Page 26 of In the Highlander's Bed

“I cannot like the man,” Robbie muttered.

“Gordon does,” she noticed.

A high spot of color rose to Robbie’s lean cheeks as if, perhaps, he had not meant to speak aloud. “Thomas knows how to fight and can keep the men in line. Gordon needs that, just as he needs all of us.”

Constance murmured her agreement but heard the discontent in his voice.

She glanced at Gordon. The day’s earlier clouds had dissipated and sunlight glinted off the hard planes of the table and plates and the gold in his hair.

He listened as William Gunn and his neighbors spoke of how times were changing, about how they wished they could leave their hearths and families and march with him.

But they couldn’t. Or wouldn’t.

Constance thought it sad that these men so easily accepted the theft of their heritage. If this was her fight, she would have sided with the rebels. Sometimes, you had to fight for what you wanted.

These men would admire “the Lachlan,” but they would not die for him—not unless he had a very certain chance of winning. The sort of chance this fabled Sword of the MacKenna could give him.

In the meantime, Thomas vied against Gordon for attention. The sweet young thing that had helped him earlier now let him drape an arm around her shoulder while she giggled her pleasure. Anytime the conversation became too exclusively on Gordon, the giant would interject his own thoughts.

It seemed to Constance that in spite of being relaxed, Gordon was keeping a watchful eye onthis second in command. She wondered what thoughts were going through his head. She suspected that if Thomas didn’t become more circumspect, he might soon find himself not as important to the clan leader.

It was when Thomas brought up the bounty on Gordon’s head that tension openly rose between the two men.

One of the Gunn boys asked, “Is there a price on your head?”

Gordon shook his head as if ready to deny such a thing, but Thomas answered with a cheerful, “Aye, he has fifty pounds on his head, but I’ll wager that number is multiplied by hundreds once we attack the English. We’ll all have prices on our heads then.”

The crofters were impressed. Fifty pounds would be a fortune to these people.

The giant opened his mouth to brag again when Gordon stood. “Enough, Thomas,” he said. “We’ve overstayed Mr. Gunn’s hospitality.” He nodded to the crofter and placed some coins on the table. “You and your wife have been most generous. May you never rue the day our paths crossed.”

Mr. Gunn rose. “You need never fear anything from me or mine. ’Tis an honor to meet you and one I shall tell to my grandchildren.”

A few minutes later they were mounted and on their way.

Thomas was in high spirits. He rode beside Gordon, a cider-fueled grin on his face.

“You should be careful what you say, Thomas,” Gordon said quietly. Riding on the saddle in front of him, Constance felt the tension in his body.

The giant scowled. “Are you talking about the bounty?”

“You know I am.” He met Thomas’s eye. “The more said, the less freedom we have to carry out our plan. Don’t be so easy with your tongue in the future.”

Thomas’s eyes hardened. He looked away a moment. Constance braced herself for a battle. To her surprise, the giant begrudgingly conceded. “You are right, Gordon. But there is a part of me that wants action. They should know what we are doing for them.”

“They already know. You saw them today. But just as they cheer us on, they could betray us.”

“I’d kill the man who would betray you.”

“I know you would,” Gordon answered, and Constance understood then why he had Thomas at his side. She’d not thought to find such loyalty in Britain. She’d witnessed it on thefrontier, but not here. In London and at Madame Lavaliere’s, she had gained the impression that everyone looked only to their own needs.

Perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing to be kidnapped by these Scottish rebels. Perhaps she had something in common with them.

She was anxious to be done with the trip and tired of riding, but now she was curious about Gordon’s clan. She wanted to meet the rebels and see if her suspicions were correct, if they were like her neighbors back home. Her desire to reach theNovusbefore it sailed faded a bit. She no longer felt so passionately desperate.

Questions rose in her mind…but everyone had grown quiet. The full meal seemed to have dampened their spirits. No one spoke. The men seemed anxious to reach the camp, each lost in his own thoughts.

They’d been riding for two hours, the horses moving steadily into the heart of the mountains. Constance had fallen asleep again. She woke to the sound of a dog barking.