniac, fueled only by violence. In fact he seemed like a somewhat reasonable man, as reasonable as a barbarian could be anyway.
* * *
“Ye dinnae want me tae think all ye English are the same as Flynn, but ye would believe that all Highlanders are mindless brutes? And tae compare this with the last war? Hae ye lost your mind, lass? I was barely knee-high in the last war, and ye must hae been similar. I was barely even born. The war was coming tae a close. There were only some skirmishes, some raiding parties left. As far as I was concerned the war was over before I was born. It was the same for all of us.”
* * *
“Not for me,” Sarah said. “It might have ended for you, but it didn’t for me. Your raiding parties were still pillaging villages. They came to my home and ransacked the place. I was one of the few survivors. They...they killed my parents. Right in front of my eyes. I was just a babe. So don't you tell me that Highlanders are innocent.”
* * *
Drew exhaled deeply. Revealing the truth had cost Sarah a lot of energy. She felt vulnerable, alone. Her throat ached from the force with which she had expelled her words, and the emotion behind them had left her mind dazed and tired. The day had taken its toll on her and she was about ready to drop.
* * *
“I think ye should sit down, lass. I am sorry for what happened tae you when ye were younger, but it does nae mean that we are all the same,” Drew said. There was empathy in his voice, and Sarah found herself sitting down beside him.
* * *
“War is a terrible time. It takes its toll on people who are not on the battlefield. I know it weighed heavily on my father's soul. He wanted peace tae reign for a long time, and he often spoke of how haunted he was by war. He wanted us tae be good sons, and did nae want us tae die. I think he always knew the horrors of war even when he was a soldier. He waited until the last days of the war before he started to have a family. He did nae want to see his sons die in battle.”
* * *
“Does it not make you feel guilty that you have found yourself in a war?” Sarah asked.
* * *
Drew pressed his lips together and hung his head. Sarah found herself intrigued by this man. He seemed to be a man filled with conflicts, and was not at all what she had expected from a Highlander.
* * *
“I am. But war is a part of life. It cannae be avoided. We may not like it, but we had tae avenge Gall's death. It is nae an easy thing, but it must be done. I...I do wish things could be different. My brother was more eager for war than I, but the English deserve what they are getting.”
* * *
“No, Lord Flynn deserves that. Not those men on the battlefield.”
* * *
Drew ruminated on her words. Sarah toyed with her fingers, wondering what she should do next. Now that they had begun speaking she didn't find Drew as scary as before, although she was still keeping her distance. The thought of being around him was not unappealing, but she could not help but think about what would happen after. They were at war, and soon they would have to return to their roles as a Highland warrior and an English prisoner. Sarah would have to leave.
* * *
The shadows were becoming long as the sun began to dip below the horizon. The moon took its celestial throne and the stars emerged from the sky. Sarah brushed off her dress and rose to her feet.
* * *
“I must be leaving now. I know you wish to have me as your prisoner, but I cannot allow that fate. I have to escape. I will leave you with your water and your horse. Rest, and you should recover.”
* * *
“Are ye mad, lass? Ye cannae leave now.”
* * *
“Why not?”
* * *
“Because it's dark! The woods are a treacherous place even in the daylight. Ye dinnae know what lurks in the darkness. Stay here with me, at least for the night. Ye will likely die if ye leave now.”
* * *
Sarah peered into the darkness and had to admit that she was frightened by the prospect of walking through the woods alone at night. Her mind was alive with thoughts of all the terrible beasts that would be lying in wait for an unsuspecting maiden such as her, and she shrank back.
* * *
“Perhaps you are right, but I shall be leaving first thing in the morning.”
* * *
“And where is it ye are wanting tae go?” Drew asked. The question took Sarah by surprise, for she hadn't even figured that out herself yet.
* * *
“Ye see, lass, it strikes me as odd that ye would be running away through these woods when there is a huge English army over yonder. Why would ye be running?”
