Page 61 of Tempting the Highland Devil
The other laird barked out a laugh that chilled Arran to the bones and made him grit his teeth harder.
“Ye have been serving as laird for what? Two days? Two months? Whatever it is, ye think ye can fight my clan?”
Arran saw the man’s chin harden before he spat. “Only a weak laird would lead his men out here and threaten me with war. If ye were strong or determined enough, ye would have attacked me the moment ye arrived in me clan lands…Ye would have wreaked havoc to me villages and terrorized the men, women, and children just like yer faither would have done!”
“I am nay my faither—” Arran began.
“Ye are but a bairn,” Laird Macmicking interrupted. “Only a wee bairn would stand there and defend his strength. I will let ye live this once, but the next time ye ride in here, I will show ye what it means to be the powerful laird.”
Arran drew his sword before Laird Macmicking had the chance to move, and he placed his blade next to the man’s neck, close enough to draw a little blood while his eyes blazed with anger.
“Hand over me wife, and I will let ye live. Take one more step, and I will end ye while yer men watch.”
Arran thought he saw the flicker of fear in the man’s eyes as he held his sword to his neck. The Macmicking men all drew their swords in turn, and Arran’s men did not hesitate to draw theirs.
Both clans faced each other with the intent to fight to the end, and Arran knew his men were just as skilled as Macmicking men, so a blood bath would ensue.
“Ye might think I am weak, and taunt me all ye want. but I would do it again. I would risk anythin’ to get me wife back. And I will,” he said to Laird Macmicking when he looked at him again. “I dinnae care about anything else.”
Arran had never felt this desperate need to protect before. Every part of him burned with it, and he couldn’t let himself think of all the horrible things that could have happened to Yvaine by now.
The longer it takes to find her, the more dangerous it becomes.
A long moment of silence passed between both men before Laird Macmicking cleared his throat.
“I dinnae ken where yer wife is,” he finally stated.
Arran tightened his grip on the sword and allowed another second tick away. “Laird Macmicking…”
“I speak the truth, lad,” Laird Macmicking continued. “I admit that I have me grievances with yer clan, and I threatened to get me revenge for all the pain yer faither caused while he ruled, but I have done naythin’. I dinnae ken where the lady is. I have had nay hand in her disappearance. If ye dinnae believe me, then I will allow ye search me castle.”
Arran did not see the use of wasting his time on a search here. Laird Macmicking could have hidden Yvaine far away from his castle. He held Laird Macmicking’s gaze for a long time, contemplating what to do next while he stood there.
James touched his shoulder after some time then whispered to him. “She will be all right. We will search everywhere for her and bring her home safe.”
Arran slowly withdrew his sword from Laird Macmicking’s neck then sheathed it by his side. “Why should I believe a word ye say to me?”
Laird Macmicking smiled again. “It is the truth,” he answered. “I have naythin’ to do with yer wife’s disappearance. Ye are free to search me castle.”
Arran contemplated taking the laird’s offer, but if he came up with nothing then he would have wasted his precious time.
“I will search every cottage and corner of yer village instead. Even if ye have her, ye would nae hide her in yer castle and allow me to search, would ye?”
“Nae so much of a bairn then…Good job, Laird MacGregor.”
Laird Macmicking ordered his men to take Arran around the village in Gaelic after that, and the search began. The entire time, his heart pounded while he searched every cottage and corner for her.
* * *
Hours passed before the search ended. The ache pulsating through every nerve in Arran multiplied with each passing second, and the one in his heart worsened each time he thought of how terrified Yvaine would be alone.
Duncan and the rest of her family would arrive to his castle in a few days, and if he did not find her before then…
Arran tried not to complete the thought. His head pounded terribly, and his joints ached to. While he sat by the campfire, he and his men making do in the wilderness, he replayed every memory of his time with Yvaine in his head.
Her sweet kiss and that smile that melts my heart every time.
Arran regretted not taking the chances he had to tell her how much he wanted her. Yvaine took every chance to confess her feelings for him, and each time, he pulled away from her out of fear.
