The Hawk (Highland Guard #2)(101)

Bruce swore and slammed his fist against the rail in frustration. “But how could they know?”

“I don’t think they do,” Chief said. “If they knew of an attack, there would be a lot more than six ships.”

Erik agreed. Boyd and Bruce had run into a similar blockade on their way back to Rathlin. “It’s dumb luck on their part to have picked the right night.”

“And bad luck on ours,” the king said. “Of which I’ve had enough. We need to do something. It’s the only way to reach Arran. Can we slip through one at a time?”

Erik shook his head. The night was too clear and the spans too narrow to avoid detection. “It’s too risky.”

“The only way” ... Bruce’s words sparked a memory.

Of course! Normally Erik would have grinned, but his good humor seemed to have deserted him. About the same time as a little nursemaid.

“I have another idea.” He looked at MacLeod. “We can go the same way as our ancestors did: barefoot.”

Bruce frowned. “What in Hades are you talking about, Hawk?”

MacLeod’s gaze flickered, and then a slow smile crept up his face. In a strange reversal of roles, it was actually Chief who was grinning like the devil. “It’s a fine night to go a viking.”

Indeed it was. The only way to sail to Arran was from the south through the Firth of Clyde, but there was another, less conventional, route. A route to the north that their ancestors had used to avoid having to sail around the long arm of Kintyre.

As Magnus Barefoot, the King of Norway, had done over two hundred years before, Erik led Bruce’s army around the western side of the arm of Kintyre. They carried their ships across the narrow spans of land at Tarbert, enabling them to reach Arran from the north and circumventing the trap the English had set for them.

The greatest seafarer of his age walked the fleet to Arran.

But they were in position.

In less than twenty-four hours, Bruce was going to launch the attack on his ancestral seat of Turnberry Castle that would signal his return to Scotland, and mark his final bid for the throne.

Ayr Castle, Ayrshire

After the excitement of her arrival and a teary reunion with her father and her two eldest brothers, John and Thomas, who’d accompanied him to Scotland, Ellie pleaded exhaustion and retreated to the solitude of her chamber.

She was able to delay her father’s questions for the remainder of the day, but the following morning, after breaking her fast, she was called to his solar.

She had a surprise waiting for her.

As soon as she opened the door, Matty came flying toward her, catapulting herself into Ellie’s arms. Her sister was sobbing so hard it was difficult to understand what she was saying, but the words didn’t matter. Ellie’s heart swelled at the heartfelt outpouring of emotion. She knew how much her brothers and sisters loved her, but it moved her to see it displayed so openly.

Especially after her own profession of love had been met with such coldness.

When Matty’s tears finally subsided, she drew back to gaze at Ellie through watery eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

A frown gathered between Ellie’s brows. Her sister looked different, she realized. As if some of the natural exuberance and joie de vivre had gone missing. Her absence had affected Matty more than she’d realized.

Matty blinked, as if she couldn’t believe Ellie was real. “When Ralph said you were all right, I didn’t believe him.”

Ralph? Ellie looked back and forth between Matty and her betrothed, who had taken a position on the opposite side of the small room.

Her father scowled. “So you decided to come here for yourself and see?”

To Ellie’s surprise, Matty didn’t flash him one of her brilliant, placating smiles. Instead she lowered her gaze as if she were embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Father. I had to come.”

Matty’s uncharacteristically subdued, filial response seemed to make her father just as uncomfortable as it did Ellie. Ellie turned to Ralph. “You went to Dunluce to tell the news to the rest of my family?”

He nodded, looking embarrassed. “I knew how worried they were.”

Ellie felt a lump in her throat, realizing how unfair she’d been to him. She wasn’t the only one affected by this alliance by marriage. It couldn’t be easy on him to take another wife after losing the woman he’d loved. Ralph de Monthermer was a kind man, and Ellie vowed to do her utmost to return that kindness. “Thank you,” she said.

He seemed uncomfortable with her gratitude, and she noticed that his gaze flickered to Matty before he tilted his head in acknowledgment.

She felt a prickle of unease. But before she could figure out its source, her father started to question her.

She kept as close to the truth as possible, including how she’d accidentally stumbled on a secret meeting—Randolph had already told them as much; she told them how the Irish ruffians didn’t believe she hadn’t heard anything, and how Hawk had taken her to keep them from killing her. She explained how she’d taken her captor for a pirate. She avoided any mention of what she knew of Hawk’s activities for Bruce.

“I only realized the truth when Edward Bruce arrived,” she finished.

He questioned her more about the details of Edward Bruce’s arrival, but she had none to give him. He seemed furious that her sister’s husband’s brother had not recognized her.