“What else would you call it?”
“And pray tell, what have I done that is stupid?”
“You send your men after the bulk of an army while you go off on your own after the couple of people who’ve wandered off. Have I got that right?”
“Aye,” he said gruffly. “So?”
“Let’s say you get captured by the ones you’re following. How are your men meant to know what’s happened to you? Or even where you’ve gone?”
Gavin looked at his second in command, surprised to find Bruce siding with the woman. “She’s got a point. Take one of the men with you and if anything happens, they can let us know.”
“I cannot spare the men. You need them all to track a group that size.”
Heather said, “I’ll go with you.”
Gavin managed to resist smiling but only just. “Very well.” More time spent with her would not be a chore. “We need to move,” he added, helping her onto the horse. “Whoever left the group has gone to a rendezvous. It’s the only possible reason for breaking off from the main bulk of the army. If ought should happen to me, I will send her back to the castle with a message.”
“Aye,” Bruce replied.
Gavin looked at the men gathered around his second in command. “Take no unnecessary risks. Remember, this is a scouting mission. It will do me no good if you are all slaughtered by whatever army lurks out there. Find out their numbers and their plans and then return to the castle. If needed, prepare for siege. Do not hesitate if I am delayed. Bar all the doors and man the battlements in force. It may make all the difference.”
Bruce nodded, motioning for the others to follow him as he rode away leaving Gavin alone with Heather.
Setting out, Gavin was glad for the chance to be alone with the strange woman. All the while they’d been surrounded by his men, he felt a fiercely protective jealousy that bubbled up inside him, like he wanted to shield her from their gaze.
He told himself he should focus on the task ahead but that was easier said than done with a hand around her waist, his palm pressing slightly into her stomach, the smell of her invading his nostrils.
The scenery changed gradually, the fields and trees falling away and leaving them crossing a wide open grassy plain. In the distance mountains rose up gradually toward the sky.
A narrow pass between them was his destination. At their foot was Loch Glamis and the crossroads where he’d first met her. The broch was no more than a dot from this distance but he used it as a guidepoint, making sure they didn’t stray from the faint trail.
The ground soon grew wetter, the mud revealing several hoofprints. Whoever they were following had traveled this way. There were three sets, three horses.
Heather said nothing, looking left and right as they rode. Lairdkiller maintained a steady pace.
“It’s so beautiful around here,” Heather said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
She had been at the broch. She must have seen this before. “Where are you from?” he asked.
She twisted her head to look at him and he had to ignore a sudden overwhelming urge to kiss her. Shaking away the feeling he waited for her to answer. For a moment she was silent, frowning at him. Then she spoke.
“What do you mean?”
“You appeared out of nowhere, saying only that you are no one of consequence. You say you’ve never seen anything like this yet you were here just yesterday. It doesn’t add up. Where are you from?”
“Let’s just say it’s far from here.”
“How far?”
“Very far.”
“Your laird lets you travel beyond your village boundary then? Are you a freeman?”
“I don’t know what a freeman is.”
“Someone with no laird. Most freemen can ride though. You cannot. You are a mystery, Heather Frazer.”
He thought for a moment. What if she was a spy? What would be the best thing to do with her if she was? Hold her hostage and get Mungo to pay a ransom? It hadn’t worked when Mungo tried that with him but could it work the other way around?
