Highlander's Sword by Amanda Forester Page A

Perhaps it was because she had never before known a priest to carry a sword and wear armor under his robes.
       "Or someone who wished ye to leave the protec tion of Dundaff."
       Aila put her head in her hands with a groan. "I've acted the fool."
       "You're not foolish. You're unaware of the lengths to which a person will go for his own gain."
       Aila looked at her friend as if for the first time. She knew very little about this woman's history or what had brought her so many years ago from her native France. "How far would they go, Sister?" Aila asked softly.
       "Aila, I fear for you. You are an heiress now. I wonder you never thought on that."
       "I ne'er kenned I would inherit more than my dowry. After my brother, there were my uncle and cousins who would inherit before me, but they died, too." Aila shook her head, realizing her thinking had been much too small. "I thought only of my own grief, my own daily responsibilities, no' of what it all meant."
       "Well, clearly someone has been counting your worth."
       "What am I to do?" Aila asked plaintively, but Sister Enid was quiet once more and waited. Aila took a deep breath. She was a woman grown, and it was time she started acting the part. "So we ken my father may have arranged a marriage to gain MacLaren's warriors. We ken someone struck the stable master and made it look like an accident, though we dinna ken why. We ken there be someone who sent me a false message to try to get me to leave Dundaff and enter the convent. And someone may be putting fire to the fields. The question is, where will it be safest for me to be?"
       "Indeed, is that the question?" asked Sister Enid. "I was more wondering why, when danger is all around, you decided to stop praying."
       Aila gave an embarrassed shrug. "I guess I was too distracted by all that's happening."
       "Has not the Lord always spoken to you through the scriptures? Listen again, Aila. You need divine guidance more than ever." Sister Enid struggled to her feet and shuffled away slowly, leaving Aila to ponder her words.
       Aila's mind was again in turmoil, but she returned her attention to her breathing. You're not a child anymore . 'Tis time to grow up. At first, nothing came to mind, but then she remembered the stories of the women in the Bible—the strong and confident good wife in Proverbs, Ruth, who stayed with her mother-in-law against the odds, the women who stayed at the Cross when the disciples ran.
        Si enim nunc silueris per aliam occasionem liberabuntur Iudaei et tu et domus patris tui peribitis et quis novit utrum idcirco ad regnum veneris ut in tali tempore parareris.
       She pondered the verse from the book of Esther. It was the story of a beautiful Hebrew girl who became Queen of Persia. Esther risked her life to tell the king about a traitorous plot and saved her people from annihilation. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this? The quote was the encouragement Esther received not to remain quiet but to tell the king the plot.
       With sudden insight, Aila recalled she had not told her father what had happened to the stable master. It was surely information he needed to know. Aila breathed deeply, gaining a new sense of confidence. She had been thinking only of herself. She needed to think on what was best for her clan. She stood and walked with sure steps out of the garden. Going back to Dundaff would be difficult. It would require an embarrassing confession of her flight, and she would probably be punished by her father or her new husband… and after that, her mother would kill her. But for the first time since her surprise wedding yesterday morn, she had a purpose, and she knew what she must do. She smiled wryly, remembering what Esther had said when she agreed to her mission: If I perish, I perish.
       Aila caught up quickly with Sister Enid, who had not gotten far on shuffling feet. "I'm going back to