Chapter 16
As much as Jean wanted to rage, she held her tongue until the crowd had dispersed. Most of the guards and some of the villagers had witnessed her humiliation, but she didn’t even care about that. All her anger was focused on Liam.
“Get some sleep,” Liam told her softly. “Ye arenae going anywhere tonight.”
“Ye knew,” she hissed, glancing at Alistair who still lingered at the edge of the woods.
He was a large man, not terrible to look at, with a long reddish mane and a matching beard.
There were scars that ran along his neck and down beneath his tunic, but finding out the source of those scars was not a priority.
“Ye knew this whole time that yer father would send someone for me.”
“What did ye think was going to happen, Jean? That yer father, the Sinclair Laird, was going to read whatever note you left behind and say ‘Ah well, she will return when she returns. Let’s go home.’”
In truth, she hadn’t thought all that much about her parents when she’d made the plans. They wouldn’t have left her behind, but there wasn’t any pressing need for them to return. Was there?
“We are verra possibly on the cusp of war, Jean. You are a liability, whether ye can hold yer own or not. Even if we werenae facing a clan battle, ye are the beloved daughter of the most powerful laird in the Highlands. Until ye are wed, there are any number of reasons to kidnap ye. Hostage for coin. Leverage for a favor. Forced marriage for an alliance.”
“Surely my father knew that ye would never let that happen.”
“But ye werenae with me, were ye?” Liam reminded her. “Ye traveled on yer own for most of the day. Ye had planned to travel on yer own the whole time. Who would have saved ye then, huh?”
“And yet I was the one who saved ye,” she reminded him coldly. “Do not forget that if ye had simply let me come when I asked, we would not be here. Ye would verra well have lost a man, certainly some horses, to the mud currents, and ye would have no healer when one was needed.”
“Are ye blaming me?”
She was, when she didn’t need to be. Liam hadn’t sent another warrior after her, although if he hadn’t known one would be sent, he would have just escorted her back and delayed his arrival.
Straightening, she turned to Alistair. “What were yer orders?”
“Find ye and bring ye back to Armstrong Keep safely.”
“That is it? There was no elaboration?”
The large man shook his head. “No, ma’am.”
Now that she was talking to him, she took the time to study him. “I havenae seen ye before. Where have ye been?”
“I cannae tell ye that, miss.”
Confused, she looked back at Liam. “He’s excellent at tracking and blending in with the shadows. Often, my father sends him alone to collect information or to find someone.”
“So he’s yer a spy,” she filled in. “Ye can just say that. I know every clan has one or several. Then ye will be useful here. We are tracking a beast who has killed a woman and is inspiring fear in the people here. Once we have tracked and brought the beast down, we can leave.”
Alistair’s frowned. “Lady Jean…”
“Yer instruction had no timeline. A day or two more willnae matter. My parents know that I am stubborn. No doubt they would be surprised if ye returned with me immediately. If ye help us bring down the beast, I will go meekly. If ye dinnae, I will make certain that those two to three days of travel take ye a week.”
“Not if I tie ye to yer horse,” Alistair growled. Apparently, he didn’t take kindly to being threatened.
Liam held up a hand. “There will be no tying Lady Jean to her horse. It would just make her more difficult. Ye may have an additional two days, Jean. No more.”
“Two days or until the beast is captured.”
“Two days,” Liam said firmly. “Keep arguing, and I will allow Alistair to carry ye back like a sack of potatoes. Yer father would be angry, but I think he would understand.”
“Really? Ye think he would understand why such large men like yerselves couldnae handle one small woman such as myself?” Jean said innocently, batting her eyes.
“Jean,” Liam growled.
“Fine, two days.” If the beast wasn’t caught, she would reevaluate. With a nod, she silently acknowledged the two men and turned to walk back to her hut.
“If this is how Sinclair raises his children, ‘tis no wonder no one invades him,” Alistair grumbled.
