Page 3 of A Laird and a Healer

Nessa frowned. “Ye will be there with us all the way. What are ye saying, Caroline?”

Caroline lifted her head and looked at Nessa directly. There was a resigned look in her eyes. “We may nae be able tae flee. I cannae imagine our uncle is gaeing tae stop until he marries me tae establish his power. If we are chased, I will give myself up, but ye and Tara must keep running.”

Nessa’s eyes flashed with panic. “Nae! Caroline, hae ye lost yer mind?”

“It might be the only way tae ensure yer safety. I will nae allow ye and Tara tae suffer at the hands of our uncle.”

“And we will nae let ye suffer either,” Nessa argued back, just as stubborn as her sister. “I dinnae know why ye get tae make this decision. What if I wanted tae sacrifice myself tae save the two of ye?”

Caroline lifted her head and wore an indignant expression. “I am the eldest. It’s my responsibility tae look after ye. It’s what Da and Ma would hae wanted.”

Nessa wore a sullen expression. “I am nae letting that happen. We’re in this taegether, nae matter what.”

They waited for a long time until the veil of night shrouded the world. Stars twinkled above, and a crescent moon looked as though a thief had cut a slit in the night sky, stealing all of its secrets. Caroline and Nessa felt as though enough time had passed for them to move. They nudged Tara awake, who yawned and quickly huffed as she was reminded that their current situation was not a nightmare. One by one, they shimmied down the tree, landing with a soft thump. The forest was quiet.

“Let’s gae, quickly,” Caroline said.

“Where are we gaeing?” Tara asked.

“Away from the Keep,” Caroline replied.

She didn’t have a singular destination in mind, she only knew that she needed to put as much distance between them and the Keep as possible. She assumed that if she traveled in a straight line, then even in darkness she would make a lot of progress. They kept low, skulking between trees and keeping themselves obscured between shrubs. They stopped occasionally when they heard a suspicious noise, before continuing. Tara was directly behind Caroline and tugged at her hand when a wolf howled in the distance. Their uncle was not the only danger lurking in the woods.

“We should be careful we dinnae creep intae Knox territory,” Nessa warned.

“Why nae? Perhaps we could find help in another clan,” Tara asked, sweet, naive Tara.

Nessa let out a dark laugh. “Nae with the way Laird Knox treats trespassers. I heard he hanged a hundred men last year. ”

“We dinnae need tae know the details,” Caroline cut Nessa off before she could inflame any more fear. Tara was already frightened enough. “If our path is true, then we should nae come anywhere near Knox territory. I’m sure we will find an inn along the way, and we can find lodgings for the night. Think of the hot meal waiting for us, and the comfortable bedding.”

Tara found this easier to imagine than the others.

Fatigue tugged at Caroline’s muscles. Hunger gnawed in her stomach like an angry beast. It became more and more difficult to keep her eyes open, and there were moments when the world seemed to spin around her.

They came across a small campfire. The smell of roasted meat drifted towards them, and never had she experienced anything more alluring. But around the campfire were two guards. Nessa was adamant she could sneak in and steal some food. Before Caroline could warn her against it, the headstrong Nessa was already moving.

She nimbly skipped into the camp and moved like a shadow. She reached into one of the supply bags and pulled out some wrapped food, but as she withdrew her hand the bag slumped down, and a buckle clinked.

Nessa moved quickly. Caroline and Tara turned. They sprinted away before the other guards could give chase, but then they hit what felt like a brick wall. The girls fell back, gasping. Caroline looked up and saw the mean snarl of a guard. She went to scream, but a hand was clamped around her mouth.

The sisters were bound, gagged, and blindfolded. They were dragged back across the land. Caroline’s heart sank that their escape had been short-lived. The terrain changed from soft soil to hard stone. Pressure was placed on her knees, forcing her to kneel. Suddenly, the blindfold was lifted, and she was looking up at a man whose appearance was spoken about in whispered fears.

She had miscalculated their path.

They were now in the clutches of Laird Knox.

Chapter 2

Caroline found herself face to knee with Laird Knox.

The proud man towered before her. He was built like a mountain. His strong legs were parted. A tartan cloak was wrapped around his waist and stretched across his chest in a sash. The clan emblem hung near his heart. The silver clasp depicted the profile of a raven. Its eye was made of an iridescent jewel. It was an inanimate object, but Caroline couldn’t help but sense an element of savagery from it. She sensed the same thing from the man himself.

His arms were long, his biceps swelling with strength. His chest was broad, his neck thick, his jaw chiseled. His thick mane was as black as a starless night, while his blue eyes veered towards gray. There was an intensity to his gaze that added to his aura. It radiated around the room, making everything else pale in comparison.

This was his land, his Keep, and he was the focal point. Her throat ran dry and fear trickled in her veins. Her sisters were still bound, gagged, and blindfolded on either side of her. The worst fate would have been to be hauled in front of her uncle, but this was a close second. She could almost feel the noose tightening around her neck.

When the day began, she wouldn’t have believed anything could be worse than learning that her father had died during the night. But here she was, and there was no guarantee that the Gilmour daughters would outlive their father by more than a day.