Page 106 of Desire of a Highlander

But Elodie took no notice. Her eyes searched frantically through the chaos until she found Ronan. He sat astride Angus in the middle of the defenders, staring at the unexpected arrivals just like everyone else. But only for an instant.

Then he was moving, standing in his stirrups and bellowing at the top of his voice. “Hold together! Nobody breaks ranks! Defend the wagons!”

She felt a surge of fierce pride. Even now, with Bryce’s cavalry smashing into the enemy, Ronan wasn’t thinking about revenge but about protecting his people. The people of the Steading rallied around him, forming a tight ring around the children, elderly and injured within the ring of wagons.

Elodie itched to go and join them, to position herself at Ronan’s side. But she didn’t move. They all had their part to play and Elodie knew hers.

A wounded man staggered towards them, limping heavily and Elodie hurried forward with Faye. Blood soaked the man’s left leg from the knee down.

“Sit him down,” Faye instructed.

Together they eased him onto a blanket. Elodie pressed a folded cloth against the wound while Faye worked with calm, practiced movements, inspecting the damage.

Around them the fighting rolled backwards and forwards like an incoming tide and Elodie forced herself not to look for Ronan. If she saw him fall... She forced herself to concentrate on the wounded man in front of her.

But Elodie looked up as she heard the dogs barking. She saw Bran go tearing through the smoke with Skye at his heels, barking furiously as they harried a Murdoch horse from behind. The startled animal reared, throwing its rider into the mud, where David—still pale from his own recent wound but refusing to stay behind—lunged forward with several others to disarm him.

Nearby, Eamon laughed aloud as he knocked another raider sprawling with the butt of his staff. “That’s for Thomas!”

Someone else yelled, “And for the Steading!”

The cry spread. “For the Steading!”

Henry Murdoch heard it too. Elodie saw him on the far side of the fighting, turning rapidly in the saddle as he took in the collapsing situation. His forces were caught. Bryce’s cavalry pressed from one side, Ronan’s defenders from the other.

Lady Alana rode up beside her husband, gesturing furiously towards the bridge. Even from this distance Elodie could tell they were arguing. Henry pointed towards Ronan and Alana shook her head violently. Then she pointed again, this time towards Bryce’s cavalry. Henry looked once more at the battlefield.

His face twisted with fury. Finally, he slashed his sword through the air and a horn sounded. The Murdoch riders began breaking away and within moments the organized assault dissolved into a desperate scramble to escape before Bryce’s cavalry surrounded them completely.

“They’re running!” Eamon bellowed.

Cheers erupted all around the camp. Exhausted defenders leaned on their staffs. Others embraced each other openly.

Elodie grabbed the edge of a wagon to steady herself. Her legs suddenly felt like water. Sucking in air through her nostrils, she raised her head and looked around, frantically searching.

Where was he? Oh God, where was he?

“Go find him, lass!” Faye called. “I’ve got things under control here.”

Elodie nodded silently then squeezed through the ring of wagons into the open ground beyond. Smoke obscured much of the area, hanging like gauzy sheets in the air. Where was Ronan? The thought pounded frantically through her head. Where was he?

Her legs felt heavy as she wandered across the battlefield. Broken muskets lay abandoned in the grass. Discarded hats. Splintered staffs. Here and there small knots of Campbell soldiers were gathering prisoners or tending their own wounded.

But she couldn’t see Ronan.

Panic began to set in, sending her heart pounding. “Ronan!” she yelled. “Ronan!”

Then the smoke cleared a little and she spotted him. He stood alone near the bridge, gazing out across the valley where the Murdoch army had disappeared. She let out a shaking breath and wiped the back of her hand across her forehead.

She started towards him but somebody beat her to it. Bryce Campbell was walking towards his brother.

He was alone. His men remained a respectful distance away. Elodie stopped as Bryce halted a few paces from his younger brother. Neither man spoke. Neither man moved. The silence stretched as the two brothers who’d been separated by pride, grief and blood faced each other.

She found herself holding her breath, knowing this moment would change everything.

RONAN WATCHED AS HIS brother came to stand in front of him. He had imagined this moment a thousand times over the years. Sometimes he and Bryce fought. Sometimes they embraced. Most often, Ronan imagined himself turning away, leaving the past where it belonged.

Never had he imagined this, his brother riding to his aid, risking his own life for his.