In front of the men, he kept up a good ruse, but even they could tell something had changed between him and Fiona. She could see it in the way the men eyed them. They knew things were different. But they were all too polite to say anything and it wasn’t as if she was going to bring it up, and Brogan had gone back to mostly grunting, so it definitely wasn’t going to come out of him.
“My lady.” Fiona looked up from scrubbing mud from her boots beside the loch where she’d been walking Milla alone after returning to Dunvegan.
Sorley stood there, hands behind his back, looking serious. It was getting harder and harder to look at him and not be jealous of what he had with Kenna. Why hadn’t Brogan come to get her?
“Aye, Sorley?”
“We’ve had some news.”
“All right.” Fiona put her boots back on and followed him inside.
A messenger waited in the great hall, his cap in his hands. A day’s worth of dust covered his clothes, and his boots were as muddy as hers had been moments before.
“My lady, ye’re the prince’s messenger,” he said.
Fiona nodded, glancing at Sorley and the others. Brogan stood by the hearth, his elbow on the mantel as he stared into the flames.
“I’ve a message for ye from Prince Charles.”
Fiona held out her hand and took the folded paper, breaking the prince’s seal and reading the contents. It wasn’t from the prince per se.
Dear F.,
We’re pleased to announce the impending arrival of our sweet bonnie lad. All of Waternish is planning a celebration for the birth tomorrow. Your presence is requested, for this is a celebration of a new life. New beginnings. Will you not attend your sweet charge?
Your devoted friend,
A.M.
So, at last the prince and his entourage were coming back to Skye. Fiona’s heart lurched at the news. They needed to prepare. She glanced up quickly at Brogan, who’d turned back around to face her, his eyes concerned.
“What is it?” Brogan asked.
Fiona swallowed, not wanting to pass him the letter with the initials on it that would only remind him of what he’d seen before. When she hesitated, he came forward, and everyone else leaned in close, waiting for her to say something.
“’Tis good news,” she finally said.
“May I?” he asked.
This time, without hesitation for she truly had nothing to hide, she handed him the missive and thanked the lad who’d brought it. Brogan scanned the contents with narrowed eyes and then nodded, having deciphered the meaning. She expected him to say something about the initials, to ask her if Aes was her lover so she could vehemently deny it, which she’d been trying to tell him for days. But he did nothing of the sort and didn’t appear to be affected either. She narrowed her eyes. Had he thrust her so very far out of his heart that nothing could touch him anymore? Or had she imagined his sentiments, amplifying them in her head when in fact what had been happening between them was nothing more than contractual?
“We need to get to Waternish,” he said to those in attendance. “A special, bonnie prize will be arriving soon.”
“Is that so?” Chief MacLeod said, his eyes twinkling.
“Aye,” Fiona said.
“Then tonight we shall feast, for on the morrow the lot of ye will be off again on another journey to save Scotland.”
* * *
The journey to Waternish only took a matter of a few hours, and they arrived just before sunset—only to stop dead in their tracks, keeping far enough back not to be noticed.
Cumberland’s troops waited on the shore. The red of their coats blinded Fiona and the men from the pink and purple horizon, making the setting sun seem more like it was bleeding out the bastards than saying good night to all. How had they beat her here?
Why was she even going to bother pondering? Cumberland’s army had a far reach. Everywhere they went, they found those who did not side with the rebels. Secrets had a way of slipping out. There were so many possibilities to that question that it was almost pointless to try to answer. It would do none of them any good at this juncture.
“Ballocks,” Brogan growled under his breath.
Had the prince already made his attempt to land? If he hadn’t, how would they be able to warn him that the shores were filled with troops? By the time the prince’s entourage reached the shore, it would be too dark to see the enemy waiting unless they were lucky enough for a bright moon to blink off the buttons on the dragoons’ coats.
Fiona stared out at the sea beyond the dragoons, squinting and willing the prince and his escort to be there. A tiny dot appeared on the horizon. The barest hint of a blip on top of the sea. A boat? She wasn’t sure. But what worried her more were the dragoons waiting.
Her heart leapt into her chest, and she was suddenly grateful for the quickly fading sun, when she’d been irritated moments before because it didn’t allow them to see as much out at sea and she didn’t want to miss the arrival of the prince. Now she realized it would be harder for the dragoons to spot him too. That meant he had a chance, if they could only find a way to signal and warn him.
“Back away,” Brogan warned in a whisper to her and his men. “Before we’re seen.”
As quietly and stealthily as they could, their party backed away, picking their way along the shoreline until the terrain dropped below where the dragoons stood and they were out of sight. They found their way to a smaller inlet, a creek really, that was concealed from the dragoons on shore but still had a good view of the sea. If the prince could somehow make his way into the nook, he would be able to hide from the troops.
On the right side of the creek were slippery rocks. If Fiona were able to climb up to the top, she could see the troops down the shore.
“Those bastards,” Fiona seethed, and Milla nudged her calf as if to say she understood and felt for them in this predicament.
“We’ll no’ let them take the prince,” Brogan said.
“There’s two dozen of them and only eight of us,” pointed out Keith.
“Aye, plus those on the boat,” Dugall said.
“True, but Keith has a point,” Brogan conceded. “They may not be prepared if coming to shore in the dark. Cumberland’s men could fire upon the prince’s boat before they see the dragoons lying in wait.”
“We need to signal them to come over this way,” Fiona said. “We could make sure they avoided the dragoons altogether.”
“Any signal we give would likely also signal the dragoons,” Brogan mused.
“No’ necessarily,” Fiona said. “Unless we climb up on those rocks, we’re concealed from the troops, but we have a good view of the sea. Have any of ye got a candle?”