Page 73 of The Highlander’s Savage Vow

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The silence in the chamber stretched taut as they all stared at the deadly mechanism protruding from what should have been a harmless wedding gift. Ruaridh felt something cold and final settle in his chest—the knowledge that no amount of vigilance would ever be enough, that Murray's reach extended even into their most private moments.

Gordon was the first to break the silence, carefully setting the weaponized box on the table and stepping back. "Well," he said, his usual humor notably absent, "that certainly changes the tenor of the morning."

"Aye," Ruaridh replied grimly, his mind already cataloguing the security failures that had allowed this threat to reach their chamber. "It daes."

Gordon studied his friend's face for a long moment, then seemed to come to a decision. "Ruaridh, I think it's time fer me tae return tae me own clan."

"What?" Iona looked up sharply. "But ye just arrived⁠—"

"Aye, and now I've seen enough tae ken that this isn't just a Highland feud anymore. This is war." Gordon's expression was serious in a way Ruaridh rarely remembered from their childhood. "Which means it's time fer allies tae stand together."

Ruaridh felt a stirring of something that might have been hope. "What are ye saying?"

"I'm saying the Mackintoshes have nae forgotten our friendship, even if politics have kept us apart these past years." Gordon moved to the window, looking out at the courtyard below. "And I'm saying that when I return home, I'll be bringing word of what I've seen here. Word of treachery that reaches beyond clan borders."

"Gordon, I cannae ask ye tae risk yer clan fer our troubles⁠—"

"Ye're nae asking. I'm offering." Gordon turned back to face them both. "This is exactly the kind of moment when allies prove their worth. When friends stand together instead of letting politics and old grudges keep them apart."

Ruaridh felt his throat tighten with an emotion he couldn't name. After months of feeling isolated, of facing threats with only his own clan's resources, the promise of support felt like a lifeline.

"How many men could ye bring?" he asked quietly.

"Fifty, maybe seventy-five if me faither agrees tae commit our full strength. Seasoned fighters, all of them." Gordon's smile returned, though it held a harder edge than before. "And maybe, if we're lucky, word of our alliance will encourage other clans to remember where their loyalties should lie."

"It would mean everything," Ruaridh said simply.

"Aye, well, that's what friends are fer." Gordon's expression softened as he looked between Ruaridh and Iona. "Besides, I can see ye've got something worth fighting fer."

"What dae ye mean?"

Gordon gestured vaguely toward them both. "This. The way ye look at her, the way she looks at ye." His smile became more genuine. "I'm starting tae see a part of ye that I thought ye had lost during the war, Ruaridh. The part that remembers how tae care about something other than duty and survival."

Ruaridh, but he didn't deny it. "Iona has... she's helped me remember who I used tae be."

"And who ye still are, underneath all that Highland stoicism." Gordon moved toward the door, then paused. "Hold onto that, braither. Whatever comes next, dinnae let this war turn ye back into the cold bastard ye were becoming. She's good fer ye."

"I ken."

"Dae ye? Because the man who married her is a far better leader than the one who came back from war. The clan needs that man, nae just the warrior." Gordon's expression grew serious again.

The words hit deeper than Ruaridh had expected. "How long will it take ye tae return with reinforcements?"

"A week, maybe ten days if the weather holds. Can ye keep things quiet that long?"

"We'll have tae."

Gordon nodded, then moved to embrace first Iona, then Ruaridh in the Highland way. "Watch yer backs. Both of ye. And dinnae open any more mysterious gifts without me here tae spring the traps."

"We willnae," Iona promised, though her smile was shaky

After Gordon left, the chamber felt larger and emptier. Ruaridh looked at the remaining unopened gifts, then at his wife, and made a decision.

"I’ll have the guards open the rest of the gifts," he said.

Iona nodded slowly, then moved to help him gather the packages. "And then we write that letter tae the king?"