Page 97 of Desire of a Highlander

Something flickered in Bryce’s eyes again, quickly extinguished. He looked away. “That is none of my concern. If ye attempt to cross my bridge—” He met Ronan’s eyes. “My men will defend it.”

Ronan stood motionless, feeling sick to his stomach. He rubbed his freed wrists. He had failed. Again. He turned towards the entrance but as he reached it, Bryce spoke again.

“Ye should have stayed away.”

Ronan paused. Without looking back he answered quietly, “I tried.”

Then he walked out, wondering how he was supposed to save his people now.

THE CAMP HAD NEVER been so quiet.

It wasn’t the peaceful silence Elodie had grown used to during evenings at the Steading, when tired people settled after a day’s work and the crackle of fires mingled with distant laughter. This silence felt heavy, expectant. Afraid.

Everyone was watching the bridge. Waiting for Ronan.

Elodie stood with Faye near the foremost wagon, her arms wrapped tightly around herself against the evening chill. Beyond the broad river, Bryce Campbell’s banners fluttered in the breeze, blue and green against the gathering gray of dusk. Men paced along the opposite bank with muskets resting on their shoulders.

“Why did he sneak away without telling anyone?” she murmured. It must have been the tenth time she’d asked that question.

Faye said nothing. She kept her eyes fixed on the bridge.

Then Bran barked and Elodie’s head whipped around, eyes straining against the gathering dusk. A lone figure emerged from the far end of the bridge.

Ronan.

He didn’t look injured, thank God, but even from this distance she could tell something was wrong. He looked...defeated. His shoulders slumped in a way she’d never seen from him and rather than looking alert and focussed like he normally did, his gaze seemed fixed on the stone before his feet as though he wasn’t seeing anything around him.

“Ronan!”

She ran towards him, reaching him as he stepped down off the bridge. He looked up just as she cannoned into him, throwing her arms around him and holding him close. He grunted with the impact then pulled her to him, his arms as strong and reassuring as ever as they closed around her.

“What the hell were you playing at?” she demanded. “We were all so worried when we realized you’d gone! Don’t ever do that to me again!” When he didn’t respond, she stepped back a pace. “What is it? What happened?”

He looked down at her and she was shocked by the look in his eyes. He looked deflated, as if all the fight had gone out of him.

“I thought if I gave Bryce what he wanted, he would grant us passage.”

“What he wanted? I don’t understand.”

He met her eyes. “I offered him my life. He refused. I dinna have anything else left to bargain with.”

The words landed like a stone in Elodie’s gut. His life? Ronan had marched over there—without even telling her—and offered his life?

For several seconds she couldn’t speak. She wasn’t sure if she was furious or terrified. Both, probably.

But before she could give Ronan a piece of her mind, others came crowding around, firing questions at him.

“What did they say?”

“Will they let us cross?”

“How far away are the Murdochs?”

Ronan let it all wash over him for a second then held up his hand for silence. “Naught has changed,” he announced to frightened murmurs. “We willnae be crossing that bridge any time soon. We will meet the Murdoch threat when they get here.”

The crowd broke into an explosion of frightened babbling. Everyone converged on Ronan. Elodie watched as Ronan answered question after question, keeping his voice steady, somehow managing to keep his patience.

“We’ll keep the children near the wagons and any more of our people who canna fight. Our fighters will take first watch. We’ll double the guards.”