“Don’t worry,” Jamie said. “The next shipment is not until next week. There is plenty of time to get a message to him.”
Meg shook her head, feeling the panic well inside her. “No. The report with the next shipment arrived last night. The shipment is supposed to arrive two nights hence.”
“Damn!” Jamie swore angrily. “They must have decided to move it up.”
Meg’s mind was racing, her fear for Alex making it difficult for her to form a coherent thought. All she could think about was the trap he was walking into. She’d seen him fight, knew how skilled he was, but she also knew he’d die before he surrendered to Dougal. “I have to warn him.”
“You can’t. The king has issued a proclamation forbidding all Highlanders from traveling to Lewis. Besides, it’s far too dangerous, your father will never let you go.”
Jamie was right. But what choice did she have? She could tell her father, and he would send one of his men. But could she trust something so important to someone else? Meg knew the real reason. She desperately wanted—no,needed—to see him. To discover for herself whether there was a chance for them.
“I’ve made the short trip to Lewis many times. I’ll be back before my father even knows I’m gone.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
Meg gave him a hard, assessing stare. At that moment, he looked every bit as stubborn as Alex. “It’s not your decision to make.”
“Did you ever think that Alex might not want you there, might not appreciate your help?”
“What do you suggest? That I just leave him there to die? I’ll warn him of the plot and return to Dunakin immediately. You’re acting as if I’ll be the only woman on the Isle.”
“You’re heading into a damn battle, Meg.”
She took another look at his inflexible expression. “Please, Jamie, I need to do this. I have to see him. If it will make you feel better, I’ll tell my mother where I’m going. She’ll understand.”
Jamie didn’t look so sure. “Very well, if your mother agrees, I won’t say anything to your father.”
“Oh, Jamie, thank—”
“Don’t thank me,” he interrupted. “I’m going with you.”
“That’s not necessary—”
“Yes, it is. I can protect you. I should have guessed you would insist on going yourself. I’d go alone, but Alex wouldn’t believe me.”
Meg tilted her head to one side to study him. His body tense, his mouth clamped in a hard line. Consumed by her fear for Alex, she’d only just realized that by asking him what the king’s men had planned, she’d put him in an untenable position. Jamie was obviously in the confidence of the king’s men. And since he was loyal to his cousin, she could assume that at least nominally, the ever wily Argyll was involved with the Fife Adventurers’ efforts to colonize Lewis. But Jamie was also a Highlander. And as such, the idea of Lowlanders stealing Highland land must be repugnant to him.
“Whose side are you on, Jamie Campbell?”
She didn’t expect him to answer, but he did.
“Both.”
Chapter 20
Near Stornoway, Isle of Lewis
Alex wiped the dirt from his eyes with the back of his hand and succeeded only in smearing it from one corner of his eye to the other.God’s blood, what I’d do right now for a bath and a freshleine. Three weeks of living in virtual squalor, with an occasional dunk in the salty sea loch to rinse off the caked-on layers of filth, had begun to chafe.
He was ready for this battle to end. And if all went as planned, it would—soon.
From his post along the rocky banks of Arnish point, the small horn of land that served as a perfect lookout into Stornoway harbor, Alex kept his vigilant watch. Weariness tugged at his eyelids, but his steady gaze swept back and forth across the water. Even with the full moon, it was dark as molasses out here, and since the mist had descended a few hours ago, the night was nearly impenetrable. The conditions, however, only contributed to the general sense of unease. His senses were flared on high alert, the threat of danger unnaturally ripe on an eerie night like this.
Normally, the anticipation of coming danger would invigorate him. But no longer did he draw overriding satisfaction from the thought of battle. No longer was it enough.
Fighting with his kin on Lewis should be the culmination of his ambitions. Leading. Making decisions in the heat of battle. Testing himself. Undeniably, the hard work and training of the last few years had paid off. With much smaller numbers than their foe, the MacLeods’ precision attacks had seriously crippled the Fife Adventurers’ position on Lewis. Soon, it would all be over and he would have the decisive victory that he’d sought for years. His kin would have their land, and Highlanders would have their justice against the machinations of a greedy and bloodthirsty king.
Alex should be ecstatic. Yet, inexplicably, success rang hollow.
