“Mayhap. And a lass named Emma?”
“Emma and Emelie? I don’t know aboot that. It’s normal to name a son for his father. I don’t know aboot naming a daughter for her mother.”
“I won’t consider Nic if you won’t consider Emma.”
“Stubborn.”
“Aye,” Dominic chuckled as he nipped at Emelie’s earlobe. They rolled, so Emelie rested on her side. Her belly now made it difficult to lie across Dominic for long. Her petite stature left little room for the bairn to grow but outward. Emelie moved to kiss Dominic but screamed as an arrow landed where she had just been lying.
Dominic was on his feet with his sword drawn in a heartbeat. He eased Emelie to her feet as the guards ran toward them. They surrounded Emelie, making her invisible to anyone outside their circle. The men scanned the meadow, and those facing the tree line peered among the trunks. Nothing moved, and no sound greeted them as they strained to hear.
“Alec,” Dominic whispered.
“Aye.” Alec broke away from the group. With his sword raised, he crept toward the trees. None of the men had targes with them, but they were all armed to the teeth. Dominic insisted they all wear as many dirks as they could fit when they left the keep with Emelie. It wasn’t long before Alec returned. “I can see where he stood to take the shot, but there is nay other sign. Nay footprints, nay disturbed leaves. It’s like a wraith came and went. I looked into the branches and didna even spot a squirrel.”
“Stay in formation. We get Lady Emelie back to the keep, then I’m coming back to look for myself.”
“Dom,” Emelie protested.
“No,” Dominic barked. Emelie remained silent as the men kept her in the middle. Alec and Garrett, another guardsman, walked backwards to protect Emelie from the rear. Dominic whistled, and the postern gate opened. The men didn’t separate until they walked Emelie up the stairs to the keep. Brodie came running from the lists.
“What happened?” Brodie demanded.
“Someone shot at Emelie,” Dominic said as he bustled Emelie inside. Laurel was in the Great Hall and caught sight of the trio and hurried toward them. She looked at her husband, but Brodie could only shrug. Dominic steered Emelie toward Brodie’s solar. Brodie and Laurel followed, and Brodie locked the door once they were all inside.
“You don’t know that it was at me. It could have just as easily struck you if we hadn’t moved when we did,” Emelie disagreed.
“Em,” Dominic pulled Emelie onto his lap as he took a seat at the enormous wood table in the center of the chamber. “That arrow was fired as we moved. It landed next to you for a reason. I’m a far larger target than you. If they aimed it at me, it would have hit me. The only other reason to fire it was a warning. Either way, it shouldn’t have been anywhere near you. I will find who did this, and they will pay.”
Emelie nodded as she swallowed. She really didn’t want Dominic to go anywhere near the woods, but she knew she wouldn’t dissuade him. And she knew they had to discover whoever was a threat to her and the clan. “Will you promise to take a targe?”
“Yes, sparrow. I promise.”
Emelie closed her eyes, but they burst open. She leaned against Dominic’s chest and didn’t notice she had a handful of his leine clasped in her fist until her fingers ached. She released it and tried to smooth the wrinkles. “I know I’m not a Highlander, but I did grow up near the border. Please be careful. I know what a mon looks like riddled with arrows. I can’t stop picturing that being you every time I close my eyes.”
“Wheesht, sparrow. I’ll be careful. I won’t go alone, and all the men I will go with will have targes. But I must go soon before whoever it is puts too much distance between us.” Dominic looked at his brother and sister-by-marriage. “Stay with Em, please.”
“We will,” Laurel nodded as Emelie stood. She wrapped her arms around Emelie as best she could with their bellies in the way. Dominic and Brodie left the solar to talk in the passageway.
“I thought everything was fine. Naught’s happened in over two moons,” Dominic whispered.
“Aye. And we have heard no rumblings from the Lamonts. Now that David is dead, it seems they aren’t so eager to keep the feud going as we feared. Without them, the MacDougalls are unlikely to strike. The MacArthurs know better than to cross the river. We left the few that did right after you returned from court as food for the animals. They have sent no one since.”
“MacGregors?”
“That’s my thought. With it now autumn, they won’t have a harvest, and they are likely fuming. Mayhap we send them grain and a few sheep and heads of cattle.”
“Do you think they’d take a handout from the very clan that ran them off their land?”
Brodie shrugged. “They will if they have more sense than pride. The Bruce gave us the land.”
“Aye.” Neither Dominic nor Brodie needed to rehash how their father and Brodie had led raids against the MacGregors that gained them land besides what the Bruce gifted them for loyalty. It was unlikely the MacGregors would ever forgive the Campbells, but the Campbells were an ever-growing clan that needed arable land for farming and space for crofts. Brodie would never feel guilty for providing for his clan.
“Go, but be careful, Dom. Your wife will run me through if aught happens to you.” Brodie grinned, only half-jesting. Dominic nodded and hurried out to the bailey. Men were already assembled, making his eyebrows shoot up.
“I told them what happened,” Alec explained. “Garrett, Tim, and Davey have already set out. We waited to be sure ye settled Lady Emelie. We’ll go with ye. Whoever did this to Lady Emelie and ye will pay.”
Dominic looked at the steely gazes of the men awaiting his command. There was a personal element to their determination, and Dominic realized the men took the threat to Emelie seriously. They wanted to avenge her because she was important to the clan, not just because they had a duty as guardsmen. Alec handed him his targe, and the men set off. They jogged across the meadow until they met up with the three warriors who set off ahead of them.