* * *
He looked at her through narrowed eyes, his piercing gaze seemingly directed straight into her soul. Sarah shifted at the thought of having to tell him her story. She turned away from him and clenched her jaw, wondering how she was going to get through the night being so close to a Highlander.
* * *
“Come on, lass, it will be a long night and we have tae pass the time somehow. Would ye really have us sit in silence? This is nae where either of us would choose tae be, but it is where we hae ended up. Let us make the best of the situation. At least we may be able to learn something from each other.”
* * *
Sarah didn't think there was anything she could learn from this man, but he was right when he said that it was going to be a long night otherwise. Although Sarah was tired she was restless and did not feel safe going to sleep before Drew.
* * *
“I was supposed to marry someone I did not want to marry,” she said, not wanting to tell him the whole truth. If Drew found out that she had been betrothed to the leader of the English army her use as a prisoner would rise dramatically, and he would do all he could to keep her close to him so that he could ransom her off to Lord Flynn.
* * *
“Ye must have despised the thought of being with him if ye would run off intae these woods without any idea of where ye are going,” he said.
* * *
The silver light of the moon hung over the world, and in the shadows Drew’s facial expressions became harder to discern. Yet Sarah found that she could tell a lot from the man's voice. He had a very expressive tone, and his words had the energy of a song.
* * *
“It seemed like the only way out I had,” she said simply. “He was a cruel man, and I could not abide the thought of spending my life with him.” That was all she wanted to say on the m
atter. She looked back towards the battle. “I suppose they have stopped fighting for the night.”
* * *
“Aye, that they have. My heart is with them, but my body should be there tae.”
* * *
“Why do you court war so eagerly?” she asked, trying to understand the mind of a man who met war readily, without hesitation.
* * *
“It is nae a matter of courting war. War is just a part of life. It is like breathing or eating. We all grow up knowing that one day there will be war again, whether it be with the English or with other clans.”
* * *
“But how can you live like that? Doesn't it make everything seem pointless, knowing that one day it could all be done away with in a terrible battle?”
* * *
Drew shifted his position. She wondered how he was doing for comfort. He was bearing the pain well, much better than she would have been able to if the roles had been reversed.
* * *
“It reminds us that life is worth living. It reminds us tae appreciate the calm times. It is like enjoying the summer even though ye are aware that winter is soon going tae follow. That is the best way I can put it. Some men like testing themselves, like my brother. I only want to see justice done. I would nae fight unless I had a cause. I am nae like my brother in that regard.”
* * *
“You speak of him fondly. Are the two of you close?”
* * *
“Aye, sometimes tae close. We often argue, but when it matters most we come down on the right side of things. Riding into battle by his side was the proudest I have ever been.”
* * *
“I wish I could feel something like that. I was an only child. There was a girl I thought of as my sister. She is probably dead now too,” Sarah murmured. She did not dare ask Drew about Rosemary for she was afraid of the answer. It was unlikely that he would know anyway.
* * *
Rosemary had probably wandered away in the woods and been killed by now, or was being held somewhere far away. Perhaps, when all this was done, she could even get Drew's help in looking for her. But she didn't trust him enough for that yet.
* * *
“It is a sad thing tae see people we love die. All we can dae is remember them and honor them, and try tae make them proud.”
* * *
Was that a tear that glistened in the moonlight? Sarah would never have thought this man capable of showing such emotion, but there it was, plain as day.
* * *
She lay on the ground, thinking about Drew and all he had revealed to her. He was a most uncommon man, but he was a Highlander. She should have been afraid. She should have felt anger rise within her breast, yet she felt entirely comfortable talking with him. It was the most comfortable she had felt in what seemed like a long time.
* * *
Before too long she felt her eyelids growing heavy. She tried to fight it, telling herself that she shouldn't fall asleep and make herself vulnerable in front of Drew, but she was unable to fend away the exhaustion that seized her body and dragged her to a state of unconsciousness.
