Page 31 of Scot of Desire
Nay!
She stumbled forward to the edge of the lawn, coming to a halt when she saw that Bran hadn’t been hurt by the blade. It had simply cut the shirt open, revealing a chest that was intensely muscular and carved. Ilyssa’s mouth was now as dry as sand, though she didn’t know if it was from the sight of Bran’s chest or her fear for him.
He advanced toward Cillian with his sword, lunging and making Cillian back up repeatedly. The soldiers groaned loudly, disappointed to see their master suddenly losing. Bran looked quite wild, red in the face as Tad applauded his sudden advancement.
Ilyssa’s insides quaked. She didn’t feel she could tear her eyes from the sight. She had to see that Bran was well, that he would remain unharmed. Bran struck out with the blade across Cillian’s shoulder.
Cillian stumbled back, hissing in pain.
“Ah, just a scratch,” Tad said, shrugging off the pain.
Nevertheless, Bran stepped back, giving his opponent time to recover. From Bran’s position, he couldn’t see Cillian’s face, but Ilyssa could. She saw the way his expression darkened as he pressed a palm to his upper arm and checked the thin line of blood. He gritted his teeth like a bull about to charge.
Then a scream pierced the air. High pitched, childlike, Ilyssa sprung around.
On instinct her feet acted of their own accord. She followed the sound and raced toward the edge of the lawn, down to the garden and where the garden wall overlooked the loch. On the shingle loch shore nearby, a group of children had gathered.
Three boys were egging each other on, teasing and waving their hands at him.
“Cannae ye get it, Malc?” one laughed, tauntingly. “Yer arms too small?” The boy who had spoken had to be the tallest and oldest of the lot.
With horror, Ilyssa looked at the boy he was taunting. Easily the smallest and youngest, with a mop of fair blond hair, he was walking on the frozen edge of the loch, reaching out toward a small wooden ball they had evidently been playing with.
“Come on, get it,” the eldest boy cried again. “Or are ye going tae keep screaming like a girl?”
The boy, Malc, was now trembling as his fingers reached out toward the ball. He couldn’t quite reach it. He stepped forward, and an ominous crack made him fall to his knees.
Ilyssa’s hands flung themselves over her mouth as the boys watching on starkly changed their tunes. Where the boys had been teasing and laughing before, they were now all terrified.
“Malc, come back,” they called.
“Forget the ball.”
“This way, ye fool. It will crack beneath ye.”
“Malc, I was only joking. Come back this way,” the eldest pleaded desperately.
Yet young Malc was now frozen to the spot, unable to move at all.
Ilyssa darted toward a set of stone steps in the garden that led down to the loch shore. She raced toward the spot where the boys stood on the shore, just as Malc’s eyes shot toward her.
“Malc?” she called to him. He had paled, his skin practically the color of the ice around him. “Ye need tae come this way. Aye? Come this way.”
“Nay. Nay.” He shook his head, wildly. “It will crack, and I’ll fall in.”
“I will nae let that happen.” She kept her voice somber.
The boys slunk back, all scared now. One was on the verge of tears, another covered his face with his hands, unable to look anymore.
“Here, I will stand here.” Ilyssa stepped onto the very edge of the shore, her hand outstretched toward Malc. “Reach forward and take me hand. I’ll pull ye off the ice. Aye?”
Malc clearly wanted to say yes. He tried to stand, but as he placed once foot on the ice, it cracked again all around him.
“Nay!” the boys chorused together, all waving their hands in Malc’s direction.
Malc was now shaking so much that his whole body trembled like a leaf caught in wind.
“I’m nae going anywhere,” Malc shouted, wrapping his arms around his body. “I’m staying here.”
