Page 42 of The Anguish of the Scottish Lairds
“Nay. Lennox had the armorer dull the blades since they are only for practice.”
Eva smirked. “Probably a good thing.”
She picked up a large axe and held it over her head, almost falling backward because it was much heavier than she thought it would be. “Oh my!”
“It takes a bit to get used to,” Meg said, her arms crossed in front.
“I’ll try the smaller one.” She switched weapons, then stood back, swinging it overhead and throwing it. She missed the target completely.
“Not bad. You almost hit it. Try again. It takes a while to get used to the weight of each one.”
Eva followed Meg’s instructions, switching axes, practicing and throwing until her arms hurt, but she was finally hitting the target.
“Great job! Keep going until you feel comfortable with it.”
She continued to practice, switching to a heavier one, but then the oddest thing happened. It was as if her attacker were standing in front of the target. She picked up the axe, and as slowly and carefully as she could, she whipped it over her head, right at him. “There. How does that feel, you rotten bastard?”
She picked up another one. “You ugly, smelly troll. How dare you touch me!”
And she hit the target in the center. But that wasn’t enough.
She picked up another and another, cursing and hollering at her intended victim. And she sent six axes at the target in quick succession. So much that she was heaving from the exertion.
And she turned to Meg and whispered, “How would I know for sure? Tell me, please.”
Meg came over and wrapped her arms around Eva, tugging her to sit on a nearby log. “You would know. You would have been sore between your legs. Inside you would hurt. He forced you, so if he did, you would be torn or cut somewhere, I would think. And you would bleed between your legs, but not like your courses. A light bleed. But I would expect it to hurt verra much if you were forced.”
Eva sobbed against Meg’s shoulder and finally declared, “He didn’t do it. I never hurt there. And the only blood came from him where I scratched him.”
She sobbed until she had no tears left, but now she had a power she’d never had before.
Eva MacVey could protect herself.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Connor
Connor approached his daughter as she strode around the outside of Duart Castle. “What is it, Dyna? What are you looking for?”
“Something, but I don’t know what. Something is off. I feel strangers around and I don’t like it, yet I find no evidence of anyone nearby. I’ve searched everywhere. I wish I could see into other people’s minds.”
“You have always said you can only see what happens to people you love.”
“Or some kind of connection, aye. But to see someone I’ve never met before, that never happens. And I don’t think I can pick up anything from the bairns. That’s my worry.”
“But your daughter can, so use her.” Connor didn’t tell Dyna that he had the same inkling. That his granddaughter Tora had come over to him and said, “They’re coming again. But don’t worry. Lia will stop them.”
Then she ran off and joined the other bairns in their play. Could he trust that a wee lass could stop evil in the world? He didn’t know what was happening on the isle. Everything was different here—the weather, the clans, the animals, the seas.
“I’ve got men all along the roads, Dyna. If anyone tries to attack again, they’ll stop them. I’ve had men search the forest they used before, had them near MacVeys and Rankins. They’re all looking, but nothing is happening. It could be something happening at Kilchoan. Sloan believes there is something unscrupulous taking place there. Too many ships about, he says, but I have no way of searching the seas or the surrounding islands. All I can do is protect what’s mine here.”
“I know, Da,” she said, stopping to hug her father. “It hurt so much when Tora and Astra disappeared.”
“Astra never leaves your mother’s side for more than a minute.”
“Even that bothers me, Da. If she hadn’t come here, she wouldn’t have that feeling.”
Her father barked, “You did not cause that fear in her. The bastards who stole her horse and Tora did.”
