Chapter 15
She hadna slept nary a minute. Not even dozed. Her deep breaths had exhaled in soft, controlled sighs and the tensed way she held herself against his chest told him she didna give in to slumber.Aye, but at least she stayed pressed close.He took some small comfort in that.
Alexander snugged his arm tighter around her sweet softness and held her steady as he turned the horse in a northeasterly direction and headed up the steep incline. Graham and Magnus fell in line behind him. They'd wandered the mountain long enough. 'Twas at last safe enough to veer back to their cave. The Neal warriors had no' given chase.
Strange.If Alexander had been in Calum’s stead, he would no' have hesitated to send riders to fetch back the escapees. Especially with the renowned horseflesh housed in the Neal stables. The horses Murtagh had supplied them were fine but they werena the best from the select herd bred by the Neal Clan. The stronger horses from the main herd wouldha overtaken them with little trouble.
An ill feeling, an ominous foreboding, settled like a stone deep in Alexander’s gut. Why had Calum no' given chase? What was the man’s plan? Calum Neal was a cruel bastard, but he was far from stupid. Alexander had surmised that much during his stay atTor Ruadh.
“Riders up ahead,” Graham called out, pointing toward two large horses and what looked to be a small, round-bellied mare.
“Riders?” Catriona pulled away from Alexander and straightened in the saddle, straining to peer over the arm he held snugged around her. “Neal riders?”
“Nay,” Alexander said, instantly missing the warmth of her cuddled close against him. “'Tis Duncan and Sutherland.” He paused for a long moment, studying the third rider on the mare. “And a priest.” He blew out a heavy breath. What the hell had those two done this time?
“A priest?” Catriona shifted in the saddle, stretching to see. “Sweet Jesu, they’ve bound his hands and tied the reins of his horse to Sutherland’s saddle.” She looked up at Alexander. “Be they mad? Taking a priest captive?”
“Not mad—just a bit inclined to follow the path no' usually taken.” Alexander reined in his horse and waited. He scrubbed a hand across his face and rubbed at the gritty corners of his eyes. He was damned tired and needed sleep. If these two were bringing more burdens to bear, he’d thrash their arses for them like he’d done when they were weans.
Duncan was grinning like a lad who’d just sampled his first whore and Sutherland looked the same. Alexander prayed this meant they bore promising news but with those two, one never knew. Their prisoner, the priest, looked ready to condemn them all straight to Hell.
“I dinna recall a request to take prisoners,” Alexander said as Duncan’s horse nickered a greeting to Alexander’s mount and came to a halt in front of him. He looked to the priest and gave a polite nod. “Father.”
The thin balding man dressed in dark, modest robes glared at him for a long moment then lifted his bound hands. “This is how ye treat a man of God?”
Alexander took a deep breath, gave Duncan and Sutherland a joint damning glance, then huffed it out. “Forgive my brothers, Father. They oft get a mite overzealous.”
“A mite overzealous,” the priest said, the pitch of his voice squeaking higher. “I dare say shoving a sack over me head while I’m at prayers and bagging me arse like a plump hen for market is a damned sight more than a mite overzealous!” He jerked his wrists toward Alexander again. “I demand ye untie me this instant.”
Alexander shifted his attention to Duncan and didna say a word, just waited for an explanation.
“He’s the priest what was traveling with Jameson Campbell.” Duncan stole a quick glance at Catriona then returned his focus to Alexander. He leaned forward and lowered his voice as he jerked a thumb toward the holy man. “They were within two days’ ride of Neal Keep. Coming for the marriage, they were.”
“We figured if we kidnapped the priest, 'twould at least slow their plans. If we hadna stolen him away, even though ye’ve rescued Mistress Catriona and prevented a civil ceremony, they couldha done a marriage by proxy, ye ken?” Sutherland said with a smug nod.
Whilst their treatment of the priest left something to be desired, their reasoning was sound. Alexander looked back at the priest still holding his tied wrists aloft. “I apologize for the harsh treatment, Father. Once we reach our destination, we’ll remove your bindings and do our best to be more hospitable, aye?”
The priest glared at him all the harder, setting his jaw and baring his clenched teeth as he dropped his tied hands back to his lap.
Aye. We are all going to Hell for certain.Alexander took the lead and urged his horse back to the narrowing path, tossing his words back over his shoulder. “How many rode with Campbell?”
“Near to sixty,” Duncan said. “All armed.”
“They even brought cannons. A pair of them loaded in wagons,” Sutherland called out from farther back in the line. “To a wedding, mind ye. What the hell do ye need cannons for at a wedding?”
Catriona shifted in front of him. The poor lass had started to shake. Her pale hands trembled atop the horn of the saddle. “Calum means to make a strong alliance with the Earl of Breadalbane,” she said in a quiet tone meant for him alone. “He swore to become the strongest outpost looking out across the glens.” She shook harder and her voice fell even lower. “Jameson Campbell is the earl’s successor and Calum considered myself and a dozen or more horses a fair trade for cannons and allies.”
Alexander held her closer and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Ye be safe now, Catriona. Ye be no man’s bargaining piece. Never again. I swear it.” The Campbell troops and firepower complicated matters to be sure. But he’d faced worse. They’d merely have to adjust their tactics.
“But how will we ever overcome Calum against so many?” She shifted with a deep sigh and bowed her head. “Such impossible odds.” Her voice quivered with her overwrought emotions. “I fear my people lost.”
The fear and desperation in her tone fueled Alexander’s determination to ease Catriona’s pain and set things aright. He had nary a clue how to accomplish it all at the moment but he’d damn well sort it out. All he could do right now was hold her close and keep her warm. He pulled his kilt tighter around her. “Hold fast, dearling. I swear to ye all is not lost.”
The horses slogged into the small clearing in front of the cave. With the sky cloudless on the early spring day, the snow and ice had reduced the ground to a muddy slush. Alexander dismounted then pulled Catriona down into his arms and cradled her like a babe.
“Sawny!” He paused until the boy looked his way. “You and Tom tend to the horses afore ye seek the fire, aye?”
“Aye, Master Alexander.” Sawny waved Tom forward and the two boys gathered the horses by their reins and led them to a drier portion of the plateau hemmed in by an array of boulders.
