Page 30 of Forbidden Kilted Highlander

They mounted soon after, weaving their way back into the thick green maze of the woodland. It was quieter than it had been the day before. The mist was thinner now, burning off quickly beneath the rising sun, and the world smelled of damp earth and new growth.

For a while, they rode in companionable silence. But he could feel her watching him.

The road narrowed into a shaded passage where the trees grew thick, curling over like old bones reaching across the sky. Ferns spilled across the edges, brushing against their boots as the horses picked their way along the soft, uneven ground. Birds trilled above; the forest still wet with morning.

Tav rode just ahead, reins held loose but eyes alert, more for the conversation to come than the road itself. He felt her gaze before she spoke.

"Why the rush, soldier?" she asked finally, nudging her horse a little closer to his. "Ye’ve barely let us breathe since we left. Are we being chased again? Or is this just yer usual cheerful approach tae travel?"

Tav's jaw tightened. The question was innocent enough on the surface, but it pressed against a boundary he could not allow her to cross.

He didn’t turn. Just kept his gaze fixed ahead. "We need tae make good time," he said simply.

She arched a brow. "Ye’ve said that already. I’m asking why."

Because ye're tae be married before the ten days are over. Because the contract yer faither signed was conditional upon your prompt delivery, and the man ye’re tae wed is waiting with all the eagerness of a man who sees only yer family name and yer dowry.

But how could he say that? How could he speak the truth and still look her in the eye? She would think he had been conspiring with her father. She would hate him.

“Because the sooner I get ye tae yer betrothed, the sooner I can return tae me duties.” There. All she needs tae ken.

A silence followed that shifted something in the air between them.

When he finally risked a glance, her expression had changed. No more playfulness in her eyes. Her posture had gone still, her smile was gone and Tav felt it. Like the crack of cold wind through an open window.

She looked away, her gaze drifting to the trees, and he cursed himself silently. What had she expected? He wasn’t there to be her companion. He wasn’t here to indulge the girl in fantasies of friendship or... anything else. He was here because her father had ordered it. Because he was bound by duty, not desire. And yet...

He remembered the way she’d looked in the morning. Her smile as she had looked at him. The lazy way her hair had curled down her shoulder before she’d tied it back to travel. The sound of her laugh when she’d teased him about looking grim. He hadn’t felt grim then.

They rode in silence for the next stretch. She didn’t look at him again, didn’t say a word.

Tav forced himself to focus on the road, on the path ahead. Anything but the ache in his throat that had no business being there. She was engaged, spoken for. He’d known that from the first moment they had set out on this journey. He was to deliver her, that was all. Not befriend her or understand her. And certainly not...

He clenched the reins tighter, jaw working.

Behind him, she sniffed. He couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or something else.

“Ye alright?” The words left him before he could stop them.

Agnes didn’t answer for a moment. When she did, her voice was soft. “Aye. Just tired.”

He swallowed.

“We'll have tae endure. We cannae rest. Ye ken the dangers,” he said, though it wasn’t needed. They could’ve ridden another hour easy. But something in him couldn't bear her silence much longer.

She gave no response. Just nodded, barely perceptible.

By midday, the sun had begun its slow crawl westward when Tav realized she was flagging. He had noticed it first in the way her shoulders drooped in the saddle, how she shifted often, trying to find a more comfortable position. Her horse moved slower, and when he cast a glance over his shoulder, he found her rubbing at her eyes like a child being forced to stay awake.

"Tired?" he asked, drawing his mount to a halt beneath a wide elm tree, its sparse shade dappled and broken on the mossy ground.

Agnes gave him a look that was more weary than irritated. "Aye. I’m nae made o’ iron like ye, ye ken."

He watched her dismount with a groan and nearly stumble on her feet, catching herself just in time. Tav bit the inside of his cheek. They were close to the main road, too close for his liking. He knew the terrain, that if anyone was tracking them, or merely traveling the same direction, they might be spotted. Still, she was pale, lips dry. They’d been riding since morning with only a brief stop to water the horses. He scanned the thicket ahead and then looked to his left, where the sound of trickling water filtered through the trees. A narrow stream, not ideal but it would have to do.

"We should keep going," he said, adjusting the strap on his satchel. "Another hour or so, and we’ll be well away from the road."

"But there’s water here," she protested, nodding toward the sound. "And I’m hungry. I’m nae some dainty lass prone tae swooning, but I will if ye keep pushing like this."