The Wrong Highlander, page 25
Of course Evina had still been out of breath from her trek and unable to tell him to bugger off, or explain what they’d found in the bedchamber Dougall and Murine now shared. That had been left to the other women. She’d got to watch the shock and uproar that caused though, and then the men had rushed above stairs, barking at the women to remain at the table with Gavin to guard them.
Evina had never been good at obeying orders. The moment she’d drank the mead that was set before her, and regained her breath, she’d commented that the dogs were pacing and no doubt in need of a walkabout outside. When Gavin had then stood to take them out, she’d pointed out that he was supposed to guard them and shouldn’t go without them. While he’d stood, frowning over the matter, she’d stood as well and commented that some fresh air would be nice after being stuck in her room so long. She’d then slid her arm through his and urged him toward the keep doors, calling the dogs to come with them even as the women had all jumped up to follow.
When they’d gotten outside and she’d spotted her father’s horse at the foot of the stairs, Evina had announced she’d like to just go check on how Donnan was getting along training the men in her absence. While the big man was brilliant at training the more seasoned soldiers, the younger ones found his size a bit intimidating and couldn’t retain a thing he said. It was why Donnan had set her to training the younger lads when she was just a girl. He’d been training her at that point. He knew she knew her business, so he’d suggested she teach some of the younger lads, leaving him free to concentrate on training the older ones. As Evina had aged, the ages of the men she’d trained had grown with her.
“I’m going to get in trouble for this, am I no’?” Gavin had said with disgust as he’d helped her up onto her father’s mount.
Smiling at her cousin sweetly, Evina had murmured, “Mayhap. But I think ye owe me after skulking around spying on Conran and me for Da, and then reporting to him what ye saw. Don’t you?”
Gavin had grimaced. “Sorry, Evina. But he’s me laird as well as me uncle, and he gave me an order.”
“Well, before going above with the men, he did no’ order ye no’ to let me ride across the bailey to see how the men are doing in the practice field. Besides,” she’d added, “if we’re quick, we’ll be back before they come below.”
Of course, that had presumed she wouldn’t see she was needed and decide to help some of the younger men, Evina acknowledged as she reached young Cormag Maclean, a cousin three times removed or something.
“M’lady?” Cormag turned to her, looking uncertain. “But I’m grasping it like ye told Laichaidh to. I heard ye tell him, ‘Grip it firmly with the right hand below the guard, and grab the pommel with the left,’ and ’tis what I am doing.”
“Aye, but he’s right-handed,” Evina explained as she paused beside him. She then scowled at the breathy sound to her voice after such a short walk. It was truly pathetic. Shaking her head, she took a deep breath to try to settle herself and then continued. “Ye favor yer left hand. That means yer left arm is stronger. Ye’ll want to do the opposite o’ Laichaidh and grasp it below the guard with yer left, and grab the pommel with yer right.”
“Oh,” he said with understanding. Smiling, he changed his handhold. “Like this?”
“Good.” Evina nodded. “Now, hold it so the pommel is just above here,” she said, patting him where she thought his belly button probably was. “But ne’er rest it against yer stomach. And keep it at an angle that places the tip between yer opponent’s heart and throat.”
Nodding, Cormag adjusted his hold.
“Good, now place yer right foot behind yer left and stand on the meat at the front o’ yer right foot,” she instructed. “’Twill help ye keep yer balance as ye lunge forward during the blow.”
“Evi!” Jetta called.
“Just a minute,” Evina called back, busy with her instruction. She heard her call to Saidh next, but ignored them. “Now, when ye go to strike, bring yer sword up until yer right hand is up higher than yer eyes, and then bring it down using yer left hand to direct the blade. Yer right is to provide the force o’ the blow.”
“Evi! Saidh!”
Ignoring the shouts for now, Evina started to step back out of the way as the lad lifted the sword up, but then quickly stepped forward again and caught his arm to stop him. “Nay, nay! Keep yer left arm straight, but do no’ lock it like that, else ye could break it when ye—”
“Evi! Saidh!”
