He shuddered.When he said it aloud like that, it sounded so stark.So severe.So final.
Carenza had nearly paced a rut in the wall walk, watching for the warrior’s arrival.
Her father was in the northern field, supervising the lads stacking wood for the great bonfires to be lit tonight.Cainnech was driving the cattle down from the hill into the close.Servants crisscrossed the courtyard, carrying baskets of barley, cabbages, leeks, and neeps, offerings that would be left at the castle doorways to appease the spirits.
The scents of roasting boar, baking oatcakes, stewing apples, and brewing ale wafted through the keep.Tonight the tables would creak under the weight of the year’s final harvest.On the morrow, the culling of the cattle would begin.
Carenza didn’t want to think about it.She narrowed her eyes at the spot where the road emerged from the woods.Was that movement?A figure approaching?
She straightened.
Then her heart plunged to the bottom of her stomach.
Hamish.
The warrior had brought Hamishhere.
There was only one reason to bring an animal to a Samhain celebration.
Her father was wrong.The man didn’t mean to kill Hamish to feed the monastery.
He meant to offer him as a Samhain sacrifice.
Horror filled her veins.
She began shaking.
Gathering her skirts, she flew down the steps.She dodged through the milling clan folk in the courtyard and burst out through the gates.
She had to stop the warrior.She had to force him to keep his promise.She had to convince him to turn around and return Hamish to Kildunan.No matter what it took.Shame.Guilt.Begging.Insults.Threats.
And she had to do it before her father caught sight of him.
For one lovely, lingering moment as he approached Dunlop, Hew imagined the beautiful enchantress in blue was rushing toward him out of eagerness.She’d seen him bringing Hamish, and gratitude had overwhelmed her.
His heart leaped.His breath caught.A familiar, warm tingling started in his belly.The sensation of being loved.
In that moment, he forgot about all his past broken hearts.His swearing off women.His vow of chastity.
He smiled.
Carenza’s skirts rippled behind her like the caparison of a galloping warhorse.Her breast heaved as she narrowed the distance between them.Breathless from exertion, she had the pink-flushed cheeks and open mouth of a lass freshly swived.
In that lovely, lingering moment, he believed she was going to leap into his arms.Declare her undying love for him.Gratefully cover his face with kisses.
Then the moment vanished.
Instead, she skidded to a stop before him.
Her smooth brow was crossed with lines of worry.Her mouth was tense.Her wide eyes reflected an emotion he couldn’t discern.Dread?Confusion?Disappointment?
But all she could gasp out was, “Don’t do this.I beg ye.For the love o’ God, go away.Go back to Kildunan, and don’t come back.”
He blinked.The warmth that had been tingling inside him congealed into a cold, hard lump.Like his ballocks when he dove into the icy loch.
Before he could respond, she continued in a hiss.“Have ye no honor, ye bloody traitor?Did your word mean naught?Is this how the craven knights o’ Rivenloch keep their vows?”
Now she’d pricked his temper.There was no need to call his good name into question.“Now wait a—”
