Page 60 of The Highlander's Virgin Nun
“Jayden, follow me.”
Caelan marched through the courtyard, not even stopping to tell Jayden why he needed him. He merely barked the order at his man-at-arms and continued on towards his study. His footsteps were loud, pounding into the ground, kicking up stone dust.
Jayden, seeing the tension in his Laird’s body, understood the urgency. He quickly apologized to the guard he had been chatting with and fell into step beside Caelan.
The pair moved swiftly.
“Everythin’ all right, Me Laird? Did somethin’ happen with Laird MacKinnon?”
“Nay,” Caelan almost shouted back. “He is gone with me wife. She will be safe, and we are goin’ to make this place even safer for her return.”
“How do ye… plan to do that, Me Laird?”
Jayden was rarely unsure. He never hesitated with Caelan, never asked for directions.
The sudden uncertainty made Caelan nervous. But as a laird, he could not allow his nerves to fester, so he channeled that feeling into anger, the need for action.
“We’ve been too complacent. We need to finish this. We are goin’ to find out who is sendin’ these attackers after me.”
“But how, Me Laird? I’ve been gatherin’ information on every laird in Scotland, lookin’ into every clan, every nomad. We’ve fired guards and servants we have been suspicious of, and the attackers still ken yer locations. We have been thorough.”
Caelan sighed and leaned back in his chair, praying for another solution to dawn on him.
“What if we set them up, just like they’re settin’ us up?”
“What do ye mean? How can we plan an attack when we dinnae ken who’s goin’ to attack ye?”
“Because it’s nae aboutwho. It’s aboutwhenandwhere. And these are things that wecancontrol.”
Jayden leaned forward in his chair and placed his hands on his knees. He tilted his head, trying to wrap his head around Caelan’s suggestion.
“I’m nae followin’, Caelan.”
“These attackers ken me movements, right? They ken where I’m goin’ to be and when. We ken that, too. We ken when I’m travelin’ and how I’m goin’ to get there. I’ve always been prepared for an attack, to defend meself, and I’ve done me best to keep them alive long enough to extract information from them. But we’ve never prepared well enough to do that.”
“So we prepare an army.”
Caelan saw the moment realization dawned on Jayden. His eyes lit up, his shoulders rose, and his head snapped up.
“Ye venture out alone, but the guards follow ye discreetly—movin’ cautiously, always behind ye, unseen. Then, when the attackers come, we burst out. Alone, ye can kill them, but together, we can keep themalive.”
“Exactly,” Caelan said.
Smug smiles crossed the men’s faces. Could they have finally cracked it? It would take a lot of work and coordination, Caelan knew, but if they could just keep these assassins alive long enough, they would get answers.
“These attackers dinnae ken me. I cannae ken for sure, but I swear they are bein’ led by one person. Which means they have been paid to kill me. If we offer them a higher price, they might sell us a name.”
“I’m with ye, Me Laird. I’ll make preparations. Where are we to go?”
Caelan considered for a moment, fueled by anticipation and fury. An idea came to him.
“Let’s just nae waste a journey. We’re goin’ to head to Stonepeak Abbey. I am goin’ to avenge me wife while we’re out there and deal with the nuns who harmed her. The woods will give us good cover also.”
“Understood, Me Laird.” Jayden stood up, ready to leave and gather the right men for the job.
“Jayden, one more thing.”
“Aye, Me Laird?”