Breaking off, Evina turned with exasperation to the women standing on the sidelines by her father’s horse and deerhounds. Jetta, Murine and Jo were all looking a bit alarmed, but she had no idea why. Frowning, she asked, “What is it?”
“I think they’ve been trying to tell us that our men are coming,” Saidh commented with amusement, breaking off the practice battle she’d been having with Gavin and moving to her side.
Evina followed her gaze toward the large group of men hurrying across the bailey toward them and sighed. “O’ course they are.”
“O’ course,” Saidh agreed good-naturedly. “Goodness, my Greer and yer Conran look ready to choke someone.”
Evina considered the men and had to agree. They certainly did look upset. Glancing to Saidh with curiosity, she said, “Ye do no’ seem worried.”
Saidh shrugged with unconcern. “Greer would ne’er hurt me, and Conran wouldn’t hurt ye either. They’ll sputter and growl about yer safety, and me playing at swords while with child, and no doubt drag us back to the keep berating us the whole way. O’ course,” she added, “ye and I will act annoyed and refuse to speak to them and they will take us to our rooms to apologize and end up pleasuring us in the end.” Grinning, she glanced to Evina and assured her, “Ye’ll find there is nothing sweeter than a joining to make up after a fight. They are most eager to please then.”
Evina’s eyebrows rose at this news. She found it hard to imagine that Conran could do more to please her in the bedchamber than he already had. But she was willing to find out if there was. She also appreciated Saidh’s blunt speech. She was really beginning to like the woman a good deal and thought they could be grand friends. She liked the other women too, and was starting to think she was lucky to be marrying into this large family.
“Evina!”
“Saidh!”
“Here we go,” Saidh murmured as the men reached the practice field and Conran and Greer broke off from the group to start through the battling warriors toward them. She then said under her breath, “Remember, ye must act very annoyed and use words like high-handed and phrases about his ordering ye about like a child and such.”
Evina merely smiled with amusement and shook her head. She wouldn’t use those words unless Conran actually acted high-handed and ordered her about like a child. Of course, judging by the expressions on the faces of the two men as they approached, she suspected both of them would.
Conran was the first to reach them. He grabbed her hand and tugged her toward him, his mouth opening to begin his berating when a grunt of pain from behind her made Evina turn toward Cormag. She expected to find he’d dropped his sword on his foot, or given his battle partner a blow that had left his arms vibrating. Instead, she found herself staring blankly at the arrow sticking out of his back. She’d barely registered with bewilderment that that was what it was when the lad started to fall and someone—Conran, she presumed—tackled her from behind and dragged her to the ground.
Evina hit the hard-packed earth with a pained grunt of her own, and then promptly tried to crawl out from under Conran to get to Cormag. The lad had fallen just a foot away from her, and she wanted to check him, but Conran caught her around the legs and repositioned himself over her until his body shielded all of hers.
“Stay put,” he growled.
Evina was surprised she actually heard him over the hue and cry that was taking place around them as the Maclean warriors took note of what had happened and began to spread out in search of the culprit behind the arrow. A glance around showed that Jetta, Murine and Jo were now being covered by their husbands. Jo held little Bearnard tight to her chest, and her husband had his arms around both of them. Meanwhile Geordie, Rory and Alick were making their way toward them through the shifting bodies of the shouting Maclean warriors.
“Are ye all right, Evina? Ye were no’ hit, were ye?”
Evina turned her head to see that Gavin had rushed over to kneel next to them. Beyond him, she could see Saidh on the ground with Greer shielding her with his body as Conran was doing with her.
“Nay. I’m fine,” she said a little breathlessly. It was hard to breathe with Conran on her back. Her gaze slid to Cormag then and she asked with concern, “Is he alive?”
Gavin shifted to lean over the lad. Cormag had landed on his stomach, but her cousin now turned him onto his side and after a moment announced, “He’s breathing.”
