Page 41 of Wolf Heir
Without wasting a moment, she’d waved to Niven, the lad who was their messenger boy, urgently telling him to warn Chief Hamish about the trouble at Coinneach’s home.
She couldn’t wait for Hamish to issue orders to send the men, if he even did. The gates had already been closed, and she had threatened the guards that if they did not open the gate, she would hold them accountable. Which had brought a smile to their lips as if they thought she was funny to think she could best any of them.
Her mind was a blizzard of curses. How dare Morag? How dare she? The crofters might not live at the castle, but they were still part of the wolf pack.
The gates themselves loomed massive, iron-bound, and shut fast. Two guards flanked the portal, one picking at his teeth with a twig, the other watching her. They straightened when they saw her, but neither moved to block her way; their orders, she guessed, were to keep the rabble outside, not to restrain a kitchen maid.
She didn’t slow, didn’t blink. “Open the gate,” she ordered, already stringing her bow.
The first guard, young and pale, stammered, “We—Morag said?—”
“Do you see she willna be stopped, Everett?” Ruadh and Everett pushed at the gates.
They creaked open a hand’s breadth, then a full span. Aisling slipped through, into the half-wild meadow beyond the walls. The air outside was thick with the scent of bruised grass and distant heather.
She ran, bow in hand, every muscle in her body straining forward, as if she could outrun Morag’s betrayal, outrun the years of being told to hold her tongue and know her place. The meadow grass whipped her shins; nettles stung her calves.
When she reached Aodhan and Coinneach, she couldn’t believe Aodhan would lay out the tactics, and when she took out two of the men he planned to target, he only had one left. Coinneach had to fight two when he was wounded!
She was glad she had taken Aodhan to task and even gladder that Hamish was irritated with Morag for making such a decision and that Hamish had sent men to help. Morag had no business running warfare matters unless she was the only one left in charge at the castle to do so.
As Aisling hugged Coinneach while they rode to the castle, she didn’t scold him for going into battle against an enemy intent on destroying his family’s home, despite her mother telling him not to fight until his wound healed. She understood his need to protect his loved ones. She felt the same way about her mother and his family.
“You are much skilled with the bow,” Coinneach said.
His comment pleased her. “I practice every chance I get in case I have to save you again and canna wear my wolf coat.”
“You took down Aodhan’s targets first.” He sounded amused.
“They were about to torch your croft, so aye. I didna know he would continue to believe that the other two men were yours to handle.”
“I’m glad Holgar didna know you had his brother’s bow.”
“He realized you had his sword though.” She snuggled closer to Coinneach. “I canna lose you.”
“Nor I you.”
“Did Morag stop the soldiers from going to our aid because she suspects something about me?”
“I dinna know, but I sent a messenger to speak to the chief at once. I couldna wait for them to aid you. I must tell you that Cook asked me if I had killed the Viking who owned the bow, and I finally said I had. I believe Cook brought it up in front of the kitchen staff so Gormelia would know I wasna one to be trifled with.”
“I’m glad Cook did.”
“Gormelia said I couldna have done so, that you killed the Viking, took his sword and bow, and gave the bow to me.”
“Well, now everyone will know you took down two Viking warriors with your bow. Only you, not Aodhan or me, were equipped with a bow.”
“And you truly have taken down two Vikings on your own, though you shouldna have had to, wounded as you are.” She was glad Coinneach wasn’t killed during the encounter.
Some of the men who had come to their aid howled in their human form, telling the crofters the Vikings were gone, and they could safely return to their homes.
Once Coinneach and Aisling reached the castle, several pack members lingered to see that everyone was returning safe and sound. They would have to wait a bit longer for the others to return.
Blair also waited to see if anyone needed medical attention. Blair hurried forth when she observed only Coinneach and Aisling riding in together. She must have seen the fresh red stains on his shirt and smelled his blood.
Before Aisling could dismount, one man helped her off the horse. Two men aided Coinneach before he fell off the horse.
“Take him into the barracks,” Blair ordered, sounding annoyed.
