Highland Hunger

by Hannah Howell

  Una took one bite of stew and realized how hungry she was. It was not going to be easy to retain the good manners her mother had taught her, not while filling her empty belly and trying to tell Sir Raibeart all she knew of Dunmorton. The amusement revealed in his midnight eyes told her that he recognized her dilemma. Una decided she would just ignore that and do her best. She was too hungry and too eager to tell him everything to be concerned about embarrassing herself.

  “Nay, they ne’er came near it though I lurked round it many times,” she said between bites of stew. “I decided that they didnae ken it was there and, if they didnae, then neither did the laird.”

  Raibeart nodded as he filled his mouth with stew. It was not the tastiest stew he had ever made, but it would serve to fill her stomach and help her regain her strength. Una probably needed such food since she was not a Pureblood. Most of the Lost Ones they had found revealed a need for both Outsider food and blood, their need of the latter much less than a Pureblood’s but still there.

  “How could ye be certain it was a tunnel that would lead ye out of the dungeon?” he asked.

  “I couldnae be certain but couldnae think of what else it might be. It was verra weel hidden behind old ale kegs and one of the cages, so I kenned that I just needed one wee chance to explore it, one short time where I could slip in and out of it unseen by the guards. It took a fortnight before the guards ceased to watch me all the time. Allana was in the cage next to mine, and when we were left alone at night, she and I tried to think of ways to make certain the guards were thoroughly distracted, and for long enough, to allow me to make certain it was a tunnel I could use.”

  “What did ye decide on?”

  “Allana and Madeleine decided they would fight. They are in cages next to each other. The laird had the cages built just to hold us, and only the bairns are caged together. He doesnae want any of the rest of us together.” She realized she had finished her stew and was just thinking of asking for more when he took her bowl and refilled it.

  “Nay, I can understand that. He kens your strengths,” he said as he handed her back the bowl. “Two of ye could cause him and his men a great deal of trouble. It would be a lot more dangerous for his men to e’en open the cage door.”

  “I thought that was the way of it, too,” she said between bites. “Wee Alma took a piece out of his leg when he stepped into the bairns’ cage to take their blood. He sends two men in there now.”

  Raibeart waited until she had nearly finished the second bowl of stew before asking, “So Allana and Madeleine held the attention of the guards?”

  “They did. They started arguing, hurling insults that had the guards all laughing and urging them on. Then the guards yanked Allana from her cage and threw her into Madeleine’s. They wanted to watch the women really battle each other. Allana had said they would, but I was still surprised to see that she was right.”

  “Two lasses tussling, skirts flying up, legs bared, mayhap a bodice ripped away? Aye, men would watch.” He grinned when she gave him a look rife with feminine disgust. “So was there a tunnel you could use?”

  “There was, which is why I am here now. It was easy to see that it had not been used for many years, but it was still passable and it led to a place near the edge of the burn that runs along the south side of the keep. I moved as fast as I could, getting in and out quickly, but it was still a very close run race. The guards were already dragging a cursing Allana back to her cage.”

  “Why did ye nay just flee when ye had the chance? Why risk them seeing ye coming back into the dungeon?”

  “I couldnae leave the others. I needed to talk with Allana and the rest before I did try to leave them. There might have been some way for all of us to flee, even though I hadnae seen one. Nay when there are always four guards and only I was let free of the cage.” She set her empty bowl down and sighed. “I hated to leave them. I am certain they will suffer for it.”

  “Ye were their only hope of getting help. Are ye certain none of them are the reason those men found ye so quickly?”

  “Verra certain. I am also certain they didnae find the way I got out, either. I should have had enough time to get clear of the area, for the women were going to distract the guards again and, as I said, they didnae watch me all that closely, for they were guarding the only ways out as far as they kenned. The fools probably think I made some spell. Either my absence was discovered far too soon or someone caught sight of me as I slipped out of the bolt-hole near the burn. There was a cleared area I needed to cross. And there is always the chance that the laird or some of his men chose that time to come down for more blood and realized I was gone when they began to dismiss the guards. They ne’er let the guards stay when they come for blood.”

