with someone the night before, Maggie didn’t have to wonder about the smile the woman wore.
“Sore?” Diedre asked.
Maggie mumbled not as comfortable with complaining aloud as Diedre. “Aye. Don’t know why he won’t let me walk.”
“He’s the Laird. He’s used to telling others what to do.”
“And they all listen.”
Diedre nodded. “Of course. Like lambs and a shepherd.”
“Lambs are slaughtered.” Maggie countered and they both laughed. Only it wasn’t funny. She was being led as though she had no will of her own.
What had happened to her dignity, to her self-respect? Who was he to tell her she couldn’t walk, when riding for days was not natural. She may not be able to walk, if she didn’t get down off this beast soon.
Still, she kept the litany to herself, decided to deal with the issue her own way. She halted her horse on the downward slope, lifted her leg gingerly over its neck and slowly eased off.
“Are you needen’ to freshen up?” Diedre frowned. They had only just remounted from a short break. “It would be better if we wait until we reach the bottom of the hill. There’s a wee stream down there. See?” And she pointed.
Maggie had seen it, a thin thread winding through the valley floor. “Aye.” It took a few moments to straighten her legs against aches in places she didn’t know a body could ache.
William rode up. “Is there a problem?”
“No.” Maggie handed him her reins before he could refuse them. “I’d rather walk, if you don’t mind.”
“The Bold says you’re to ride.”
“He can do as he pleases. I will do as I please.”
She didn’t want to argue, she didn’t want to be persuaded, or treated like a recalcitrant child. She just wanted to walk, so she turned away and strode down the hillside taking a path with large boulders, difficult for a horse to follow.
“Wait!” Diedre called, but Maggie kept moving as sounds of the other woman closed in on her.
“You needn’t run from me.” Diedre huffed, out of breath. “If you ask me, he’s too high handed by half with you.”
“He is that.” Maggie snapped.
“The man just up and took you from your home.”
“He did that.” Maggie lifted her chin. “Just pulled me from my home, my people, what I wanted and then makes me ride that bloody . . .”
Diedre put a hand on her arm. “He has his reasons, I’m sure. And he’s a handsome man, no?”
“I’m not blind.”
“And you feel something for him?”
Maggie pulled away, looked at the mountains, honest enough to keep silent rather than admit the truth. Aye, she felt something for him but it was such a muddled mess there was no explaining it.
“You’re set on leaving him, are you?”
Was that an insult to his people? She didn’t mean it as such. “I didn’t want to leave my own.”
“No.” Diedre sat on a boulder. Maggie turned to see her motioning someone away. Another glance confirmed it was the Bold.
Diedre continued. “You didna’ want to leave your home, but you can go back. Just keep that in mind. You can have yourself a fine adventure and then go back. We’re not so bad, you see. You’ll like the folks of Glen Toric.”
“My brothers say the keep is built on caves.”
Diedre smiled and nodded. “Aye, scary if you ask me. But they’re down there, underneath us, dark and full of the echoes of whatever creatures are hiding in there.”
Maggie shivered, pulled her plaid closer around her. “I’ve never been in a cave, but I don’t much care for the dark.”
“Hmn,” the other woman considered that. “The men are waiting for us.”
“Then let’s move on down, so they can move as well.”
“I think the Bold is going to join us.”
Maggie looked, and sure enough, the man was finding his way between the rocks. Agile for such a big man. She would give him that much. He was just too good at everything. He was a fool if he thought they were a match. Foolish and impetuous was what she was, a far cry from good at everything.
Her biggest fear was that she would be foolish and impetuous with him.
“He’s a fine warrior, Maggie. I know you’re afraid he will be killed, but he’s lived to now.”
“Aye, until now.”
“My husband, bless his soul, was a warrior.”
Talorc gained on them. Hoping for a few more moments on foot, Maggie grabbed Diedre’s arm and aimed them both further down the hillside.
They were of an age, yet Diedre had already been married, birthed a child