by Donna Grant
Leana ran her fingers through his hair. “Will you bring me back?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“It is. I ask nothing more of you.”
He smiled mischievously and lightly slapped her bare bottom. “And if I want more from you?”
“We’ll have to come to some sort of agreement,” she said sternly, then ruined everything by laughing.
He pulled her onto the bed, and then covered her body with his. Morcant grew serious then. “You may no’ realize it, but I’m no’ the same man I was when I was cursed. My mother often said I was searching. I used to laugh at her, but I think she was right. None of the other women broke through my walls or caused me to feel as you do. I think I’ve been searching for you.”
Leana blinked away the moisture that gathered in her eyes. “That’s impossible. You lived two centuries before me.”
“But I’m here now.” He gave her a quick kiss. “Rest. We’ve a few hours before supper.”
Morcant was thankful that she didn’t argue, and even more thankful when Leana fell asleep quickly. When her breathing evened out, he rose and dressed, strapping his sword at his waist.
Then he quietly left the cottage and began to scout the area. If there was going to be a battle, that meant the MacKay clan had already chosen this area. Morcant wanted to know why. He also expected to find someone from the MacKay clan keeping watch somewhere.
The man wasn’t anywhere close to Leana’s, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t seen Morcant. If Morcant could find him, then that would give the Sinclairs a chance to stop the MacKays before an attack.
Morcant glanced back at the cottage. He hated leaving Leana alone, but it was imperative that he stop the battle before it happened. He had a terrible feeling that Leana would get caught in the middle. It left him with a knot in his chest that grew by the second.
He made his way into the woods and picked up a trail. Morcant followed it as night descended. The trail took him from one mountain to another, leading him far from Leana. Just as he was about to turn around and start again in the morning, he saw a fire in the distance. Morcant withdrew his sword and started toward it.
As he drew near, he spotted four horses and only three men sitting around the fire. Morcant knew he could take them, but he had to wait for the fourth one. He couldn’t chance the man coming up behind him.
Not when he finally had something to live for.
A half hour went by with the men talking of how the upcoming battle with the Sinclairs would play out before the fourth man returned carrying a brace of hares. He tossed them down next to the three sitting before the fire. Morcant crept around to the side of the camp and plunged his sword into the one standing before they knew what was happening.
Before the other three could react, Morcant kicked one in the face and spun to dodge a blow from another sword. He yanked his sword from the first man and sunk it into the second.
He looked around for the third man and saw him disappear into the night. Morcant grimaced as he glanced down at the one he’d kicked in the face who lay with his head bleeding from hitting a rock.
Morcant doused the fire and checked to make sure the man was dead before he took off after the last foe that happened to be headed straight toward Leana’s.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Leana knew it was a vision she was seeing. Perhaps it was the pounding of her heart. Maybe it was the way Morcant looked at her as if she were his entire world. Or it could be the happiness, the completeness she felt standing next to him with their hands linked.
Whatever it was, Leana felt whole for the first time since her mother had died. In the vision, she no longer felt that ever-present fear that she would always be alone.
The vision slowed, allowing her time to take it all in and really see everything. It was a first for her, and it frightened her to the marrow of her bones. But nothing like the surprise that ripped through her when she noticed the graying at Morcant’s temples.
She was seeing the future – many years into the future.
Leana remained in the vision until it ended. She slowly opened her eyes, not bothering to wipe the tears that fell from the corners of her eyes and into her ears as she lay on her back.
Why had she been shown that? Why had she seen the very thing that could heal her shattered heart and give her a life she wanted more than anything?
Nothing worked like that.
Just as magic wasn’t supposed to exist.
Who was she to determine what was right and what wasn’t? Who was she to dare question the workings of fate or destiny?
Leana turned her head to the side, but she already knew Morcant wasn’t there. She waited for the certainty that usually always came when she knew someone wasn’t going to return, but she didn’t feel that coldness.
She rolled off the bed and quickly washed. There was no explanation for the urgency that pushed her, but she didn’t question it. Leana dressed and was in the process of brushing her hair when the ground began to shake.
There was only one thing that could cause such a tremor. Horses.
She threw open the door and stepped outside to see an army descending.
~ ~ ~
Morcant crept up the hill on his stomach, bypassing the clumps of heather and their thorns. He reached the summit and cautiously peered over the side. His gut churned with dread when he spotted the men in the valley. They had to be from the MacKay clan. It unnerved him to realize they were so close to Leana. How had he not realized it? He should’ve looked farther afield when he scouted the area.
Morcant spied the man he was chasing rush toward a large, barrel-chested man with a hard face. The two exchanged words, and a moment later, the leader motioned three men to him.
It wasn’t long before the three were mounted and headed out. Morcant didn’t need to be there to know that the leader had sent them to Leana’s. He slid out of sight and got to his feet. Morcant didn’t know the area that well, but that didn’t slow him as he raced toward Leana.
Morcant climbed over boulders, leapt across gaps, and used the force of running downhill to help him keep the three men in sight. The horses were faster, but they couldn’t move over the terrain as he could.
