RESCUED BY THE HIGHLANDER

by Preston, Rebecca

  Guards were moving this way and that, all of them in full armor and wielding weapons of iron — strange swords, long spears, and dozens of black dirks like the one she had tucked into her clothes. Good to know she’d picked a winner, she thought again. She moved through the crowds, searching for some sign of where she should be — the usual routines of the castle had clearly been disrupted for this purpose. Soon enough, she saw a gaggle of servants wearing jackets like hers. They were carrying a collection of things out toward the big main doors of the castle, which were standing open in readiness. She noticed to her surprise that Amelia and Emily, closer friends of hers among the servants, were at the front of the huddle, their arms full of what looked like heather and firewood.

  “Anna! Are you coming?” Amelia asked, nodding at Anna’s jacket.

  Pleased she’d thought to wear it, Anna nodded, and stepped smoothly into the group. There went her concerns about talking her way into the group heading out on the mission — it seemed it was a volunteer-based kind of situation. Worked for her.

  “This is exciting,” she confided to Amelia as they moved down the steps to the castle. The full moon was high in the sky already, gleaming in the darkness as the last of the light from the sunset faded from the sky. “Do you guys do this very often?”

  “Now and again,” Emily broke in. Her arms were full of what looked like netting, carefully folded. Anna scrutinized the material in the low light in the courtyard — the nets were edged with what looked like heavy metal studs. “Iron,” Emily explained. “Holds the Unseelie down. Burns them like fire, so it’s said, so even a light net with iron studs will hold them in place as though it had the strength of God himself.”

  They really do believe this stuff, Anna thought, looking around at the drawn but determined faces of the servants. They had faith in the existence of these Fae — these Unseelie Fae, she corrected herself thoughtfully. And more to the point, they had faith in the weaponry that superstition said would be most effective against them. She supposed she better get herself ready for a fight.

  Sure enough, there were the guards — about twenty of them total, all dressed in armor and wielding the weapons she’d seen them collecting from the armory. Malcolm was among them, looking bright and dashing in his armor — she caught Amelia giving him a thorough examination, her head angled deliberately away so that any casual observer wouldn’t notice her looking at him. Clever girl, Anna thought with approval. She borrowed the trick when Donal emerged, looking dashing in tartan and steel, his sword at his side and the light of battle in his eyes. He and Brendan looked at each other and nodded. To her relief, she saw Donal go to check over the soldiers, while Brendan came to examine the servants, presumably to make sure all the supplies were in order. As well as the nets, presumably for capturing the creature, they had supplies for lighting a fire — as good a way as any to dispose of a corpse, she supposed — and spare weapons, as well as some standard first-aid herbs that had been brought down from a stern-looking woman in dark robes. One of the herbalists, she assumed. The woman had looked at her briefly with dark eyes, before handing her the basket of herbs and bandages with a meaningful look. She understood. Hers was important cargo — the difference between life and death, if things got rough out there. She wondered if the herbalist she’d met had studied with Maggie at all. She knew she’d feel a lot safer about the mission if some of the old woman’s healing magics were with them.

  Brendan was moving through the servants, giving them advice about what order to walk in. The soldiers were impatient to leave, all of them straining toward the gate — but they held their positions, obediently waiting for Brendan to finish his briefing. He was thorough, and careful, detailed in his instructions, not letting the energy of the group distract or hurry him. Anna could see right away why Donal thought his strengths lay in his tactical skills — it was clear he had a gift for this kind of work that would only improve with practice, as all seasoned warriors did. He looked into her face briefly as he was instructing the servants, and she could tell that he recognized her — but he didn’t say anything. Just instructed her to keep to the front of the group with the first aid supplies, in case they were needed. She was happy enough to do that. She wanted to keep an ear on what was going on, after all, and if the soldiers were going to be walking ahead, that would be difficult without being at the front of their little group.

  Soon enough, they were away. There was a patchy blanket of clouds above them, occasionally obscuring the gleaming light of the full moon, revealing a sprawl of dazzlingly beautiful stars. Anna was grateful for the jacket she was wearing, and for the sturdy boots she’d borrowed from Maggie — she quickly fell into the rhythm of walking in a group, suiting her pace to the servants while also trying to encourage them to move a little faster than they wanted to. The soldiers ahead were clearly full of beans and walking fast — she overheard them talking about the last mission having been months ago and realized this was a long-awaited journey out. She hoped Brendan and Donal were aware of that energy. Over-eager men could be as dangerous as frightened ones in the right situation. She almost spoke up but stopped herself just in time — men like these wouldn’t look too kindly on some woman from the supply line giving them tactical advice.

  And sure enough, the soldiers began to move ahead — slowly, at first, the space between the two groups widening by first feet, then meters. Anna tried to accelerate, to pull the servants along with her, but they were all cold and bearing heavy loads, and resisted her urgings. There were a few soldiers assigned to walk beside them — a flanking group, ready to protect them from any attack from the rear — but even as Anna watched she could tell their hearts weren’t in it. They, too, were straining to walk faster, their eyes on their comrades up in front. They wanted to be the first to catch the monster they were hunting — they wanted a taste of the glory for themselves.

