Finlay
I barely slept throughout the night, awake worrying about Rose. The warriors around me fell asleep quickly, the excitement of battle and Alan McKenzie's death expelling from them swiftly. They snored lightly, like a melody of the night, mixing their voices with those of the birds who sat upon the trees nearby.
As the sun started to rise the men, one by one awoke and prepared to leave. Rose and Alistair were meant to be here. It was dawn. My mind raced with images and conclusions as to what happened to Rose and Alistair. One image came to mind of Rose dead, her blood pooling around her whilst the two McKenzie men laughed as they stood above her, before shoving her body into a ditch.
I shook away to images and looked up at the sky.
The sun was nearing the centre alerting me midday was vastly approaching.
"When are we going Finlay?" my cousin Calum strode up to me. His face was red and steam erupted from his ears. He sat tall on his horse, hoping to gain height on me, his coppery brown hair speckled with a blonde shine under the sun.
"When Rose returns." I gritted through my teeth at him. For the past couple of hours I noticed the sly little glances he slid my way or the small conversations about impatience and leaving with other warriors. Calum saw this as an opportunity to get rid of Rose once and for all. I knew he didn't like her the moment Blair saw her screaming in the fire.
Throughout the whole trip so far Calum had barely talked to me, only giving a flicker of advice whilst on the road. I suspected- no, knew- this was because I had spent the majority of my time with Rose and Calum feared of her influence on me.
"We have delayed long enough. We should have left a long time ago. Half the day is nearly gone!" Calum's voice rose to a shout and the band of warriors around us turned to look. The meadow went silent and only the rustle of the leaves in the air could be heard.
"I say we wait." I said with finality. Calum either didn't hear or care and replied forcefully, "and I say we go! We are sat here just waiting for another band of enemy warriors to come along and strike us down! We wait any longer then we are dead."
"And I am yer Laird so what I say goes. Ye have a problem then leave. And don't go back to the clan. The moment we return victorious I will have yer head on a stake." I threatened. Calum's face paled and I said, "so ye going to stay or go?"
Calum just snarled before turning his horse and riding over to a small group of warriors, turning his back on me.
"Why wait for the lass Laird?" a warrior beside me asked. I turned to him and contemplated what my answer would be. I love her? Aye, that would go down great. Finlay the Soft! I could foresee that name scaring the enemy.
A memory came into my head and I remembered how Rose had let slip to Alistair we were engaged, so his wandering eyes would stay away. Not that it worked. Maybe I could...
"Men!" I shouted to the warriors and all eyes turned to me, "I know over the past few days yer have been wondering why we have brought the lass along and now, why I wait for her. There is something ye must know." I paused, "I have decided to marry the lass, Rose. Which means we don't leave until she is here okay?"
The warriors nodded or called out 'aye' before turning to one another and putting their heads together, gossiping like a pack of young lasses.
"Well..." Graham strode over to me on his horse, "that was...brief."
"There was nothing more to say." I concluded.
"Nothing more to say? I'm sure Rose wouldn't like to here that ye dismissed her love with less than a handful of sentences." Graham's mouth curved into a smirk and his eyes sparkled with mischievousness.
"Shut up." I told his with humour evident in my tone as I smacked him on the arm. My cool and collected front hid the fear that was running circles in my stomach as I waited impatiently fro Rose's return.
"How long till ye think we will arrive at McDowell castle Finn?" Graham asked on a ore serious note. I pondered over my answer, glad his question was taking my mind of Rose.
"The battle has put us a day behind but I don't predict bad weather in the near future so I'd say a hard day riding today and we should arrive at nightfall tomorrow. And hopefully avoid any unwanted guests." I replied as Ares nearly buckled beneath me.
He caught my full attention as he neighed loudly and reared, kicking his hooves high into the air. I held on with all my might trying to calm the beast but I could not keep him still as he surged forwards towards the edge of the clearing.
I didn't know if it was danger or safety Ares saw in the woods but no shouting or pulling of his reins would stop his hard gallop before he stopped himself, swiftly, almost throwing me from my saddle.