His lungs burned as he pumped his legs faster. Over the next rise was Leana’s cottage. She was alone, no one there to protect her. That thought made him push himself even harder.
It seemed fate was set against him. The faster he ran, the further away the men got. Still, he didn’t give up. He took a chance and climbed a boulder, jumping across three of them in an effort to close the distance.
Morcant cleared the first one with no problem. He glanced down, noting a fall would certainly break his leg. The second was just as easy until he went to jump from it to the third and his foot slipped.
He was prepared when he fell upon the third boulder on his hands and knees. His fingers helped to grip as he got his feet beneath him, and then he leapt to the ground and began running again.
As he ran up the slope, he withdrew his sword, letting out a battle cry as he did. The three men jerked their horses to a stop and faced him.
Morcant smiled when one of his opponents raced his horse toward him. The man couldn’t know that was a training technique he learned from his father. Morcant continued right at the horse until the last minute where he feigned to the left, the steed missing him altogether.
The other two quickly jumped from their horses, swords at the ready, and attacked.
There was nothing so familiar as his sword in hand and a battle going on around him – even if it were three men against him. Those were usually the odds he faced, and he managed to come out the victor.
Then again, he’d had his friends to watch his back.
He was on his own this time, and it was never more apparent than when he felt a sting across his back just as he moved to the right.
Morcant pivoted and found that the third man had joined in the fight. The three attacked at once. He blocked one
of the swords and punched another of the attackers in the face, and even though he tried to shift his body to dodge the oncoming sword, it still sliced across the top of his thigh.
He bellowed in fury, swinging his sword down and into the top of one of the men’s shoulders. Morcant pulled his sword out of the dead man and turned to the other two as dozens more came running down the hill from Leana’s.
The sound must have alerted the MacKays because in the next instant, a full-scale battle was on. Swords clang, men yelled, and blood coated everyone and everything.
Morcant bumped into someone from behind. He glanced down at the plaid and knew the man wasn’t from the Sinclair or MacKay clans. They were soon fighting back to back, just as Morcant had done with his friends countless times.
~ ~ ~
Leana stood at the top of the hill, her gaze riveted on Morcant. Her stomach dropped to her feet when she saw the blood running down his right leg from a wound. There was also blood coating the back of his shirt, which meant there was an injury there, as well.
She couldn’t take her eyes off the way he moved – effortlessly, gracefully...smoothly. He didn’t waste a single movement. Everything he did went to cutting down his enemies as if they were nothing more than pesky insects.
“I’ve seen him train, but this is the first time I’ve truly seen him in battle.”
Leana turned her head as Lady Meg came to stand beside her. Her auburn hair was in a neat braid, and her gray eyes were trained on her husband – Ronan Galt – the new lord of Ravensclyde.
Meg’s eyes shifted to her. “The man you recently came across? You said his name was Morcant?”
“Aye, milady.”
“Please,” Meg said with a smile. “There’s no need for that. What is Morcant’s surname?”
Leana glanced at him again. He spun and sank his sword into an opponent that was coming at Ronan from the side. At the same moment, Ronan slashed open the chest of another who had his sword aimed at Morcant.
Ronan. It couldn’t be. Could it?
Leana turned back to Meg. “It’s Banner. Morcant Banner.”
“I knew it,” Meg said and hastily blinked her eyes. She peered at Leana hard. “What do you know of Morcant?”
If Meg’s Ronan were the same Ronan that Morcant searched for, then Meg would know of the gypsies and the curse. Leana took a deep breath and said, “He appeared out of nowhere from a prison of darkness that he endured for two centuries.”
Meg’s hand gripped her arm. “Does Morcant remember anything?”
“Everything,” Leana said. “He was getting ready to leave to search for Ronan and the others.”
“They’re fighting back to back and don’t even know.” Meg shook her head as she smiled. “I can’t believe this.”
Leana couldn’t either. The men from Ravensclyde outnumbered the MacKay clan two to one. It didn’t take the Sinclairs long to subdue their enemy.
The last two fighting were Morcant and Ronan. By the way they shifted from one side to the other fending off attacks from all sides, they had obviously done this many times. As the last of the MacKays fled back to their land, Morcant lowered his sword, his chest expanding as he took in a deep breath. Leana took a step toward him when he turned to her.
His topaz gaze met hers. She began to mentally think of all the herbs she would need for his wounds, when a smile slowly began pull up his lips. So many of Leana’s family had been lost in battle that she was unaccustomed to someone like Morcant.
She smiled, the last fragments of the walls surrounding her shattering. Her heart was exposed, bare...and yet, she had never felt so shielded as she did at that moment.
Leana glanced to Morcant’s left to find Ronan staring in shock. She had forgotten him for a moment, but it was time that Morcant’s conscience be eased. She slid her gaze back to Morcant and tilted her head in Ronan’s direction. Morcant’s brow furrowed slightly, but he then turned his head and looked directly at Ronan.
“Well done,” Meg said. “I think that’s the first time I’ve seen my husband unable to find words.”
