Ewen showed Shane and Iain to his own sleeping quarters. There was plenty of room for them all and Shane knew it enabled him to keep a jealous eye on the MacGregor. They slept fitfully, each wary of what the future held.
Lady MacDonald approached her husband before going down in the morning to break her fast. She started her argument by reminding him of the fears they had as a young couple, desperate of ever liking each other, much less ever loving one another. They themselves had not met until the day of their own wedding, They were fortunate enough to have fallen in love. It was obvious their daughter would not be as lucky if married to Shane. She continued with the solution she had formed the night before.
“Our daughter has found her love. Would ye deny her? Ewen is good with the hawks. Place him charge of yer hunting birds and falcons.”
The MacDonald growled. “Where ye going with this, woman?”
Finally in the face of her husband’s stubbornness, Lady MacDonald resorted to emotion.
“Let yer daughter stay. She is my only daughter and I would be lost without her companionship. Losing her will break my heart.”
The MacDonald growled, he grouched, but in the end he relented. “I know ye, wife. I dinna want to cause ye unnecessary pain. I dinna really want to lose my daughter either. The idea of marrying Mary with Shane come to me as a way of ensuring the new laird of the MacGregors acts honorably. I dinna want him to obtain his alliance to be protected while he went about his own raiding and retribution.”
The MacDonald rubbed his wife’s shoulder and wiped her tears.
“I know the father, the son is yet untested. Shane may be honorable but through marriage would guarantee the connection between the families. I could care less if my friendship with the MacGregors bothers the king. I dinna want Shane using me for his own gains.”
“I realize peace with my wife and daughter will come only with Ewen as the price.” The MacDonald shook his head as his wife hugged him.
Shane, of course, equally understood when the laird came to him with a new proposal for an alliance without the condition of marriage.
“I will have my men add more patrols on the southern side of my border, thereby increasing the need for the Campbells to do the same, spreading their men out further. Will leave fewer men to harass ye. I want to help ye, MacGregor without getting involved in the politics of the situation.”
Shane agreed with the plan, pleased they were able to find a solution to one of the many problems his clan was facing without endangering his allies’ position with the king.
Shane missed Kate. He missed talking with her. He missed her giggle. He longed to hold her in his arms.
He wanted to return to her and start his life with her. His thoughts were filled with her. He loved the way her nose crinkled when she smiled. He loved her laugh. He loved her affection for his father, her enthusiasm to the healing arts, and her devotion to his clan.
He wanted to get back to his clan, family, and Kate. They would figure out how to keep the clan afloat some other way. That she wasn’t an heiress was fine. He needed her, he wanted her, and he could not live without her.
Chapter 29
Shane and his men left the MacDonald clan late in the evening, planning to travel through the Campbell land in the dark of night. Shane considered it would give him and his men the opportunity to hasten their journey. This was appealing to all of the MacGregors as they were anxious to be home.
The ride through Campbell territory would be brief and uneventful, Shane hoped. They should reach their own border in less than three hours.
“We’ll travel a wee bit west to avoid riding too near the Campbell stronghold. Calls for a longer time in the saddle and more time on Clan Campbell territory but ‘tis the lesser risk. I am not interested in forcing a confrontation. I am confident we’ll gone before the Campbells know we’d been here.
“Aye. They’ll never be the wiser,” Iain agreed. He sent the message down the line.
Anxious to be on his own land, Shane thought of home. He was eager to see Kate. He planned to be home long before morning and in her arms.
The Campbell patrol watched the trespassing men enter their territory. They expected the MacGregors. The leader of the small party who had seen the MacGregors on their way to the MacDonalds reported it to his laird.
“The nerve this man shows. ‘Tis my land he trespasses upon. And what does he want with the MacDonalds? They are conspiring against me. They’re planning somethin’, I know.”
“Kill them. Take their bodies over the border and dump them where they’ll be seen. I’ll show the MacGregors what it means to come on to my land.”
The Campbell patrol allowed intrusion into their land and made no move as the MacDonald men escorted their guests across the border. They watched as the MacDonald men turned back, having done their duty to their guests. The Campbell men, while not stupid, were not very brave.
“Let us wait ‘til they are farther on our lands.”
“Aye, I’ve no wish to take on both the MacGregors and the McDonalds.”
“The mist comes and with it darkness,” said a third man.
The mist gathered around the men and hung on them like shrouds. The Campbells waited and slowly followed Shane and his men, careful to stay some distance behind.
Iain rode alongside his laird. Shane’s men followed. Iain spoke in a hushed tone as he teased his friend.
“Well, ye escaped yet again. How is it ye get all the women laid at yer feet?” Iain said chuckling. “And ye afraid ye may actually have to take one.”
