'I beg your pardon, milady?' Marcus asked. He turned to give Gavin a puzzled look, wondering if he'd understood their mistress's announcement. Jamie had already disappeared behind the screen.
'We'll leave at once,' she called out. She peeked around the corner. 'You wouldn't mind taking me, would you, Marcus? 'Tis the truth, even with proper directions, I would probably get lost.'
'Where are we going?' Marcus asked.
'To see my daughter.'
It was a lie, of course, for Jamie had no intention of merely seeing her daughter. She couldn't very well tell the soldiers the full truth, however, not if she wanted to gain their cooperation.
Besides, she guessed they'd find out soon enough.
Mary Kathleen was coming home where she belonged.
And that was that.
Chapter Fifteen
Alec's patience was nearing the shouting point. He blamed his ill temper on the fact that the early afternoon training session wasn't going at all well. It was teeth-grinding, frustrating work, for he was now instructing the younger, unseasoned warriors.
Young David, Laird Timothy's second son, bore the brunt of Alec's frustration.
The boy didn't seem to get any better, no matter how long he trained. Alec knocked David and his sword to the ground for the third time, using the back of his bare hand to add humiliation to his lesson in defense. David's weapon went flying. It would have found a target in another soldier's leg if the older warrior hadn't sidestepped just in time.
'I should kill you now and be done with it,' Alec roared at the boy. 'David, you won't last five minutes in true battle unless you learn to pay attention to what you're doing. And hold on to your weapon, for God's sake.'
Before the yellow-haired warrior could respond to that criticism, Alec hauled him to his feet. He had David by the throat now, thinking he might just strangle a bit of good sense into his head one way or another. When David's freckled face turned blotchy, Alec knew he had his full attention.
'Alec?' one of the soldiers called out.
Alec tossed David to the ground before turning to the soldier. He noticed the silence then. His soldiers had all quit their tasks without gaining his permission. That fact settled in his mind a scant second before he realized they were all staring at the top of the hill.
He knew before he turned around that Jamie was somehow responsible for this interruption. She was the only one who could cause such astonishment in his usually disciplined older soldiers, the only one to incite such chaos.
He had to brace himself, then thought he was prepared for just about anything, yet the sight of his wife riding down the hill on Wildfire's back did take his breath away. She was riding bareback, her hair flying out behind her, and Alec was afraid to move lest he startle her. She'd surely fall to the ground then and break her stubborn neck.
She rode like a queen. Even from the distance separating them, Alec could see her soft, beguiling smile.
Wildfire trotted down toward the slope where Alec and his men waited. Gavin and Marcus rode their mounts behind her.
Alec motioned Jamie over to his side with an arrogant wave of his hand. Though he was determined to hold on to his anger over her rude interruption of his duties, he was finding it a difficult endeavor. Pride kept getting in the way of his goal, his pride in his wife's horsemanship.
He lost his anger altogether when he spotted the bow and quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder.
He tried not to laugh.
Jamie obeyed her husband's command without any visible movement on the reins.
She stopped Wildfire by using the pressure of her knees to give her command.
Alec suddenly wanted to feel the pressure of her knees around him again.
'Where do you think you're going?'
'Riding.'
'With bow and arrow?'
'Yes,' Jamie answered, wondering over the irritation in her husband's voice.
'One must always be prepared for any eventuality,' she added. 'I might also do a spot of hunting.'
'I see.'
His moods were as unpredictable as the wind, she decided, for now he looked as if he wanted to laugh at her. There was a definite sparkle in his eyes. She heard several loud chuckles from the crowd of soldiers gathered in front of her, glared at the offenders for being so rude, and then turned back to Alec.
'You're serious, aren't you, wife?'
'I am.'
'You couldn't hit the side of our stables,' Alec announced. 'Yet you think to kill a moving target?'
'You think not?'
'I know not.'
'You should have more faith in your wife,' Jamie muttered as she slowly slipped the curved bow from her shoulder and reached for one of her arrows.
It was high time she set the man straight, she decided. Jamie had noticed a brown hide anchored to the large bale of hay farther down the slope. There were a good fifteen arrows clustered around the center of the hide. She motioned to the target, then said, 'Will you let me hunt if I prove my skill to you?'
Marcus coughed, obviously trying to disguise his laughter. Jamie turned to frown at him while she waited for her husband to answer.
'I would not let you disgrace yourself so in front of my men,' Alec announced.
He wanted to goad her temper with his insolent remark, knew he'd accomplished that goal when she turned back to him. She looked as if she wanted to strangle him.
'I won't disgrace myself.'
He had the audacity to grin at her. 'Kindly get out of my way, husband,' she ordered. 'You may laugh later,' she snapped when she saw how much trouble he was having restraining himself. 'If you feel so inclined.'
Alec nodded, then backed several feet away.
As soon as Jamie fit her arrow to her bow, the soldiers started running for safety. Jamie guessed they didn't have much faith in her ability, either.
Wildfire's head kept getting in her way. Jamie let out a sigh. She slipped off her shoes, then stood up on the mare's back, balancing herself as gracefully as a dancer. She took aim and shot her arrow a second before Alec reached her side.
Jamie sat back down on Wildfire's back, patted her horse soundly for standing so still, and then smiled at Alec.
'Now why are you angry?' she demanded.
'You will never take such chances again, wife.'
His shout nearly ripped Wildfire's mane apart. The horse immediately tried to bolt, but Alec grabbed the reins and had Wildfire docile in little time.
He couldn't help but notice that Jamie never lost her balance or showed the least amount of fear.
'What are you ranting about?' Jamie asked. 'What chance did I take?'
He could tell from her expression she really didn't know why he was upset with her. He took a deep breath, trying to regain his control. When she'd stood up, his heart had stopped beating.
'You could have killed yourself,' he muttered between clenched teeth. 'If anyone's going to kill you, it's going to be me. Don't ever stand on your mount's back again. Not ever.'
'I'm used to riding that way when the mood strikes me, Alec. While she gallops through a meadow I do sometimes stand up.'
'Oh, God.'