  There was a sudden clamor of voices up ahead, and the soldiers walking with the servants rushed ahead to join them. Anna tensed up, ready for an attack — but the disappointed voices of the soldiers soon relaxed her. It was just a deer, startled out of its hiding place by the men. But the soldiers didn’t return to march beside the servants, and Anna felt concern beginning to gnaw at her stomach. The woods they were walking through were mostly empty, and it was reasonable enough to assume that nothing was going to jump out at the servants. But still… aside from the spare weapons that a couple of the guys were carrying, they were defenseless. It seemed like poor tactical thinking to leave them unguarded like this. Putting herself in the position of an enemy, Anna could well and truly see how weak the rear group was. An attack from the rear could successfully pick off more than half the group before it was even noticed, especially with the way they were walking — they were beginning to spread out along the trail, walking in little groups of two and three, talking in low voices. No discipline — and understandably so. They were civilians, after all. She supposed there weren’t enough spare guards to carry the supplies. But that was all the more reason to leave guards walking with them, just in case of the unexpected.

  Not that she could tell anyone any of this, she thought irritably with her jaw clenched. Donal wouldn’t listen to a word she said. It was maddening. This was exactly the kind of thing she had experience with — this was exactly the kind of stuff she could actually help them with, and instead she was stuck carrying supplies, walking through the woods like a sitting duck. She dropped into step with Emily, who was walking toward the front, too, with an armful of nets.

  “So how many of these little excursions have you been on?”

  “A few,” Emily said, eyes gleaming in the light of the torches a few of the servants were carrying. “This is the biggest one, though.”

  “Do you usually get left behind like this?”

  “We usually all walk together, but I think the men are excited.” Emily laughed. “They’re almost running through the trees, the silly things.”

  “Brendan told us to keep together,”
Anna pointed out, not wanting to sound too authoritative in case she got called out for not knowing what she was talking about. She’d borrow Brendan’s authority for now, see if she could get these servants into a better tactical position. And sure enough, it worked — everybody wanted to impress the dark-haired guard captain, it seemed, and within ten minutes, all the servants were walking nice and close to one another. That was good, Anna thought, surveying her little group — that would make it harder to pick them off. There was still the question of what would happen if there was an attack from the rear, though.

  She came to a decision. “Emily — do you mind swapping?” She gestured with the basket of herbs. “I don’t know how to use these, even if an accident did happen… I think it’d be better for you to have them.” Emily had mentioned wanting to be a healer — she’d spent some time with Maggie, who’d taught her a thing or two. The girl nodded, and they exchanged loads with some difficulty. The nets were heavier than the herbs, but with them in her arms, Anna felt comfortable about dropping back to bring up the rear. Besides, nets were much closer to weaponry than herbs. With these in her arms, she’d at least stand a chance against some beastie if it came out of the woods at her.

  Bringing up the rear of the group made her feel like the group was safer. If they were going to be attacked, with the armed men too far ahead to actually help, Anna was going to make damn sure she, at least, was there to protect them.

  Chapter 31

  They kept walking, Anna bringing up the rear and making sure that the servants didn’t fall too far behind or get strung out along the path through the forest. They were breaking in and out of trees as they walked, the men keeping a sharp eye on the forest, and Anna noticed that they were still within a few hundred yards of the shore of the lake. They were heading the opposite direction, though, from the direction she’d come on her first night — that meant Maggie’s cottage was on the other side of the lake from where they were. She felt a brief pang of affection for the woman. She had asked a few servants whether it was possible to get a message to Maggie — a short note expressing her gratitude for the wraps that healed her cold — but none of them had been especially willing to go and visit the little old woman. Anna had been set on going herself before she’d been distracted by this full-moon escapade to hunt down a strange, wild creature — probably a wolf, she reminded herself, probably just an ordinary, garden-variety wolf. Not that she had much experience with wolves. She’d seen a pack in a zoo once, that was about it.

  But getting a glimpse of Maggie — even getting a glimpse of her little cottage — would have made Anna feel better about this trek they were on. It felt strange, to be out in the woods, hunting a supernatural creature. She supposed this was what the Sept had been built for, but still, the tactical blunder of leaving the supply line so far behind the main force made her feel uneasy. If they’d made that mistake, what was to say they wouldn’t make more mistakes further down the line — perhaps when there was more at stake than just Anna’s sense of security? At least she was here, she counseled herself. She could definitely make a difference, if it came to that. She was rested, she was sharp, she was alert — and if she had to, she’d fight off a wolf.

  But where were they going? They didn’t seem to be searching through the woods — they were staying rather close to the shore of the Loch, honestly. Hadn’t the reports said that the creature was in the forests around the castle? That being said, she hadn’t heard the full report. Perhaps they were headed for a specific farm where the monster had been sighted. That made sense, she supposed — but she still moved to catch up with Emily, who was walking toward the back of the group.

