The Viper (Highland Guard #4)(71)

Yet one golden-haired man stood out. He held a slim boy by the wrist and looked furious. It wasn’t the anger that made him stand out, however. Tall, broad-shouldered, and lean, he was just about the most handsome man she’d ever seen. Although noticing men was something entirely new for her, once discovered it seemed she could do nothing else. She and her cousins had spent hours discussing the men at the wedding.

But none of them were like him. He was everything to make a young lady’s heart race, and she was not immune.

She guessed him a few years past twenty, despite the stubbly beard on his boyishly handsome face that seemed intended to make him appear older.

She knew he was a warrior by the sword at his back and the simple leather war coat he wore as armor. But he wore no helm, and his sun-drenched hair shone like a cap of gold in the bright sunlight. Short and becomingly tousled, it made him look as if he’d emerged from a loch, shaken out the water, and ran his fingers through the thick golden mane as an afterthought.

Momentarily distracted by the handsome young warrior, it took her a moment to realize her reaction—and what had caused it—had been noticed.

“ ’Tis a pink rose!” She heard the hushed whispers filter through the crowd like the ripple of a stone tossed across a pond.

The villagers would not know her connection to the infamous Lady Isabella MacDuff, but they all recognized the traitor’s symbol.

Unfortunately, so did her guardian. “What is that?”

Joan didn’t answer. She saw Sir Hugh’s eyes narrow and knew he recognized what it was. She let it fall from her hand.

He spun around, scanning the crowd as she had done. “What is the meaning of this? Who threw this?” He turned to the merchant who’d tried to sell her the ribbons. “Was it you?”

The merchant shook his head vehemently. “Nay, m-my l-lord,” he answered, his voice shaking.

The morning had taken on an ominous cast. People shuffled uncomfortably, shooting furtive looks around.

Joan just wanted to leave. Anything that reminded her guardian of her mother was sure to cause her problems.

She ventured one more glance at the young warrior. What she saw then caused her blood to run cold. Another man had come up beside him to take hold of the boy. He, too, stood out for his height and muscular build. But it was his face that struck fear in her heart.

She’d been terrified the first time she’d seen him. It had been over two years ago, when the dark, menacing-looking warrior with the scarred face and eerie eyes had woken her as she slept in her chamber in Balvenie to explain why her mother had left her behind.

Except for her recent visit with William Lamberton, the Bishop of St. Andrews, it was the only direct information she’d had about her mother since she left. Her father’s hatred for the “traitorous whore” who’d betrayed him had made the subject a closed one.

What was he doing here? Was it some kind of message?

Her heart started to pound frantically.

Joan knew what she had to do. Without another glance into the crowd, she lifted her chin and tossed back her head with all the disdain of the heir of Buchan.

Lifting her slippered foot, she place it atop the flower where it had fallen from her hand and dug the silken pedals into the dirt with her tiny heel. “It’s nothing,” she said to her guardian. “Nothing that means anything anymore.”

Her mother was dead to her. She’d chosen her path, just as Joan had chosen hers.

But when she heard a soft cry in the crowd, her eyes went not to the handsome warrior, or to the terrifying one, but to the lad in between.

A chill tingled across her skin. There was something odd about him …

For a moment her heart died in a flash of absolute dread. But she forced herself to calm. Forced her lungs to fill and empty with air.

It couldn’t be.

Feeling as if she’d just seen a ghost, Joan repressed a shiver and turned back to her guardian.

Lachlan was so furious he couldn’t see straight. Seeing Bella in the crowd had been bad enough, but when she reached for that flower and he realized what she was going to do …

His heart stopped beating. Bloody hell, he wasn’t going to kill her, she was going to kill him!

And she just might succeed if he couldn’t think of a way to get them out of this. Fast.

He caught up to her a few seconds after Seton. If there was anyone he was more furious with than Bella, it was Dragon.

No one in the Highland Guard had taken longer to earn Lachlan’s respect than the young Englishman. It wasn’t because he suspected Seton had been chosen because of his illustrious brother; it was his attitude. Seton’s rigid adherence to rules and the knightly code put him at odds with the pirate style of warfare employed by the Highland Guard. Half the time he walked around like he had a pike up his arse, something Lachlan didn’t stop pointing out.

But Dragon’s skill with the blade and stealth complemented Lachlan’s skills, and they often ended up on missions together. Lachlan had thought he could rely on him, but he should have known better.

Snagging Bella’s wrist, he hauled her up against him. Feeling her against his body, knowing she was safe if only for a moment, took just enough edge off his anger to stop him from doing all the things he wanted to do to her.

But when this was over …

He looked at Seton over the top of her cap. To his credit, the young knight met his gaze unflinchingly. His grim expression, however, told Lachlan that he knew there would be hell to pay for this.