Chapter 8 C8

Alan spurred his horse, and hers followed automatically, leaving her to grab onto Crispen to make sure neither of them fell.

Down the hill they rode, Alan's men flanking her protectively on all sides. Crispen fidgeted so hard in the saddle that she had to grip hisarm so he wouldn't jump out of his skin.

When they reached the temporary crossing, Alan halted to wait on her.

"I'll go in first. You follow directly behind me."

She nodded her understanding. It wasn't as if she wanted to be the first into the keep anyway. In some ways, this was more frightening to her than arriving at Duncan Cameron's keep because she didn't know her fate here. She certainly knew what Cameron had in mind for her.

They rode over the bridge and through the wide, arched entryway into the courtyard. A great shout went up, and it took her a moment to realize that it was Alan who'd made the sound. She looked over to see him still astride his horse, his fist held high in the air.

All around her, soldiers-and there were hundreds-thrust their swords skyward and took up the cry, raising and lowering their blades in celebration.

A man entered the courtyard at a dead run, his hair flying behind him as his stride ate up the ground below him.

"Papa!" Crispen cried, and scrambled out of the saddle before she could prevent him.

He hit the ground running, and Mary stared in fascination at the man she assumed was Crispen's father. Her stomach knotted, and she swallowed, trying not to allow herself to panic all over again.

The man was huge, and just as mean looking as Alan, and she didn't know how she could think it, when there was so much joy on his face as he swung Crispen into his arms, but he frightened her in a way that Alan did not.

The brothers were very similar in build and stature. Both had dark hair that fell below their shoulders, and both wore braids. As she looked around, though, it became apparent that all his men wore their hair the same way. Long, wild, and savage looking.

"I'm so glad to see you, lad," his father choked out.

Crispen clung to the laird with his small arms, reminding Mary of a burr stubbornly clinging to her skirts.

Over Crispen's head, his gaze met Mary's, and his eyes immediately hardened. He took in every detail about her, she was sure, and she twisted uncomfortably, feeling horribly picked apart under his scrutiny.

She started to get down from her horse because she felt a little silly when everyone around her was dismounting, but Alan was there, his hands reaching up to effortlessly pluck her from the horse and set her down on the ground.

"Easy, lass," he cautioned. "You're healing well, but you need to take care."

He sounded almost concerned, but when she looked up at him, he wore the same scowl he always wore when he looked at her. Irritated, she scowled right back. He blinked in surprise, then pushed her toward the waiting laird.

Edward Woods looked a lot more threatening now that Crispen was out of his arms and back on the ground. She found herself backing up a step only to collide with the mountain that was Alan.

Edward looked first at Alan, bypassing her as if she were invisible, which was just fine with her.

"You have my thanks for bringing my son home. I had every confidence in you and Caleb."

Alan cleared his throat and nudged Mary forward.

"You have the lass to thank for Crispen's return. I merely provided the escort."

Edward's eyes narrowed as he studied her further. To her astonishment, his eyes weren't the dark, fierce orbs she'd thought, but rather they were an odd pale green. When he scowled, though, his face darkened to a thundercloud, and who could possibly think his eyes were anything but a matching black?

Startled by this revelation-and if she were avoiding the inevitable confrontation with the laird, who could blame her?-she turned abruptly and stared up into Alan's eyes. He blinked then glared at her like he thought she was daft-and she was pretty sure he did think so.

"Your eyes are green, too," she muttered.

Alan's scowl turned into a look of concern. "Are you sure you didn't suffer a blow to the head you didn't tell me about?"

"You will look at me," Edward roared.

She jumped and whirled around, taking an instinctive step back and landing once again against Alan.

He muttered an expletive and hunched over, but she was too worried about Edward to see what Alan was cursing over.

Her courage had run out, and her determination not to feel pain, not to allow her spine to wither, promptly died a brutal death.

Her legs shook, her hands shook, and pain speared through her sides, making her gasp softly with each breath. Sweat beaded her forehead, but she wouldn't allow herself to back down any further.

The laird was angry-at her-and for the life of her she couldn't discern why. Shouldn't he be grateful to her for saving his son? Not that she'd really done anything heroic, but he didn't know that. For all he knew, she could have battled ten men on Crispen's behalf.