Black Richard's Heart (The MacCulloughs #1) - Suzan Tisdale Page 0,158

they? They should have arrived hours ago.

Soft footfalls along the stone wall were heading in his direction. “Lachlan?” ’Twas Keevah calling out to him.

“What is it? Have we heard from the McDunnah?”

“Nay,” she replied. “Aeschene asked that I find ye.”

“Is aught amiss?”

She smiled, a warm, sweet smile that made his heart feel constricted. What was it about this woman that made him feel so odd? “Nay, all is well. She worries ye have nae eaten.”

He let out a loose breath. “With everything that has happened this day and what could happen on the morrow, she is worried I have nae eaten?”

“Well, have ye?”

“I have far more important things on my mind than food,” he told her. He didn’t mean to sound as short tempered as he did. Women are such confoundin’ creatures!

She folded her hands together and scrutinized him for a short time. “Ye must understand that making certain her people are fed is important to Aeschene. Because she cannae see, she feels she must do somethin’.”

“For God’s sake, woman! She marched into an enemy encampment only hours ago. I would say she has had plenty to do.”

“I think ye would feel better if ye ate something,” she said with a knowing smile.

“Och! Dunnae get cheeky with me, lass.”

Keevah sighed, shook her head, and turned on her heel. She said not another word as she walked away. He watched until she blended into the shadows and soon discovered he was left with a sense of longing, and aye, even loneliness.

Bloody hell.

Richard was in hell, or at least the closest he’d ever been to it.

The sky was still dark, only a hint of the promise of sunlight in the eastern sky. He, Rory, and Colyne were walking toward their keep, still chained together, they shuffled across the wide-open glen. It would not be long before they reached their destination and he prayed it wasn’t his final one.

There was no hope for escape, for Randall Chisolm had more than two hundred warriors in tow. Three to a line, with Richard, Rory, and Colyne in the center. Only a handful of men were on horseback. The rest were Randall Chisolm’s foot soldiers.

Neither he nor Rory slept much last night, though they were certainly exhausted enough. They had stayed up half the night, talking in hushed voices as they tried to figure out what Aeschene had been up to.

Admittedly, there was a brief moment when he lay on the floor of Randall Chisolm’s tent when he succumbed to the dark thought that she had betrayed him. But the more he listened, the more he realized she was actually living out some ridiculous story. ’Twas the only thing that made a damned bit of sense. And when Colyne told them what she had whispered in his ear during their brief embrace, he believed it all the more.

He had expected a full-blown attack from his warriors in the night. But the attack never came. Mayhap they were lying in wait to launch their assault during their walk to the keep. All of his instincts were on full alert as he listened for any sign that his men were hidden in the thick woods. But alas, he heard nothing.

The closer they got to his keep, the more anxious and worried he became. Something was wrong; terribly wrong.

The sky had gone from indigo to purple by the time they neared the gate. A soft yellow glow from dozens of torches emanated from within. The upper wall was lined with torches as well, but not a soul was manning it.

Without a word from anyone within or without, the gate began to lift, creaking and moaning in the early morning light. Randall, who had been bringing up the rear, sent word to the head of his army to take twenty men inside.

Everything was still and quiet, save for the occasional nicker from one of the horses or a cough from one of the men.

Colyne inched closer to Richard, grabbing a hand for reassurance. Richard glanced down at the boy, and his heart nearly seized. He looked positively heartbroken. He too had expected their warriors to attack before now. Richard squeezed his hand and smiled, refusing to give up on the last shred of hope he possessed.

A Chisolm warrior ran past them, and Richard assumed he was heading back to speak with their leader. He could not help the sinking feeling that whatever his wife or Lachlan had planned wasn’t working.

Moments later, Randall Chisolm was riding up to the trio. He