At the moment, Valkyrie flew lazy circles above them, which caused Mariota’s belly to clench with anxiety any time she lost sight of Alber. Her da seemed to keep him close, but she didn’t trust his surveillance to be absolute. Still, he appeared to try to adhere to the bargain she’d struck with him. So was he trying to keep Alber under control? Or keeping him close because heremained a favorite? The question burned at her, but as long as he remained tethered to her da, he could not use his bow to shoot Valkyrie out of the sky.
But if her da let him scout ahead, she’d call Valkyrie down and keep her close. Alber could be canny when he chose to be, and she couldn’t hear what he said to her da, what ideas he put into his head. Alber had yet to succeed in doing her or Valkyrie permanent harm. Still, she didn’t want her father to finally have to believe her complaints while standing over her or Valkyrie’s bloody, cold body.
At midday, they stopped by a stream to rest the horses. She shared a simple meal with Seamus, Anders and the other four Sutherlands her father had agreed to allow to accompany them. Valkyrie had provided her own meal— a young coney she dispatched with abrupt skill, dropped it near Mariota, then settled her feathers and ignored the men surrounding her mistress.
“She’s trusting,” Anders remarked while he picked at his food, his gaze on the hawk.
“I’m here, she kens Seamus, and I think she expects if I am comfortable with ye, she has nay reason for concern.”
“I hope she’s right,” Anders said and resumed eating his own meal. Had the sight of Valkyrie tearing into the coney diminished his appetite?
Mariota thought he’d seemed more subdued this morning than was his usual demeanor, more like Stellan, but she’d never been on a long ride with him, so she couldn’t judge. The other men with him seemed content with their own thoughts, though she was aware they had placed themselves around and across from her so they could see in all directions. No one would be able to sneak up on her. She appreciated their vigilance, especially as understated as it was. They kept their weapons to hand, but onthe ground or tucked into belt or boot, as much a part of them as their fingers and toes.
She held in a chuckle at the image that filled her mind of the Sutherlands and Seamus sitting around her barefooted, wiggling their fingers and toes to scare off anyone who came too close. She took another bite of cheese to hide her mouth behind her hand. They took their duty seriously. She should, too.
Her da approached and announced, “We ride in ten minutes. Take care of yer needs before then.”
Before Mariota could even nod in acknowledgement, he turned and walked away.
“No’ in a friendly mood, aye?” One of the Sutherlands whose name she hadn’t yet learned said and followed her father with his gaze. “Or is he always so terse?”
She should defend her da, but she had to agree with the man’s assessment.
Seamus saved her from having to form a reply.
“He is when he’s off MacKay land.” He shrugged. “We’ve a long way to go before his mood will improve.”
Seamus glanced at her.
Mariota understood what that gesture meant. They were a long way off MacKay land because of her. She didn’t see censure in his glance, but it was too brief for her to interpret it. Still, it raised the specter of guilt within her. If she hadn’t run, all these MacKays and the handful of Sutherlands would not be here, camped out in the woods, tense and subdued as her father sent disapproving glares at everyone.
She shook herself. Alber was to blame, not her. Any other lad would have taken her rejection years ago for what it was and moved on, but he took it as a challenge and came at her again and again, each time escalating the violence and threats, with some daft idea of using her to become laird. And she was letting her da force her home to confront more of the same.
Why had she agreed to this?
One look at Anders’ sympathetic gaze on her answered her own question. It seemed he understood where her mind had gone and wanted to help. Everyone at Sutherland had wanted to help, but there was only so much they could do without causing even more trouble, for her and for them. And nothing her friends there could do once she left Dunrobin.
For a long moment, she wished she’d left Valkyrie in the care of the Sutherland hawk master and run for Sterling.
Still, that was the coward’s way out, and she refused to be a coward. If she had to be the MacKay heir and someday its laird, she could not indulge her worst imaginings. She had to take charge of her fate, her da, Alber, and anything or anyone else who stood in her way. And with friends like Seamus and, possibly, a husband like Anders at her side, she would do it.
Anders must have seen the resolve in her eyes, or perhaps her clenched jaw gave away her thoughts. He nodded and gave her a brief smile, looking more like Stellan than Anders’ usual affable self. Somehow, he seemed to know she was thinking serious thoughts. Nothing to laugh over. She nodded back and stood to make her way out of the midday camp to a convenient clump of bushes.
Seamus and Anders stood, too.
She started to tell them to stay where they were, but realized she couldn’t see Alber anywhere. Her breath caught in her throat and she looked up searching. When she spotted Valkyrie doing lazy turns above her, she took a breath, kicking herself for not being aware when Valkyrie had finished her meal and taken flight.
Mariota nodded and let her friends take up positions behind her, at a discrete distance, backs turned, while she took care of herself. They escorted her to the burn to wash up, then back to her horse where she replaced the leather glove that protectedher hand from Valkyrie’s talons and called her hawk down from the sky. She’d feel better keeping Valkyrie close by until they stopped for the night.
That evening, the group built several small fires for the men to huddle around. Mariota refused her father’s demand that she sleep near him after she judged Alber too close, and her father’s snores disruptive enough to keep everyone near him awake and fuming. Instead, she bedded down at another fire, gratified when Seamus, Anders and the other Sutherlands as well as several MacKays formed a defensive ring around her.
Alber would not get near her.
She hooded Valkyrie and tied her jesses to a thistle between her and where Anders stretched out. The plant was low enough to see beyond but rooted deep enough to keep Valkyrie close by, but not so strong that the hawk could not pull free if threatened. Mariota debated leaving her without the hood, but decided she’d pass the night more quietly with it on. Normally she’d tie her to her perch on her horse, but there, she’d be outside the Sutherland circle of protection and in danger from Alber.
The night passed uneventfully until near dawn. Something spooked the horses into shifting and snorting where they were tied. The noise woke Mariota and much of the camp. Several of the men got up to check on them. Her father sent men to get reports from the perimeter guards.
“Likely a wildcat,” the nearest said when he came back into the camp. “The guards didna see anyone.”
