Marti Talbotts Highlander Series 1 - Anna Rachel u Charlet

III

    Kevin had not sent a message to the King of England for years and he wasn’t quite sure how to accomplish it now. In bed with his arms wrapped around his wife, he was trying to explain. “The word is ‘hollow’ and the message must contain the word somehow.”
    “How did Athena get a message to him?”
    “Athena walked right into his court.”
    Anna’s eyes widened. “And you let her?”
    “My love, I could hardly stop her. She was an elder, you might recall. Even a laird must respect the wishes of an elder.”
    “I could take the message.”
    “ That , I can prevent.”
    “But Kevin, I am your best choice. I am English and I can go anywhere without anyone noticing.”
    He took a deep breath, released her and rolled on to his back. “I could not bear it if anything happened to you. We have not been apart in years and I would be beside myself with worry.”
    “I will take a full guard and wait for the king on MacGreagor land just as you did. He will come to me quickly and I will be gone but a few days. I will be safe.”
    “The only place you are truly safe is in my arms.”
    She moved closer and kissed his neck. “And I have loved being safe in your arms.”
    “I promised to keep you safe and I also promised never to lie to you. Yet I did lie. I let you think I was wi th another woman in your mother’ s cottage.”
    “You had to protect Charlet and get her away quickly. That is what a good lad is supposed to do. You expected me to be upset because you didn’t tell me about Charlet, and you did not have time to deal with it. You would have been right, you know. I am not always a reasonable lass.”
    He smiled and kissed her lips. “You know me too well. The truth is I hardly remembered Charlet was not ours to keep or I would have told you.”
    “Let me go to England. ‘Tis the only way to know if the king arranged her marriage. If he did, we can bring her home.”

    It was dark, Charlet was cold, and the fire was going out. At least he had given her a plaid to keep her warm, an apple and some cheese to eat. She felt better after that. But how was she supposed to close her eyes and sleep with a strange man only a few feet from her? She had only one choice. She would stay awake the whole night. Her head was still hurting and even the cold, wet cloth he brought her didn’t help. She watched him lay down on the other side of the fire and thought maybe he did not mean her any harm. So she slowly stretched out and closed her eyes.
    The next thing she knew, she was sitting up. Blair was on his knees beside he r with his hand over her mouth.
    He could see that her eyes were filled with terror and he knew she might be afraid of him when he got that close in the night, but he coul dn’ t let her keep screaming. He quickly put his mouth close to her ear. “You are safe.”
    She remembered her nightmare then and her whole body shuddered. Charlet closed her eyes, slowly released the memory and let her muscles relax. When he took his hand off her mouth, she wanted to explain. “My parents died in a fire and I saw them burn. I do not always have that dream, just sometimes.”
    He nodded. “I must sleep next to you.” He stood up and went to get his bedding.
    “Why?”
    “So I will not have so far to run the next time you start to scream. I will not hurt you.”
    She did not truly trust him until she finally realized something. If Blair harmed her in anyway, Kevin would kill him and that made her feel safer than she had since the fire. She turned on her side facing away from him, listened while he spread his plaid and felt him lay down beside her. “Blair?”
    He turned on his side with his back to her. “What?”
    “How far?”
    “Half a day. You will like it there.”
    “What will I like?”
    “Go to sleep, Bridget.”

    The next morning, Kevin, Connor and Rachel stood on the landing of the Keep and watched Anna ride out of the hold. Just beyond the bridge, she turned on her horse to look at her husband. She smiled to reassure him, waited until her guards sur rounded her and then rode away.
    But Kevin didn’t have much time to regret letting her go. A rider swiftly came to tell him Fergusons were on MacGreagor land and were coming this way.
    “How many?”
    The boy’s horse danced around, but he finally got control and then answered, “Two, their laird rides with them and they are unarmed.”
    “Let them come.” Kevin looked at Connor. “What could he want?”
    “You know what he