Highlander's Rebellious Love (27 page)

~~~

They stopped a few hours later to give the horses and themselves a brief rest.

Hunter disappeared for a short time in the nearby woods and returned with news. “The ghost warriors have left us.”

Patience wrinkled her brow. “That seems odd. Why leave us now when we still have a distance to go?”

“Perhaps they believe we are no longer in harm’s way.”

“Or something more urgent calls them away.”

“Whatever the reason, we need to be more watchful,” he cautioned.

“Is that concern I hear, husband?”

“Aye, it is and you should be feeling it yourself. It is not only the unknown reason the warriors departed that worries me, but my brother as well. I have repeatedly warned you that Greer will stop at nothing to get what he wants and you have seen that for yourself. If one plan fails, it will be followed by another, then another. He is relentless.”

“And the Dark Dragon’s threat means little to him since he will make our attack appear as if he had no hand in it.” She shook her head. “The ghost warriors saw Greer’s men attack us and possibly heard what they said. They will inform the Dark Dragon.”

“Greer will claim he gave no such order,” Hunter said.

“I cannot believe that the Dark Dragon would believe him.”

“He probably would not, but if distracted elsewhere...”

“The Dark Dragon is much too skilled a warrior to be so easily deceived.”

“You do not truly know the extent of my brother’s deviousness,” Hunter said. “He will kill, without remorse, anyone who stands in his way.”

It struck Patience then. “Greer killed your father.”

Though Hunter remained silent, the burning rage in his blue eyes answered for him.

It was not curiosity, but concern for her husband that had her asking, “What happened?”

A rustle close by had them both drawing their swords and turning. The two squirrels at play froze a moment, then scurried up a tree.

“Time to be on our way,” Hunter said, sounding as if he commanded.

She walked over to him. “You will tell me.” Her voice rang with authority, though her hand went to gently rest on his shoulder. “When you are ready.”

Hunter’s arm shot around her waist and his lips came down on hers, brisk and potent.

The brief, intense kiss shivered her down to her bones and turned her limbs so weak that she held onto his arms for a moment.

“We ride fast and hard,” he said and swiftly lifted her onto her horse.

It was not her horse that she wanted to ride hard and fast and annoyed at the distracted thoughts, she chased them away with a few silent oaths. However, a few lingered in the corners of her mind, taunting her.

Hunter set a faster pace. He wanted to make certain that his wife was safely ensconced within the abbey before nightfall so that she would have the added protection of her skilled warriors.

A roll of thunder was heard and a storm cloud hovered in the distance. Patience hoped it would leave them in peace and travel opposite of their direction. Another sound of thunder had her turning to see if the cloud had moved closer.

“Riders!” she shouted to Hunter, catching sight of four men not far from them.

Hunter turned and let loose with a sharp oath upon seeing the warriors bearing down on them. They were still too far from the abbey to try an outrun them. They would have a better chance of surviving if they stopped and battled them.

Patience voiced the same. “We cannot outrun them.”

“A clear field ahead,” Hunter said with a quick nod for her to take a look.

She did and nodded in agreement.

They were off their horses as soon as they reached the field. Patience did not waste a moment, she grabbed her bow and cache of arrows and positioned herself for a shot.

Hunter was about to tell her it was too far of a distance, but never got the chance.

Her arrow hit one man in the chest and he went flying off his horse.

Hunter stood speechless as he watched Patience grab another arrow and with a quick draw of her bow sent it flying in the distance. It caught another warrior in the shoulder and knocked him off his horse. He took a hard fall, his head hitting a large rock.

“To pests left,” she said as if talking of nothing more than a couple of annoying insects.

