and just as she was about to ask the commander why they weren't continuing on, she saw a horse and rider galloping up the hill from the west. Making a wide sweep around them, the stranger rode on ahead to join Brodick and Ramsey.
Gillian patiently waited to find out what was going on as she watched what appeared to be an argument between the stranger and Brodick. It couldn't have been much of a disagreement, though. Even though Brodick was scowling and the stranger was repeatedly shaking his head in obvious disapproval, Ramsey, Gillian noticed, was smiling.
'Dylan, who is that man shaking his head at your laird?' Gillian asked.
'Father Laggan. He serves the Sinclairs, the Maitlands, and many others.'
'Does he serve the Buchanans as well?'
'When there's no getting out of it, he does.'
'I don't understand. Doesn't he like the Buchanans?'
Dylan chuckled. 'No one likes us, milady. We're proud of that fact. Most of the clans leave us alone, as do the clergy, including Father Laggan.'
'Why don't they like you?'
'They fear us,' the Buchanan commander explained cheerfully. 'Father Laggan believes we're savages.'
'Where would you get such an idea?'
'From Father Laggan. It's what he calls us.'
'I'm certain he doesn't really believe any such thing. You aren't savages. You're just a bit… intense… that's all. The priest seems to be holding his own with Brodick now. Do you see how he's shaking his head?'
'Brodick will still win,' Dylan predicted. 'He always does.'
As though he knew they were discussing him, Brodick suddenly turned in his saddle and looked at her while the priest continued to argue with him. Obviously upset, Laggan was now waving his hands in agitation.
Then Brodick winked at her. She didn't know what to make of his behavior. It wasn't like Brodick to be flirtatious in front of others, and the silly little gesture warmed her heart.
'Do you know what they're discussing?' she asked Dylan.
'I do,' he answered.
Father Laggan then twisted in his saddle to look at her. He had shocking white hair and deeply tanned and leathered skin. His lips were pinched together, indicating his displeasure, and for that reason she neither smiled nor waved to him. She simply inclined her head in silent greeting.
As soon as the priest turned back to Brodick, Gillian demanded, 'Tell me what they're arguing about.'
'You.'
'I beg your pardon?'
'I do believe you're the topic of their discussion, milady.'
'Surely not,' she said. 'The priest doesn't even know me.'
'Iain sent him to Brodick, and I do believe that now Laggan is acting as your guardian. He wants to make sure you aren't being forced to do anything you don't want to do.'
'But I want to go to Ramsey's,' she countered. 'Iain must have explained my situation to Father.'
Dylan sincerely hoped she wouldn't ask him to elaborate on the priest's motives. In his opinion, the less she knew, the better.
Brodick motioned for her to come forward as the priest, still frowning, nudged his horse to the side to give her room. Ramsey flanked Gillian on one side and Brodick on the other. Gillian smiled at the priest as Ramsey made the introductions, but that smile vanished in a heartbeat when she realized where she was. She had thought Brodick had stopped at the edge of a gentle slope, but now that she was only a few feet away from the edge, she could see the sheer drop below her. So forcefully did she pull on the reins, the horse reared, but Brodick's quick action saved her from being thrown.
He had to pry the reins away from her hands. 'Gillian, what's come over you?'
She made herself look at him and only him. 'I don't like looking down at such depths,' she whispered. 'It makes me lightheaded.'
Seeing the panic in her eyes, Brodick quickly forced both mounts to back up several feet. Ramsey did the same.
'Better now?'
She exhaled as she relaxed. 'Yes, much better, thank you,' she whispered before turning to Father Laggan.
'Ramsey, I'll need your help with this,' Brodick said quietly.
'I'll do what I can,' his friend promised just as softly.
Curious, Gillian looked at Brodick. 'Would you also like my help?'
He grinned. 'Your help is a definite requirement.'
'Then tell me, please, what it is you need assistance with, and I shall be happy to help in any way that I can.'
He glanced at Ramsey, who quickly said, 'The priest is waiting to speak to you. Do you want him to think you're ill-mannered?'
The possibility that she might have inadvertently insulted a man of God made her blush. 'No, of course not,' she said hastily. 'Good day to you, Father. I'm happy to meet you.'
'Good day,' he replied with a hint of civility that was gone in the blink of an eye when he continued. 'Now, I have a few important questions to ask you to satisfy the Church.'
'You wish to satisfy the Church?' she asked, jarred by his sudden abrupt manner and his strange announcement. Surely she hadn't heard correctly.
'I do,' he answered emphatically. After pausing to give Brodick what could only be interpreted as an extremely hostile glare, the priest added, 'We will not move forward until I know for a certainty that you have not been coerced.'
'Father, it's extremely important that I go to-'
Before she could finish her explanation, Ramsey forcefully interrupted. 'Didn't Gillian have to climb into a gorge to get Alec Maitland? Iain told me his son was trapped on a ledge.'
'She's right in front of you, Ramsey. Ask her,' Brodick suggested.
She wasn't paying any attention to the two lairds now. 'Father, why would you need to ask-'
'Did you, Gillian?'
Once again Ramsey had interrupted her, and had she not known better, she would have thought that he'd done it on purpose, but that was ridiculous, of course. Unlike Brodick, Ramsey wouldn't deliberately be impertinent. If anything, he was diplomatic to a fault.
'Did I what?' she asked somewhat absentmindedly as she continued to study the priest. Why in heaven's name did she have to satisfy the Church before she could continue on to Ramsey's holding?
Repeating his question, Ramsey demanded that she look at him when she answered. Because he was so insistent, she begged the priest's indulgence before turning her back on him.
'Yes, Ramsey, I did climb into the gorge to get Alec.'
Before he could ask her another question, she gave the priest her undivided attention once again. 'Father, are you telling me that I cannot go any further until I satisfy the Church? Did I hear you correctly?'
'Yes, milady, that's exactly what I said. No one's going to budge from this very spot until I'm completely satisfied. I mean what I say, Laird,' he added with another piercing glare at Brodick.
'You will be satisfied,' Brodick assured him.
'I don't understand…' she began.
'I will make certain you do understand,' the priest said. 'The Buchanans are experts in trickery and deception. They will do whatever it takes to get what they want, and since your parents and your confessor are not here to protect you, I feel it's my duty to speak as your guardian and your priest. Now do you understand?'
She didn't understand at all. She started to shake her head and thought to ask Father why he felt she needed someone to look out for her. Didn't he realize that Brodick was there to help?
'Father, I asked Brodick-'
The priest was so startled, he didn't let her finish. '
