Chapter 5 #2
“It is serious. The most serious business,” Lachlan agreed.
“Unfortunately for ye two, lads, it is a heavier burden to bear than most. Because it is nae just yer fellow man that ye must protect. But one day, hopefully in the verra distant future, ye will share the responsibility of the safety of this clan. Ye must be strong enough warriors to keep everyone safe. And that starts by training yer mind.”
“Training yer mind?” Arran echoed, not understanding what Lachlan was driving at.
“Och, aye. The mind is the most important muscle ye will ever work. If yer arms and legs fail ye, but ye still have yer mind, ye can still survive. But if yer mind goes, it does nae matter how strong yer back is. Ye must be in control of yer thoughts and where they wander at all times. Ye must stay focused.”
Both boys nodded sternly. Aila smiled at the similarities in their expressions and the one Lachlan wore now.
She was so proud of her family and how far they had all come together.
She only wished that her entire family could be together—Taryn, James, and Sorcha included.
A sigh slipped through her nose just as Lachlan gave his final instruction.
“To practice this, I want ye both to stand back to back, swords up high.”
The boys moved into the position immediately.
“Good,” Lachlan nodded. “Now, stand there.”
“Just… stand here?” Arran questioned, already letting his sword drop.
“Och! Pick yer weapon up!” Lachlan barked.
Only once Arran was back in the right position did he answer.
“Aye. Ye are going to stand there and keep watch on the field. Pay attention to the other warriors training. Watch how they move, who wins and who does nae. Look for any weaknesses ye might use against them. And at all times, keep the rest of the field in yer mind so that nay one sneaks up on ye. Understood?”
“Aye, sir.”
“Aye, Uncle Loch.”
Satisfied with himself, Lachlan stepped away from the boys and walked over to where Aila was still perched on the stone wall. With his back to them, he made no effort in trying to hide his broad smile.
“Happy with yerself then, aye?” Aila asked, looking up at him.
“They are asking all the right questions,” he shrugged.
“This is how my father started my training. Only, I was stood there with Arran’s father at my back.
Does me good to see him with the same look his Da wore.
Those lads are nae the greenhorns that we were.
They have already learned to survive; they ken well how to study people before they make their move.
I ken if they can keep their focus, they will both turn out to be—”
“Lachlan…”
Christopher’s hesitant voice cut off the compliment Lachlan was in the middle of issuing. With a resigned sigh of his own, Lachlan turned, disappointment etched in his brow,
“It has nae been all of five minutes. Tired of this already? Well, perhaps ye are nae ready for—”
“Nay, sir. There is a figure in the woods approaching the edge of the field. Looks like a rider and horse.”
Aila’s eyes immediately went to where the boy was pointing. Arran and Lachlan both turned to search the tree line that was encompassed in shadows, the morning sun not having reached that far just yet. It took her almost a full minute to find the figure Christopher had noticed.
“Good lad,” Lachlan said, clapping the boy on the back. “I doubt even our patrol men have spotted him yet.”
“There are two,” Christopher informed them, eyes narrowed on the figure. And then he gasped. “Taryn and James!”
As soon as the names left his mouth, any sign of a warrior in training left Christopher’s face, and he morphed into the same frightened boy he had first been when Aila, Taryn, and Sorcha had rescued the three orphans.
It felt like a lifetime ago. The bonds they had forged with each of the kids were too deep for anything less than a lifetime of love—or a deep understanding of what it means to be a fugitive.
Abandoning his post, Christopher took off running towards the couple, zipping through the chaos of the training field like it was a wide open space rather than one teaming with men, swinging swords at each other.
Aila was only half a step behind him. Arran was quick to follow, leaving Lachlan to bring up the rear, shouting something about focus and holding one’s post. They were all too desperate to hear word on Sorcha to pay it any heed; Lachlan gave up the effort before he finished his first sentence, lengthening his strides to catch up with Aila. There would be no catching Christopher.
Taryn and James had already dismounted by the time Aila and Lachlan made it to their side. Christopher all but threw himself into Taryn’s arms, squeezing her so tight that he stole her breath.
“All right, lad,” Lachlan warned with a firm hand on his shoulder. “Ye must be gentle with the lasses. Let her catch her breath so she can tell us what they’ve found.”
Taryn hugged Christopher back just as tightly for a heartbeat before letting him go and reaching for Arran.
“Did ye find her?” Arran asked, his face tilted up to look at her.
It wouldn’t be too long, a summer or two, before Arran and Christopher would both be towering over Aila and Taryn.
And Sorcha.
Aila chided herself for making Sorcha an afterthought when she was anything but. Getting their friend back was on the forefront of everyone’s minds. It would do no one any good to think about Sorcha as if she were already gone.
“The blasted walls are too guarded,” Taryn bit out with a frustration that Aila had never seen before.
James immediately put a soothing hand on her back, though his anger was just as prevalent.
“There was nae even a sign of her. We searched the woods all around the estate, hoping to find evidence of a camp or something. But there was nothing. Any evidence there might have been was covered by the snow.”
Lachlan’s face grew dark and stormy. Aila could feel her own countenance shifting that way too.
“We will simply have to keep looking,” Aila told them all.
“How?” Taryn all but shouted. “We cannae get any closer to the estate without risking getting caught ourselves. There are too many guards posted on every corner to find a way in. We spent days doing nothing but searching and scouting for any gap in their patrol. There is none.”
“He is planning something,” James muttered. “Otherwise, why would he have so many other members of the peerage coming and going at all hours of the day and night? Why would he have so many stationed around his estate? He is acting as if he is guarding Excalibur himself, the foul beast.”
It was clear that this had been the only topic of conversation between the newlyweds throughout all of their travels.
