Page 42 of The Defiance of a Scottish Heart
“So, I should go,” Taskill said.
“Nay, not until we give this some consideration and discuss it.” Rut crossed her arms.
“Why wait?” Taskill said. “I’ll leave now, and I can make it to MacLean land by nightfall.”
“Because …” Lennox paused when the door opened, and Meg stuck her head around the corner. “He’s here already?” Lennox asked her.
“Who?” Rut asked, stepping forward.
Lennox said, “Dermot. I could see him coming up the path, Ingelram behind him.”
Meg nodded. “He’s here.”
“I’ll send Taskill out, but I’m going with him,” Lennox said.
“Nay, he wishes to speak with Rut.” Meg waggled her brow at everyone.
Taskill, Meg, and Lennox all gave their full attention to Rut to see her reaction.
“Oh, bring him in,” Rut said. “Taskill, get out. We’ll talk later.”
Taskill disappeared so quickly that Rut frowned. “Lennox, check on him. I don’t like his actions right now. He’s not acting stable, nor do I trust him.”
“Fine, I’ll follow Taskill, see how he is. Meg, bring Dermot to my mother.”
Meg left, Lennox behind her. Within moments, the door swung open, and Dermot stood in the doorway.
“Dermot? What is it?” Rut asked, not liking the expression on his face any more than she liked Taskill’s expression.
“Rut, you have to help me.”
“Why?”
“Because Ailis is gone and this is women’s business. I don’t know what to do.”
Rut closed the door, but Dermot couldn’t have surprised her any more than he did with his actions. She wished to yell and chastise him for all he did, for taking his beautiful daughter to a nunnery, but she had to stop herself.
Dermot Rankin fell into a chair and sobbed.
Chapter Nineteen
Sheona
Sheona stood in the clearing, lifting her spear and holding it over her shoulder again.
Brynja said, “Try shooting it higher in the air. Sometimes you send it to get someone’s attention. If that’s the situation, then you wish to send it as high as you can and have it land in the center of the group of people. I always do that before I aim to kill.”
Sheona held her weapon down. “You’ve killed before?”
Brynja looked at Hildi, who gave her a subtle nod. “Aye. We’ll tell you some other time.”
Sheona tossed her spear high in the air, but it fell to the ground, hitting and falling flat. Two more attempts did the same thing.
“How do I make it stick in the ground?” she asked Brynja.
“Here, I’ll show you.” The lass picked up her own spear and fired it so hard that Sheona was certain it would stick in something.
She needed more power, more strength, but her hands shook. “I can’t. I need to rest for a moment.” Setting her weapon down, she flopped onto a flat boulder.
