The Scot's Pursuit - Keira Montclair Page 0,62
right. I’m not sure ’tis your mother. What if I’m wrong?”
Alick met her gaze, his eyes tortured with a pain she wished to soothe, and reached for her hand and squeezed it.
Alex added, “Or what if they’ve moved her? What if she is now standing bound on a rock with a rope around her neck? A rock they’ll kick out from under her the moment we attack?”
Alick’s hand tightened further around hers, his eyes wide as he stared at his grandfather. “Grandsire? Truly? ’Tis possible?”
“Unlikely, lad,” his voice replied, his tone softer now. “But you never attack until you know what you are up against.”
“But you did it for Claray and Aunt Sela,” he whispered. “Why not for Mama?”
Alex bowed his head. “’Struth. I didn’t know what we were up against that day, but I allowed my wife’s concern for a wee bairn to determine our strategy. I don’t regret it. Even so, those bastards touched your grandmother, and Aunt Sela’s life was endangered. I swore never again to go in without sound knowledge of my enemy.”
Alick’s furrowed brow told Branwen how he struggled with this information. He glanced at Branwen and said, “But are you not sure it could be my mother?”
“Alick, I don’t know what to say. It could be. But I saw so little I didn’t even know if it was a man or a woman. I cannot be sure.” She swiped at the tears that she couldn’t stop, tears from watching the pain in her husband’s heart.
“Will you go along with my suggestion, lad? All I wish to find out is if she is there. If Dyna and Branwen cannot get her out, I’ll bring in as many warriors as we need to retrieve her. First we have to know—where, how many guards, what we’re facing.”
“All right,” he whispered.
His father came up behind him and clasped both of his shoulders. “You are to give Grandsire your word you won’t do something foolish, Alick. And me. I want my wife back, too. Your mother is a special person to everyone.”
“Aye, you have my word.”
And so they sent many of the guards closer to home, only taking a handful with them. Grandsire had arranged for Jamie to command the guards and to have them at the ready in two different places. They would set up shifts for sleeping to ensure the warriors were fresh for the fighting.
She hoped they could sleep because she surely could not.
They rode in haste and stopped about two hours outside of Thane Castle, having decided it was best to wait until nightfall to make their move. Branwen stood on the edge of the clearing, looking over the ones who’d come along. Els and Joya, Alick, Alex, Finlay, and Dyna. Jamie was with the guards. Alasdair had headed back to MacLintock land with Lora. Will and Maggie had decided to continue their patrol in Glasgow in case Kyla was there. With the activity going on at Thane Castle, they guessed there would be many more men in the area, looking for extra coin and chances to do battle.
Branwen stared up at the sky, trying her best to navigate exactly where they were. Two hours to Thane Castle meant two hours in the opposite direction to Grant Castle, if she were to guess. MacLintock Castle was half a day’s ride from where they were. How she wished she knew the rest of the Highlands the way she knew Thane land.
Alick stood talking with his sire and his grandsire, his broad shoulders making her wish to sigh. The wind and the occasional misting had made his dark red hair curly and even a bit wild, making him look even more braw. He was exactly the kind of man any lass wished to have protecting her. How had she found such a wonderful man? Alick was kind and handsome and respectful and funny and…
“You look as though you could devour your husband. You are quite besotted.”
The voice was Dyna’s, not that Branwen was surprised. Alick had told her his cousin knew things she could not. “Aye,” she said, bringing her gaze up to Dyna’s. “I’ll admit the few hours we had together last eve were not enough for me. I look forward to this being over. To meeting his mother, and so many others I’ve heard so much about. To spending more time with Chrissa and his brothers.”
“Your time together with your husband will come soon,” Dyna said. “What else can you tell me about the castle