Highlander's Embrace

Chapter 6

He felt it peel between his hands, its tail flicking water up and into his eyes. An insult, he figured. He looked around the shore of the loch to see if he could spot any driftwood or anything that might help him. Still nothing around.

Gavin looked over his shoulder back toward shore, toward Elyn. She was bundled up near the base of a hill, surely sleeping. He wondered how long he should let her rest. Until she woke up? He could keep watch until then. He should be fine, as long as the third man didn't find him and bring a dozen friends with him.

Gavin would have to kill as many as he could, screaming for Elyn to wake up and ride away. If they decided she was a threat for some reason... He didn't dare think it.

How could he already be so attached to a woman he just met? To think he couldn't even dare dream of her capture, torture and...? Gavin's stomach groaned a little in protest.

Another fish tickled his ankle. Gavin eyed it and narrowed his eyes, envisioning it to be a clansmen bent on killing Elyn. He dove down and snatched it, its tail trapped between his index and middle finger. He reeled it up and dangled it by its tail, satisfied with his free-hand catch. Now he could feed her when she woke up.

He would be okay, until they made it to the Castle. Everything would be set right then, he just knew it.

***

He tried his hand at starting a fire. There wasn't any large timber around to get it burning high, and the ones that were of a decent size were soaked through with rain. He figured he could make due with tufts of grass and the scattered plant life around him. He harvested several armfuls of grass and other plants, tossing it into a hole he dug out. He never had to make a fire before, he usually had the assistance of one of the servants in the castle.

As he tried to get a spark going, he stole a longing look at Elyn. She knew how to make a proper fire. The fish he had managed to catch lay lifeless in the grass next to him, descaled and ready to be cooked as soon as he could muster up the willpower to create fire. He feared he might not be able to, and he felt a twinge of guilt for not keeping a better eye on the surrounding horizon. As he watched Elyn from afar, he saw her stir and roll over in the grass, her feet jutting out from under the cloak and exposing her calves. A tremor surged through him.

He gave up the duty of making a fire and strode over to her. He knelt down and gently squeezed her shoulder through the cloak, the fabric bunching in folds under his hands. He gave her a slight shake, rousing her as nicely as possible.

She opened her eyes and moved the cloak from covering her head. Her hair was matted and more frizzy that usual, which put a smile on Gavin's face. She looked at him quizzically, but with her guard down. For a tiny moment, he felt like he could finally see what burned in her soul.

When she became less groggy, she shook her head and her eyes clouded again, making Gavin sigh a little. She hoisted herself up onto her elbow and cradled her head, her eyelids still heavy with sleep.

"What'er ye wakin' me fer?"

"I caught a fish, but I can't make a fire," Gavin said, his eyes unable to resist glancing down her chest. She grinned a little.

"You caught a fish?" Her eyes widened a bit and she sat up more to look around. "Without a spear? Bravo Gavin MacKenzie, perhaps we can make a man out of you yet."

"It was nothing," Gavin waved her cheeky compliment away. "But there isn't any wood to make a fire."

"We can make do. Show me." She threw the cloak off and pushed it into his hands, standing up as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to fix it. After a few furious swipes, she sighed and gave up. She followed Gavin back to the meager fire-pit and squatted down, examining it.