Ian (8 page)

Chapter 8

“What do ye mean ye saw yer husband-te-be in the flames o’ the fire?” asked Ian curiously. Could she have possibly seen the same vision as him? He had to find out. If so, then perhaps he wasn’t going mad after all, and something odd had really happened.

“Aye, I saw him,” she said, fixing her hair and then crossing her arms over her chest. “Jealous?”

“Nay. Jest curious. What did this man look like?”

“What difference does it make te ye?”

“Did he have dark eyes and a beard and mustache?”

“Mayhap he did. So what o’
it?”

“And did he have an ugly
scar in the shape o’ an x on his hideous face?”

Kyla’s heart jumped when she heard Ian describing perfectly the man she’d seen in the fire. Her husband-to-be. He seemed awfully curious about it, and she really didn’t want to tell him anything more after he’d just denied her something she’d been hoping for her entire life.

“Was he auld and have a darknes
s about him thet was . . . evil?” Ian just kept on firing the questions at her one after another. And when he described the man, she suddenly felt revolted that she was probably going to have to marry the wretched man she’d seen in her vision.

“Nay,” she lied, not wanting him to feel satisfied when he discovered her husband would be all those undesirable qualities that he’d just listed
. “Nay, he was young and strong, and verra handsome,” she said, hoping to make him jealous.

“He was?” His eyebrows dipped in and his mouth turned down into a frown. “Are ye sure?”

“O’ course I’m sure. Me husband was big and brave and had a smile thet could light up the room.”

“Are ye sure ye’re no’ describin’ someone else, lassie?”

“Like who?” She raised her chin and he just shrugged his shoulders. “Like ye?” she asked. “Thet’s what ye’re thinkin’ isna it?”

“I’ve had enough o’ this talk fer the night,” he said, ta
king a coverlet from the travelbag on the horse and laying it down on the ground. “Now let’s get some shut eye and head out early at first light.”

“Fine.” She settled on the blanket, lying back, and to her surprise he lay down next to her.
She smiled. Mayhap he’d had a change of mind. She flipped onto her side facing him, and instantly he turned the other way. She could see that changing Ian’s mind was not going to be easy. Mayhap it would never happen at all. She turned away from him, and lay with her hand over the hound that was now snuggled up next to her. Then she fell asleep thinking about the awful face of the man she’d seen in the fire and hoping that it was all just a bad dream. Because after what she’d just experienced with Ian, she knew no other man would ever suffice now.

* * *

Ian tossed and turned, not able to get the vision of Tearlach MacTavish’s face from his mind. His eyes drifted open slightly, and he focused on the flames of the fire he’d left burning throughout the night.

He wasn’t sure if it was a dream or a vision, but in those flames he saw Daghda, the witch
girl that he’d married, tied to a stake and screaming out as her body burned in the fire, and he was forced to watch.

She had been
a Celtic witch, there was no doubt in his mind, as he’d found out too late she’d concocted and used a potion on him that had played a big part in his decision to stay with the MacTavishes three years ago, and not go back to the MacKeefes.

It was an herbal love potion
. He knew that now. Because as soon as she’d died, he was released from the spell that bound him to her, and he realized that he’d never loved her after all. But he couldn’t say the same for the baby – his baby – that she carried. The baby that died in the fire with her that night.

He felt the sweat on his brow and his hands balled up into fists. He cou
ld almost feel the chains biting into his wrists and neck as the clan’s chieftain, Tearlach ordered his men to hold him and make him watch, though he’d fought to save the lassie from her imminent death. Tearlach told him none of this would matter once he realized he’d been under a spell and that his wife was a witch that deserved to die. But even so, Ian didn’t want to see any defenseless person die, and especially not his unborn child.

“Nay!” he cried
, reaching out to save his child that would never know life. “Nay, Daghda,” he cried again, breaking away, and fighting the soldiers, but still not able to save her. There were too many of them following their wretched leader’s rules. Just the same as Ian had done when he’d found his dark side and decided to stay with the MacTavishes in the first place.

“Wake up. Ian, wake up!” Someone shook him by the shoulders, and he rolled over and jumped to his feet, then reached down to the ground and grabbed his sword and held it out in front of him.

“Nay! I’ll kill ye, ye bastard,” he shouted, then realized Kyla was standing there with a surprised look on her face and her hands in the air.

“God’s eyes, what are ye yellin’ aboot?” she asked, cocking her head and l
ooking at him as if she thought he were crazy. Actually, he wasn’t so sure himself any more.

His eyes scanned the area around him, and he
tried hard to slow his rapidly beating heart and regain a normal breathing. Then he realized he had been having a dream and naught more. A nightmare, actually, about his past.

“Dammit, I . . . was jest dreamin’, thet’s all
.” He lowered his sword in disgust at the fact that it was getting harder through the years to decipher the difference between dreams and reality anymore. His wolfhound got up suddenly, looking into the trees and then lowering its head as it growled lowly.

“Well, I dinna ken what
thet was all aboot, Ian, but ye are a dangerous man, even in yer sleep.”

“Shhh,” he told her, holding a finger to his lips and watching his hound move forward slo
wly almost as if it were stalking someone. “I think me hound hears somethin’.”

“What
is it?” She looked around quickly, then came closer to him.

“Listen,” h
e said, straining his ears, sure he heard the thundering sound of hoof beats on the hard earth. “Quickly, pack up our things and take the horse inte the woods. Hide it behind the thicket, and hide yerself as well.”

He put out the fire that
had almost died anyway, and kicked dirt upon it with his foot. Kyla rushed around and did as he’d instructed.

“Who could it be
?” she whispered. “Do ye think it is the MacGillivrays?”

