Highland Song by Tanya Anne Crosby

woodland and heath.  
    “ What is it?” Gavin asked.
    She nibbled her fingers, stabbing her canine teeth into her cuticles with sudden fear.
    They had found her.
    What to do, what to do?
    “ Cat?” Gavin was warming water in a small kettle over the fire for a sponge bath as they were both covered from head to heels in the medicinal tincture she had made for his wound.
    He left the kettle and moved to the window behind her, and she realized that time had run out to tell him the truth. Now, she must trust him to do the right thing.
    Would he turn her over?
    Or would he fight for her?
    She cringed at the thought of the latter, for as much as she loathed the thought of ending as some fat Sassenach’s bride, neither did she want Gavin to die trying to defend her. She feared she loved him.
    Aye, but she did.
    She loved him as surely as she breathed.
    Gavin peered out from the window. “It looks like my brothers,” he said, his tone rife with curiosity. “…and my sister’s husband.” He gave her a confused look and Cat immediately went to snatch up the tunic he had given her to put it on before they could discover her naked again.
    Gavin too gathered his clothing and he quickly donned the breacan, belting it faster than she had ever seen a man belt a breacan in her life.
    He took her by the hand and made to draw her out of the door, but she held back. She shook her head fearfully, refusing. His brows drew together in confusion, but he let her go.
     
    “ What is the meaning of this?” Gavin shouted, coming out of his house.
    The riders all seemed to be in the middle of a heated discussion. Leith and Gavin were the first to break away and come forward.
    “ You harbor a fugitive inside?” Leith asked without preamble.
    Gavin screwed his face. “Fugitive?” He shook his head, not understanding. “There is a girl within, aye, but she is no fugitive… she is…” He stumbled through an explanation, being uncertain of what she was, but wanting to call her his wife. Only she wasn’t, and his brothers knew that better than any. “She’s…”
    “ I’ll tell you what she is! She’s my prisoner!” David exclaimed at once. He rode forward, his hand ready upon the hilt of his sword. His men drew alongside him as though prepared to protect him.
    A fight was surely brewing.
    Gavin noticed that Montgomerie and his men kept their distance for the moment, watching the scene unfold, their stances unrevealing.
    Now, Gavin thought, came the moment of truth. Would Montgomerie defy his liege for blood? Where did his true loyalties lie? With his sister and her kin? Or with his Sassenach loving puppet king?
    Iain MacKinnon’s horse sauntered forward, carrying its rider without much haste, every step assured by the body language of its master. “She was to become a ward of the English court,” he said softly, though not timidly. His deep voice commanded respect, and instead of speaking over him, all voices quieted to hear what he would say. “Have you no knowledge of this?” he asked Gavin.
    Gavin shook his head. “Nay, but the woman inside is under my protection,” he told MacKinnon. “I will not give her up without a fight.”
    MacKinnon eyed him curiously. “So then have you given up your faith, preacher?”
    Gavin shook his head again. “On the contrary,” he argued. “I have only just found it, but that is neither here nor there. That woman inside is my bride!”
    “ Bride!” both Leith and Colin shouted at once.
    “ Bride?” Broc repeated, choking on the word.
    Montgomerie’s eyes widened incredulously. “Christ bedamned,” he exclaimed, and spurred his mount, encircling the group of men, eyeing the new house as he went, particularly the roof. “Damn, this is a sturdy roof,” he added offhand, complimenting Gavin in the oddest tone.
    Gavin nodded, uncertain what to say, for he’d had no part in building the damned roof. But then again he didn’t want to admit that Cat had built it either. “Thank