Chapter Nineteen
The next morn, Keegan noted that Seona did not eat at the high table with everyone else.
But her annoying aunt was there, giving him the evil eye every minute or two.
If he were to rise from the table and head for the stairs, she would no doubt follow and try to bludgeon him again.
He sighed and ate the porridge, eggs, bacon, and oat cakes without enthusiasm.
His stomach ached with dread, for today he had to take Seona home.
An hour later, everyone gathered in the back courtyard, near the sea gate, preparing to board two of the twenty-oar birlinns which would take them to the other end of Loch Duich.
Their horses had already been transported on larger birlinns and would be awaiting them so they could ride east through the glen.
Keegan glanced up at the overcast sky, gray as his own mood, but no rain fell.
Seona emerged from the keep, and when her enchanting blue eyes met his, his heart somersaulted in his chest. If her aunt hadn’t been beside her, Keegan would’ve approached her.
Isobel hugged Seona and they spoke quietly.
His stomach knotted for he knew his time with Seona would be short unless he figured out a way to convince her father of his own worthiness as a husband.
If the man was as stubborn as Rebbie had indicated, likely even he would not be able to get through to him.
“Why are you looking so grim?” Dirk asked beside him. He had not even noticed his cousin approaching.
“I’m sure you ken. I have a near impossible task ahead of me. And why are you out here? Does your leg not pain you?”
“Aye, but a warrior must pretend pain does not exist.”
Dirk did appear a wee bit pale, and Keegan feared he was not as recovered as he acted.
“You must take care of yourself and mend,” Keegan said.
“I’ll do my best. Hopefully, you will be back within a fortnight—with your new bride—and we’ll return to Durness in the large birlinn the MacKenzie is giving me as part of Isobel’s dowry. ’Tis an impressive vessel, far larger than our others.”
“Aye.” Keegan could only hope and pray Seona would be his bride by then. But if her father said nay, what would he do?
“You must be ever vigilant for Haldane,” Dirk said. “Rest assured the only way to stop him from his goal is to kill him.”
“Although I don’t wish to kill my cousin, I will if I have the opportunity, for you and for Lady Seona.”
“I appreciate that,” Dirk said, looking disappointed. Keegan knew ’twas because of how Dirk’s brother had turned out.
Keegan could only imagine how he would feel if one of his younger brothers or sisters became a murderous, thieving outlaw.
“Godspeed and have a safe journey.” Dirk grasped his hand in a warrior’s handshake.
“I thank you.”
While Dirk spoke to Rebbie, Keegan stepped away and surveyed the courtyard.
The two MacKenzie brothers and ten of their men who would be traveling with them had climbed aboard one of the birlinns.
Over a dozen MacKay guards stood by, one of whom helped Lady Patience into the boat.
Her face was set in grim lines. Seona stood alone by the sea gate. He headed toward her.
“Lady Seona.” He bowed. “A good morn to you.”
She blushed and curtsied. “Good morn.”
He glanced around to see who might be listening. No one was close. “I must apologize for what happened last night.”
Her face grew even redder. “Nay. Do not worry over it.” She smiled, giving him an intimate glance. It reminded him of the kiss they’d shared the night before.
“Make haste, MacKay,” Fraser called out with a teasing grin.
Keegan darted a glare at him, then turned to Seona again. “Would you like me to help you board?”
“Aye and I thank you.”
After she slipped her hand around his elbow, he led her to the galley, then took her hand and helped her aboard, wishing he didn’t have to release her so soon.
Nay, he wished he could lift her into his arms and carry her off to a very private bedchamber where they would not be disturbed for a few days.
But that was not going to happen anytime soon—if ever.
∞∞∞
Seona sat beside Aunt Patience and their two maids within the polished wood hull of the birlinn.
Keegan took a seat with Fraser and Rebbie somewhere behind her and to the left.
Listening to his deep voice as he talked to the other men, she closed her eyes, wishing she could watch him, for she found each day his face, his hair, his eyes, his body…
everything about him fascinated her more and more.
The beautiful words he’d spoken to her the night before haunted her… I love you.
The birlinn rocked and swayed upon the water as the last of the men stepped aboard. The oarsmen set to work, rowing the two large boats away from the sea gate and along the loch.
Seona waved to Isobel, tears burning her eyes, her throat tightening.
