Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“ A re ye sure, me laird?”

“Aye. I’m certain.” Blair stared out of the window of the castle.

Ava was practicing with her sword again. There was a time when he never would have considered a warrior woman as a bride, but all that had now changed. Yes, she could be rough around the edges, challenging, the sort of fighter that didn’t entice him at all, but that was up until the last few days. There was a femininity to Ava that was quite intoxicating. She seemed to have made it her business to seduce him, and he was perfectly fine with that.

He had no doubt she would be a good lover. Her body was strong, she would take positions that other women might struggle with. He could have many fun hours with Ava, of that he was certain, even if it was not the main draw toward the marriage.

“The alliance,” Peter whispered nervously. “Ye think her faither would hold tae it if ye married her? Ye think the MacLeods would?”

“Aye, I dae.” Blair tapped the glass, urging his friend and advisor to look down into the training grounds. “What dae ye see, Peters? Ye see a daughter that is well cared fer, quite doted on by her faither. Wherever she goes, he will hold on to alliance with the family. Of that, I have nay doubt.”

“And the MacLeods?” Peters pressed the point with a grimace and ruffled the dark auburn hair at his temple. “It is only a friendship that holds the MacLeods and MacKinnons together. Friendships can be broken.”

“Aye, they can, but I dinnae see theirs breaking in a hurry. Those siblings, Thora and Kai, have been here fer days now. The MacKinnons welcome them as though they are family. Aye, marry intae one of the families and ye are effectively marrying intae both. The perfect solution tae finding an alliance may have perfectly fallen intae me lap, all because Ava MacKinnon set her eyes on me.” Blair couldn’t help smiling as he looked down at Ava.

He rather wished she would drop the sword. He preferred to watch her when she wasn’t fighting. The night before at dinner, she had sat close to him, her hand often touching his arm in a way that made him want to find her bedchamber that night. He would take her roughly the first time, of that he was certain. He wanted to hear her cry out how much she had been wanting him.

“Then ye’ll ask fer her faither’s blessing today?”

“Aye, I will. I’ll make him a gift and make Ava a gift too, once she says aye of course.”

“Then wait a minute afore ye go tae her faither.” Peters raised his hand. There was uneasiness in his eyes that Blair could always read.

“What is it ye havenae yet told me?”

“Something I have observed.” Peters cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Like me, ye must have observed a certain amount of friendship between Ava and Kai MacLeod.”

“Aye, I have.”

“Well…” Peters halted and looked out of the window. There were others who had come out to train now and Kai MacLeod was among them. He took one look at Ava, perhaps a look that lingered too long on her, then he turned his attention on his sparring partner. “I saw him the other night. He was going tae Ava’s chamber, I believe.”

Blair stiffened. He’d seen a certain amount of partiality between the pair, but Blair had been so distracted by how obvious Ava was being with him, he never thought to consider for once that her head could have been turned elsewhere.

“She practically throws herself at me whenever she sees me,” Blair reminded his advisor, tapping the glass. “Did ye nae see her last night?”

“Aye, aye, I did.” Peters nodded. “I’m just telling ye what I saw, me laird. Aye, maybe Ava MacKinnon daes want tae marry ye. Maybe she has set her sights on that goal, but I wouldnae put her past taking a lover, and fer that lover tae be Kai MacLeod.”

Blair’s eyes narrowed on Kai. He was a good swordsman, quick footed, though perhaps not as strong and as broad shouldered as other fighters. What he lacked in strength he made up for in speed and canniness in battle.

Blair had an image of taking Ava for his bride, but as she stood at the altar with him, she looked elsewhere. She looked at Kai as he stood in the pews instead.

“I cannae afford fer her tae be distracted.” Blair shook his head. “We must be rid of him.”

“Rid?” Peters stood up straight. “Ye mean…”

“Aye. I willnae dally and waste time on a bride that could look elsewhere. And any wife of mine will go tae nay other’s bed but me own.” It made him more possessive of the idea of Ava. He longed now to pin her down to his bed, make her his own, make her forget the name Kai MacLeod.

“I’ll make a plan. It should be easy enough. Who will miss the lower braither of Laird MacLeod anywhere?” Blair saw how easy it would be as he looked at Kai again. There were flaws in the way he fought, flaws that Blair could easily take advantage of.

