Spots had been cowed into silence, but Spaniel seemed keen to speak up.
“We must stay by his side. Those were the orders fromLaird Kenneth,” he said, emphasizing the name.
Una lifted her eyebrows. “My brother, ye mean? Lad, I’m sure it galls ye to listen to a stranger, but…”
“I’ll not take orders from a woman!” Spots piped up, having regained his confidence. “Least of all from a?—”
He never had time to finish his sentence. Struan seized him by the neck, hauling him close.
“Be very careful what ye say next, lad,” he whispered. Spots’ eyes bulged with terror, and his face began to turn blue. “Ye think that parading around with a wee sword in a Keep makes ye a soldier? No, lad. It requires something more than that. Ye haven’t felt fear yet, not truly. I can change that for ye.”
He was dimly aware of shouting and the metallic scrape of a sword in its sheath. One of the soldiers—Spaniel, he thought—tugged at his arm in a blind panic.
Then Una’s hand landed on his shoulder, and her touch resonated through him like a flare of heat.
“Enough,” she snapped. “Let him go, Struan.”
Struan obeyed. Spots staggered back, coughing and clutching his throat.
“Ye three, inside,” Una commanded, her voice grim. “There’ll be consequences for disobeying. Tell my brother that another three men must be selected to guard Struan. Say any more or any less than that, and I’ll see to it that he knows how ye spoke to me.”
The men paled, exchanged panicked glances, and set off at a run towards the Keep. Struan watched them go and chuckled, placing his hands on his hips.
“Scurrying off like three frightened kittens,” he muttered.
Una rounded on him, her face blazing. “What are ye doing, fool? If they’d been better soldiers or quicker thinkers, one of them might have struck yer head from yer shoulders before I could intervene.”
He gave a surprised laugh. “Turning on me, eh? I was only defending yer honor. If ye had heard what they said before…”
“My honor is my own,” Una snapped. “And if ye think I haven’t had men say terrible things about me before, either to my face or behind my back, ye are wrong. What made ye think ye had the right to defend me? Eh?”
Struan found himself stumbling over his words. “Well, I… We…”
Her face hardened. “Because ye kissed me, is that it? Believe me, man, I was too shocked to push ye away earlier, and that’s all there is to it. Ye had best stop thinking about that kiss, for both of our sakes.”
Struan bit the inside corner of his mouth to stop from grinning. Her words were sharp and brusque, but her face was red and getting redder by the moment.
She’s blushing,he thought, fighting to keep his face straight.She’s so sweet.
That thought took him by surprise. Had anybodyeverthought that Una Alcorn was sweet? He doubted it.
“Forget the kiss all ye like,” he responded coolly, “but ye won’t taste sweeter lips than mine, love.”
She stared up at him, utterly perplexed.
“I don’t know whether to stab ye or laugh at ye,” she said at last, shaking her head. “Come. We’re meant to be running. Let’s run. Ye don’t have long before they lock ye up again.”
Without waiting for a reply, she turned and began to run away. Struan caught up with her quickly.
“Here is my proposal,” he said, trying and failing to catch her eye. “There is something strange between us, aye? Ye claim to hate me, and I’m sure that in some way ye do. The tension… is a lot, aye?”
“Whattension?”
“Don’t tell me that ye were frozen in fear and shock when I kissed ye,” he shot back. “A warrior like ye? Nah. Ye could have killed me a dozen times, or at least made my life harder. But ye didn’t. Why not?”
She increased her pace. “Because I?—”
“Because ye promised the Abbess, aye, aye, I know. Because ye promised my sister. Maybe that’s part of it. But I’ve seen ye looking at me, Una Alcorn.”
