Page 25 of The Burden of a Scottish Chieftain
“Chief, we already had a score of guards ready after we received the first message from Dyna. We’ll get this group over quickly. The wind is in our favor. More will follow.”
The birlinn they’d hired to cross was the largest and most expensive ship to be found in the area. There would be oarsmen not far from the horses while the others rode the upper deck.
“I need to see our daughters and granddaughters,” Sela whispered. “I can’t wait to board that ship.”
“And Sandor,” he finished, kissing his wife’s forehead. “You won’t mind the ride, will you, love?”
Sela grinned, her multiple braids in her nearly white hair perfect for the wind they were experiencing. “Nay. I used to love sailing.” Sela’s heritage was Norse, and she hadn’t been on a birlinn in years. “I’m excited to see Mull too.” Her skin carried a golden bronze from the summer sun, and the fine lines around her eyes made her more beautiful in Connor’s view.
“If Dyna hasn’t found the bastard who stole my Tora away, I’ll find him.” Connor let out a bellow at Alasdair, who was now moving among the Grant guards, giving instructions. “Alasdair! Don’t forget.”
His nephew cast a small grin back at him. “I know, Chief. You have rights.”
It was part of the Highlander code of honor and the principle of just due. Whoever is harmed the most by a villain gets the rights to inflict the killing blow.
Damn right he had the right of due justice to the fool who dared to touch a Grant bairn.
Alasdair chuckled. “Poor bastard.”
Chapter Fifteen
Logan
“Who took the bairns?” Logan asked, approaching the fool he pretended to agree with. He was getting too old to play games with men like this, but if this bastard had anything to do with the bairns, he would deeply regret it.
Logan adored bairns. They were much easier to deal with than idiot adults.
“I don’t know.”
Logan took two steps closer. “Surely you do. I can see it in your eyes.”
“Nay, I have no use for the bairns. I wish to control the Isle of Mull, not bairns.” The man spit off to the side and set his hand on his weapon’s hilt. “I asked to see you because there are scores of horses trying to get on the ferry. And there’s a giant birlinn unlike I’ve ever seen. Why?”
“What you are seeing is the response from Clan Grant to having one of the chieftain’s granddaughters taken.”
“Someone stole a Grant bairn? Now that is foolishness I’d never commit.”
By the look on the man’s face, Logan guessed he was telling the truth. That didn’t mean he was about to let the man off easily. Bairns were a sore spot with him. “Connor Grant and his nephew Alasdair are on their way. The two finest swordsmen in all the land. You better be forthright because they will find you if you are guilty.”
The man let out a slow whistle, then Logan caught the slight smirk.
Logan stepped forward and grabbed the fool by the throat. “If I find out you had anything to do with stealing the bairns, I’ll cut off your bollocks and make you eat them for dinner. Then I’llgive you to Connor to do as he wishes. You better tell me now what you know.”
The man was about to turn green, so Logan let go of him, mostly because he didn’t wish to be heaved on. The fool rubbed his neck and looked as guilty as anyone he’d ever seen, so Logan took another step closer.
The fool held up his hands. “All right. I had naught to do with it, but I know why they stole the bairns away.”
“I’m listening.”
“There’s a man on Ardnamurchan who wants the faery.”
“What faery?”
“The green maiden. She has the ability to grant wishes. They say she appears in the middle of the forest when she finds someone she can trust, and she can take any form she wishes. They say she’s a bairn this time.” The man rubbed his neck.
Logan hoped he’d left a bruise, but he had to pursue this a wee bit further. “Out with all of it. I can see it in your eyes.”
“They say there’s a child who is also a seer, so they stole her too. They have plans on how to use the green maiden, but that I don’t know.”
