MacDougall 01 - Laiden's Daughter by Suzan Tisdale

yer wheest!” he whispered to her.   “Tis me, Duncan.”   He gave her a moment to wake more fully before he spoke again.   “We need to away this place, lass.”
    It took a few moments to remember where she was and what had happened.   She tried to stretch her tired bones, but her body screamed in opposition to that idea.   She winced as she tried to stand; the pain was unbearable.   Duncan helped her to her feet and waited patiently as she tried to steady herself.  
    The trews were still giving her trouble, and her fingers grasped tightly around the waist. She looked about her surroundings as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other.    “What be it ya need lass?” Duncan asked.   She was thankful at the moment that it was still quite dark for he could not see her face turn red. He repeated the question, a little more impatiently this time.  
    “I need a moment alone,” she whispered to him.  
    He was ready to ask her why when he realized what she meant.   Seeing she could barely stand he knew walking on her own wasn’t a possibility.   He lifted her into his arms and carried her to a large pine tree.   He waited as patiently as he could to let her tend to nature’s call.  
    Holding on to the tree for balance, Aishlinn finally came around it, still unable to hold her balance.    At the rate they were going it would be a month before they made it back to Castle Gregor.   Duncan let out a quick sigh before scooping her up again and carrying her to where his men waited.  
    Manghus was already mounted, anxious to put as much ground between them and the English as possible.   Duncan handed the lass to Rowan so that he could mount his own steed.   All this being passed back and forth as if she were a bairn was quite humiliating for Aishlinn and she looked forward to the day when she could walk on her own accord.
    She took notice that only three men and three horses remained. “Where is my horse?   And where have your other men gone?” she asked.
    Before she could gain an answer from any of them, Rowan was lifting her up to Duncan. She was readying herself to protest when she felt Duncan’s hands gently take hold of her waist.   He lifted her as if she weighed no more than a feather and sat her upon his lap. Speechless, she sat rigid and had to remind herself to breathe, though that action brought forth great pain. They were tall, enormous and frightening men.   Although they had shown her nothing but kindness, they were still a terrifying lot!
    “We be sendin’ yer horse back, lass,” Duncan told her. She could feel his breath on her ear as he wrapped a plaid around her shoulders, then his arms to hold the reins.   She started to object, but he stopped her before she could utter a word.   “We be hopin’ that if they find the horse without ya upon it, they may think ya fell from it.   And if they think ye be out in the forests on foot, they might give ya up for dead.”
    Although she did not like the thought of not having her own horse to ride, the idea did make sense.   Too tired to protest let alone ride on her own, she simply nodded her head in agreement.
    “And I’ve sent me men to scout for soldiers,” Duncan told her as he gave a gentle tap of his heels to move the horse forward. “We ken ya be needin’ rest lass,” he whispered.   “And I promise there be a nice hot bath and a soft bed waitin’ for ya at Castle Gregor. But for now, me chest will have to do.” He gently pressed her head to his chest.
    Aishlinn had never been this close to a man before, save for the earl.   And that experience was not nearly as nice as this one. She was still befuddled at the entire situation.   Not since her mum’s and Moirra’s deaths had she felt much kindness from anyone.   Now here she was, in the middle of God-only-knew where, with complete strangers and they were treating her as if she were their own kin.   She wondered why.   Why would they go out of their way to