For nearly two weeks, Taryn and James had been gone to the English border, searching for Sorcha until their hunt finally led them to the Baron’s estate.
There had been so little Lachlan or Aila had been able to do to stop them from going, both far too desperate to recover what the Baron had stolen from them.
“We are only here to switch horses and replenish our supplies. Perhaps a bath and a night in a bed, and then we are going back,” James told Lachlan, a determined set to his jaw.
“If we can nae find a way to sneak in to get Sorcha and Laura out,” Taryn explained, “then we are going to come up with a plan so that we can storm the gates. I refuse to leave them inside that vile man’s home any longer than I have to.”
“I’m coming with ye,” Arran announced.
“Me too.”
Christopher’s agreement was making an already difficult situation that much harder.
Things were spinning out of control faster than Lachlan or Aila could stop them.
And as much as she hated the thought of Taryn and James or either of the boys getting within sight of the Baron’s estate ever again, Aila had to convince herself not to leave this very moment to go storm his gates.
“I ken that we all want to get Sorcha and Laura home as soon as possible,” Aila said as calmly as she could muster.
“But we must be smart about how we do things. We can nae rush into the Baron’s estate and expect anything other than to be labeled as raiders and promptly treated as such.
Do ye have any idea what he might do to ye, Taryn, if he were to ever get his hands on ye? ”
In all their years together, Aila had never seen her friend’s stunning blue eyes and beautiful soft features form such a brutal, menacing look. It almost matched the fury burning in James’ green eyes.
“It is nae something I am willing to risk,” Lachlan told them softly, a haunted expression in his eyes, reminding them all that he was the only one who had seen first-hand the destruction that the Baron’s ire could bring.
“So we are just supposed to wait until the Baron has assembled his army and let him march on us?” Taryn railed. “Or are ye suggesting that we leave Sorcha and Laura to their fates—give up completely on helping them?”
“I am suggesting nothing of the kind,” Aila said fiercely, letting her own fear-fueled anger rise to the surface.
“I am saying that we need every warrior we can find to stand against the Baron if we are going to have victory over him. I am saying that any reckless move from any of us, like getting yerself caught and imprisoned, could mean defeat for all of us. This is bigger than Sorcha and Laura. We are talking about the safety for all of us and our allies. We must tread carefully.”
Enunciating every word to drive her point home, Aila stared down her friends, hating that she had to be the voice of reason in this situation; hating that she was damning Sorcha to more time within the Baron’s walls and under his control.
“Do ye understand?” she pressed, refusing to let the matter drop until she knew they were all on the same page.
Lachlan standing at her back, arms folded over his wide chest, gave her the confidence she needed to act with such authority.
They were the two people most responsible for the entire mess.
As Laird and Lady, they had to consider every life, not just the ones they loved the most. Their word was final, regardless of how much anyone liked it, Aila included.
“Aye,” Taryn relented, her shoulders sagging under the weight of her heartache.
James’ acceptance was much more reluctant, but a subtle shift in Lachlan’s stance had James agreeing as well.
“We have to get back to our training if we are going to be ready by the time the battle with the Baron comes,” Arran told Taryn, his face a mix of determination and apology. “Come on, Christopher.”
“We will get them back though, right?” Christopher asked Aila, hesitating to chase after Arran through the training field.
“Of course we will,” she promised.
With a seriousness that exceeded his years, Christopher nodded before taking off running after Arran. He caught up easily enough, and then they were back in their stance, watching the field.
“I have a bottle of whiskey with yer name on it,” Lachlan told James, breaking his stance to throw a brotherly arm around James’ shoulders.
“Let’s go find it, and then ye can tell me about everything ye encountered on yer mission.
I want to hear every detail. And then we will start planning our invasion strategy. ”
“Aye. I have an idea or two that I think ye will like,” James answered.
The two men stalked off towards the castle, heads bent together already in deep discussion, leaving only Aila and Taryn staring at each other.
Sorcha’s absence had left a gaping hole in both of their chests that neither of them could ignore.
One that Aila so desperately wished she could fix or find some way to offer a reprieve.
“We will get them back,” Aila repeated. “I will do whatever it takes to see them back home, safely.”
Tears welled in Taryn’s eyes, but before Aila could offer any more comfort, another voice interrupted them.
“Taryn! Ye are back!” Elsie shouted, racing towards them.
Kneeling, Taryn swooped the girl in her arms and held her tight.
“We tried to get her to wait until ye had the chance to come inside and bathe, but she would nae have it,” Isobel, James’ mother, explained apologetically. “Especially after she saw that Christopher and Arran were already out here with ye.”
“The wee one took off running before we could stop her,” James’ father, Graham, said with a rueful smile. “Laura was often the same way. It does us good to see another lass with such a fire in her. Reminds us that Laura will nae be easily broken.”
Taryn’s eyes found those of her in-laws over the top of Elsie’s curls, and she nodded. Unaffected by the adult’s conversation, Elsie picked her head up and looked at Taryn.
“How come my brothers get to train and I dinnae?”
Surprised by her question, Aila’s brows furrowed.
“I did nae think ye wanted to train,” Aila told her. “We have been talking about it with the lads at dinner, but ye never showed any interest.”
“That is because I dinnae want a sword,” Elsie explained as though it should have been obvious to all of them.
“Ye want to train like yer brothers, but ye dinnae want a sword? What do ye want then?” Taryn inquired, her spirits lifting a scant little as she talked to the girl.
“I want to be like ye! I want a bow and arrow and a horse of my own.”
Aila and Taryn’s smiles were a mirror of each other as they sought each other’s eyes.
“So?” Elsie pushed. “Can I train too? Will ye teach me to ride?”
“Aye,” Aila agreed without hesitation. “If the lads get to start their training, then I daresay ye do too.”