Loki spit on the ground in front of him. “This is a small group. There are around four score surly Englishmen by my count to our five and forty, but we can take them. Especially if your cousins join us.”
“Lead on,” Dyna said, mounting her horse.
Her intuition had brought her straight to Loki. The situation was finally tilting in their favor.
The Scot’s Destiny
Book 5
Maitland and Maeve
Chapter Six
Loki stops for a night at Menzie land and meets Wiley and Q.
Maitland stayed another day before heading back to Grant land. He could simply stay through Yule—he’d planned to come here for the festive season anyway—but he had unfinished business back at Grant Castle. He wanted to take Maeve a Yuletide gift, and he knew in his heart his mother was right. He and Maeve belonged together. They could work with Maeve’s disinclination to leave Grant land.
And now that he’d acknowledged his feelings for her, he did not want to delay. Neither of them were young. Which meant they didn’t have much time to waste second-guessing or playing coy. And they knew what to expect out of life.
Not much.
Maitland sat on a large boulder at the Menzie archery field, an old shield fashioned into a target on a post a short distance away. He’d been working with the lads on learning to use their slings. Q was perhaps a wee bit young yet—he’d managed to hit himself with his stones as often as the target. But they all knew the story of Loki and how he’d been adopted by Brodie Grant after they found him and that he’d fought in the Battle of Largs using his sling and knocked out a few Norsemen.
Wiley let fly a stone three times and hit the target once. “Why am I missing?”
Q said, “Do dat way, Wi.” He’d shortened his brother’s name, just as Wiley had shortened his when he hadn’t been able to sayQuillan.
“Do what?” Maitland asked Q.
Wiley shook his head. “Notdo. He saidgo. ‘Go that way.’ He wants me to try from this side.”
Maitland glanced over at Q, who was grinning and nodding. The two had the same blond hair that carried a wee bit of wave when the wind messed it up. And they understood each other better than anyone. Like most brothers, Maitland reckoned.
“I’ll try it, Q,” Wiley said.
Sure enough, Wiley hit two out of three, and Q squealed with delight. “He did it!”
“Now ye try, Q.”
Q gave it his best effort, but his face fell when he missed the target completely with all three stones.
Hoofbeats caught Maitland’s attention, and he was surprised to see an unexpected trio approaching. Loki Grant tied his horse to a nearby tree and dismounted, his son Lucas and adopted son Kenzie just behind him.
Loki raised a hand in greeting to Maitland, then called out to the boys. “Let me have a look at those weapons ye are using, lads. Mayhap I have finer ones for ye.”
Maitland rose to greet his friend. Though not of the same blood, anyone from Grant land felt like family to him. “Loki, so pleased to see ye, but what brings ye here?”
“We’re just passing through. The lads and I always head to Ayr and Edinburgh just before Yule to search out any more lads living in crates like I did. We hope ye would oblige us with warm beds and good food for the night. We’ll be moving on in the morn.”
Tad came along behind the three. “The others who came with ye are already being fed. Ye are always welcome here, Loki.These are my lads, Wiley and Quillan, though we call him Q. They’ve been doing their best to improve their skills with their slings.”
“Many thanks to ye, Tad.” Loki turned to the boys and said, “Here, lads. Allow me to inspect yer slings. Mayhap Lucas has a couple spares for ye too. Not to say yers aren’t good, but we’re known for making the best in the land.”
Wiley brought his over and said, “Greetings to ye, my lord.”
Loki smiled. “Nay lord here. Just call me Loki. And this is Lucas and Kenzie. We all use slings.”
Q looked up at Loki and asked, “’Ten ye hep us, peez?”