The last two warriors slowed their approach and their pace, while talking between each other.

“Get on your horse,” Hunter ordered and when she did not move, he yelled, “Now Patience!”

“More warriors are coming, are they not?” she asked. “That is why they slow and no longer wish to engage us. They will follow and leave a good trail for others to do the same.”

“Aye, now get on your horse,” he ordered again.

Patience paid him no heed. She readied another bow, but when the two warriors saw what she was doing, they soon had their horses taking several steps back. The arrow missed its mark and she got angry and mounted her horse.

“Now you obey me,” he said frustrated and mounted his horse.

“They cannot be allowed to follow us,” she said and urged her stallion straight for the two warriors.

Hunter froze, her action shocking him. He swore and took off after her, fearful that he would not reach her in time, but then she was a skilled warrior. But she was also his wife and that mattered more than anything. His worry surged. Once this was over and he got his hands on her he would—he shook his head—he would hug her tight and be grateful that they had survived.

The two warriors wore big grins and rode directly at her.

“Idiots,” she said to herself, giving her horse rein, as she had taught him to do, while she readied her bow.

The two idiot warriors laughed and kept coming at her.

“Perfect, you fools,” she said and let an arrow fly.

It went straight through one man’s neck and blood flew everywhere. The warrior barely had time to grab his neck before he fell from his horse dead.

The other warrior looked on in horror and abruptly brought his horse to a halt. Then his face exploded with bright red rage and he advanced on her with a horrific battle cry.

Hunter’s blood ran cold and he reached for his sword as he watched his wife release another arrow.

It pierced the man’s chest, going straight through his back and he toppled off his horse.

Patience hurried and turned her horse, and Hunter was about to do the same when Patience called out for him to halt.

She came up alongside him, her stallion snorting and stumping, annoyed over being reined in. “We need to separate.”

She once again stunned him silent, though he did not take long to recover and with a jab of his finger in her direction said, “Absolutely not.”

“We have no choice and no time to argue about it. Others will come and discover our tracks. We need to separate.”

“And what stops them from dividing and following us?”

“Nothing, but separating will not give them what they want... a scene where it appears that you and I died battling one another. And that could very well save our lives.”

“I cannot let you go off on your own,” he insisted, even though she made sense.

“We have no choice,” she reiterated, “and no time to argue. You know full well I can take care of myself and you have shown you are capable of the same. We separate and meet at the abbey.”

“I am not leaving you on your own,” he said fiercely, reaching out to grab her reins.

She yanked her horse away from him. “If you love me you will, for if you do not do as I say we both surely will die.”

Her point was too valid to argue with, though he certainly was not pleased by it. As much as he hated to admit it, separating would spoil Greer’s plan, together they would not survive. “You better make it to the abbey, wife.”

“Give me reason to,” she demanded with a smile.

“I can give you many,” he said, his tone suggestive.

Her smile softened. “I will give you one good reason to make it to the abbey.”

“And what would that be?”

“I want to make love with my husband tonight...the man I love with all my heart and then some. So hurry and do not keep me waiting.” She rode off, knowing if she did not they would wind up in each other’s arms and there was no time for that.

After entering the woods that ran parallel to the field, she turned to look for him, hoping he was gone. She sighed when she saw that he was nowhere in sight and sent a quick prayer to the heavens that he be kept safe. Then she did what she did best, she called on her warrior skills to survive.