“
I dinna ken,” he said, but wondered the exact same thing himself. He thought of going to find out, and then decided against it since he knew Kyla would probably follow him, and get herself killed. “Fast, let’s get inte the woods and stay hidden. Come on, Kyle,” he instructed his hound and they headed into the forest.

He had just gotten
the horse out of view behind some bushes and trees, and had Kyla holding the hound so it wouldn’t rush off or make noise, when the thundering of hooves got louder and an army of men came barreling through the forest not far from where they were crouching behind the foliage.

A large puff of dust from the road filled the air, and Ian covered Kyla’s body with his
to protect her as the soldiers thankfully rode right by without noticing. He lay there atop her with his hand on her head until the dust cleared. Then he sat up, and she followed.

“Who were they?” she asked.

He reached out and touched his hand to her mouth to silence her, then leaned over and whispered. “Stay here. And make sure the hound doesn’t follow. I’ll signal ye when I’m sure it is safe. Ye ne’er ken if there’s a straggler.” Then he took off silently through the trees.

Kyla waited for several minutes, not hearing or seeing a thing. She decided Ian was just being too protective, not unlike her brother. There was no one straggling behind or they would have showed themselves by now. She let loose the hound and got to her feet as well. That’s when she realized her mistake.

Through the trees came a man on a horse with his sword raised. “I thought I heard someone,” he
growled, dismounting and coming toward her.

“Dinna touch me,” she said, p
ulling her dagger from at her side and holding it out in front of her, waving it back and forth in the air.

The hound
put down his head and growled as the man came closer.

“I’ll touch ye all right,” he said with a
sickening chuckle. “As ye look like the sweetest flesh I’ll e’er have me pleasures with.”

The hound gro
wled again and showed its teeth, and the man stopped short.

“That is, right after I t
ake care o’ the mutt.” He rushed forward with his sword leading the way, and the hound ran forward at the same time to meet him. Kyla screamed, thinking the man would kill it, but then Ian dropped from a tree above and took the man to the ground.

“Look away, Kyla,” shouted Ian,
but she kept her eyes forward. And then right in front of her, Ian took his dagger and slit the man’s throat.

She gasped as she realized what just happened.

Ian jumped off of the man, and pulled the hound away from him as well. “It’s all right boy,” he said, patting the hound on the head. “Ye did a guid job protectin’ Kyla.”

Then
he turned and looked at her but she just stood there with her eyes transfixed to the bloody mess of the dead man at his feet.

“I told ye te look away,” he growled, and now she understood exactly why.

“I . . . I . . . who is he?”

“Are ye all right, lassie?”
Ian wiped off his dagger in the dead man’s clothes and replaced it into his weaponbelt. Then he came and put his arms around Kyla. He pulled her into his chest, trying to hide her view, but she just didn’t want to be sheltered like a helpless child, so she put her hands on his arms and just pushed away.

“I’m fine,” she said, feeling
a little queasy, but wanting to remain strong. She’d seen her brother and his friends kill deer or slit a rabbit’s throat before, and she’d even done it herself while hunting. As well as gutting their bodies afterwards. And she’d also seen battlefields of the dead, so it shouldn’t have shocked her. But she’d never seen Ian kill a man right in front of her before. Not like this. The men had often fought other clans and even went to war for the king himself. But she’d always been protected and never along when the killing took place. This was right in front of her, and if it wasn’t for Ian, she knew she could be dead right now as well.

“He’s a MacGilliv
ray,” said Ian, walking over to the man and nudging his body with his toe, looking at his plaid. “And he was set on rapin’ ye and probably killin’ ye as well.” He turned and looked into her eyes and she could see sincerity and care, but no regret. “I had te do it.”

“I ken.
” She nodded her head. “Are there any more stragglers?”

“Nay, I dinna see any. But jest the same, we need te get goin’.” He reached down and pilfered the man’s weapons, sticking them into his weaponbelt
, then took the pouch with coins from his side. “Get his horse,” he told her. “We’ll be able te get back te camp faster, with both o’ us ridin’ on our own steed.”

She rushed over and did as instructed. “Where do ye think they were headed so fast?” she asked.

“I ken exactly where they were goin’, and I dinna like it in the least. They are headed straight fer the MacKeefe camp. And with our clan so small with e’eryone bein’ away right now, they’ll have no chance te fight off the MacGillivrays. There are too many o’ them.”

“Then we need to hurry so we can help them,” said Kyla, getting on the dead man’s horse.

“Nay, lassie, ye willna be killin’ anyone the way ye jest saw me do. I promised Aidan I’d keep ye safe and thet’s exactly what I’ll do. Ye’ll ride te camp with me, but if they’re there when we arrive, ye’ll ride away fast and find safety. Do ye understand me?”

“I ken how te use weapons, Ian. Dinna ferge
t thet ye, Onyx, and me brathair were the ones te teach me. I am goin’ te help in any way I can.”

“
We taught ye te use them te hunt and defend yerself only. No’ te attack anyone nor te ride inte the middle o’ a raid. Now, if I have te gag ye and tie ye te a tree te keep ye from doin’ somethin’ stupid, then I will,” he said, mounting his own horse. “Aidan told ye te listen te me and do whate’er I say. So what’s yer choice? Are ye goin’ te follow me orders or am I goin’ te have te make ye?”

Kyla thought about it for a moment. She had no doubt he would do just that, and she didn’t want to be left behind or tied to a tree. She was a part of the MacKeefe clan just the same as him. And she would fight if she had to, and no one was going to tell her not to. But she couldn’t let Ian know that. Not yet. So instead, she just smiled and nodded her head.

“O’ course, me protective warrior. Yer wish is me command.” With that, she dug the heels into her horse and sped past him, leading the way back to camp.