Page 62 of It’s in his Highland Kiss

Eiric had to admit that he hadn’t considered that quite yet. It would not be easy, sneaking so many men past his father, if not completely impossible, and he doubted that the other man would be understanding enough to allow him to take so many men away at a time when the castle needed them the most.

“I dinna ken yet,” Eiric told Edan. “I’ll think of somethin’ to say to him, dinna fret.”

Edan didn’t seem to be convinced by Eiric’s words, but he only nodded at him before he left the room, leaving Eiric alone to come up with a plan. He could always lie to him, Eiric thought. He could always tell him that he needed the men for something else, for training, perhaps, or to track down Lynton. The latter wouldn’t be that much of a lie, after all. Eiric was fully determined to track Lynton down and give him a taste of his own medicine, but he would only do so once he could be certain that Marion was alive and well.

Perhaps he could kill two birds with one stone, he thought, if he could get Lynton and Commander Forbes in the same place. Nothing would give him greater joy than revenge. He was quite certain, in fact, that his body would heal faster if he had the knowledge that Lynton was dead.

How can I bring the two of them together? Will their men be too many to fight at the same time?

Perhaps it was wiser to take care of each man at a different time, he thought, but in quick succession. If he first found the commander and then Lynton soon after, then all he had to tell his father was that he would be going after the man who had caused him so much pain.

The man was bound to give him his blessing.

Eiric finished dressing, and then he made his way to his father’s office, declaring—rather than asking—that he would be taking the men on a crusade. It was that kind of initiative that his father had looked for in him ever since he was young, and so he wasn’t expecting the answer that he received.

“I dinna think that’s a good idea,” the laird said.

Eiric was stunned. He blinked in surprise a few times, looking at his father as though he had lost his mind, and perhaps he had. The man sitting in front of him didn’t sound like his father at all.

“What do ye mean?” Eiric asked him. “How can ye say that?”

“I can say that because ye’re me son, and I already almost lost ye once in the hands of that barbarian,” the laird said.

“Does that mean that ye willna let me fight from noo on?” Eiric asked, scoffing at the other man. “Will ye send everyone else to fight but me?”

“Ye ken that I wouldna do that,” the laird said. “I canna do that. I canna prohibit ye from doin’ anythin’ that ye wish to do, but dinna ask me to give ye me blessin’ to go to war with the man who almost killed ye.”

Eiric sighed, a hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose. He shook his head at his father’s inability to see his side of things.

“Weel . . . forgive me, Faither, but I must do what I must do,” Eiric said. “With yer blessin’ or without it.”

“Aye, I dinna doubt it,” the laird said. “I only ask of ye one thing. Dinna tell yer maither.”

Eiric hesitated for a moment, but then nodded in agreement. Perhaps his father was right, he thought, not wanting his mother to know the truth. She would worry for no reason, and Eiric hated the idea that he would be the cause of her distress. Besides, he had already lied to his father, or rather hadn’t told him the entire truth. Telling a small lie to his mother to save her from weeks of worry wouldn’t weigh much in his conscience.

“Verra weel,” he said. “But dinna fret, Faither. I’ll be back soon. I promise.”

Eiric watched his father for any reaction, even a small nod to acknowledge what he had told him, but he received nothing. With a sigh, he turned around to leave, walking to the door.

“Eiric?” his father called before he could leave.

“Aye?”

“Be careful.”

Eiric smiled to himself and nodded slowly, turning around to glance at his father, only to find that he wasn’t looking at him, but was rather gazing out of the window.

“I will. I’ll come back.”

With that promise, he left to rally up his men. It was time for war.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Marion didn’t know how long she could keep Commander Forbes away from her. It had been several days since their incident, and she was avoiding him as much as she could, but the commander didn’t seem to be perturbed.

In fact, Marion was quite certain that the man was more than happy to pretend that neither the kiss nor the slap that Marion had dealt him afterwards had happened. His behaviour was nothing short of surprising, even baffling, for Marion, who had thought that he would want to kick her out of the camp, to say the least. She had not expected him to act as though nothing had happened between them, as though she hadn’t attacked him.

Of course, so had he, she reasoned. Perhaps the commander didn’t want anyone to find out that he had forced that kiss on her, and so he kept her secret so that she would keep his.