“I have been protecting someone who can’t protect herself.”
“Who, Loki?” Hope sprang in Brodie’s gut. Would the lad pull through for him again?
“Missy angel.” He pointed to Brodie. “Ivarsson would kill you if he saw you. But I can follow her.”
“Is that what you were doing? Were you outside the tower when they left? Do you know where she is?” Brodie had to force himself to cease pummeling the lad with questions.
“Aye and aye!” Loki broke out in a wide grin and nodded his head, clearly quite proud of himself. Brodie wanted to kiss the boy, but he held back since the wee lad had asked him to train him as a warrior.
Nicol, clearly stunned, asked, “How did you know they were leaving?”
“’Twas easy. I put a bunch of stones in Aldrik’s shoes. I knew he would holler and bellow loud when he put his shoes on and stepped on the stones.” Loki had an evil look in his eye when he said, “I put quite a few inside. They had to hurt.” He threw his head back and giggled.
Nicol stared at him. “What? Speak up, lad, and stop talking in circles.”
“I was afraid I would fall asleep when I was watching over my—I mean—missy angel. I wanted to know if they were leaving. If the nasty draugr left, I could sneak up and see if she was all right. So I put little rocks in the shoes of Aldrik—the draugr—so he would bellow loud enough to wake me when he put them on. He can no’ leave without putting his shoes on, now, can he?”
Brodie and Nicol both grinned and nodded their heads simultaneously. “Well played, lad. Out with it.”
“So when he bellowed—and they hurt him bad,” he put his hand over his mouth in an attempt to contain his glee. “Sorry, so when he hollered, it woke me in the bushes and I knew they were leaving with missy angel. So I was right there when they put her in the cart with her maid and left. I did no’ know she would be leaving. ‘Twas a good thing I was there, Master Brodie. But Ivarsson did no’ go with them.”
Brodie crouched down in front of the lad and rested his arms on his legs. “Lad, tell me you know where she is, and I will buy you the biggest pastry in the land.”
Loki nodded his head before he rubbed his wee belly. “And a meat pie, too? It was hard work following that caravan until I figured out where they were headed.”
“Aye, two meat pies, you wee trickster. Where is she?”
“At her father’s house in Lennox near Loch Lomond. I heard the guards talking about it. And Ivarsson is still here in Ayr.”
Brodie picked Loki up and swung him up on his shoulders as they headed over to the local baker in the middle of town. “Well done, lad. You make me proud to call you a Grant warrior. Now, where are those meat pies?”
Chapter Twenty
I always wanted to write a scene where the heroine is saved by her hero on horseback. I just had to figure out exactly how to do it so it sounded plausible. In this scene, Celestina and Loki are waiting for Brodie, but while they wait, they meet the Norsemen near Loch Lomond, and the true value of a sling is learned.
Celestina and Loki ran and ran until she thought her lungs would burst. Much as she’d hated to leave her true husband’s side, she hadn’t wanted to risk all their lives by insisting otherwise. They were still in the trees, but she could tell they were drawing closer to the village because they could hear people yelling and screaming.
“Loki, promise me you will not do anything foolish. When Brodie gets here, he will help us. We just need to find a place to hide until that happens.”
Loki’s chest puffed out. “Lass, I am a Grant warrior now. I will protect you with this. See?” He held up his slinger and held open his pocket, which was filled with stones of various sizes. “I am verra good with my sling. I will protect you. That is what Highlanders do.”
Celestina couldn’t help but smile at the lad’s seriousness. They finally found a group of bushes behind a building and hid while they waited to see what was happening around them.
“Loki.” She brushed some dirt off the lad’s face.
“’Tis all right, missy angel. ‘Tis just a wee bit of dirt. Do not bother yourself with it.”
“When this is all over, you will stay with Brodie and me, will you not?”
“Och, I will be training with the Grant warriors. They promised.”
“I am sure they need you, but when you have days off, you will come and live with us in the Highlands. Agreed?” She staredat the plucky, cheeky lad of whom she’d grown so fond. She did not want to lose him.
“I suppose if you insist.” He stared at the stones in his pocket. “You are no’ going to make me take baths, are you?”
She chuckled. “Nay, you can swim in the loch with the warriors.”
He seemed to accept that, so she continued, “You will never have to go back and live in a place where you will get hit with fists.”
