seen them fight outside the lists. She’d never caught sight of the resolve that turned their features brutal. They’d entered a fight that wasn’t their own because of her. They’d drawn her clansmen along with them. But as the men surrounded her and positioned themselves to be the targets rather than her, she realized she would never not be a Ross. She’d just become a Campbell, too. She owed her life to these men who defended her. But more than that, she owed them her respect and loyalty. There might never be an amicable relationship between her parents and her, but she wouldn’t forsake the Rosses because they hadn’t forsaken her.
Twenty-Nine
The climb up Ben Lui forced Laurel’s heart into her throat, and there it remained. Brodie barked orders that the Campbells would partner with Rosses and lead them toward different peaks, taking shelter where they could. Just before they’d reached the gritty path that began the ascent, Brodie shifted position to lead while Donnan and Monty bracketed her. She didn’t dare look back to see how their persecutors fared. She watched as the men broke off and nudged their horses off the trail and over the loose rocks and shale. It wasn’t long before Brodie signaled with his hand that they would veer left. Laurel set her heels back in her stirrups, gathered handfuls of Teine’s mane along with the reins, and kept her body parallel to her horse’s.
It was here that the difference in training for her gelding and the warhorses showed. He shook his head and neighed, but Laurel cooed and encouraged him. She even pointed to how the other horses progressed without complaint, playing to her horse’s masculine ego. It shocked her when it worked. She knew it was a coincidence, but a grin tugged at her mouth before she reminded herself of the gravity of their predicament. Their sudden shift in direction and the added height gave her a moment to spy the Lamonts. They were far closer than she realized, and panic finally threatened to get the better of her.
“Don’t look, Laurel,” Monty said. “They are where they are, and it can’t be helped. Focus on your own progress.”
“Watch Brodie’s elbows. Know how he steers his mount, so you can do the same as you cross over the same spot. Watch how he shifts his weight, so you can follow,” Donnan pointed out. Laurel never would have thought of such.
“Thank you,” she stated as she studied her husband’s movements, adopting them as her own, and finding it easier to handle Teine. She sensed her mount calm, and it added to her reassurance that they would weather this passage. As they rounded a hairpin, Laurel’s stomach lurched at the steep drop off into a corrie. There was no easy descent into the valley, only plummeting to one’s death. She looked back at Brodie and noticed the remaining men were disappearing into the surrounding crags. That left her with Brodie, Monty, and Donnan. She couldn’t think of any men she trusted more than the ones with her.
Brodie’s eyes swept the mountainside as he led Laurel and the two men over ground he’d explored as a child. He’d spent over three decades traversing these peaks and valleys. He and his men climbed the trails as conditioning. Shepherds came into the hills to gather their flocks twice a year for their shearing. Brodie and Dominic had hunted among the peaks since they were old enough to carrying their own bow and supplies. He’d slept beneath the stars and daydreamed under the sun as a young man. He hoped one day he could bring Laurel back under better circumstances, so she could enjoy the breathtaking vistas.
But his greatest concern that day was leading Laurel to a cave he was certain the Lamonts wouldn’t detect. He needed to put a greater distance between his party and those following them. He no longer dared speak, knowing his voice would echo and carry his instructions to their enemy. He’d heard Donnan’s advice to Laurel, and it eased some of his apprehension. He suspected the three riders following him wondered why he’d doubled back and descended several yards before climbing once more. His father had trained him and Dominic to use such tactics to lose anyone who tracked them into the hills. He watched the shadows the Lamonts cast over the lower ridges, knowing the sun worked in his favor.
The four riders summited the first peak after nearly two hours of riding. Brodie knew