Page 38 of Highlander's Wild Lass
“Exactly.”
“Oh, but it sounds so devious,” Auralia muttered as she continued to fasten together more flowers.
“It is…a bit,” Brannan told them with a sly smirk pulling at one side of his face. Celestia noticed that telling them the story of his and their mother’s past had brought a light into his eyes. “Yer maither and I had fun with it, pretendin’ to be pirates.”
Celestia tried to stifle her laugh. “Pretendin’ isnae the word for it.”
“No,” Brannan said, also laughing. “I guess it’s nae.” He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Daenae worry—I’ll teach ye how to handle both sides of it.”
* * *
The sun was just beginning to set, and the leaves were aglow with the deep yellow light. There were piles of arrows littering the base of several trees, a few dozen were stuck in them, and nearly a dozen were buried in the targets Sebastian had drawn on the trees.
“This was a fine first day,” Sebastian said, squatting down to gather the arrows.
“Really?” Chester asked, reaching for an arrow that Anthony had shot into the tree, the tip of the arrow far beneath the surface.
Anthony watched him struggle a bit before striding over and plucking it out with a single firm pull. He handed it to Chester with a smile and started reaching for the ones higher in the tree.
“Ye both did well handlin’ bows for the first time. I think ye will do well on the hunt, but I want ye to practice until then. We will leave these arrows with ye.”
Hugo called from a few feet away. “Ye’re goin’ to just leave us them?”
Anthony yanked another arrow from the tree. “Of course, ye need to train more.”
“We will have to make sure it’s alright with Celestia,” Chester said.
“I’ll handle yer sister,” Anthony told them, grabbing up more of the arrows and handing them to the young boy. “She willnae be able to say nay to me.”
“She has though…said nae to ye,” Hugo said with brisk honesty.
“More than once too,” Sebastian chimed in, failing to stifle his boisterous laugh.
Anthony looked from Chester to Hugo to Sebastian all laughing or trying not to. “I’ll prove ye all wrong,” he told them. “Finish cleanin’ up and daenae leave a single one behind.”
He gathered his bow and threw it over his back, holding the string against his chest as he maneuvered through rocks and moss until he was back on the path toward the McLean house. Toward Celestia.
He hoped she was still in good spirits, he desperately wanted to kiss her again. To press her up against him and feel her against his body. He saw little bits of the McLean house and stables come into view through the trees when he also saw Celestia coming up the path, her brow furrowed, a lit oil lamp swayed in her hand.
“Oh, good,” she said when she saw him, shoulders relaxing. His brow quirked upwards when he heard her words. “I didnae ken where ye were, the lads hadnae come back for any meal—”
“Daenae worry, lass,” he said, stopping before her, adjusting the bow on his back slightly. “They’ll be headin’ this way shortly with Sebastian. And we brought food with us for lunch, they ate well.”
An awkward silence passed between them, the only noises were the nightly cricket song and a far-off laugh of one of the twins.
“Can I walk back with ye?” Anthony asked.
“Sure,” she said, turning and walking beside him down the narrow path.
Anthony felt her arm graze as they walked, it was taking everything in him to remain decent. She fumbled over a rock but easily regained her balance.
“It’s gettin’ a bit dark,” she commented, looking up at him quickly and returning her gaze to the ground. A faint blush had spread across her cheeks.
“Here,” he said, offering her his arm. “Hold on to me.”
Anthony expected her to push him away, but Celestia said nothing and looped her arm through his, bringing them closer together.
“Thank ye,” she mumbled, sounding miles away.
