Highlander's Challenge (24 page)

Ian appeared at her side and escorted her to the table.

"You look absolutely charming, my dear," he said and kissed her hand.

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Her hand would be raw by the time she got back to Jenny, but she enjoyed the attention. Although it didn't mean anything. It was just Ian's way with all women, she realized. Silently, she took her place beside him and did everything she could not to look at MacLean. She smiled forcefully at the men who'd chosen to sit near her as they spoke of their afternoon in the lists, but didn't engage in the conversation.

"Surely, ye jest," one of Aileen's guardsmen, said. "No woman could best me."

Tuck ignored him. They'd not seen her working with the men in the lists as they'd been taken inside for food and drink after their journey across the island. But she wasn't in the mood to fight that battle again.

"I tell you, mon, she can and she did," William blustered. He turned his gray eyes to her. "Tell the lad what you did, Tuck. Tell him how you put Colin on his arse," he chuckled heartily.

She shook her head with a wry grin.

"Ye see, she admits yer tellin' tales, auld mon," the guardsman said.

William slammed down his cup and narrowed his eyes.

"Care tae make a wager on it?"

Oh, boy. She needed to cut this off and quick. The last thing she needed to do was incite more rivalry between the clans. The tense undercurrent in the room was palpable.

"Look, fellas, I'm not exactly dressed for show and tell. Why don't we leave this discussion until another time?" The guardsman laughed. "Yer champion has deserted ye, auld mon."

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"She'll do more than that," Maighread muttered as she poured the guard more wine. "She'll spell you, she will." Tuck let out an exasperated breath. Not that old story again. She'd just barely won MacLean's men over and already the witch was stirring up more trouble, but this time with the MacKenzies. What was she, insane?

"What mean ye, lass?" the guardsman asked, eyeing Maighread's ample breasts. Of course, how could he miss them when she practically shoved them in his face like she did Colin every night?

"She's a witch. She's spelled the laird. Tricked poor Colin intae thinkin' his da's well when he's not behavin' like himself," she said, her voice low but not unheard by the men surrounding her.

Tuck's hand slid to her skirt. Ian clasped her wrist beneath the table. She shot him a glare, but he shook his head.

"Nonsense," Ian scoffed loudly with a gentle squeeze of her wrist. "This lovely woman saved my life, and I'll not hear a disparaging word about her."

She held her breath, as the entire hall listened in on their conversation.

Maighread decided to use the center spotlight to its fullest. She gasped dramatically. "She's spelled you, she has. 'Tis likely the lady Aileen will take ill with her here." The witch shot her an evil glare. "She'll murder us all in our beds!" The ensuing silence pretty much capped it for Tuck. No more playing nice. Her knife slid silently from its sheath and thunked ominously into the wooden table directly in front of where Maighread stood.

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The collective gasp rang in her ears. "If I wanted to kill someone, I wouldn't need to use witchcraft," she said, rising from her seat to retrieve her knife. "Besides..." She jerked the blade from the wood. "The role of witch is already taken." She prayed she hadn't made a big mistake by letting her only weapon be seen by everyone, but she'd had enough. Maighread stood perfectly still, but the hate in her eyes was unmistakable.

Hiding her knife in the folds of her skirts, Tuck glanced at MacLean. If he trusted her, really trusted her, he wouldn't try and take her knife, because if he did, someone would get hurt in the process.

A great bellowing laugh burst from him as he threw his head back. The laird, Ian, and the men she'd worked with for long hours in the lists joined him. A few of the women, Elspeth and Fiona included, giggled behind their hands. Maighread's face burned furiously as she stormed from the hall.

"Well met, lass," William bellowed, thumping her on the back. "Well met!"

Her gaze fell on Aileen, her face as pale as snow, her eyes wide in shock. It was obvious the girl had been overly protected, shielded from the world and the harshness of it. She indeed was a fragile innocent flower. Everything Tuck would never be.

