Page 73 of The Laird’s Wrong Wife

She pulled the cloak around her shoulders. “I am comin’ with ye.”

Oscar regarded her for a moment. His hand still remembered the shape of her through her dress. Soon, that same hand would hold a sword, and when that happened, the last thing he wanted was for her to be anywhere nearby.

“Nay,” he said. “Ye stay here.”

“Someone has attacked me family,” she huffed.

Beyond the guardroom, boots struck the flagstones as men hurried through the inner hall under Lennan’s orders.

Oscar put himself between her and the doorway. “That is exactly why ye must remain here.”

“Well, me faither’s letter asked ye to bring what strength ye can. I am a strength.”

“Bryce demanded Daphne,” Oscar reminded her, keeping his voice low as two men passed close enough to hear. “Ye wear her face. He could seize ye before he comes near enough to see the difference. Once he learns which sister he holds, he gains a weapon against David and against me. Our marriage has given him cause to strike at ye.”

Her hand tightened on the edge of her cloak. A barred chamber in the inner keep would hold her until the fighting ended. Let her curse him from behind the door. At least she would be alive to do it.

“I am nae askin’ to stand in the battle line,” Ceana said. “The north road is the route every stranger takes, and Bryce holds it. There is a track west of the river that reaches the lower postern. A man comin’ from the main road will miss the proper fork, and the ground turns soft beyond the birches.”

Oscar knew Morrag’s position on a map, but a map could not show him the turn hidden behind a rise or the patch of earth that would swallow a horse’s leg.

“Me faither will have placed defenders above the north approach,” she continued. “Me maither will gather the wounded near the old brew house. I ken me faither’s men, and I ken which entrances Bryce may overlook. I can guide ye there. I can help once the ground is secured.”

“Ye can help by stayin’ alive.”

“I willnae sit safely inside MacKane Castle while me clan bleeds over a marriage supposed to protect it!”

Oscar braced one hand on the table. The edge pressed into his palm as he stepped into her path.

“Lady MacKane, ye will go to yer chamber. Now.”

Ceana looked past him. “Lennan, how quickly can me horse be saddled?”

Lennan met his gaze before answering her. “She kens the western ground better than any man we can take from here, me Laird.”

“The track was open when I escaped,” Fergus said from the bench. He tried to straighten and caught the side of the table when the movement made him sway. “I can mark where it begins. I couldnae guide riders over it at their pace today.”

“She may save us hours at the wrong approach,” Lennan added.

Oscar looked at Ceana. Confinement would delay her only until his men left the gates. She would find another horse and follow with whatever guard remained close enough to stop her.

Why do ye have to be so stubborn?

He was still debating what to do when the sound of small footsteps rose in the hall. Paisley stood beside Tommy at the threshold, with Mairi close behind them.

Tommy stared at the sword belt of the first man who hurried past. “Are the bad men comin’ to MacKane?” he asked.

“The attack is at Morrag,” Oscar explained. “Captain Brodie and enough armed men will remain here. Ye will stay inside the inner ward with Paisley and Mairi.”

Paisley looked at Ceana. “Are yer maither and faither in danger?”

“Morrag is under attack,” Ceana said. She went to them and bent until her face was level enough with theirs. “They were alive when Fergus left, and the castle was holdin’ up.”

Tommy caught the front of her dress. “Are ye comin’ back?”

Oscar released the table. His son had begun to expect Ceana at breakfast. If she did not return, he would have to answer that question again.

“I mean to come back,” Ceana assured. “Until I do, ye will heed Mairi and stay with Paisley.”