up in his arms. “Get out of here.”
Toran chuckled. “Aye, Mistress.”
He sneaked his way back out of the castle and found Dirk, finalizing the plan for Simon.
Jenny was all business when she exited the castle, barely looking his way other than for a nod of respect, as if he were any other member of her regiment. Toran grinned. All right then, that was how it was to be. In fact, he preferred it that way. He didn’t need any needling from the men or another icy bath to wake him in the morning.
And for her part, she didn’t need anyone speculating about whom she was lying with or when. It was none of their business, but worst of all, he didn’t want her losing the respect the men had for her because she was bedding a man—bedding him. He suspected that part of her allure was that she was seemingly untouchable.
That was a bit of lore he rather liked about her, and he enjoyed watching the men who admired her from afar. Toran stuck to the back of the line as he mounted, perfectly happy to keep up her ruse.
The first day of riding they took slowly, avoiding the roads as much as possible, as they had that first time they’d ventured out months before. They made camp that night by a riverbed surrounded by thorny bushes. They were fully aware that if the Sassenachs took it upon themselves to notice an army, there would be nothing the Scots could do about it. This was no small contingent of men.
Jenny had called upon all of her reinforcements, and now they were some four hundred men strong. It was a massive lot of warriors to be traipsing through the woods together, and there was no hiding their purpose. With that many bodies moving, that many horses, wagons full of supplies, even splitting into smaller parties the path they made could not be hidden.
The second day of travel was through the Cairngorm mountains, and they were slowed down by rain that made the terrain slippery and dangerous. They pressed on, but it cost them time. They still spent the majority of their daylight hours moving forward, but it would now be five days’ travel instead of four.
Jenny stayed away from Toran as they rode and still when they made camp, and he did the same out of respect. He would wait for her to come to him again, even if nearly every waking and sleeping thought was of her. She plagued him in his dreams and even more so when she relayed updates to him and then rode back to the front, her bottom bouncing enticingly on the saddle.
Their entire party was with them now, as the dragoons didn’t often come into mountain territory. They were too afraid of dying, which many of them did—some by accident and others less accidentally.
They made camp at the crest with the road down below. Their makeshift tents within the trees attempted to keep them dry but failed. The night was miserable and freezing. By the morning, most of the men were snapping at one another as they packed up. The only one who had a kind word to say to anyone was Jenny, keeping the peace and raising morale.
When no one was paying attention, Toran passed her a cup of warmed cider.
“Mistress J.”
She took it, and the slight dip of pleasure in her eyes at the warmth against her cold, red fingers was exactly what he’d been hoping to see.
“Thank ye, Fraser,” she said.
“Ye’re welcome, Mistress.”
She took a long sip, her throat bobbing, and she sighed in pleasure. A slight curve of her lips was all the smile he’d get, but Toran cherished it all the same.
They set out once more in silence. Nearly at the bottom of the mountain, Jenny held up her hand. Arms shot up down the line to still the men and wagons at the back of their caravan.
Five men deep, Toran peered around her trying to discover what it was she’d seen or heard.
There was no mistaking the sound of the English soldiers riding directly toward the mountain, their chatter about stealing a string of horses from a Scottish crofter making Toran bristle with anger. They didn’t bother to be quiet, boasting loudly for all the trees and passersby to hear their vile deeds. They were oblivious to the Jacobite army hidden within the trees. Idiots.
In silence they watched two men in red coats ride past at a leisurely pace,