Evina closed her eyes with relief, and then opened them again to glance around and see how close Rory was. Cormag needed him. She would never forgive herself if the boy died. This was all her fault. The arrow had no doubt been meant for her, and probably would have hit her had Conran not grabbed her hand and tugged her toward him when he had. Her attacker was still here and out to get her, and she’d brought him down on the men by coming here herself. Cormag’s getting hit with the arrow was all her fault.
“Is she all right?”
Recognizing Rory’s voice, Evina glanced around at that question, and nodded abruptly. “Aye. I’m fine. But Cormag needs ye.”
“We need to get Evina and the other women back to the keep,” Conran said as soon as Rory moved to kneel next to Gavin.
Geordie nodded. “Aulay and the others have already started back with the other women. ’Tis just Evina left. We’ll accompany ye and watch yer back.”
Evina’s eyes widened at those words and she glanced to where Saidh had been just a moment ago, surprised to see that the woman was gone. A glance in the direction of the keep showed Greer carrying her away at a run. The other men were ahead of them, each man carrying their own wives like precious children as they raced toward the keep.
It seemed the Buchanan men and their friends MacDonnell and Sinclair had a fondness for carrying their wives, she thought wryly, and then gasped in surprise when Conran was suddenly off of her and scooping her up too. He broke into a run the minute he had her in his arms, and Alick and Geordie fell in behind them, literally guarding his back.
Frowning, Evina glanced past them and yelled, “Donnan, bring Cormag up to the keep for Rory. He needs to tend him!”
Much to her relief, the man heard her. He continued barking orders at the men around him, sending them to search the bailey from top to bottom, but he also glanced her way and nodded to let her know he’d heard. Then he moved to where Rory and Gavin still knelt by Cormag. Alick and Geordie moved closer together then, blocking her view, and she settled into Conran’s arms with a sigh as he carried her to the keep.
He didn’t berate her the whole way back as Saidh had predicted. But then the situation had changed somewhat and Conran probably didn’t have the breath to berate her as he ran, Evina thought as he charged up the stairs to the keep, bouncing her around in his arms. He didn’t slow once in the keep as she’d expected; instead, he charged across the great hall, hurrying past the group made up of his family and the Sinclairs, and started up the stairs.
“Conran, we have to discuss what to do about—” Aulay began with concern.
“I’ll be right back,” he growled, not slowing.
Evina eyed him warily as he reached the top of the stairs and carried her to her door. Geordie and Alick were still following and Geordie rushed around to open the door for him.
Conran grunted a “Thank ye,” carried Evina inside and kicked the door closed. He then let her legs drop to the floor, turned her to face him and kissed her. It was so not what she’d expected, and Evina was slow to respond. By the time she gathered herself enough to do so, he was lifting his head. That is when the berating began.
“What on earth were ye thinking? Ye ken someone is out to kill ye and yet ye took yerself off to the bailey as if ye’ve no’ a care in the world. Ye put yerself and everyone else in jeopardy with yer thoughtless . . .”
That’s when Evina stopped listening, and lowered her head. She simply couldn’t listen anymore. Her own mind was already saying much the same things. This was her fault. Cormag might die because she’d just had to rebel and disobey the order to stay put with Gavin at the table. The boy had seen barely sixteen years, but might not see another thanks to her. She knew that. Conran didn’t have to tell her.
Aware of a sudden silence, Evina lifted her head and peered at Conran in question. He was standing perfectly still, his eyes closed, she saw, and then he breathed out a sigh and opened his eyes. “I’m sorry, love. I ken ye just had a scare, and berating ye is no helping. I just—”
He paused with surprise when Evina covered his lips with a finger.
“Nay,” she said solemnly. “Ye’re right. If Cormag dies ’twill be all me fault fer going to the practice field. I was no’ thinking o’ anyone but meself and me wants when I went there. I should ha’e done as ye and Father ordered and stayed at the table until ye returned below.”
