held his words all through the meal, never giving any sign that he knew what was actually happening here. A short time later, the laird called for their horses, and he followed Ramsey from the keep, through the main gate and along the water’s edge south. A few of the laird’s men rode with them, and the first part of the ride was pleasant enough.
The MacKay was clearly quite proud of his new keep and the growing village that it protected a short distance to the east. He led them around in a circle that kept the keep in sight at all times. High on its hill, it was visible from the surrounding lands and made an impressive sight.
When they returned to the keep, climbing the hill and reaching a point that gave them a fantastic view of the surrounding kyle and lands, Rob pulled the reins and halted his horse. Ramsey waved his men on and stared at him. Rob could almost feel the man’s growing discomfort as each second passed them by.
‘So, my lord...’ Rob began, watching the laird’s face closely as he spoke. ‘In which direction do you think your daughter headed when she ran way?’
Five days later—near Durness
It had seemed a sound plan at first—run away from her home to give herself time to find her bairn. Run away and avoid this impending marriage. The Mackintosh’s man would have his choice in accepting this arranged marriage or forgoing it, and Eva had planned that the latter should be his choice.
Surely, a man, no man, wanted to marry a reluctant or resistant woman? And if her disappearance shamed or humiliated him, would he not simply ride back to wherever he came from and seek out a willing woman to wife? Eva sighed again.
Shifting on the cold stone floor beneath her, she tried to ease her way back to sitting up. Her ankle and knee protested, sending shards of pain through her body with any movement.
So much for a good idea.
A shiver raced through her whole body then, reminding her of the fever that would not go away. She still bled as well, her body not healed yet from the birth eight weeks before.
Dying would be one answer to her problems. But she would not leave this life until she found out her bairn’s fate. Not yet, she thought, as she shifted her weight to her uninjured hip and tried to pull herself up. Her leg slid on the slippery floor of the cave and she fell hard, forcing the breath from her body in a loud whoosh. Her head hit the wall and, as Eva watched, everything around her grew dark.
* * *
When next she opened her eyes, Eva could see a shape moving in the shadows. A fire burned somewhere close, and a huge creature skulked along the path inside the cave where she’d tried to hide. Oh, Dear God in Heaven! Had she unknowingly fallen into the cave of some dangerous animal? Mayhap if she lay quiet and unmoving, it would not hear her? But shivers racked her body and her teeth chattered so loudly she could hear them.
The dark, fur-covered creature rose up to its full height and turned to where she lay hidden among the rocks. It began to growl and...curse? Her fevered mind could not make sense of how an animal could speak in a human voice, but this one did. As it moved along the path and closer to her, she closed her eyes and prayed.
For forgiveness. For her daughter. For her soul.
All was for naught as the huge figure stood only a few paces away from her and stared at her with eyes filled with the glow of hell itself. Could it be a bear? Nay, they had not been seen in centuries here. Some other mythic creature sent to punish her for her disobedience and other sins? Eva reached up and swept her hair away from her face, squinting into the shadows to see what would be her executioner.
At its first step closer, she shook her head and tried to push herself along the slippery floor. With its second, Eva opened her mouth to scream. It would be the only thing she could do against something of this size and strength. She drew in a breath and brought her daughter to mind in that moment of her own death.
‘Haud yer wheest!’ the creature growled, stopping the coming scream with a hand over her mouth. ‘Every noise echoes in this blasted place!’
A hand? Not a paw or claws? A hand, strong and warm across her mouth and cheeks. Eva blinked as the shape released her mouth and reached for its head.
‘Are you Eva MacKay?’ a man’s voice asked. He pushed back the cloak that covered him, and he leaned forward. ‘Are you?’
‘Aye.’ Her voice barely came out of her scratchy, dry throat.
She’d been found. All her attempts to evade her father’s men were for naught. She would be dragged back now and forced to marry and leave these lands forever.
Eva fell back, giving up the fight. She was so cold and in so much pain that she could not struggle against her fate any longer. The fever that had plagued her since giving birth continued to rise and fall, sapping her strength.
‘Give me your hand,’ the man said. ‘Give it here.’
Glancing at him once again, she could not get a clear view of his face. There was a torch or fire somewhere close, and it threw shadows across the cave and him. One moment, his face looked like that of an angel and the next like a demon. She swallowed against the dryness of her throat and stared at him.
Then, he held out his hand and motioned to her again. Knowing she would never be able to stand on her leg, she shook her head in refusal.
‘Are you naysaying me?’ He crossed his arms over his massive chest and gave her a dark glare. ‘I said, give me your hand.’
‘I cannot stand,’ she whispered in fear of both the pain to come and this man. ‘My foot, my knee, are...’ She pointed to her injured right leg.
The grumbled cursing began anew as he knelt next to her and pushed her cloak aside. His indrawn breath at the trews she wore frightened her, but he ignored everything but her right leg. Lifting it with a gentleness she never expected, he slid his hand over her, pressing lightly around her knee and then on the boot that covered her foot and ankle. She could not help the gasps that escaped with each touch, but she cried out when he squeezed her ankle.
‘Your pardon, my lady,’ he said quietly. Easing her leg back down to the floor, he stood up. ‘I do not think it broken, only bruised badly. But that boot needs to come off so your foot can be seen to.’ The man walked a short distance away, back towards the opening of the cave and turned around as though searching for something. ‘How did this happen?’ he asked.
‘I fell...in,’ she whispered, glancing up at the opening above and behind her.
His words, filled with all sorts of expletives and unimagined insults, shocked her. And yet, they did not match the ease in his manners when he approached once more and crouched next to her.
‘’Tis a wonder you did not kill yourself. Or was that your plan?’
‘Nay!’
Surprised at his boldness, she realised she had no idea of this man’s identity, even though he had clearly been searching for her. Had her father hired mercenaries to keep her disappearance a secret from the clan and from the man coming to marry her? She stared at him, unable to answer his unthinkable query and unwilling to tell him anything.
‘Who