She hoped she would see her good friend again very soon.
She’d never had a friend as close as Isobel, whom she could tell anything and trust her to keep it a secret.
Of course, Seona was close to her sister, but since Talia was younger, there were many things she couldn’t talk to her about.
With Isobel, she could discuss anything.
Besides that, Isobel was a genuine, caring person. Seona would miss her greatly.
“Oh heavens,” her aunt muttered a few minutes later, pressing a hand to her stomach.
“Do you feel seasick?” Seona asked.
“’Tis starting.”
“This calm loch surely can’t be as bad as the rough sea was.”
“Nay.” Aunt Patience swallowed and appeared to be focusing on not growing nauseous.
They moved smoothly along the dark, glassy surface of the loch, the oarsmen singing a song in rhythm to their rowing. She’d always found rowing songs to be very soothing.
When the wind picked up, the crews of each vessel raised the square sail, making the trip far faster and easier for them.
Just over an hour later, they disembarked at the end of Loch Duich.
For two days, their party traveled, sometimes on horseback and sometimes on ferries or birlinns along the lochs, and each night they were fortunate enough to obtain lodgings in a castle or manor house. Fraser and Dermott knew the important people of the area.
Though Seona wished to speak to Keegan far longer than the brief greetings they exchanged in passing, her aunt watched her even more closely than she had before she’d found Keegan in Seona’s room.
Sometimes his gaze caught and held hers for a long moment when no one was watching.
His eyes were so expressive she could almost read his thoughts.
When his eyes darkened, he seemed to be envisioning something passionate and intense; other times, his light blue eyes emanated happiness and mischief.
Her own emotions were tossed upon a stormy sea. Simply to look at Keegan filled her with giddiness, excitement and joy. But thoughts of her future, her home, and her father shrouded her in a smothering darkness.
On the third evening, a misty rain fell, and they arrived at a large fortified castle held by the Mackintosh Clan.
Seona was glad to escape the rain and eat a warm meal in the great hall. Though she wasn’t fortunate enough to sit by Keegan, he wasn’t too far away and she slipped a few glances his way. Once, his gaze caught hers and he smiled, heating her from the inside out.
Afterward, she and her aunt were shown to a large bedchamber containing two beds and a large pallet for their maids.
Seona and the other women were so exhausted, they went to bed early and slept all night.
The rain continued and grew harder the next morn.
The men of their party decided to stay another night, which Seona was glad for.
Though she needed to see about her sister, she was thankful for any sort of delay that kept her from home.
Once she arrived there, her time with Keegan would be very short.
∞∞∞
Haldane led his men east, through the green glens and along the lochs, toward the Inverness area.
He only had eight men now. Damn Keegan and the MacKenzies for seizing two of them.
Though annoying, their capture didn’t put a damper on his plans.
The two miscreants had been his least valuable men.
As warriors, their skills were sorely lacking, and he was glad he hadn’t paid them much.
“’Tis there,” McMurdo said, pausing on top of the small rise and pointing at the sizable castle in the distance. “Gillenmor Castle.”
Haldane and the rest of the men stopped in the middle of the well-worn, muddy road.
“’Tis impressive,” Haldane said. The fifteen-foot, gray stone walls surrounding the castle appeared to be impermeable.
Several guards patrolled the battlements, visible above the high wall.
A fitting place for an admirable lady like Seona to have grown up.
A good-sized village lay only a short distance from the castle.
Thanks to his mother and McMurdo, Haldane knew about the general area where Seona’s branch of the Murray clan lived. Along the way, he’d asked two people the exact location of Gillenmor Castle. And now, here they were.
He suspected they’d arrived a few days ahead of Keegan’s party, at least he hoped so. McMurdo was an expert at finding concealed spots where they might hide and wait for the MacKays.
Haldane’s gaze scanned the surrounding area—a vast expanse of arable farm land with mountains in the far distance.
Vibrant green pastures, cattle and sheep.
He’d never seen such gently rolling land, so different from MacKay country.
Plentiful bushes and trees grew along the edges of the crops and expanded into a forest.
“Do you think we might hide out in that wood?” Haldane pointed to the left.
“Mayhap,” McMurdo said. “We’ll need to search it and see if anyone else is using it. See if the Murrays have a gamekeeper patrolling it.”