Conran frowned at her guilt-ridden voice and shook his head. “Nay, Evi. This isn’t yer fault. Ye’re no’ the one who shot the arrow. But ’twas pure luck that ye were no’ hit by it.”
“No’ lucky fer Cormag though,” she said unhappily.
“Evi,” he began, and then sighed and shook his head. “We will have to talk about this later. The others are waiting below. But ’tis no’ yer fault,” he repeated firmly, and then turned to head for the door. He opened it, and stepped to the side, then frowned and glanced around when he realized she hadn’t followed him. “Are ye no’ coming?”
“Nay. I’m tired,” she said quietly, but the truth was she was ashamed of herself and didn’t want to face the accusing eyes of the others. For surely they must blame her for the danger she’d put everyone into with her little jaunt.
Conran hesitated, but then nodded solemnly. “I’ll send word about Cormag as soon as there is some, and return as soon as I can. In the meantime, why do ye no’ try to rest?”
Evina nodded and walked over to lie down on the bed on her side.
Conran hesitated another moment, but then turned toward the door. “Geordie and Alick are standing guard outside the door. Shout if ye need anything.”
Evina merely watched the door close behind him and then turned her head back to stare at the drapes overhead with a sigh. She felt a complete ass, a selfish monster. And she kept seeing Cormag’s eager face as she’d explained how he should hold the broadsword, and then his crumpled form and the arrow sticking out of his back afterward.
Closing her eyes, she tried to block those images from her mind, and sleep, but sleep wouldn’t come and she laid there for a long time with those images replaying through her thoughts until she thought she would go mad.
Evina was finally able to push them from her mind by turning to thoughts of how to catch her attacker. That was the only way to ensure no one else was hurt by the man—capturing him and eliminating him as a threat. Evina knew the men were probably looking for him even now, but he had proven elusive before and she had no doubt would again. It seemed to her that luring him into a trap was the only answer, and she was pondering just how to do that when a knock sounded at the door. Sitting up abruptly, she glanced toward the door, and called, “Enter.” She then got to her feet as it opened, and she saw that it was her cousin Gavin.
Moving toward him, she asked, “What news?”
“Conran asked Rory to let ye ken how Cormag was,” he explained as he closed the door.
“And?” Evina prompted anxiously, taking his hands in hers.
“And Cormag’s going to be fine, cousin,” Gavin assured her, squeezing her hands. “Rory is still sewing Cormag’s wound, but didn’t want ye fretting any longer than necessary. He said ’tis just a flesh wound. It missed bone and everything else. He’ll be up and back in the practice field within two or three days.”
“Thank goodness,” Evina breathed, and bowed her head with relief.
“’Twas no’ yer fault, cousin,” Gavin said quietly, slipping a supporting arm around her back and patting her awkwardly. “Ye did no’ shoot the arrow at him. ’Twas just good luck it missed ye and hit him instead.”
Evina pulled back to peer at him with eyebrows raised. “Good luck?”
“Well, I consider it good luck,” he admitted with an apologetic smile. “I ken I probably should no’ and Cormag may no’ agree, but I’m glad ye were no’ killed.”
Smiling crookedly, Evina hugged him tightly and then stepped back to ask, “Did I get ye in trouble fer letting me go down to the practice field?”
“Nay. No one’s said aught about it. Yet,” he added dryly. “They’re all busy at present.”
“Doing what?” she asked. “Trying to sort out what to do about me would-be killer?”
“Nay. There’s little enough to say about that. No one can figure out the who or why of it, other than that ’tis most likely that bandit I let escape from the clearing,” he added, his mouth tightening unhappily. “I should have chased the bastard down and run him through at the time. I was just so worried about yer wound and getting ye back to the keep and help, I—”
“Ye did right,” she interrupted to assure him solemnly. “I might ha’e died had ye and Conran no’ got me back to the keep and tended me wound so quickly.”
