Page 46 of Highlander Redeemed
“Aye, he has, and not well enough, or we would not be having this problem right now.”
Denis stared at her, then shook his head. “Conall! Angus!” he shouted, then he whistled, three sharp notes. Conall and Angus arrived from either side of the pass, while she heard a third warrior coming up behind her. She refused to turn around, though, even when he said, “You did not pass unseen.”
She looked over at him and found he was one of Malcolm’s kin who had come here to help them fight the English, though she could not remember the young warrior’s name.
“Tell them what you want them to do, lassie,” Denis said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning a little away from her.
Scotia looked at each one, only then realizing that she did notknowif she was sending them to defend the clan or to die, perhaps both. Her breath caught in her throat, and she found it suddenly hard to breathe. But as she was getting so good at, she pushed that thought, that possibility, to the side and quickly told them how to find the pass and everything she could remember about the two soldiers, then Denis sent Conall and Angus on the way. As soon as they took their leave Denis turned to the MacKenzie man.
“Hector, take her to the chief,” Denis said, “and make sure he kens exactly what has happened here.” He gave Scotia that pinched scowl again. “And why.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
DUNCAN RAPIDLY PACEDthe same stretch of a deer trail he’d been pacing for hours, as he watched for Scotia to return from her secret pass, as he waited for her to do the right thing. But she did not come. Each time he paced north he decided he needed to return to the pass, find her, and drag her back to the caves before her rash actions caused more harm, but then, as he turned back southward, he reminded himself that he had washed his hands of her.
He had an actual ache in his chest at that thought. He’d abandoned her, and even though she deserved it with her return to her impulsive, selfish decisions that might put someone else in danger of dying, it was not something he did easily. She had been his to watch over for as long as he could remember.
A heaviness settled over him. He had failed in so many ways. He thought he had guided her to a real change, given her a purpose that focused her vibrant energy and challenged her sharp mind. He had believed her feelings had changed—for her purpose, and for him—but he had been wrong. It was as if everything they had done together these last weeks was a lie. She claimed he had only wanted to keep her close, but he knew now that she had only wanted him to blindly support her quest for vengeance.
He could not fathom what had possessed him to tell her of his feelings. He could not fathom why he had such deep feelings for her, or why it had been such a shock when she had denied them so vehemently.
He heard the horn blast once, and his first thought was that Scotia had returned, but if she came from the main pass that meant she had left the glen after all. In truth, he had known she would, if for no other reason than that he’d told her not to. Nothing good could come from such an expedition.
And then three long blasts of the horn made him forget everything except his duty to the clan.
Three blasts meant trouble.
SCOTIA LED THEway down the trail into the Glen of Caves with Hector right behind her, her sword, dagger, and shield now in his possession.
“Ye are a right wee eedjit,” he muttered.
He was right.
“If Conall and Angus find their deaths this day because you brought the English right to this glen, ’twill be a mark against yer soul the likes of which you cannot redeem yourself from,” he said.
“I ken that,” Scotia replied. Never had she knowingly caused someone to be put in such a place of danger before. Conall was sweet, if not too smart. He did not deserve to die before he found a lass to love him better than she ever had, to give him bairns, and keep him warm on a cold winter’s night. And Angus’s bairns and his wife needed him. What would she do if either man died because of her folly this day?
“If yer chief has any ballocks he shall lock you in chains and keep you somewhere where you can never cause trouble again,” Hector grumbled. “’Tis what I would do with you, were it my decision.”
Scotia stumbled at the thought of being so helpless, but caught her footing before she fell. After being held captive by the English at the Story Stone she had sworn to herself she would never beheld in such a way again, that she would never allow herself to be put in such a helpless position.
If Nicholas commanded this, would she be able to do as her chief ordered? Duncan would say it was her duty to do as Nicholas said, even if it meant a certain death.
She swallowed hard, pressing back the panic that just the thought of being tied up again raised within her. She should run, flee, before they had a chance to do such a thing to her, but—Duncan’s voice whispered in her mind—if she allowed it, or any other punishment without a fight or an argument, it might show her contrition and her understanding of what she had done.
“I might add in a flogging, just to make sure you remembered the lesson,” Hector said. A note of satisfaction in his voice made it sound like he’d just said they would have honey cakes for dinner.
The trouble was, she knew he was right. ’Twas what she deserved. She could not deny that she had failed in every one of her lessons.
She had failed to keep her temper in check. She had failed to think of others before herself, or how her actions might cause harm. She had failed to cover her tracks. She had failed to kill the soldiers herself, running instead. She had failed in every way possible, letting down everyone she loved.
She had failed Duncan most of all.
He had been right. She was not ready to be a warrior or she never would have left the glen when her mind was so full of anger and betrayal. If she were truly ready to be a warrior, she would have afforded him the respect to listen to him, to heed his warning. But she didn’t.
She could see all too clearly now that he was not the one to break faith with her. She was the one who had broken faith with him. He had always been clear that when he deemed her ready, he would champion her right to join the warriors in battle, and she had agreed. She had broken the pact between them, all because her pride was hurt and her drive for vengeance was stymied. Nowonder he was so angry with her. No warrior would go back on his, or her, word. For all her accomplishments with sword and shield, she had failed to learn this most basic lesson.
And now, not only was she not ready to be a warrior, she had thrown away the man who believed she could become one. She had betrayed the trust of the one person who was her constant champion, the one person who truly loved her.
