Page 47 of A Fierce Archer

“Yer stomach will ache if ye eat too many,” Elspeth warned as she rocked side to side, a bairn strapped to her chest. “Believe me, I know.”

They continued until their baskets were becoming heavy. Finally, Merida announced that she was too tired to continue.

A blanket was spread on the newly grown green grass and they sat to rest. A servant brought them bread, cheese and wineskins.

The sun was warm on her back and Catriona took a deep breath of the fresh spring air.

“It is a beautiful day. I could spend more like this out here.”

“I agree,” Esme replied.

One of the guards who watched over them came close. “My lady, there is a party moving past.”

They watched as the other guard rode just a bit farther and kept vigil.

“Someone probably comes to visit. They bring a contingent of men,” Elspeth said with a groan. “I forget who is supposed to visit now.”

“It may be my parents,” Merida said, standing and straining. “If they do not come today, it will be in the next two.”

As the women continued to keep vigil, Catriona sipped on wine and nibbled at bits of cheese. No one was coming to see about her.

“It is my parents,” Merida said with a bright smile.

“Hmmm,” Elspeth replied. “We will wait for them to pass by and then make our way back to the keep.”

The carriage and escort were a distance away. From what Catriona spied, Merida’s parents, the McLeods, traveled with about thirty or forty guards.

“Ah, some of the Ross men return as well,” someone said. The comment made Catriona’s breath hitch. She looked to the traveling group but, from the distance, she could not make out who was who.

However, a horse got her attention. Its peculiar prance and beautiful coloring was different than the others. The silver animal shook its large head, the mane waving like shiny streamers in the wind.

Ewan Ross was back.

Chapter Thirteen

“Yer father is dead.”

The words floated in the air until finally landing over him and Ewan breathed them in. They weren’t exactly a blow, but more like a powerful gust of wind that filled his lungs.

His mind went elsewhere, not hearing whatever else was said in the room.

“Ye should leave,” Una, his wife, once again sent him from her bedchamber. She lay upon the bed and had pulled the bedding over herself, covering her nudity from him. It was not the first time he’d practically had to force her to make love to him. And like many other times, she’d laid under him like a corpse. This time, however, he could not bring himself to take her unwilling body.

“Will ye not even look me in the eyes?” Ewan shouted. “Ye have been with another. Ye smell of him.”

Una crossed her arms, her gaze slowly lifting to his. “Our marriage was an agreement between our fathers. There is no need to pretend it is more than that. I refuse to. Ye are gone for weeks. Am I to remain true to a man I barely know?”

“Ye have not even tried...”

Una got up from the bed and yanked on a robe. When Ewan reached for her, she whirled away. “I do not wish to be yer wife.” This time, her voice was low, sullen. “Please go.”

“I have told ye many times that I love ye, Una. I will do whatever it takes to ensure ye are happy.”

“Then leave now. Go to wherever it was ye went for so many weeks.”

“If I go, I will never return.”

Her eyes narrowed in challenge. “If only that were true.”