Medieval Ever After (119 page)

“And what will the Bruce be bringing in the way of siege weapons?”

“Besides a few hundred men, nothing,” Robert replied. “Unlike the English, the Bruce hasn’t had the luxury or time to build siege engines, so we won’t have the use of trebuchets or catapults. We may be able to starve them out, but from what Jossalyn has told us, Warren keeps the castle well-supplied. Besides, the Bruce can’t spare his army for months on end.”

Rona now stood in front of Garrick, who hadn’t budged. She crossed her arms over her chest again and leveled him with a look of annoyance. To Daniel’s surprise, Garrick gave her a lopsided grin and stepped aside, giving her a view of the map again.

“No moat…” she said as she assessed the map. Her wild red hair spilled over her shoulders as she leaned over the desk.

“Aye, that’s a blessing,” Burke said, returning his attention to the map as well. “But Jossalyn tells us the castle is situated on high, rocky ground above the village.” He pointed to the bottom of the map.

“What about tunneling?” Rona asked.

“What does a Kennedy lass like you know about sieging a castle?” Garrick said coolly before anyone could answer her.

Rona straightened her spine under Garrick’s question.

“You’ll recall that my father was once in charge of protecting this castle from attack by the English. When Warren first threatened us shortly after we took charge of the castle, my father spent many nights in discussions with the captain of the castle’s soldiers to try to figure out how to protect Loch Doon.” She shrugged. “I helped.”

That had several more eyebrows lifting at her, including Daniel’s. This woman never ceased to surprise and impress him, he thought with a surge of pride. She ignored their incredulous looks and turned back to the map.

“Of course, we didn’t have to worry about tunneling—Loch Doon’s position on an island takes care of that, and even if it were on land, the eleven-sided curtain wall would make tunneling a fool’s errand. Unfortunately, it looks like whoever built Dunbraes had the same idea.”

She traced the many-sided curtain wall sketched on the map with her finger.

“Aye, tunneling under the wall would be arduous and potentially fruitless,” Daniel said. “But it’s our best approach. Jossalyn says that both the main gate and the postern gate have portcullises, making a battering ram useless. And ladders would be too exposed and dangerous.”

Rona’s bright blue eyes drifted from the map for a moment. A private smile softened her face.

“What is it?” Daniel said from the other side of the desk, watching her closely.

Startled, she blinked and focused her eyes on him. “Oh, I was just…remembering my own little siege on Loch Doon.”

“Your…siege?” Robert said skeptically.

“Well, not a siege exactly,” she said quickly, “but I did manage to escape the curtain wall one night when the gates had already been closed. And I snuck back over the wall in the wee hours of the morning without being detected.”

Garrick gave a low whistle through his teeth and shook his head ruefully. “She’s a keeper, little brother.”

Rona shot him a scowl, but there was no heat in it.

“How did you manage that?” Burke said, impressed.

“I…borrowed a fisherman’s hook and tied a rope to it. Then I tossed the hook over the wall and climbed up using my feet against the wall. I did the same on the way back into the castle.”

“Dare I ask what inspired such action?” Burke said with a grin.

Rona shifted, somewhat uncomfortable as the center of his family’s attention.

“My father forbade me from going to see…to see some friends who live in the woods nearby,” she said, her eyes flickering to Daniel.

She must have wanted to fly Bhreaca with Ian and Mairi, and her father refused.

“Cursed be the man who tries to control you, lass!” Garrick said merrily, clapping Daniel on the back.

Rona blushed but kept her chin up.

“I wouldn’t exactly call it a curse,” Daniel said wryly, then locked eyes with Rona. She blushed further under his penetrating gaze.

Robert cleared his throat, interrupting the silent, latent exchange between Daniel and Rona.

“What brought you up here, Rona?” Daniel said, remembering himself.

“Oh,” she replied, giving herself a little shake. “I need to talk to you about something. It’s private.” She glanced around at the others.

“We’d best see to the men’s training in the yard,” Robert said pointedly to the others.

As the three men shuffled out of the study and closed the door behind them, Daniel pinned Rona with another look.

“Is all well?”

“Aye,” she said, a slow smile spreading across her face. “For several reasons.”

“Care to enlighten me?” he replied, slowly stalking around the desk toward her. She eyed him but didn’t move, letting him come closer.

“You didn’t hide your plans from me,” she said, clearly pleased.

He reached her and wrapped his arms around her. God, he would never get tired of the feel of her lithe body pressed against him. He lowered his head and brushed her lips with his.

“I trust you,” he said simply. She smiled at his words, her eyes warm.

“Why else are you happy?” he breathed, nuzzling her ear. She shivered and leaned into him.

“You assume that my mind runs as wantonly as yours?” she chided, but she looped her arms around his neck, holding him close.

“Nay, I only wish I were so lucky,” he said, his teeth grazing her ear. “You looked so excited when you burst into the study, and, well, a man can hope.”

