Page 84 of The Guardian
“They want to place their wager on the right horse,” Duncan said. “What worries me is that they’ll be expecting a portion of the winnings.”
“With the Crown in the hands of a babe, it’s every man for himself,” Connor said, shaking his head, “and the scavengers feeding on the weak.”
“The Douglases and the Campbells are the worst,” Alex said. “They’re like two dogs with one bone.”
“Aye, and I feel their teeth in me,” Connor said, and they all laughed.
“Ye should have put Alex to work on the queen,” Duncan said. “Then we could all have fancy titles like the Douglases.”
“Ye offend my honor,” Alex said. “I only do my duty for the clan with the pretty ones.”
After the laughter died down again, Connor said. “We’d best keep our heads down, lads. We have enemies to spare without adding more.”
The smell of the rabbits roasting finally woke Niall, who sat up and stretched. “Are they cooked yet? I’m famished.”
“I’d best serve Sìleas first,” Connor said, as he lifted the spit from the fire. “Her stomach is so loud it’s disturbing the horses.”
Her mouth watered as Connor held the spit out and Ian cut off a big slice for her with his knife. Though she enjoyed the men’s easy banter, as soon as her hunger was sated, she grew too tired to follow it.
“Your wife is going to choke to death if she keeps falling asleep with her mouth full,” Connor said.
She opened her eyes with a start to find the men all smiling at her.
“That would be a shame, after we went to the trouble of fetching her,” Duncan said.
“Goodness, Duncan, is that two jokes I heard ye make tonight?” she said, and they all laughed.
Ian handed her a flask of ale and rubbed her back as she took a drink to wash down the rabbit.
“Let’s get ye off to bed.” He set the flask aside and scooped her up in his arms.
“Night, Sìleas,” and “Sleep well,” the others called to her as Ian carried her off into the darkness beyond the firelight.
When Ian had found a secluded spot some distance from the others, he set her down and spread their blankets. She thought she would fall asleep as soon as her head hit the ground. Instead, she lay in Ian’s arms listening to the wind in the trees and the faint sound of Duncan playing a tune on his whistle.
When Ian lifted her chin and gave her a soft kiss, she opened her mouth to him and pressed against him. How she loved him.
He pulled back. “Are ye sure you’re not too tired?”
“Aye. I want ye, Ian MacDonald.” She ran her hand up his erect shaft to show him how certain she was.
It was the same each night of their return to Skye. After riding so many hours that she could barely stand, they would eat and talk with the others. Then Ian would lead her off to make their bed away from the others.
As soon as she lay down with him, her tiredness evaporated like the morning mist and they would make love half the night. What Ian did to her was a constant wonder to her, a magic she feared the faeries would envy.
By the time they reached the coast, she was in an exhausted fog of happiness. They found a distant cousin of Alex, one of the MacDonnells, who was willing to take them across the Sound of Sleat in his boat. Despite the cold, wet wind on the sea, Sìleas fell sound asleep to the rocking of the boat with Ian’s arms about her.
She awoke to an awareness of tension in Ian’s body. When she opened her eyes, she saw Knock Castle shrouded in low clouds up the coastline to the north.
“I hope ye believe I would want ye as my wife whether or not ye were heir to Knock Castle,” he said.
She ignored the grain of doubt that remained in her heart and nodded.
“But we must take it back,” he said.
She tightened her grip on Ian’s arm. Even if she had Ian with her, would she be able to live in a place that held such sorrow for her? Could it ever be cleansed of her mother’s suffering or her stepfather’s malevolence?
Could she and Ian be happy in a castle that made a ghost weep?
