She pressed a hand to her chest as if she could ease the tightness there, but it was to no avail. Every time he struck, she flinched and waited for blood to seep into his shirt.
The sound of slippers rose behind her, jolting her out of her reverie. She knew who entered without even bothering to turn.
“I didnae ken ye missed yer husband so much,” Davina commented, amused.
Kristen flushed but kept her gaze on the yard. “Miss him? I only wonder why he fights like that if he couldnae fight his way home sooner.”
The amusement vanished from Davina’s face. She stopped beside Kristen and looked down at the men.
“Ye ken how men like him are,” she replied. “Lachlan has mentioned that their faither was a sea raider. A pirate. He protected his crew nay matter what, and men followed him because he would die for them.”
Kristen looked away from the yard at last. “Aye, I ken the story. Yer husband seems to be proud of it enough to tell it to anyone, I suppose.”
Davina laughed. “Aye, that sounds like Lachlan.”
“I heard that he never married either,” Kristen added. “Folks say that he left children scattered everywhere.”
“Aye.” Davina nodded. “Children scattered, and loyalty learned. At least he had that part right. If Neil remained in captivity even when he could have broken free, then he must have thought it would protect his men. That is the kind of man his faither raised.”
Kristen’s breath caught. “Even at the cost of his own freedom?”
Davina nodded again. “Especiallyat the cost of his own freedom. But then, the only way to truly ken is to ask him.”
They stood quietly, letting the afternoon breeze drift in and out of the room. Below, Neil sent another guard to the dirt and stepped away with his blade up.
The sight made Kristen’s stomach churn and her mouth go dry at once. She hated that her body could not pick a single sense to settle.
“Me Lady,” Finn called from the center of the room, reminding her that the children had been in there the entire time. “Can ye count for us, please?”
She turned around.
Finn and Anna were already hiding behind the long curtains, their little feet sticking out slightly. Maggie sat in the center of the room, panting as if the game had exhausted her, and thumped her tail like a drum.
Kristen lifted a hand to her eyes. “One. Two. Three. I wonder where the bairns have gone. Davina, have ye seen any children?”
“I have seen nay such thing,” Davina replied gravely. “Only a very fine dog.”
Maggie barked once as if in agreement, and the curtains shook.
Kristen peered beneath a chair. “Nothing here. Perhaps they flew out the window.”
Finn squeaked, and Anna giggled. A small shoe tried to pull itself further behind the fabric and failed.
Davina leaned down to study two pairs of small feet. “I see two very suspicious shadows.”
Kristen gasped. “Do ye? I see two very suspicious toes.”
A delighted shriek sounded from behind the curtains. Finn flung them wide. Anna tumbled out after him and rolled into Maggie, who bore the collision with the patience of an old saint.
The room filled with laughter and small voices at once.
“Again,” Finn demanded.
“Just a few more rounds,” Kristen said. “Then we wash and go out for a walk.”
“Can we go to the lake?” Anna asked.
“Aye, that we can do,” Kristen replied with a smile.