When Kai stopped his sparring battle to turn and looked at Ava as she did her own sparring, Blair felt the anger pique inside of him. He had not come all this way to the MacKinnon’s castle to have the woman who was throwing herself at him to be stolen from under his nose.

“I’ll go tae her faither now,” Blair said tightly, clapping Peters on the shoulder to reassure him. “Watch Kai MacLeod as he fights, study him. When I return, I want tae ken every weakness about the way he fights.”

“Ye mean when it comes tae it, ye want me tae dae it?”

“Nay, Peters.” Blair chuckled as he halted in the doorway of his chamber. “I willnae leave a man like Kai MacLeod tae another.” There was something deep in his gut against the idea. No, if he was to get rid of the man trying to seduce his future bride, then it was a death he would handle himself. “Study his weaknesses. When the time comes, I’ll be the one tae drive home the blade that gets rid of him.”

Blair closed the door as he walked away. The more he walked, the more he relaxed his stance. By the time he reached the room where Laird MacKinnon was taking a drink, Blair had adjusted his expression into an easy smile.

“I hope ye’ll forgive me disturbing ye, me laird, but I have something particular tae ask ye, about yer daughter, Ava.”

Laird MacKinnon smiled as if he had never heard anything so good in his life.

Ava was running. Breathless, she pushed aside the branches of the trees, trudging through the snow as quickly as she could. Sometimes the ice reached up past her knees, it was so deep. She felt she would drown in that snow, more than once. Heaving it aside with great thrusts of her arms, she scrambled up, compressing the ice down beneath her feet before she ran again.

It was dark, though the glistening snow lit her way, so she was racing through grey murkiness. The only black around her were the silhouettes of the trees and the figure chasing behind her.

It was him. She knew it even without having to see his face. It was the same man who had chased her so many times in her dreams. So often in this forest had he pinned her down, grabbed her arm, tried to force himself on her.

“Nay!” she screamed, throwing the word back at him as she saw the silhouette run toward her, his figure unmistakable. She was not going to be taken by him tonight. She would not let the fear cripple her.

She broke off in another direction through the trees, trying her best to confuse her pursuer. It was the only way she’d be able to escape him, if she just kept running, surely, he would soon give up.

It was the same with any hunt. How many times had she seen men give up chasing a stag when the beast proved himself too elusive?

Then the figure was before her. It was impossible, the dark figure, the face undiscernible between the trees, shouldn’t have been before her, but as if he was clothed in magic, he had run around her, cornered her in a clearing.

“Get away from me. Nay, get away,” she yelled at him and took off again in another direction. He pursued her, calmly, as if her running was just a game to him, something that could be brushed aside easily.

Then something appeared through the trees – it was the seer’s croft. Laden as it had been before with great sods of snow, it looked as though it might break into pieces at any moment.

Ava flung herself at the door, hoping for a safe haven inside. It opened, as if the door was made of some sort of liquid. She couldn’t even really remember how she got inside, but she stood there, with herbs dangling from the ceiling. There were charms, tokens, gemstones that glittered with light, even a rabbit’s foot, still fluffy, as it spun around in the sudden wind she had let into the room. She had to bend down to avoid hitting her head against any of it.

The fire struck her with heat. She cowered back, raising her hands over her face to protect herself from the flames.

“Help. Help!” Ava screamed, certain that the fire was about to crawl out of the hearth and claim her.

There was a click of fingers in the air and Ava turned around to see she was not alone in the room after all. The fire had dampened at the loud click. There was a woman sitting there, an old hag, not the seer Ava had met here before, but more haggard looking. She was clothed head to toe in black ravens’ feathers, her teeth worn down to her gums, her eyes bloodshot red. There was something terrifying in her visage as she looked at Ava.

“Time tae make yer choice, lass.” The hag’s voice came in sharp stutters. “Who dae ye choose?” She pointed a crooked finger out toward the window of the croft.

Standing in the snow, staring at the croft, was the man that had pursued her, only she could see his face now and it wasn’t the man who had cornered her in the woods all those years ago after all. It was Blair Grant, his cold blue gaze fixed icily on her face.

“Nay.” Ava backed up, colliding with the wall.

“Then ye choose the other, dae ye?” The hag turned her hand toward the fireplace. All at once, the flames became wilder.