  “And ye are certain ’tis only the laird and his five closest men who ken about the blood?”

  She nodded and idly rubbed her cheek. “The laird doesnae trust anyone. I am nay sure he even fully trusts those five men. And once he discovered our blood could heal him, strengthen him, I believe he even ceased to trust the one he used to send our kind to. He must believe that that mon had already learned the secret and wasnae sharing it with any of the others who hunt our kind down.”

  “ ’Tis likely he is right to think that. What of the other people of Dunmorton?”

  “Some bad, some good, just as it is in most places. There are nay so verra many of them for the land is poor and the laird rules with a harsh hand. Many have left to try to find a better life elsewhere, even his two sons. The laird liked to boast on how he would probably still be hale and strong when his ungrateful whelps died of old age.”

  “So, there may only be six men we will need to kill.”

  Una stared at him in surprise. The cold, firm tone of his voice told her he meant every word he said. In the flickering light of the fire, he looked predatory, all the soft amiability gone from his features. It should frighten her to see him like that, but Una realized she was comforted. After being alone and frightened for so long, she had finally found a strong ally. He would do whatever was necessary to protect her and help her friends.

  “Are ye certain they must be killed?” she asked although she believed the laird and his men deserved whatever fate Raibeart dealt them. “We could just steal the prisoners and slip away.”

  “I fear the men ken too much. We have only just discovered that our blood can heal Outsiders ourselves. This is a secret that cannae be allowed to be told.”

  “Outsiders?”

  “Those who are nay of MacNachton blood. Our laird decided that we were dying, no bairns born to the clan for many, many years. Not amongst the Purebloods. He was born of an Outsider and a Pureblood. He also realized it isnae so easy for us to stay hidden at Cambrun anymore, that the world outside its walls is growing, secrecy becoming more difficult to maintain. For our own survival as a people, we had to begin to look outside the clan for wives. He found one and both his sons can tolerate a lot of sun. He thought we could breed out most of what makes us so different and feared, but the Lost Ones are showing us that it may ne’er all go away.”

  “Nay. And it can come back a wee bit now and then. ’Tis stronger in me than it was in my mother.” A fresh pang of grief struck her when she thought of her family’s deaths. “I wish I had kenned that my blood could heal. I might have been able to save my family.”

  “How did they die?”

  “A fever.”

  ”It may have helped, but ye cannae be certain, and we who have lived with what we are for hundreds of years didnae ken what our blood could do for others until recently. Ye couldnae have helped them when ye didnae ken how.”

  Una nodded. “I ken that. It just hurt for a wee moment. What do we do now?”

  “We rest and then we go to Cambrun,” Raibeart replied as he moved to lie out his bedding.

  “How far away is Cambrun?”

  “Three nights’ ride if all goes weel.”

  “Then, at the verra least, it will be over a sennight befo
re I can rescue the others.”

  “At least. It willnae take us long to plan our attack for, since finding the first of the Lost Ones, we are always at the ready to ride out. The only thing that slows us down is that most of us still need to shelter from the sun. That is a weakness I will be verra pleased to see bred out.”

  “Ye cannae abide any sun, can ye?” Una was weary but could see that he had only enough bedding for one, and she was not looking forward to sleeping on the hard rock floor of the cave.

  “Verra little. We all have heavy cloaks so that we may ride or go out in the early morning or at the end of the day, but I am a Pureblood and the sun is poison to me. ’Tis as if it slowly draws the life right out of me.”

  “I have felt the same when caught out in the middle of the day.” She frowned as she thought of the ones still trapped at Dunmorton. “I think some of the other prisoners may have a stronger dose of MacNachton blood than I do. The bairns say they cannae abide the sun much past the dawn. So the weakness your laird tries to breed out appears determined to linger in the blood.”