She playfully rolled her eyes at him.

“Unfortunately for both of us, I have something else in mind. I want to take Meredith to see Bhreaca.”

He frowned and pulled back so he could look at her. “That seems…dangerous.”

Her brows came down over her bright blue eyes. “Surely we can trust our family with my secret. She loves animals. She’ll understand.”

Daniel let his arms drop and sighed.

“Perhaps. But as with any secret, the more people who know, the more likely it is to come out.”

He didn’t wish to bring up the fact that he’d withheld information from her for that very reason, but the thought lingered.

Rona opened her mouth to protest, but he held up a hand to stay her.

“That’s not what I’m truly concerned about though. I’m far too busy here to accompany you both to the cottage. It will have to wait.”

Her face darkened, and he realized that they were headed toward another fight.

“I know we agreed that you’d always come with me, but I must be able to visit my friends even when you can’t accompany me?”

Surprisingly, she kept her temper in check. Perhaps instead of fighting, they could find another compromise, as they had when this issue had initially come up.

When we are thrown into a new situation, we can’t keep living as if nothing has changed.

His words to young Will floated back to him. He couldn’t simply order and control Rona, as he was used to doing with his men. Things were different now. He had to learn how to compromise—a skill which would apparently be required often in their marriage.

But when it came to matters of her safety, he didn’t like negotiating.

Before he could interject with his worries, she raised her chin and went on.

“What will happen when you are off sieging Dunbraes? You’ll be gone for weeks, perhaps months. You expect me never to see Bhreaca or Ian and Mairi that entire time?”

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. She was right, but he hated to admit it.

“I know that won’t work. But your safety is paramount to me.”

The tense set of her shoulders eased slightly.

“I know. But I need my freedom too.”

He sighed again and let his eyes scan the ground in hopes of coming up with a solution.

“What if you send someone else with us? Someone you trust,” she said hopefully.

Daniel almost rejected the idea out of hand. The only other men he trusted completely with his wife’s and Meredith’s safety were Robert, Garrick, and Burke, and they were all needed here at the castle for training and planning the siege. They’d all been staying up most of the night this past week just to make the most of what little time they had before they launched their attack on Dunbraes.

As he stood in stony silence, he watched as Rona’s face fell. But instead of anger or stubbornness turning her lovely features down, it was dejected resignation. He was letting her down. He was keeping her from the thing that made her the most happy. He was crushing her freedom, and with it her trust in him.

He seized both her hands in his.

“One man won’t do. I’ll send two with you.”

Her bright eyes darted up to his in disbelief. “Truly?”

He nodded, a little smile creeping to his lips at the look of unbridled joy on her face.

“Och, lass. You have more power over me than you know.”

She flung herself into his arms and buried her face in his neck.

“Thank you,” she whispered, her breath tickling his skin.

“But you are to be back before dark,” he said sternly. “And don’t give my men a hard time.”

She pulled back and pinned him with a radiant smile, and he felt his heart lurch and squeeze.

“We’d better be off then,” she said, shooting a glance out the study’s window. She planted a kiss on his mouth, then nearly sprinted to the study’s door. Another swish of her simple woolen skirts and she was gone.

He leaned back onto the edge of his desk, as dazed and happy as a lad after his first kiss. How did she do that to him? He smiled to himself and shook his head, trying to return his attention to the work in front of him. No matter what daunting tasks lay ahead, Rona would be at his side. The thought made his heart lurch again, in an entirely pleasurable way.

HIGHLANDER’S RECKONING

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Rona had to
force herself not to run ahead of Meredith and their two guards as they traveled on foot past the outskirts of the village.

“And you really won’t tell me where we’re going and what we’re doing?” Meredith asked for the dozenth time. She had tucked a few pieces of parchment, a corked ink pot, and a quill into a small bag, as Rona had instructed. Both women wore heavy cloaks and boots to ward off the chill, but the clouds had thinned enough to let several rays of weak early spring sun through.

It might as well have been midsummer’s day for all Rona noticed the chill and the bare trees among the evergreens.

“Nay, you’ll just have to wait,” she said cheerily.

The little group trudged along in silence as they moved southward through the Galloway woods. Patrick, one of the men Daniel had selected for their guard, put on an air of expert calmness that his youth didn’t support. He was likely modeling himself after their other guard, Harold, who had actually earned the mantle of experienced composure he wore.

Patrick was young—perhaps only a few years older than Rona—but he was distinguishing himself in training as a quick learner and a skilled fighter. Harold was at least a decade and a half more advanced in years than Patrick, and Rona had seen the two practicing in the yard together. Daniel had begun forming teams in their training sessions, trying to build strong bonds of trust between the men. No doubt Daniel was also trying to honor Patrick and Harold by publicly tasking them with accompanying Rona and Meredith into the woods.