Page 14 of Bound to Her Highland Lord
“Och! Pick yer weapon up!” Lachlan barked. Only once Arran was back in the right position did he answer. “Aye. Ye are going to stand there and keep watch on the field. Pay attention to the other warriors training. Watch how they move, who wins and who does nae. Look for any weaknesses ye might use against them. And at all times, keep the rest of the field in yer mind so that nay one sneaks up on ye. Understood?”
“Aye, sir.”
“Aye, Uncle Loch.”
Satisfied with himself, Lachlan stepped away from the boys and walked over to where Aila was still perched on the stone wall. With his back to them, he made no effort in trying to hide his broad smile.
“Happy with yerself then, aye?” Aila asked, looking up at him.
“They are asking all the right questions,” he shrugged. “This is how my father started my training. Only, I was stood there with Arran’s father at my back. Does me good to see him with the same look his Da wore. Those lads are nae the greenhorns that we were. They have already learned to survive; they ken well how to study people before they make their move. I ken if they can keep their focus, they will both turn out to be?—”
“Lachlan…”
Christopher’s hesitant voice cut off the compliment Lachlan was in the middle of issuing. With a resigned sigh of his own, Lachlan turned, disappointment etched in his brow,
“It has nae been all of five minutes. Tired of this already? Well, perhaps ye are nae ready for?—”
“Nay, sir. There is a figure in the woods approaching the edge of the field. Looks like a rider and horse.”
Aila’s eyes immediately went to where the boy was pointing. Arran and Lachlan both turned to search the tree line that was encompassed in shadows, the morning sun not having reached that far just yet. It took her almost a full minute to find the figure Christopher had noticed.
“Good lad,” Lachlan said, clapping the boy on the back. “I doubt even our patrol men have spotted him yet.”
“There are two,” Christopher informed them, eyes narrowed on the figure. And then he gasped. “Taryn and James!”
As soon as the names left his mouth, any sign of a warrior in training left Christopher’s face, and he morphed into the same frightened boy he had first been when Aila, Taryn, and Sorcha had rescued the three orphans. It felt like a lifetime ago. The bonds they had forged with each of the kids were too deep for anything less than a lifetime of love—or a deep understanding of what it means to be a fugitive.
Abandoning his post, Christopher took off running towards the couple, zipping through the chaos of the training field likeit was a wide open space rather than one teaming with men, swinging swords at each other. Aila was only half a step behind him. Arran was quick to follow, leaving Lachlan to bring up the rear, shouting something about focus and holding one’s post. They were all too desperate to hear word on Sorcha to pay it any heed; Lachlan gave up the effort before he finished his first sentence, lengthening his strides to catch up with Aila. There would be no catching Christopher.
Taryn and James had already dismounted by the time Aila and Lachlan made it to their side. Christopher all but threw himself into Taryn’s arms, squeezing her so tight that he stole her breath.
“All right, lad,” Lachlan warned with a firm hand on his shoulder. “Ye must be gentle with the lasses. Let her catch her breath so she can tell us what they’ve found.”
Taryn hugged Christopher back just as tightly for a heartbeat before letting him go and reaching for Arran.
“Did ye find her?” Arran asked, his face tilted up to look at her.
It wouldn’t be too long, a summer or two, before Arran and Christopher would both be towering over Aila and Taryn.
And Sorcha.
Aila chided herself for making Sorcha an afterthought when she was anything but. Getting their friend back was on the forefront of everyone’s minds. It would do no one any good to think about Sorcha as if she were already gone.
“The blasted walls are too guarded,” Taryn bit out with a frustration that Aila had never seen before.
James immediately put a soothing hand on her back, though his anger was just as prevalent.
“There was nae even a sign of her. We searched the woods all around the estate, hoping to find evidence of a camp orsomething. But there was nothing. Any evidence there might have been was covered by the snow.”
Lachlan’s face grew dark and stormy. Aila could feel her own countenance shifting that way too.
“We will simply have to keep looking,” Aila told them all.
“How?” Taryn all but shouted. “We cannae get any closer to the estate without risking getting caught ourselves. There are too many guards posted on every corner to find a way in. We spent days doing nothing but searching and scouting for any gap in their patrol. There is none.”
“He is planning something,” James muttered. “Otherwise, why would he have so many other members of the peerage coming and going at all hours of the day and night? Why would he have so many stationed around his estate? He is acting as if he is guarding Excalibur himself, the foul beast.”
It was clear that this had been the only topic of conversation between the newlyweds throughout all of their travels. For nearly two weeks, Taryn and James had been gone to the English border, searching for Sorcha until their hunt finally led them to the Baron’s estate. There had been so little Lachlan or Aila had been able to do to stop them from going, both far too desperate to recover what the Baron had stolen from them.
