Then Megan’s voice, loud and firm, came cracking through the chaos, sharp as a whip.
“Ryder! It’s nae what ye think! He’s a boy, Ryder, a boy!”
Ryder blinked, and the red haze seemed to fade a little. Suddenly, the monstrous man of his imagination faded away, and he found that he was grabbing the neck of a boy. A familiar one, no less. He was tall and strong-looking, which was why he’d looked so much like a man from far away.
“Hamish,” Ryder managed, lowering the dagger. “I ken ye. Ye are Hamish.”
Hamish swallowed thickly and nodded. A glint of something like a tear shone on his cheek.
Abruptly, Ryder stood up quickly, sheathing his knife. Alaina hurried to Hamish’s side, dropping to her knees beside him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. She was still holding a drooping handful of flowers. Ryder frowned.
“Come away from him, Alaina.”
“How dare ye give me orders!” Alaina shouted tearfully. “I thought ye were goin’ to kill him! Ye would have done, had it nae been for Megan!”
Hamish drew in a ragged breath and dragged his gaze up to Ryder.
“I never did lay a hand on her, me Laird,” he whispered. “I swear it. We did nay harm. It was just… it was just that we wanted to go to the festival. Alaina said that she’d never been, and I wanted her to see it. That was all,” he added, with just a hint of defiance.
Ryder sighed, raking a hand through his hair. “Get up, son. Alaina, let go of him.”
“I willnae!” Alaina snarled, fury jumping in her eyes. “Megan, ye saw it. He would have killed Hamish!”
Megan heaved a sigh. She suddenly looked very tired.
“Alaina, ye ken that I daenae agree with the restrictions yer braither has put on ye. Ye ken that. But ye also ken that he has yer best interests at heart. Sneakin’ out without proper guards at midnightisdangerous. And nae just dangerous for ye, but for the others as well.”
“Others?” Ryder echoed.
“Me friends,” Alaina answered defiantly. “Oh, aye, braither, I have friends, can ye believe it? Daenae dare ask me who they are, because it’s nae yer business.”
“I have nay doubt that I can find out who they are,” Ryder shot back briskly. “I never said ye couldnae have friends, Alaina.”
“Oh aye, ye did,” she responded bitterly, resting her cheek against Hamish’s shoulder. “Ye told me that I couldnae have friends in a million different ways.”
“I am tired of yer dramatics, young lady.”
“Aye, and I’m tired of yer tyranny. I hate ye, Ryder, I hate ye!”
He flinched despite himself. “Ye daenae mean that. Daenae say things ye daenae mean, Alaina.”
In a flash, she was right in front of him, her tear stained face inches away from his.
“Oh, but I do mean it,” she hissed. “I love Hamish, and he loves me. Ye cannae do anythin’ to stop it. We’re goin’ to run away and live at a quiet wee village somewhere, somewhere ye cannae touch him.”
Ryder pressed his lips together. “Oh, is that so? And what village is this?”
“I daenae care what village it is, so long as it’s far enough away that I daenae have to seeye!”
Her words echoed around the quiet hillside. Ryder stared down at his sister.
She means it,he thought, disbelievingly.
“Well, ye are runnin’ off nowhere for now,” he said at last. “Because ye are nae of age, and so there’ll be nay runnin’ off. Nae without me following ye, certainly.”
Alaina’s eyes filled with tears again, and somehow this was worse than her anger and screaming. She turned away, and for the first time since he’d arrived, Ryder felt utterly at a loss.
In the silence that followed, Megan cleared her throat delicately.