~~~

Hunter took off and in minutes laid tracks that any idiot could follow. Then he dismounted and followed backwards behind his horse, erasing their tracks. He ended at a stream where he mounted his stallion and took off... after his wife.

He never had any intentions of leaving her whether her plan held merit or not. She had sealed his decision when she had told him she loved him. He had wanted to reach out, grab her, and never let her go. And when he caught up with her, he intended to do just that... never let her out of his sight.

For now he had to create the illusion that they had separated and remained so. He followed the stream down for quite a ways, then crossed it. It was not long before he picked up her trail, though he halted his horse, realizing that there was not one rider but many. He dismounted and quickly examined the tracks, determining that they were fresh ones. One rider was light in weight while the others were heavy. Could Greer’s men have caught up with his wife so soon? He was about to find out since the riders were not too far ahead of him.

Hunter mounted his horse once again and proceeded slowly and cautiously. It did not take long before he saw riders a few feet ahead and he eased his horse to a halt.

“If you had not been so busy entertaining the lassies, you would remember what you were taught about tracking. One warrior always lags behind to catch fools like you.”

Hunter shook his head and turned, relieved to see Ewan’s oldest son, Noble sitting astride his horse. “But just think of all the fun I would have missed.”

Noble approached him and Hunter could see that he was a younger version of his father, fine featured and solidly built.

Noble looked around. “Where is your wife? My father speaks highly of her and I want to meet the woman who has the unfortunate task of being wed to you.”

“I am going after her now.”

“Ran out on you already, did she?”

“Running from Greer’s men,” Hunter said.

Noble’s smile faded. “Come, we will talk with my father. My brother Ross and I insisted on accompanying him and your mum to the abbey.”

Hunter was relieved to see that his mum was fine and that she now had the added protection of Ewan’s two sons. Beast circled his horse, his tail wagging rapidly, happy to see him. Once he explained to Ewan what happened, he ordered his sons to go with Hunter to find Patience. He would see that Una got safely to the abbey.

Before Hunter took off, Ewan took him aside. “No ghost warriors followed you?”

“They did, though they suddenly disappeared. It was one time I wished they had stayed.”

“That is odd.”

“Patience and I thought the same. They have trailed us for almost the entire journey and they knew we had been in danger. So, why did they leave us so abruptly?”

“A question we need answered,” Ewan said. “Now hurry and be on your way.”

Hunter nodded and joined Ross and Noble to lead the way.

It took more time then Hunter cared for to finally pick up Patience’s trail and not long after that to discover she was skilled at misleading which both annoyed and pleased him. If he was having difficulty finding her, then so would Greer’s men.

“I am eager to meet this woman who has the talent to avoid her husband,” Noble said.

Ross’ thoughts more mirrored Hunter’s. “And avoid those who chase after her.”

“I see that your brother is still the most intelligent of the lot of you,” Hunter said with a look to Noble.

“And not an ounce of humor,” Noble said as if it was the gravest affliction of all.

“Quiet and concentrate before we miss her tracks,” Ross ordered, his glance fixed on the ground.

“Patience would commend your vigilance,” Hunter said.

“Good, then perhaps she will let me join her elite warriors so I do not have to put up with the likes of him.” Ross gave a nod to his brother.

“Go on and give him more reason to think more highly of himself,” Noble teased.

“Not think—know,” Ross said with an increasing smile.

Hunter listened to the brothers’ banter as Ross kept his attention focused on the ground and Noble on their surroundings. The two may sound like they argued, but it was nothing more than brotherly banter. Hunter wished that he had had the solid and caring camaraderie the two had with his brothers. Unfortunately, any and all banter with his brothers had always ended in a fight, particularly with Greer. Hunter often thought that Greer must have been born angry, for it was his constant nature. When a wedding contract had been announced, Hunter had felt pity for the poor woman forced to wed Greer, then he met Rona. They made a perfect match, for she was just as angry as Greer and the both were also selfish. They both felt that whatever they wanted should be theirs. And Rona had gotten it in her head that she wanted Hunter to please her in bed since her husband had failed to do so.

Hunter wanted no part of her and besides, knowing how his brother thought, he probably suggested it to his wife so that he would have a good excuse to see Hunter dead for such a betrayal.

“A clear track,” Ross said, bending down to examine it more closely. He turned his head as if following it and said, “That way.”

An hour or so later, the three men were exasperated.

“I cannot believe we lost her tracks,” Ross said, slamming a stick he carried down on the ground.

“At least we have seen no other tracks,” Noble said.

“We keep looking,” Hunter ordered frustrated that he could not find his wife.

“Of course,” both men said in unison and the three continued searching.

Hours later Ross spoke up. “We have barely an hour’s worth of daylight left. We should head to the abbey. I would not be surprised if your wife is there waiting for you.”