Shane nodded to his friend, a brief smile on his lips.
“Aye, Mary is a good lass. She’ll make a good wife. But my heart belongs elsewhere. This trip has made me come to realize exactly what I must do. I want no one else. I dinna understand until I came to the possibility of losing Katie, of spending my life with someone other than her. She alone holds my heart.”
Iain nodded, teasing set aside. He thumped Shane on the back in a gesture of understanding and friendship.
“Well then.” Iain cleared his throat. “The MacDonald is a man of his word. The added patrols should give us a bit of a break. Will let us get on with our plans.”
They discussed at length the plans for the renewed alliances and the advantages those alliances would give them.
“’Tis quite a feat, to talk yer clan into farming and raising cattle. Ye have asked a warrior to put a hoe in his hand.”
“The victory belongs to each person of the clan. They have come together for the greater good.” Shane pulled his cloak tighter against the chill.
“Their pride is apparent in their earnest desire to make the Clan MacGregor whole once again. Aye, lad, ye have done well.”
Shane gave a quick nod of acknowledgment to his friend. They fell into a comfortable silence, each with their own thoughts as they rode toward home.
Shane confessed to himself once again his love for Kate. He had been wrapped up about the clan’s welfare and the importance of alliances. Once he took a bit of time it struck him just how important she had become to him. He realized he had not seen the true depth of the feelings she stirred in him. He was foolish to believe Kate would have put up with his bringing home a bride. He would have lost her. He was foolish to believe any other woman than Kate would do. Now that he knew a love such as hers why had he risked losing it? Shane shook his head. He was foolish. Realizing his happiness depended on it, Shane decided to make Kate his wife upon his return. Regardless of his responsibilities to his clan, they would, somehow, bring about the changes needed to ensure his life with Kate. He knew the alliances he had formed on this trip would have to be enough. He could no longer marry for alliance nor worth. He knew he must marry for love.
A slight drizzle was falling as the horses picked their way through the night
. The men huddled within their tartans trying to stay warm and dry. The damp brought out the pungent smell of earth and the trees surrounding them. The forest was quiet. Too quiet, Shane thought. The men spoke in hushed tones. Only the creak of the leather saddles and an occasional cough was heard as they made their way down the sodden trail.
A war cry screeched its way through the night.
From the forest above, Campbells swarmed over Shane and his men. Startled, the MacGregors looked up to see Campbell men bearing down on them.
Swords were unsheathed with a hiss of steel. Still on their mounts, Shane and his men fought as men charged down the hill toward them.
Guiding his horse with his knees, Shane let the bridle go as Campbells descended upon him. He thrust his heavy sword as one man launched himself at Shane. He parried blows from all sides.
The screams of horses and men echoed through the night, coming back to the men even as new cries pierced their ears. The clash of steel deafening. The copper smell of blood invaded their nostrils as it spewed and spattered onto their bodies and faces. Rain and blood blurred their vision.
Iain kept to his laird, fighting behind him, his back to Shane’s, protecting each from rear assault. Their horses spinning about wildly as they met the violent attack, their hooves causing damage as the horses reared.
Shane thrust his sword at a fierce foe then brought it above his head in time to prevent an axe from slicing into his neck from above. He countered with the dagger in his other hand, mortally wounding his assailant.
The Campbells had come prepared and in force. They far outnumbered the MacGregor men. Shane had only a moment to regret his complacency. The battle raged. Steel meeting steel. Men roared with fury. Others howled in pain. The sounds of combat were furious. Metal against metal. Man against man. Will against will.
A broadsword sliced toward Shane, hitting him bluntly across the chest, knocking him from his horse. Thrown to the ground, the Campbell sword sliced between his ribs. The bastard twisted his sword, going for the kill. Shane felt his ribs crack and warm blood run freely down his hip mixing with the mud he was lying in.
Shane struggled, feeling around the ground for his sword. Pain erupted along his torso as his horse trampled him in its effort to bolt from the fray. Stars dotted his vision before all went black.
Iain watched his laird fall just as red-hot pain coursed through his shoulder. One of the bastards had taken advantage of his attention drawn from the battle to Shane. He stood for a moment fighting the pain and the blackness of unconsciousness threatening to overcome him. He inhaled deeply, strong again, ignoring the pain. Iain battled through the fight and stood over Shane, his remaining men encircling them with their backs to one another forming a guarded barrier. Not knowing if his laird still drew breath, he and the rest of Shane’s men were determined to protect him, refusing to be lured away from their laird. Fighting fiercely they drove the cowards off.
The Campbells had come upon them swiftly and silently. The MacGregors rousted the marauders efficiently, sending them back to their stronghold in retreat, but at a price. Two of Shane’s men were dead and Shane was seriously injured. The rest, wounded.
