Page 50 of Kidnapped By her Highland Enemy
“Nay,” she perched herself on the edge of the bed. “I went to speak with yer faither about the threat I can still feel lingering over me head.”
He straightened, “I’ve been meaning to talk with him about it too. What plans have ye two made?”
Instead of readily replying, Maisie looked at him in wonder, her lips slipped open as well. “Are—are ye nae angry that I went to him without ye?”
Lucas shook his head, “I already ken ye have a good head on yer shoulders, Maisie. I wouldnae be surprised if ye ken war tactics too an’ by the by, when ye go to me faither, ye are nay going alone, yer going in me place. Yer soon to be me wife and every laird’s lady kens that there will be times when she must take up the mantle of warrior too.”
“We talked about the guards and how they should begin scouting harder on the lesser used roads to the castle,” Maisie said. “Wetalked about opening the underground passages under the keep so we could run if we had to.”
Sitting near her, Lucas lifted a brow, “How did ye ken we have passages under there?”
Maisie shrugged, “For an ancient clan like yers, it’s only common-sense.”
“What else?” He asked.
“That I have a guard with me at times when ye are away,” she wrinkled her nose in distaste. “I daenae fancy that one much but that too is right. And he decided to make some false reports, meaning that—”
“I am nae where I am told I would be,” Lucas nodded. “I’m familiar with how me faither fights his battles, lass, and ye two are right on all accounts. These tactics will work.”
Maisie’s eyes suddenly drifted far off and Lucas’s brows lowered as he covered her hand with his. “What’s troubling ye?”
“When I remember all the times I offered to help me faither with such planning and he shooed me away as if I were a buzzing fly in his ear…” she sobered, “But yer faither listened to me and agreed without hesitation, I—I—”
He pulled her into a hug, and kissed her temple, “Tis all right lass. Yer going to realize ye are treasured here, nay only with me, but with me family as well.”
Instead of the tears he had expected to feel dripping down the side of his neck, a warmed breath skittered over his skin. “It only makes me consider things in a unique way, that’s all.”
“I ken,” he kissed her again, then took a long pause. “Daenae be afraid to speak yer mind, Maisie. Ye might never ken who will listen.”
She smiled, “So, what do ye have planned for tonight?”
“In seven or so hours, ye’ll see.”
Maisie gazed out at the silent stretch of moonlit water and then to Lucas who was standing on the riverbank now, breathing in the fresh air and gazing at the frothy water that tumbled over the moss-covered boulders.
Then, he was holding out his hand to help her step into the small boat. His hand was firm under hers, almost sure enough that she barely felt the wobble under her foot. She sat on—hide? Sure enough, as she touched the cloth on the bottom, it felt like animal skin.
“This vessel is an Irish rivercurrach, lass,” Lucas said as he pushed the boat into the deeper waters. “Another thing I took back from that isle when I came back home.”
“What did ye there?”
“A rite of passage to become a man,” he replied shortly. “Steering a vessel up a river in spate with both oars. Let me tell ye, lass, for a boy of thirteen, that was the hardest thing I have ever done, but I did it.”
Lucas lifted himself into the bed and grabbed both oars, steering them into the middle of the lake. Maisie’s gaze swiveled from him, to the bright stars and to the glistering water around them. Cool night air skittered over her skin as Lucas stopped the boat.
Maisie turned to him, “Why are we staying here?”
He grinned. “Look up to the sky, lass, ye’ll see why.”
Curious, but unwilling to break the gentle mystery that surrounded his words, she did as he said and looked up, breathing in the gentle wind carrying the subtle scent of the pine trees in the forest straddling both sides of the loch’s banks.
As she gazed, right above that forest blanketed in darkness, studying the stretch of ink black sky, dotted with more stars than usual, suddenly, somewhere in the northern sky, a green smudge of light started to materialize from the horizon and slowly grewinto dancing rods of shimmering green light which skipped across the sky.
Maisie gripped the edge of the boat and leaned forward, her mouth slipping open as the sky came alive. She gazed with wonder as the ethereal lights shifted and merged, smoke-like into the air, tinging red and pink at times.
“Jesu…” she whispered, enthralled. “What are these things? I’ve never seen them before…”
Even though her words were faint, Lucas heard her and he said, “Me forefathers believed them to be spirits of heather gods or the souls of celestial warriors. Some believe it to be the work of druids or a sign of fruitful years to come.”
