Chapter 21
Anna stared at him. “What?” she said incredulously. “They’re going to kidnap Aislinn? You can’t be serious!”
The very idea was like something out of some twisted gangster movie. She knew things were different in this time, but snatching fair maidens and riding off with them? That was something out of a bad novel. Surely?
But one look at Emeric’s expression told her he was deadly serious. She swallowed thickly. “Um. You’re not kidding, are you?”
“I wish I was,” he said, his voice low as he stared out at the Murray stronghold. “Clan warfare is as old as the Scottish hills, and alliances forged by marriage are one more weapon to wield. The MacDonalds had expected the Mackintosh marriage alliance to be made with them. Instead, they see us as allying with the Murrays. They willnae let that stand.”
“So what do we do? Ride to Dun Carrick to warn the Murrays?”
He shook his head. “If we do that, the Murrays will march on the MacDonalds and there will be bloodshed before we know it. No, we have to warn my uncle. He canthen deny the MacDonalds access to this valley. The MacDonalds wouldnae dare march their forces through here if it is fortified against them. It’s a place where a small force could hold off a much larger one indefinitely. Their casualties would be catastrophic.” He looked at her. “We ride for Dun Achmore.”
He pulled the horse around and they began picking their way back the way they’d come at a canter, through the broken landscape of gullies and ravines. Anna struggled to put everything together. When she woke up this morning, she’d not expected the day to turn out this way. Strange how things can change from elation to fear in such a short space of time.
This morning she’d been walking on air. After what had happened between her and Emeric last night, she’d been elated, full of joy and hope and excitement. Even now, when she thought back to last night, those feelings rose up in her. Emeric’s strong arms holding her, his soft murmurs in her ear. The warmth of his body...
Yet it already felt far away. Now a deep, pervading worry gnawed inside her. Those undercurrents she’d sensed between the Highland families were fast developing into rapids that would wash them all away if they weren’t careful. She hadn’t found Emeric only to lose him now.
As if sensing her thoughts, he kissed the back of her head. “All will be well, lass,” he said. “Ye will see.”
“Told you we should have stayed at that inn,” she muttered.
He grunted but didn’t answer. His eyes were trained on their path, an aura of grim determination surroundinghim. He was every inch a fearsome Highland warrior now, bearing little resemblance to the man who’d been making her laugh only hours before.
They’d gone perhaps two or three miles when Plover suddenly snorted loudly and skidded to a halt, breaking the tension-filled silence with a shock that made Anna startle. The horse pawed at the ground restlessly, his head jerking as his ears flattened.
Emeric was instantly alert. “What is it, boy?” he murmured to Plover, his eyes scanning the terrain.
Anna strained her eyes too, but could see nothing out of the ordinary. The same rough crags that had surrounded them for miles, the same knotted shrubbery breaching through the crevices in the rocks.
And yet something felt different.
“Ambush!” Emeric hissed suddenly, his grip around her waist tightening.
Then she heard it. A coarse, chilling laugh echoing through the ravines. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She clutched onto Emeric as he tightened his hold on her.
From behind the sharp rocks and the entangled vegetation, shadowy figures materialized—men carrying weapons. They looked shabby and unkempt and were wearing the same plaid that Brodie and his family had worn at the games. Murrays, then. Anna reckoned there had to be at least ten, if not more.
One of the Murrays stepped forward, a large, muscled brute with a cruel sneer etched onto his face. He wore ahardened leather battle dress, adorned with Murray plaid, and bore a hefty claymore in his hands.
“Well, well,” he said. His voice was rough and gravelly, as though he’d suffered damage to his voice box at some time in the past. “Looks like we’ve snagged us a Mackintosh. Ye need to pay the toll if ye want to pass.”
Emeric’s lips pulled back from his teeth in a snarl. “This is Mackintosh land,” he growled. “And ye are trespassing.”
“Are we?” the man said, his eyes widening in surprise. “Oh, I didnae realize. In that case, we’ll just be on our way.”
His men sniggered. Anna licked her lips, looking fearfully around. They were surrounded.
“Get out of our way,” Emeric said, his voice colder than Anna had ever heard it. “And I might let ye keep yer miserable lives.”