16
Drew continued talking for a while before he realized that Sarah had fallen asleep. He chuckled at himself as her soft murmurs rose through the air. The night air was cool, but not inhospitable. He peeled off his cloak and draped it over her body to act as a blanket.
* * *
She was a most uncommon woman.
* * *
When he'd first learned that she was English he'd felt betrayed, not by her, but by his own feelings. He should have known that she was English. Now that he had gotten to know her a little better he found himself warming to her. There was something about her that spoke to him, something that gave them an instant rapport even though they had never met each other before this day.
* * *
It seemed to be a strange set of circumstances that would throw them together, and Drew wondered if it was a machination of fate. Sarah was, by all accounts, lovely and beautiful. Yet she was English too. Drew had sworn that he could never bring himself to love an English girl, but when he looked at Sarah he felt an overwhelming sensation within his warrior heart.
* * *
The silver light of the moon caressed Sarah as she slept. She looked so peaceful and serene, even though she had endured much. His ire burned at the thought of Highlanders acting like savages, killing her parents in front of her. That wasn't war. It must have been another clan, for Drew knew his father would never have seen that as an honorable action.
* * *
And then to be fleeing from a cruel husband. The thought of another man touching her in anger filled Drew with hatred, and he found himself vowing that he would see no harm come to her.
* * *
Then, Drew smiled, for he remembered what his brother had told him about love sneaking up on him. Blair had fallen in love with Rosemary and up until that moment Drew had never understood how it happened, or how Blair had let it happen. It was indeed true that men did not have a choice when it came to their hearts.
* * *
He sighed, and shook his head. The pain was a dull ache, ever present, but he was steeling himself against it. He rested his head against the rock and stared out at the darkness while he waited for sleep to claim him. It soon did, and the two of them slept until sunrise.
* * *
Drew awoke feeling refreshed, although his body ached as he had been unable to turn much in the night. He touched his leg and winced. It was still painful, although he tested it and found that he could put some weight on it without it buckling from under him.
* * *
Another day brought another day of war, and Drew hoped to be back on the front lines as soon as possible. He hated the thought of the battle being won or lost without him, or worse, of Blair being wounded. He didn't even entertain the possibility of Blair being killed.
* * *
Drew was only awake moments before Sarah rose. She blinked, as though forgetting where she was for a moment. She looked confused when she threw off the cloak.
* * *
“I did nae want ye getting cold in the night,” Drew said.
* * *
“Oh, thank you,” Sarah replied, handing him back the cloak. Sarah turned her eyes away from him again. Drew noticed that she had a habit of doing that, but this time as she did so he caught her eyes roving about his body, which was packed tightly with muscle. He smirked. It was good to know that she didn't hate him as much as she said.
* * *
“How are you feeling today? How is the leg?” Sarah asked.
* * *
“It seems to be getting better. I may even be able to walk by the end of the day,” Drew said.
* * *
“I would not rush anything.”
* * *
“I'm going to test it today. It will do no good for me not to use it. Things have to be tested, else they shall never get stronger.”
* * *
“Let me get you some breakfast first, then you may do all the testing you like,” Sarah replied. She walked off happily, singing a tune. Drew leaned back and listened to her melodious voice, enjoying the warm morning sun, even though he felt a little guilty for being so far away from the battle, but there was nothing he could do about that at the moment.
* * *
Soon enough, Sarah returned with a handful of fruit. The two of them shared it happily, although Drew would have liked some meat.
* * *
“It is a shame that I cannae walk tae well, else I would hae gone hunting and fetched us a fine rabbit,” Drew said. Sarah smiled.
* * *
“I thought ye were leaving at first light?” Drew continued, testing her with his question. He hoped she wouldn't leave. Sarah bristled at the question and nibbled on some fruit before she answered.
* * *
“I want to make sure that you are going to be well enough to get back to the battle. I wo
uld feel guilty if I left you stranded out here all alone. Besides, I need to gather supplies for my journey and work up the energy,” she said. Drew got the impression that she was making up excuses.