“She’s special. Come. While we are along, ye can report what ye found.”
Their voices faded away, and Jean smiled. Liam and Alistair had no idea just how special she could be.
The next morning, Jean filled Mara in on what had happened. “I will sleep better when that beast is gone,” she said darkly. “Liam will make it a priority now. Sometimes I think no one cares about what happened to Amelia.”
“No one seems to be actively hunting it. How can they not care that a young woman is gone?” Jean wondered as she finished lacing up her dress.
Mara gestured for her to sit and held out her brush.
It was all Jean could do not to grimace.
She hadn’t had a chance to wash her hair.
It was far more tangled than usual. Having it brushed out this morning was going to be painful.
“My sister and I arenae paragons of virtue,” Mara said wryly.
“‘Tis easier to live the way we do out here, but the type of people who live out here, away from larger communities, are not as protective of each other.
If it were not for the food shortages, we would not have come to Laird Armstrong at all.
No one cares for vengeance. The beast hasnae left the woods, so ‘tis not a priority.”
“It is a priority for Liam, whether I was here or not.” Jean wanted to tell her about the burden on Liam's shoulders, but that was his business.
“‘Tis twice now that the beast has attacked someone because of me.”
“Because of ye?”
Mara grunted at a particular tangle. “Ye were out there because ye thought I was out there.”
“I was out there because of a wolf, Mara.” The brush hit another tangle, and she hissed. “If ye truly felt guilty, ye could stop torturing me.”
“Will ye marry him?”
Jean knew exactly who Mara was talking about but chose to play dumb. “The wolf? I dinnae think my father would bless the union.”
For the first time all morning, Mara smiled. “I can think of someone else who wouldnae approve of ye marrying someone other than him.”
At that, Jean shook her head. “If he wedded me, it would be out of duty. Because our parents expected it. There is no deeper emotion there. Friendship, perhaps, and that is more than most arranged marriages have.”
When Mara pulled the brush through one last tangle, Jean yelped and tried to turn her head to glare at her. “That was on purpose.”
“Aye. I thought perhaps that would help ye think a little better.” Deftly, she braided Jean’s hair. “Still, as my sister would say, there are some things ye cannae be told. Ye must learn them yerself if ye are to appreciate them for what they are.”
Rubbing her head, Jean stood up and pointed to the stool. “Yer turn.”
“I think I will do my own,” her friend said with a brief smile. “Ye look like a lass out for vengeance.”
With a snort, Jean waited for Mara to be done. Afterward, Mara followed along while Jean changed a few bandages and checked up on her patients. She showed Mara how to take over when she was gone. Afterward, she headed out to find Liam.
He and Alistair were sparring.
Leaning against a nearby building, Jean watched in silence.
There was an intensity to their fighting, and for a moment, she wondered if they were practicing or fighting.
Alistair’s movements had a vicious and sneaky way about them.
The kind of underhand fighting that would do well when taking someone by surprise.
Quick and quiet. That is how he must live his life as a clan spy.
Despite the deadly strokes, Liam met every one and returned his fair share. It was impressive.
For once, rather than simply admiring the strategy, Jean felt herself admiring the men as well. Graceful, despite their large size. Magnificent strength. Handsome, in different ways.
Jean was familiar with Liam’s fighting style, so she wanted to study Alistair a little better. They would be traveling along for several days. If they were in danger, she’d need to know how to fight along side of him.
And if he was the danger, she’d need to know how to get away from him.
This was her opportunity to study him unobserved, and yet her eyes kept straying to Liam. Mara’s comments rattled around in her head, as well as the moment she’d shared before. Her heart twisted in a way that made her feel girlish and silly.
Which made it hurt even more when she remembered that he’d lied to her, if not outright then by omission. She thought of him as her partner, and he still thought of her as a pampered princess who couldn’t handle the realities of their life.
It was a pain she’d never quite felt before, and one she wasn’t sure she’d get over quickly.