She glanced at him, but his blue eyes were fixed on the road ahead.
He’s a complicated man, Rosa had told her. What had she meant by that?
“See anything ye like?” Kai asked, his eyes sparkling with amusement.
Caitlin looked away, flushing with embarrassment. “Nothing,” she said, feeling foolish at being caught staring.
Kai chuckled. “Ye are a terrible liar, Caitlin. Come on, out with it.”
She shrugged. “You seem distracted. I was just wondering what you’re thinking about.”
“Isnae that obvious? I’m sitting here wondering why my beautiful companion is staring at me.”
Caitlin huffed. “You’re impossible, you know that?”
Kai’s grin only widened.
Caitlin looked around. Behind them, Emeric was asleep in the back, his head bobbing gently with the swaying of the wagon. Conall had gotten out and was walking alongside it while Oskar glared fiercely out at the landscape.
“He doesn’t look very happy,” Caitlin said to Kai, indicating the swordsman.
Kai nodded. “He’ll be all right. He never likes to walk away from a fight.”
“So I gathered. He seemed to take it pretty personally when those bandits were going to attack Aberfeldy.”
Kai sighed heavily. “Aye,” he replied in a low voice that wouldn’t carry. “Oskar has been fighting his whole life. It’s all he’s ever known. He lets his anger get the best of him sometimes, but he’s a good man. I’d trust him with my life. I’d trustallof them with my life.”
Caitlin said nothing. There was so much she didn’t know about her unexpected traveling companions.
Kai yanked suddenly on the reins, pulling the cart to an abrupt halt. In the back, Emeric came awake with a snort, and Oskar cursed as he was jostled against the cargo.
Kai jumped lightly down from the wagon seat, crouching in the dirt and scanning the ground. The rest of his men joined him.
“Hoofprints,” Kai said grimly. “Lots of them. A large group of riders came through here recently.” He stood and looked around. “I dinna like the look of those trees,” he announced, nodding at a ridge of conifers that stood directly in their path. “The perfect place for an ambush. I’m going to scout ahead. Conall, Emeric, take point to either side of the wagon. Whistle if ye so much as smell anything out of the ordinary. Oskar, ye will stay with the wagon.”
“With the wagon?” Oskar snapped. “I’m not a bloody wagon-driver!”
“Nay,” Kai agreed lightly. “Ye are Lady Caitlin’s guard, and I wouldnae trust anyone else with such a task.”
This took the wind out of Oskar’s anger. He nodded grudgingly, then climbed up onto the wagon seat beside Caitlin and took the reins.
The sudden change in mood fell over the group like a blanket, and Caitlin’s stomach clenched with apprehension. She could only watch mutely as Kai and the others disappeared into the trees.
Silence descended. Oskar noticed her unease and gave her a reassuring smile. “Dinna worry, Lady Caitlin. We’ll be through this forest in no time, and then we’ll be back on the open road again.”
Caitlin forced a smile, although her disquiet did not abate. Oskar clucked to the horses and the wagon lurched into motion.
They were soon swallowed by the trees. What had been a cold, clear day became instantly gloomy as they passed beneath the thick cover of the forest canopy. The trees grew close together and there was no undergrowth between the trunks, only shadow.
Oskar remained silent, his eyes sweeping the trees that crowded close on either side, the squeak of the axles and the thud of the horses’ hooves the only sound in the still, thick air.
She hadn’t realized that she was leaning forward on the wagon seat, or that she was clinging tightly to its edges until Oskar said, “Relax, lass. Ye are making the horses nervous.”
“Easy for you to say,” she muttered, but she forced her fingers to unclench and leaned back in her seat. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder at their cargo. The casks of gunpowder weren’t visible, buried beneath the false bed and the other supplies piled on top. Was that what this was all about? About who could get their hands on such a destructive weapon?
The wagon trundled on through the trees for what seemed like hours until finally, blessedly, they emerged into a clearing and Caitlin breathed a sigh of relief as sunlight warmed her skin again. The others were already there waiting for them, standing in a circle around something at the side of the road. Oskar directed the horses towards them with a gentle tug on the reins.
Kai came to meet them, his face unreadable, but his eyes alight with something that Caitlin couldn’t quite identify. “They’re gone,” he announced. “At least a day ago if the remains of the campfire are anything to go by.”
