Page 49 of Highlander's Rebellious Affair
He slowed down when he spotted a wild goat. He followed it, marking its pace, determined to hit it with just one shot of his arrow. Ian was skilled in archery as well as swordsmanship. Archery, he had learned from his father, and when he was younger, he had practiced a lot.
“Can ye get a clean shot from here?” Hope asked, excited, and he nodded. He reached for his bow attached to his shoulder, and secured an arrow in its string.
Ian aimed, and in one shot, fired at the goat. It bleated, and dropped to the ground, and he galloped to it. He helped Hope dismount her horse, and they crouched to stare at the goat struggling to breathe.
The arrow had hit his upper region. “Looks good,” Ian commented and lifted the game off the floor in one swing. He placed it on his horse, helped Hope mount before he did the same.
When they got back to the camp area, Lyall had returned with his men and a large deer. He laughed when Ian presented a wild goat, and boasted off his archery skills. Ian saw Hope’s father among the other Lairds who had just returned, and his hand moved to find Hope’s so he could hold her hand.
He looked at her and saw her lip quiver. “Are ye all right? If ye dinnae want to greet yer faither, we can walk away,” he suggested, but she shook her head.
“It’s fine. I need to ask about my maither.”
Laird Drummond walked up to them when he noticed their presence, and Hope curtsied to her father while Ian bowed. “Laird Drummond,” he said.
“Faither,” Hope said, and his hold on her hand loosened so she could go hug him, but she didn’t step forward.
“I trust ye are well, Hope?” he asked, and she nodded.
“I am well, Faither, and how is Maither? Why did she nay ride for Galloway with ye?”
Her question struck a nerve, and his jaw tightened. Ian watched him turn and walk away without a reply, and as Hope headed back to their camp spot, he saw the mischievous glare on his uncle’s face.
“Ye think ye will be a better Laird?” Lyall asked, as Ian stared at him. “Yer faither was just as weak as ye are, and ye are no different. What makes ye think ye will be better than me? Because ye have a bonnie wife?’
Lyall stepped closer to him, and whispered, “Ye need to be strong, and ye cannae even handle a few days with yer wife, how will you handle weeks out in battle?”
“Being a Laird doesnae always have to involve battle,” Ian replied.
“Oh, but it does. If I dinnae wage war on those who stood against me when yer faither died, I wouldnae be Laird right now.”
Ian said nothing else, and allowed the smug smirk on his uncle’s face to stay. Lyall thought he was ahead of the game, but this time, he was wrong because Ian knew he was one step ahead.
* * *
Ian had gone out again that night, and it was time for him to get wounded. She was to wait here in their camp hut until he returned, and a part of her feared he might return as a corpse.What if something goes wrong? She should have asked for Orlaith to come with them, that way she was assured that Ian would be treated properly no matter what.
She heard footsteps approach and braced herself to see Ian any minute, but instead, Rhea walked into the hut. “Are ye all right?” Rhea asked, and she shook her head.
“I am worried, I cannae stop thinkin’ somethin’ will go wrong. What if Lyall kens of our plan?”
“The only way Lyall kens of our plan is if Callum has betrayed us yet again,” she replied and shook her head. “I dinnae think he has because I have had men watch him and follow all his movements. He hasn’t met with Lyall since the last time.”
Hope sucked in a deep breath and tried to take her mind off the plan. It would turn out fine, it had to. Rhea walked over to her, and placed her hand on her shoulder. “Just take a deep breath and try not to think about it.”
Hope nodded, and instead filled her thoughts with the good times she spent with Ian riding in the fields or laughing as they stood by their chamber window and watched the sun rise. Those moments were ones she would cherish forever. The door opened again, and this time one of Ian’s guards walked in.
Hope recognized him as the one in charge of shooting Lyall.
“Any news?” Rhea asked, and he nodded. “Did ye go according to the plan?”
“Aye… Laird Galloway is unconscious as we speak.”
“And Ian?”
The man stepped aside, and Callum rushed an unconscious Ian into the hut. “We need the antidote now,” he ordered.
Hope was by his side the moment Callum placed him on the floor, and she opened the small vial and pressed the contents to his lips. Rhea held his head up so the contents of the vial would enter properly and when she had emptied it out, she withdrew.