  “Where are we going, exactly, do you know?” She hated feeling out of the loop — but she supposed it made sense for her to ask questions, given that she was nominally just a carrier of supplies on this little jaunt. “I thought we were meant to be searching the forests.”

  “We’re headed for the village,” Emily explained. “Donal wants to check in with the village leader if he’s there, see if there have been any sightings today.” Anna tilted her head, curious, and Emily blushed a little. “I … ah, overheard them talking.”

  That made sense, Anna thought with a grin. The servants certainly did hear a lot in the course of their work around the castle. After all, nobody looked twice at the woman who was sweeping the floor or scrubbing the tables down. A lot of sensitive conversations probably got overheard like that.

  That, or Emily had been recruited to deliver food or drinks up to Donal’s quarters when he was talking strategy… Anna felt an unexpected and unwelcome pang of jealousy at the very idea of Emily being alone in the Laird’s quarters with him. Don’t be stupid, she scolded herself. If he was going to hook up with a pretty young servant, he’d had plenty of time to do it before she arrived… and he’d have plenty of time after she left, too, she reminded herself strictly. This was a short-term situation, nothing more. As soon as she figured out a way to get back through the burgh, she was gone. Yes, she’d miss all the friends she’d made here, and she was grateful for their kindness… but there was no sense getting all caught up in the place when she was leaving soon. She’d help with this wolf-killing mission, then she’d go. Easy. But a treacherous part of her brain couldn’t help wondering whether she ought to take Donal up on his offer of bedding her before she left… just the once. She’d never actually had a particularly satisfying sexual encounter. Where better than medieval Scotland to change that?

  God, they really were still walking. She kept settling into the rhythm of walking, then questioning what they were doing. The men were almost out of sight by this stage, the glow of their torches barely reaching back along the path, and she gritted her teeth, unimpressed with the lack of discipline that showed. They were excited to get to their foe — and in some situations, that over-eagerness was just as likely to get you killed as any other lapse in discipline or focus. Not that she could tell them that, of course. No, she was just the one carrying the nets.

  “The village is a trek, isn’t it?” she said to Emily, who nodded, reshuffling her armful of supplies as she spoke.

  “It’s right on the other side of the lake. Any other time, we’d take boats.”

  “Why aren’t we taking boats now?”

  Was it the darkness? No — Donal had rowed out to pick her up in a boat in the middle of the night. Boats would be faster — and probably more likely to keep them together, she reflected.

  “The monster,” Emily said simply.

  “Really? She’d interfere with boats from the Sept? I thought she was a peaceful creature.” An image of a sea creature lurching up from the depths with a huge jaw full of teeth to bite a boat in half came unbidden to her mind, and she shuddered, suddenly grateful to be walking instead of rowing their way over to the village. Emily was shaking her head.

  “She’s peaceful, but she’s a little bit like a dog… she gets very excited to see boats, especially when there are lots of them, and wants to come up and play with them. There’ve been more than a few capsized boats. In the end, everyone just decided that during the night, we walk to the village.”

  Anna couldn’t help but giggle at the image of the creature swimming happily to the surface to play with all her visitors. But she had to admit — it would certainly put a short end to a mission like this one. She resumed her pace, lengthening her stride, resigned now to walking around to the village if it meant avoiding another late-night dunk in the icy water of the lake. She couldn’t afford to get another nasty cold like the one that Maggie had had to save her from. And beside — the night air was cool and crisp, and the forest was beautiful. It wasn’t a bad walk, all told.

  And it wasn’t long before they finally came upon the village. She was impressed by the little town — it was neat and tidy, each street clearly planned and placed with some care, with neat signs indicating the directions to the town hall, the town square, and other various attractions. They walked past a few streets of neat little co
ttages before coming out onto what seemed to be the main street. But to Anna’s surprise — and growing concern — all the buildings had something in common. They were boarded up, as if the entire town had been shut down for weeks. But the boardings were new and had clearly been erected recently.

  At least they’d caught up with the soldiers. The men were gathered in the town square, all milling about near what must have been the town hall — a large building with big doors, similarly boarded up. Donal was standing on the steps to the village, waiting for quiet. Anna and the rest of the servants gathered into a little clump, meekly waiting for instructions — but Anna could sense the excitement in the little group. They were looking forward to finally confronting the enemy. It was getting close, now. She could feel her own adrenaline beginning to build up, and she took a deep breath, keeping herself calm. Old habits.

  “The villagers must have boarded up the town to keep it safe from the creature,” Donal was saying, his voice pitched loud enough to carry to the servants even though he seemed to be focusing on addressing his men. “They must be frightened.”

  “Not for much longer!” one of the soldiers yelled, and the others sent up a ragged cheer.

  Donal smiled indulgently, but he hushed them — Anna could see Brendan scowling, scanning the buildings around them. He didn’t appreciate the unnecessary noise. A stricter commander than Donal, it seemed… she was glad he was with them. Cautious men were extremely valuable when dealing with unknown enemies like this one.