Iain did not take the time to examine Shane’s injuries or his own. He put him on his horse, gathered the remaining men and rode hard for the border. They disappeared into the mist.
MacGregor sentries met Iain and his men, exhausted and injured. They didn’t speak. The scene before them told all the sentries needed to know. Iain led Shane’s horse while another man had a hold of Shane to keep him astride, preventing him from falling.
With a clatter of hooves, they arrived at the MacGregor castle. People poured out of the castle to meet them. Dawn approached. The men went inside the great hall. Pandemonium reigned. The hall filled with shouts and exclamations, outcries of shock and retribution. Seamus bellowed orders as Shane was laid on one of the long tables.
“Get these men inside. See to their wounds.” He grabbed Henry. “Take the horses to the stables. Look ‘em over good. Dress any wound.”
Henry motioned to a couple of men and headed outside.
“Merta!” Seamus searched the faces for her. “Where is Merta?”
“Here.” Merta gathered the women together ready to determine the needs of the injured men. She ordered hot water and bandages and appeared beside him.
“See to Shane.”
Merta turned abruptly. She pushed through the group gathering around him. Blinking back tears, she saw Darcey holding a blood-soaked rag to his chest along his rib cage. Iain, refusing to leave Shane to have his bleeding shoulder looked at, cradled his head in his powerful hands, blood running down his arm.
“Get back. Lemme get to him,” she shouted to a woman hurrying by. “Fetch a blanket and more of them rags. Water!” She stopped the woman. “Get cold water.”
Merta’s hands trembled as she stepped up to the table Shane was lying on. Darcey looked over her shoulder to Merta as she mopped up his blood.
“Willna stop,” Darcey sobbed.
Merta grabbed a rectangle of cloth from the pile of bandages. She folded it over on itself several times. Darcey lifted the rag from the wound. Merta saw that with every breath Shane took, the ragged hole widened. As he exhaled, the wound closed over itself once again.
“Here.” She placed the rag inside the gaping hole. Setting Darcey aside, she took both of Iain’s hands in her own, bringing him around to Shane’s side. She put them directly onto the wound. “Press hard.”
Merta quickly examined the rest of his body, noting minor cuts and bruises on his arms and legs. She moved to his head, feeling the big knot forming around the cut above his left eye as blood streamed down the side of his face.
“His head is cut. The bruise and rising bump has me concerned.”
Merta cleaned his cuts, wiped the blood from his face, and covered them with salve. She covered him in a blanket warmed by the fire.
“His stillness scares me.”
“Aye.” Seamus stood next to his son, his hand hovered over Shane’s nose. “His breath is slight.”
Merta moved to his side and lifting the blanket, gently removed the cloth from the ragged wound. The bleeding had slowed.
“Give me more of that moss.” Merta held out her hand.
Darcey gave her a handful of dry moss she had grabbed from a nearby table.
“It’s absorbency will help stop the bleeding,” Merta said.
She packed the moss tightly into Shane’s side and covered it with a clean cloth. She soaked a rag in the cold water, squeezing and folding it she placed it above his eye, covering the purpled knot.
“Iain, gather some men. I must take Shane upstairs to his bedchamber. I can keep him warmer and tend to him easier up there.” Merta motioned to Iain.
Darcey rushed ahead and stoked the fire while the men brought Shane in. Merta readied the bed with quilts and furs to calm Shane’s shivering. Shock had set in. He grunted in pain as the men lay him down.
The men turned to leave. They grimaced with concern for their laird as they left the room.
Seamus met them, stopping Iain as he entered the room. He had followed at a slower pace and made his way to his son’s bedside. Looking down on his injured son, Seamus said a brief prayer for God to watch over his son. He moved over to the other side of the room to have Iain tell him of the attack on the MacGregor men.
“They come at us from above. We had no warning at all, didn’t hear the bastards. Shane took a blow across here. Knocked him hard from his horse,” Iain said, indicating his chest and side. “We rousted them good but at a high price. Sean and Hadrian are dead.” Iain put his head in his hands.
Seamus shook his head. “All right lad, go get yerself looked at.”
Iain nodded but didn’t leave.
Merta repl
aced the bandage with a fresh one. Moving Shane had the wound bleeding again. She packed it with more moss and applied pressure to stem the flow once again.
Merta mopped his brow. Shane drifted in and out of consciousness. He called to Kate.
When she had done all she could for Shane, Merta motioned for Seamus and Iain to follow her back down to the great hall.
Downstairs, the exhausted men sat along trestle tables. The women examined their injuries under Merta’s guidance. They bathed the wounds first, stitching the deeper gashes as Kate had taught them. They applied liberal amounts of salve, having no idea how to use the herbs she had left behind.
Dawn Annis Page 21