Page 41 of Highlander the Conqueror

As if the heavens agreed with him, lightning struck, a dazzling streak of light splitting through the sky, and thunder pounded the earth viciously. A crack sounded above them, and he heard a branch splinter. He slipped out of her and crushed her against the tree trunk, shielding her with his body as a tree branch came crashing down.

Sky cringed hearing the branch splinter. Leaves and branch debris fell along with it as the rain took on a forceful intensity. She couldn’t move, Slayer had her pinned so tightly against the tree trunk. His whole body shielded her, and she worried for his own safety.

Slayer did not budge until the fallen tree branch had settled on the ground, then he eased himself off his wife, anxious to see how she fared.

He plucked a leaf and a couple of twigs out of her wet hair before placing his face close to hers so she could hear him over the rolling thunder. “Are you all right?”

She nodded and gripped his arm. “And you?”

“Good,” he said. “We need to get inside.”

His arm went around her waist and he lifted her over the large fallen branch that blocked their path to the cottage.

Once inside, he ordered, “Get out of those wet garments.”

She turned to tell him to do the same as he shut the door and her eyes widened in alarm. “Your back bleeds.” She hurried to him.

She reached him before he could stop her.

“It is nothing,” he said, brushing off her concern, though touched by it.

“I will see for myself, then we both can shed our wet garments,” she said, snatching a clean cloth from the nearby basket, then took hold of his hand and tugged him toward the bench at the table.

Rainwater dripped off them both as Sky cleaned the blood off his back. Relief was heard in her voice when she said, “A minor wound that a dab of honey will help heal.”

Slayer stood. “Later. Now, get out of those wet garments.”

He finished before her having only his plaid and boots to be rid of, then he helped her get out of her remaining garments and wrapped a blanket around her. He moved the two benches in front of the fire pit and got them each a clean cloth to dry their hair. The heat of the fire helped dry and warm them, and pops and sizzles were heard from the drops that hit the fiery flames as they squeezed the rainwater from their hair before taking the cloth to it.

“We leave tomorrow,” he announced suddenly.

Her stomach plunged at the thought of not having another day here with him. “You said two days.”

“And now I say we leave tomorrow,” he said abruptly and turned to stare at the flames. “You will leave me be when you see me as I was when splitting the logs… filled with anger and rage.”

It hurt Sky to even think of doing such a thing and she reached out to rest her hand on his thigh, still damp with rainwater. “I cannot leave you be when I see you hurting.”

“You will do as I say,” he ordered sternly.

“I cannot go against what my heart tells me. You are my husband, my friend, and I will not leave you to hurt alone.”

His tongue was ready to snap at her, order her to obey him, but something stopped him. He couldn’t tell if it was the concern in her soft voice or the surprised look in her eyes as if he had asked her to do the impossible.

He leaned his face close to hers. “I will not chance hurting you when I rage with anger.”

“You will not hurt me. You gave me your word and I trust your word.” She kissed him gently, sealing a promise.

She stirred something in him again, something that continued to make no sense to him, yet he found it comforting and missed it when not in her company. He had always found solitude, a friend, a good companion to have but now, after this time spent with her, he found that he favored being with his wife and that could prove dangerous.

They ate supper mostly in silence as the rain continued to fall and before they got into bed for the night, Slayer told himself to leave her be, that he had demanded enough from her earlier and nearly gotten them both killed. But his wife thought differently as she snuggled against him and her hand began to roam over him, a bit hesitantly as if she was unsure of his response. He quickly let her know he felt the same and they soon were lost in a world all their own, a world that would turn vastly different tomorrow.

CHAPTER13

“We will reach home before dusk,” Slayer had told her after placing her on her own horse, a mare he called Star, when they had left the cottage earlier today.

Sky had remained silent at the news, her heart aching when she had looked at the cottage for the last time and the garden she would never get to harvest. The further away they had gotten from the cottage the more her apprehension grew, the more she was reminded of what the solitude of the cottage had allowed her to escape and what she would soon have no choice but to face.

Her stomach churned at the prospect of settling into a new home and grew even more upset with the thought of never returning home to Clan Murdock or when she would see her sisters next. She had offered prayers daily for their safety, confident from what Slayer had told her about Cavell that Elsie was safe with him. But she continued to worry about Leora, though she was strong, the strongest out of the three of them. If any of them could survive on their own, Leora could.

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