Tuck left the hall and sheathed her knife. Walking the battlements, she watched the sun disappear until it grew too cold in her skirts. She couldn't stick around and watch him marry that girl, it hurt too much.

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She stumbled as she entered her chamber, the truth striking her like a blow to the stomach. She'd tried to ignore it, ordered it to go away on more than one occasion, but it was no use. It had found her and it wasn't going to let go. The one thing she'd craved as a child, the one thing she'd avoided as an adult, the one thing that could tear her apart. Love. She was in love with Colin MacLean. Yet just as before with her father, she would never be good enough, pretty enough—woman enough. She had to leave. Tossing off her clothes, she paused a moment to caress the dress Elspeth had given her.

"Next thing you know, I'll be crying," she grunted, snatching her hand back, although the backs of her eyes already burned.

Aileen could have him and so could Maighread. She'd leave at first light and make that stupid spring take her butt back where she belonged. She had a job to do, and it had nothing to do with a Highlander who'd been dead for four hundred years.

"Damn," she grumbled. She pressed the heels of her hands against her eyelids as she sank onto the bed.

* * * *

Walking the battlements as he did every morning, Colin spied Amelia talking to the guard at the gate. He wondered what they were discussing, then grinned. Fighting techniques, no doubt. She was extraordinary, and he'd discounted her at every turn because of her sex. When had he become such a 232

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narrow-minded man? And yet, how often did one meet a woman warrior?

They shook hands then she went through the gate, heading for the woods at the end of the road. He didn't know where she was going or why she'd chosen to leave, but he had the distinct feeling she wasn't coming back.

"Damn the woman. Will she never do as she's told?" As Tuck disappeared around the far turn into the wood, Colin raced down the stairs. She could take care of herself. That she'd proven, but he refused to rely on her skills to keep her safe from the unknown forces striving to rip the island in two. The combining of the clans could very well cause their real enemy to strike a deadlier blow.

He made his way through the wood with William and Michael by his side. Although he wanted to take the entire garrison, every man he had to keep her safe, the clan was still, and would always be his responsibility. It had to be protected.

Spotting her sitting on a log by the same small spring she'd come to before, he motioned for Michael and William to wait near the road. With a nod they turned back. He moved toward her, noting her shoulders hunched over and her head bowed as she muttered to herself. It wasn't like her to sit in such a way. She looked defeated, and it troubled him.

He was but ten strides away, when she jumped to her feet and spun around, her blade firmly clasped in her hand.

"What do you want?" she demanded, straightening from her crouched fighting position.

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Her cheeks were wet and her eyes red. What pained her so? Why did she seek out this spot time and again? And why had she been crying? He shoved the questions aside and moved closer. Her problems did not concern him, could not concern him, only her safety.

"I've come tae take you back tae the castle."

"No, thanks. I'm comfortable right here, and I don't need or want any company. So you can just turn around and march right on back." She waved her knife in the air, shooing at him as if he were a child.

He fisted his hands on his hips. "Woman, you've caused me more pains than a man can bear. Why can you not do as you're told?"

She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.

"You and I both agree that I don't belong there. So the sooner I get out of your hair the better." Her color rose steadily as she spoke. "Now, why don't you run along and go—go jump in the bloody loch!"

"I ought tae toss you intae the waves, you taupie. I've told you time and again, you're not tae leave the keep!"

"I'll go where I like, wear what I like, and do what I like!

And what the hell is a taupie, anyway?"

"A foolish female with little brain!" She growled low and long. "Sooner or later, I'm really going to bust you one."

He threw his head back with a laugh, enjoying their banter more than he should. "Ha! I'd like tae see you try, woman. You lost before and you'll lose again." 234

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Her emerald eyes went wide, and she lunged for him. He should've known he could only push her so far, but by the saints, he didn't want to hurt her! He was only having a bit of sport, not liking the tears still clinging to her lashes. He preferred sparring with the she-devil he admired to watching a sniffling female.

