“My life is about to change—most drastically. I will get through it. Produce the children that are expected of me. No doubt we will be the model of wedded bliss.”
“I understand yer fear—”
“How can ye?” Brighit regretted the words as soon as she let them loose, her impulsiveness getting the best of her. “Forgive me, please, but ye were in love with yer husband. I am not.”
“Ye will learn to love him.”
Not the staid, dominating warrior at his father’s side. Never him.
Brighit ground her teeth together to stop the telling statement from coming out. The words lingered unspoken between them until Tisa finally nodded and walked away.
No doubt a mother had a hard time seeing the faults of her own children. Wasn’t it the same for Brighit’s own parents? Well, mayhap her mother saw her true colors, but her father believed she had no faults. A twinge of guilt shifted in her gut. Niall had promised them a raid tonight. If she wished to honor her father, she would decline. She would stay behind with the women, embroidering or gossiping or whatever women did.
Safe.
Out of harm’s way.
Sitting quietly. Listening politely when the men later recounted their adventures. Pretending she didn’t wish she’d joined them.
NO!
Tightening her jaw and tipping her nose in the air, Brighit passed the men, who continued their discussion of clan warring and how best to settle disputes in the area. She smiled. A tight smile. A smile that she hoped conveyed her acquiescence to all that the men did, as if she had a choice.
Brighit may have no say in the clan’s business, but tonight she would get her last taste of freedom, brandishing her sword and riding like the wind through the dark of night. She would have her last bit of excitement as a man and then? Then she would set aside her trews and tunic, exchanging them for the acceptable garb of a married woman who waited patiently at home for her husband to return to her. She would think no more of raids or adventures. She would accept her bondage to a man who was like every other man—bent on breaking her will to his own. But not tonight.
Tonight? They would not touch her free spirit.
Chapter 5
Niall led the way through the forest, intent on his destination, although he hadn’t shared it with the others. Brighit recognized the place as soon as they entered the boulder-strewn path. This was the very same land she’d crossed with Darragh, Tisa and Tadhg. They had been heavily guarded with no explanation for it. So the MacCochlain would feel the sting of their raiding this night. Her excitement increased three-fold.
When the guards accompanying them had quickly turned their group away from this very path, Brighit’s interest had been piqued. The serious expressions on Tadhg and Darragh’s faces had left her feeling, yet again, that a woman’s life was the antithesis of exciting.
For the smallest instant, she wondered if she should tell her uncle that their group had avoided riding through this area. But, she had no definite information. They’d kept hershieldedfrom any such knowledge. Men were always too protective of women, but her uncle was an exception. Even so…
“Uncle Niall?”
Though she’d whispered the words, Niall turned around, his shoulders up by his ears as if she’d shouted in her loudest voice. She immediately regretted the decision to say anything, but he was already moving closer to her.
“We do not want to be discovered before we’ve even found the cattle, lass.” The smell of ale was strong on his breath. “Are ye certain we need to be talking at this precise moment?”
Brighit nibbled at her thumb and shrugged. Niall tousled her hair as if she were still five, then bopped her nose, ready to turn about.
“I am certain.” Brighit spat out the words. “When we traveled these lands yesterday, we were heavily guarded. ’Twas as if there was much to be protected from here.”
Niall’s eyes creased with his smile. “Wonderful. All the more fun for us.”
And then he was back in his place, leading their little group. Well, she’d told him all she knew and it hadn’t worried him. No sense in allowing it to worry her.
Walls of cold, hard rock towered over them on both sides. They rode single file between the massive formations. With the moon well hidden by thick clouds, they could barely see the rider in front of them.
“Damn dark in here, Niall.” Lachlann’s statement was met with a quiet hush.
Brighit shivered, trying to ignore the nagging sense that someone was walking over her grave. This was a wonderful adventure—her last—and she was determined to enjoy it. An owl sounded in the distance as if in warning. Swallowing became difficult despite her constant reassurances to herself.
A horse whinnied in the distance. Too far ahead to be one of their own. Shivers tingled down her back and she took a shuddering breath.
A single war cry pierced the darkness.