  “Or they are the get of one of our men who went awandering and ne’er returned. Some go looking for a mate but find only death, too often betrayed by the verra woman they thought was their mate.”

  Una wanted to question that word mate but yawned instead. With her belly full for the first time in far too long and the bloodrich wine she had drunk healing and strengthening her, her body now demanded rest from the ordeal she had suffered. She knew she needed sleep to continue to regain the strength she would need to help the others, but she wished she had had the chance before fleeing Dunmorton to grab a few supplies, especially a blanket. The hard rock floor was sure to leave her with a few new aches in her battered body.

  “Ye can share my bedding,” said Raibeart as he set aside his boots, placed his weapons close at hand, and stretched out on the bedding. “There is room.”

  Even though there was the fire between them, Raibeart watched her tense and lean away from him. She may not have suffered rape at the laird’s hands, but she had no trust in men. Her beauty guaranteed that she had been the victim of unwanted attentions, especially if she had been alone and unprotected for any length of time. There were too many men out there who had no respect for women and little care, thinking it their right to take what they wanted even if the woman did not want to give it. Una Dunn was going to be a difficult woman to woo, he mused, and he now had every intention of wooing her.

  It would amuse his friends and family to know how hard and fast he had fallen. Her grace and beauty had caught his eye first, but that was no surprise. Una was a woman made to catch a man’s eye. It was what he had learned of her as they had talked that had grabbed hold of his heart and would not let go. Her loyalty to her fellow prisoners, her need to free them at any cost to herself, her clever escape, and her courage all drew him to her. He could only hope she would see something worthy in him in time.

  “I willnae touch ye, lass,” he said and then smiled. “Wheesht, in a wee bit I will be as near to dead as any mon can be anyway, at least until the sun begins to set.”

  “Ye sleep that deeply?” she asked, wrestling with the urge to take that next step in trusting him and sharing that much more comfortable sleeping space.

  “Near to. Come, ye will be safe with me. I swear it on my life.”

  Una cautiously approached him. She remained tense and wary as she sat down to remove her boots. It was frightening to be so close to such a big man even though she was inclined to believe in his promises. She was still a maid, but she had fought hard, too many times, to stay that way. Nor had she ever found a man she trusted enough to allow him to know her secrets. Raibeart knew what she was for he was the same. It was enough for her to trust him in some things, but not all. She kept her body tense, ready for flight, as she settled down on the bedding, keeping as much space between their bodies as possible. When he tucked the blanket over her, she stared at him in surprise, for the way he did it was gentle, almost tender.

  “Ye are akin to one of the horses I train to accept MacNachtons,” he said as he turned onto his side to watch her. “Skittish, wary, wanting to trust all while ye want to run.”

  She blinked, uncertain as to whether she was amused or insulted to be compared to his horses. “Ye are comparing me to a horse?”

  “I ken horses. Dinnae ken people as weel, especially women. But, I mean to teach ye that ye can trust me, trust my clan. I mean to calm your fears, to show ye that the beast ye scent in me will ne’er hurt you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I mean to woo you.” He kissed her on the cheek and then turned so that his back was to her.

  Woo me? Una touched her cheek. The spot his lips had touched burned and that warmth seeped through her body. She may have found herself an ally, but Una began to think that she had also stumbled into a lot of trouble.

  Chapter Four

  I mean to woo you.

  Una glared at Raibeart’s broad back as they rode through the forest. He had kissed her cheek again to wake her up. As before, he had quickly moved away from her after kissing her, this time to prepare some food before they began the journey to Cambrun. By the time she recovered from the shock of being kissed, he was well out of reach and acting as if he had done nothing unusual.

  She knew that part of her anger was born of how that innocent touch of his lips on her skin made her feel. Warm. Safe. Womanly. He was trying to calm her just like one of his cursed horses, she thought. Instead of a pat on the flank, he gave her a kiss on the cheek. Instead of an apple or handful of oats, he fed her stew and porridge sweetened with honey.