Her shoulder slammed into his stomach with the full force of her body. The air rushed from his lungs as they went down together. He supposed he should be grateful she hadn't run him through with her blade, but it did not seem like her to lose control this way. Then he heard it, the sound of a boar crashing through the bush, barely missing them as it thundered past.

Amelia tried to roll free, but he knew there was no time to run. The boar would turn and be on them in less than a breath. He snatched her blade from her hand and launched it at the beast, striking it between the eyes. Death was imminent, but the animal continued its charge. Colin wrapped his arms around Amelia and rolled, praying the boar's last rush would miss them.

There was a queer silence. Colin let out his trapped breath and lifted his head. The boar lay beside them, dead. He turned his head and looked into Amelia's eyes and realized—

regardless of her skill as a fighter—she was afraid.

"I guess that makes us even," she said.

"Aye, lass. 'Twould seem so." The corner of his mouth tipped up in a small grin. "Although you did do the pushing first."

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She let out a shaky laugh and took a deep breath. Colin did his best to ignore the feel of her breasts pressing against his chest.

"Yeah, well, I've no experience with boars," she said.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Colin!" William called, as he and Michael burst through the brush. "We heard the boar." Both men looked down at the beast, then to where they lay.

Colin quickly got to his feet and extended a hand to her. She took it then moved to the boar. Without so much as a flinch, she retrieved her blade and made toward the spring. Motioning toward the carcass, Colin said, "Take it with you, lads. I'll see Tuck back tae the keep." Michael and William nodded with quirky grins, then disappeared through the trees with the boar. Colin watched her for several moments as she cleaned her blade. Any other woman would be crying and carrying on, but then Amelia was no ordinary woman. He needed to know more about her, everything about her. "Tell me—tell me of your home, of your people."

She snickered. "If I told you the truth, all of it, you'd either lock me up or have me burned at the stake. Neither of which do I care for." She sat down on a log and dried her blade along her pant leg.

"And if I swear on my honor tae do neither?" One brow arched sharply as she peered up at him. "You're not going to believe me. Not a word of it."

"I shall try," he said, and sat down beside her. 236

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Shaking her head, she snatched her cap away and her curls sprang free. "Okay, but I warned you." She took a deep breath. "Remember that castle I wanted directions too? Well, that's where I was a few hours before we met. It won't be built for a couple of hundred years yet." She leaned over and cleanly sheathed her knife by her calf.

A sharp pain began behind his eyes, and he shook his head.

She held up her hand. "Oh, wait. There's more. A lot more. The year I was visiting Raghnall Castle, was two thousand and seven. I fell in a fountain, roughly some yards in that direction." She pointed east then shoved her hands in her pockets as she shuffled her large boots against the earth.

"I won't go into the particulars about how that happened at the moment," she continued. "But needless to say, I fell in the stupid fountain and landed here." She cocked her head and looked at him. "How's that for a hair curler, Sasquatch?" He rubbed at the ache between his brows. "You said you would give me the truth, but if that's what you think is truth, than I'm not tae ever believe a word you say again."

"Oh, there's nothing like the feeling of a good I-told-youso," she said wearily and moved to rise.

"Wait." He touched her shoulder, and she paused. "You are right," he said with a sigh. "I said I would try. But lass, you canna expect me tae believe such a tale." She nodded, her lips pursed in thought, distracting him from their conversation for a moment.

"Okay. How about a little proof?" she asked. 237

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She unfastened her coat in a way he'd never seen, but recognized the odd sound from when she'd removed it in her chamber before. He tentatively reached out and touched the small teeth.

She cleared her throat. "Um, that's not the proof. Not the really good stuff, anyway."

He lowered his hand, curious to what more she would produce.

"This is my wallet. My ID." She opened a small purse that made a horrendous tearing sound. "This is my driver's license, a few bucks, a couple of credit cards, and my bodyguard ID. Note the dates."