Page 31 of Kidnapped By her Highland Enemy
“It’s a death trap,” Maisie grated.
“Nay,” Ian said as he skirted the shack, “It has some good bones about it. I ken it can suffice for the night.”
Gently descending the horse, he helped Maisie down and they approached the shack, Maisie with trepidation. Lucas pulled the latch and tugged them both into the musty shack. Aside from moss and ferns sprouting out the dirt floor and daylight peeking through a section roof, it was spacious enough. There was even a mounted section where the remains of a bed rested, and a pit fire was dug in the ground near it.
“Looks like an old shepherd’s hut,” Ian mentioned.
“It’ll suffice,” Ian said while looking around. “We’ll have a fire going an’ pray that nay rain will come our way this night.”
With her arms wrapped around her middle, Maisie looked around, “Shall we settle down.”
“I’ll take first watch after I get some firewood,” Ian offered while taking his sword out and leaning it on the side of the ramshackle door before he headed out.
“I’ll take the second.” Oliver nodded and went to a corner of the hut, dropping his pack.
Lucas pulled out another sack and doled out bread, cheese, slivers of roasted beef and roasted mutton for them to eat. While they ate, he kept an eye on Maisie and while she ate some, he doubted she was full and they had only stopped at midday to eat.
Oliver went to the corner and propped his sword between his legs, before leaning back to tilt his head on the wall and seemed to go to sleep.
“Can one go to sleep so easily?” Maisie whispered.
“When yer a soldier, it’s almost second nature,” Lucas replied, dusting off his hands. “We go on raids, on hunting trips, on birlinns down the loch and out into the sea for days. Kenning how to go to sleep in a few shakes is the only thing that keeps ye from dying on a battlefield or getting run through by a wild boar.”
She blinked. “I once saw a man who hadnae slept for a sennight. He was mad as a march hare, and we had to force to him to drink valerian root.”
“Why was he awake?”
“I cannae tell,” Maisie shrugged. “But I suspect a wrong mix of infusions.”
“Ye really do want to be a healer, innit?” Lucas asked as he went to remove the old straw mattress and chuck it to a corner. He swept the dry fronds from the stand, and began to lay down a set of blankets and rolled up a towel for a pillow.
“I feel it is my life’s calling,” she replied while settling down. “I cannae see anyone in pain.”
Yet, ye live with it every day.
He reached over and tucked a lock of her hair behind Maisie’s ear. “That’s remarkable of ye.”
She smiled, a bare curl of her lips. “T’would be more remarkable if I do achieve it.”
“We have some seasoned healers back at me clan,” Lucas said. “Mayhap ye could train with one of them, if, on happenstance, yer faither does disown ye.”
Her lips ticked down and she shook her head, “I’d rather nay borrow trouble. If it comes to that, I’ll be sure to take yer offer.”
She tilted her head away from the wall and slipped off to sleep, and Lucas sat there, silently admiring her face while she slept. Even when Ian came in with the kindling and had the fire going, Lucas did not shift his gaze.
The firelight glowed against her fair skin, casting shadows over her brows and throwing her cheekbones into sharp definition. Maisie’s porcelain skin had to be softer than satin and his fingers itched to touch it. Though dressed in men’s clothing, no woman could ever look more beautiful.
While Ian ate, he asked, “Ye’ve changed yer mind about her, havenae ye?”
“Aye,” he replied, tearing his gaze from her. “I kent she would be just like her faither, but she is the opposite. While he wants war, she craves peace an’ honestly, I am starting to ken that this feud has gone on long enough.”
“She changed ye that much?”
“Surprisingly, aye,” Lucas shifted so Maisie rested on the pallet but he found a seat at the end. “Fighting with her father’s men an’ besting them all the while was enjoyable but now, it makes no sense. None of us can prove the origin of the feud and if it takes Maisie and me to end it, I’ll happily do so.”
“How?” Ian asked, “By marriage?”
Something hot and sharp cut through Lucas’s chest at the suggestion, but he shrugged coolly. “Daenae ye be jumping that far, Ian. Let’s survive this battle first.”