Leana wanted to watch what happened between Morcant and Ronan, but her attention was called away by the men who needed their wounds tended to.
She reluctantly turned away, hoping that it wouldn’t be long before Morcant returned.
~ ~ ~
It took a moment for Morcant to realize the man standing before him wasn’t an illusion that his brain had created after the battle. The man’s dark brown hair was still long but trimmed and neatly held back by a leather strip at the base of his neck. The pale green eyes were openly staring with a hint of doubt and bucketsful of hope.
“Morcant?”
He couldn’t believe that the man standing before him was Ronan, because if it really weren’t, Morcant didn’t think he could handle it.
“Morcant?” Ronan said again, his head cocked a little to the side. “Is it really you? Is it really possible?”
It was the voice and the mannerisms that confirmed it for Morcant. “Ronan?”
Morcant was all smiles as Ronan pounded on his back as they embraced. He pulled back and looked into the eyes of his friend. “It really is you.”
“Aye,” Ronan said with a chuckle. “I didna think to ever see you again.”
“I know what you mean. Where were you?”
The smile dimmed from Ronan’s face. “In a place with no sound or light.”
“I was in a similar place.”
Ronan stepped back and looked up the hill. “I was freed by Meg.”
Morcant followed his gaze to see a woman smiling down at Ronan. He immediately thought of Leana, but he couldn’t find her. His first instinct was to go looking for her, then he realized she wouldn’t leave her home.
“We’ve been married almost six months now,” Ronan continued. “I never thought I could find a woman to love, much less think about marrying, and yet it happened.”
“I’m happy for you.” And he was, but he was also ready to be alone with Leana again, to hold her in his arms and feel her body against him.
“How were you freed?”
Morcant shrugged and turned his attention back to Ronan. “I doona know. One moment I was in the darkness, and the next I was looking up into Leana’s face. I was about to set out looking for you, Daman, and Stefan.”
“I’ve no’ found anything about any of you until today.” Ronan rubbed his jaw. “How long have you been out?”
“A couple of days.”
“A lot can happen in a few days,” Ronan said, his gaze penetrating.
Morcant merely grinned. “Aye, old friend. A verra lot can happen, like being freed from my prison, discovering a beauty who has visions of the future, learning I can no’ breathe without her, and finding you again.”
“It’s taken me a long while to forgive Ilinca for what she did. I didna realize she did the same to you.”
“I’m no’ yet ready to forgive her, but I have to wonder if she knew what awaited us in the future.”
Ronan shrugged and sheathed his sword. “I no longer care. If you can be here, then there’s a chance that Stefan and Daman can, as well. First things first, you need to see to your wounds.”
Morcant hadn’t felt them until that moment. He and Ronan walked up the hill together. He still couldn’t believe that it was actually Ronan beside him. But it no longer mattered how they had come to be in their dark prisons, or how they got out of them and found each other again.
Morcant reached the top of the hill and looked through the men milling about to find Leana. She moved from one man to another tending wounds. Her touch was light and her smile easy as she saw to the injuries, leaving many a man staring after her with lust in their eyes.
“She’s the one who’s caught your eye?” Ronan whispered.
Morcant couldn’t take his eyes from her. “She’s the one who captured my heart. Without even trying.”
He limped away from Ronan and made his way to Leana as she finished with he
r last patient. She turned and caught sight of him, halting instantly. Her long brunette tresses hung freely about her, only adding to her allure.
Without a word, she took his hand and pulled him into the cottage. He sat at the table as she knelt before him.
“You were magnificent out there,” Leana said as she began to wipe the blood from him.
Morcant closed his eyes at the feel of her hands on him. “All I could think about was killing them before they reached you.”
“You did it.”
He sighed and opened his eyes. “With the help of Ronan. Was he who you saw in your vision on the white horse?”
“The very same,” she said with a grin as she looked up from the wound on his leg. “I had no idea he was your friend. Do you know what that means, Morcant?”
“That Daman and Stefan could be out there?”
She nodded and pressed some leaves that instantly stopped the pain against the wound. “What happens now?”
“What do you mean?” There was something in her tone that worried him.
“You’ve found Ronan. Will you return with him to Ravensclyde?”
“No’ without you.”
Her blue eyes snapped to his. “You acted as laird of your clan. You know what it is to lead. You can’t seriously mean not to go.”
Morcant touched her face. “Ronan hasna asked it of me, but even if he does, I’m no’ going anywhere without you. Why do you no’ understand that? I need you, Leana, like I need the water, the sun, and the breath in my body. I don’t ever want to be without you.”
She stared at him, her face not showing any emotion, and Morcant knew true fear. He didn’t know what he would do if she didn’t want him.
“I know how much this land means to you. If you want to stay, then allow me to remain with you.”
Still she didn’t utter a sound.
Morcant was going to have to say the words, words he’d never thought to speak. Words he feared would scare her away. “Leana, I always thought I’d be alone. I never expected to find you. I didna even know I was looking for you.” He looked down at his hands covered in blood and winced because he could only guess what he looked like after battle. “This isna the right time.”