  What truly annoyed her was that it was working, and quickly. Una could not believe she could be so easily wooed, but she was. The proof that Raibeart obviously did not know the first thing about truly wooing a woman only worked in his favor. No man who was trying to trick her, or seduce her, would be so inept at it. She could actually feel a softening inside her when she looked at him, a warmth that had little to do with the fact that he was big, strong, and handsome.

  It was going to be difficult to resist him, she realized. Even now, with her arms around his waist, he occasionally patted her hands where they were clasped over his taut stomach. Soothing her again, she thought, just as he did Tor with an occasional pat on the animal’s strong neck, and almost grinned. Most women would be outraged to be treated by a man in the same way he treated his horses, but Una had to admit that she was finding it strangely endearing.

  I mean to woo you.

  And what was so wrong with that, she wondered. The voice of common sense quickly answered. She did not really know the man aside from the fact that he was like her and that he was ready to help her save the others held at Dunmorton. They had known each other for only a day and that had been spent mostly in sleep. It was ridiculous to think of him in any way save as an ally, a man who was going to help her save her friends. She could not allow her innocent girlish dreams of a lover—a husband, a home, and children—make her act recklessly. She certainly should not contemplate giving away her innocence just because a man kissed her on the cheek, not after fighting so hard to hold fast to it for years.

  Raibeart suddenly tensed, pulling her out of her thoughts. “What is it?” she asked in a whisper.

  “Hunters,” he replied in an equally soft voice.

  “The ones who are after me?” She waited as he sniffed the air, not surprised that he would have a keen sense of smell.

  “Aye, and they are mounted now.”

  “Stand and fight?” She touched the hilt of the knife he had given her, which was now sheathed at her side, yet another of his gestures that warmed her heart in a dangerous way.

  “Nay, not unless we have no choice.” He cocked his head and listened carefully. “Six men. The laird must ken our weakness, for ’tis unusual for Outsiders to go on a hunt at night.”

  “He trains men to do so.”

  “So do the others who hunt us.”
<
br />   She glanced up at the moon glinting through the trees. “A clear sky and a fat moon dinnae help us much, either. So we hide?”

  “Aye, we hide.”

  Una hung on tightly as he wound his way through the trees, using as much speed as he dared. She had not planned much beyond finding an ally and cursed herself for a fool. She should have considered the fact that she would be hunted, that she would put anyone who helped her into danger. Raibeart was big and strong, with speed and natural weapons, but he was still one man against six. The men after them also knew the strengths of the ones they hunted and would not be easily caught off guard.

  “I have put ye in danger,” she said, guilt a hard knot in her belly.

  Raibeart grunted softly. “MacNachtons have always been in danger. E’en more so since these hunters have caught wind of us. I dare nay think on how many Lost Ones were murdered ere we learned of them or I would weep like a bairn. All ye have asked of me is to help ye save eight people with MacNachton blood, and I ne’er thought it would be a simple matter of rapping at the door of that mad laird’s keep and asking for the prisoners to be released.”

  The man could put a nice bite behind his words, she thought, and smiled. Her good humor fled quickly, however. If the laird’s men had found their trail already, it could be a long, harrowing ride to Cambrun. A long ride with a lot of chances for a dangerous confrontation.

  He reined in at a place deep in the shadows of a thick cluster of trees. “We will wait here to see if they still follow us.”

  “But they could pass by us and then be in front of us. Would that nay be worse?” she asked.

  “Nay. If they have followed us, then I have just succeeded in leading them away from the path we need to take to get to Cambrun. We will but slip back round them and ride hard for a wee while.”

  Una pressed her cheek against his back. She liked clinging to him far too much for her own peace of mind, but that was not enough to get her to stop doing it. It felt good to be pressed so close to him, good in a way that was both exciting and a little frightening. He even smelled good, she thought, and then rolled her eyes at her own foolishness. She began to think that no woman was safe from the risk of growing foolish over a man.