“Go tae bed, ye fool,” Kai told himself. He pushed away from where he had been watching the snow fall and tiptoed past Thora and Lyla. The two of them had both fallen asleep in the sitting room, having stayed up for most of the night talking. Kai laid blankets over the two of them before he left, deciding it was time he went to sleep himself.

Nae that I will get much sleep.

Any amount of peaceful sleep seemed out of reach those days. The moment he closed his eyes, he saw Ava in his dreams. It was a pleasant torture, both thrilling and agonizing.

Kai climbed the stairs, nodding at the guards he passed on the way, before turning his feet toward the east wing of the castle. He knew he should have headed west, but something in him couldn’t resist the pull of Ava. He just had to get a little closer to her, perhaps stand for a few seconds outside of her door, before he managed to tell himself how ridiculous he was being and left.

He had barely entered the passage outside of her chamber when he heard it.

“Nay, nay…” It was Ava’s voice. “Dinnae come any nearer!” Her voice was piercingly loud.

Kai looked around, but there was nothing happening in the corridor, and neither was there a guard to come running to her aid.

“Nay! Are ye nae listening? I said nay!”

Kai ran to her door. He placed his hand to the wood, trying to open it, to get inside. Someone was hurting Ava. He had to find a way in.

“Nay…” Her voice softened again, then there was a meek mewling sound. It was strange, there was no other noise, no other voice commanding her to be quiet. The thought that maybe a man was in there, pinning Ava down so she could not fight back made Kai sick to his gut.

Bending down to look at the lock, Kai acted quickly. As a scout, he’d had more than one cause in his lifetime to sneak past a locked door. Now it was no different. He looked around wildly and found a rushlight holder discarded on a stone nook nearby. He snapped it up, bending the thin spike of iron that would normally hold up some wax so that it laid straight. Using it as a lock pick, he drove the metal into the lock and turned it hard. At first, nothing happened.

“Nay!” Ava shouted again.

Fighting harder with the door, Kai turned the rod again. This time, the lock gave away. He flung the door open, reaching for the weapons in his belt, ready to fight someone, then stilled.

There was no one in the room except Ava. Bathed in the moonlight that shone through the nearest window, she was curled up in the bed, dithering, on the verge of tears, then she thrashed, her body moving over to the other side of the bed.

It’s a nightmare.

Kai hastened to shut the door behind him, not wanting anyone else to make the same mistake he had made and come in to find Ava in this state.

“Nay,” she moaned, quieter this time. “Get away from me.” She tussled with the bed covers, her skin clammy, her blonde hair stuck to her cheeks and her neck.

Kai’s urgent need to protect her didn’t change, even if it meant protecting her from something buried deep in her sleep. He threw aside the rushlight and undid his weapons belt, discarding that on a chair nearby, then he kicked off his boots. Without thinking about what he was doing, his focus purely on calming her, he hastened toward the bed.

He lifted the cover and slipped inside.

“Nay!” Ava yelled, thrusting her back toward him.

Kai placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, not wishing to startle her any more than he needed to, but knowing he had to wake her up.

“Ava?” he whispered.

“Nay.”

“Ava!” he spoke with more urgency this time.

It must have woken her, for the shouting stopped. She breathed heavily, her shoulder rising and falling beneath his touch.

“It was a nightmare, love,” he said softly. “Only a nightmare.”

“Kai?” Her voice was tremulous. He wouldn’t have blamed her for not believing he was there at all, that he might still be a dream.

“It’s me,” he assured her. “I heard ye screaming in yer sleep. Nothing will hurt ye now.” He sank down onto the pillows and wrapped an arm around her waist, slowly pulling her back against his front, wanting her to know she was safe.

At first, she remained rather rigid, then something incredible happened. She turned around and buried herself in his side. He held her close, one arm around her waist, the other hand gently playing with her hair and massaging her head.

“Thank ye,” she whispered in her sleep.

“Nay need tae thank me.” Kai knew he should have climbed out of the bed, that it would have been the right thing to do, but he couldn’t. He held himself back from kissing her forehead and just held onto her. “I’ll stay as long as ye want me tae. I just dinnae want ye screaming like that again.”

She nodded against his shoulder.

“Stay,” she pleaded.

Kai would have given her anything she asked for at that moment. Beneath the covers he pulled her closer and held her tight.