"Ares!" I roared before jumping off him, not wanting to risk my life again. The large black horse just ignored me before trotting softly a few steps forward closer to the edge. I looked over to see what caught his attention as a small blond head popped out from between the trees.
Surging forwards myself, like Ares, I snatched the small hand I could see and pulled her from the trees, enveloping the body in my arms.
"I missed you." I whispered softly in her ear, my back turned to the other warriors. I kissed her neck before opening my eyes to see a grumpy Alistair stood by Ares, softly patting his neck.
"The two warriors sent after us are dead My Laird. It was an honour protecting your Lady." Alistair said. I could here no sarcasm or snarl in his voice as he spoke before he turned away and walked to the other warriors, the reins of his horse in his hands as he dragged the animal along with him.
"Ye are okay lass?" I asked Rose, looking down at her, my eyes flicking all over her body to inspect for any damage. My heart swelled at the thought of her being touched by those two enemy warriors.
"They tried..." Rose hesitated and my breath was caught in my throat, "but Alistair killed them before they could."
Rose's head was down; her eyes stuck the grassy ground. I put a finger under her chin and lifted her face so she looked me in the eyes, "I'm glad you are ok. I love you."
"I love you too." Rose replied before planting a soft kiss on my lips.
"Hurry up Finn! We need to ride now! Kiss yer Lady lass later!" I heard Graham shout out behind me and a small smirk fell on my lisp before giving Rose one last kiss and swinging her onto Ares, jumping up behind her. I grabbed the horse's reins in one hand and wrapped my arm around her waist with the another, pushing Rose tightly to my chest.
Ares galloped over to the rest of the warriors and I spoke to them, "we leave now for McDowell land. We ride hard today, minimal stops and hopefully by tomorrow we arrive at nightfall!" The warriors around me nodded their heads before I turned and drove Ares into a hard gallop, heading through the small passage into the woods and away from the battle field behind us.
"Are you okay?" I heard Rose's small voice.
"Fine my love." I replied.
"You weren't hurt? You weren't injured or-"
I cut Rose off, "I am fine my love. The warriors were defeated and my enemy's son murdered. All died and I was not harmed."
"All dead?" Rose asked in a small voice. I nodded my head in reply.
"But why must all die? Maybe they didn't want to fight! You never knew if they were being forced, their lives at risk or their families threatened. You don't know why they fought you-"
"I know they came at me and my men with sharp swords and intended to kill us. That's all I needed to know." I snarled at Rose, her constant questioning and defence of the enemy's loves irritating me.
I noticed Rose flinch before looking away from me and down at her hands, softly stroking Ares' broad neck.
"I'm sorry for shouting lass." I said to Rose, regret for my harsh tone sinking deep in me, "It's just yer ways are different from mine. And how do ye know that the wars in yer time are any different from the ones here? The people yer men fight may be forced into battle, or maybe not. But I know any many, here or there, would kill another if they ran at them with a weapon with the intention to kill them."
"You're right." Rose whispered softly before leaning back so her head rested in the crook of my neck, her breath gently hitting my skin causing soft sensations to tingle in that area.
* * * * * * * * * *
The days rides were hard and long. We had travelled for five days now. We only stopped twice each day. On the fifth day of riding we were forced to stop once when the horses nearly collapsed from exhaustion and we waited no more than an hour before setting off again. The second time was when we passed a small creek and filled our water pouches to the brim and collected small berries from the nearby bushes.
Rose sat on Ares in between my legs eating a few berries, the juices turning her lips a darker shade of red. My arousal grew momentarily and from Rose's face I knew she could feel it. However the arousal was dunked with a bucket of ice cold water when I looked over to see Graham and another warrior making inappropriate hand gestures.
I thought Rose didn't notice at the first but when I glanced down at her I saw the blush on her cheeks and the small smirk on her lips.
I said nothing.
When nightfall came we decided to settle down for the night and I uncurled my tent and with the help of another warrior and a handful of thick sticks it was up in a matter of minutes.
I left to relieve myself and walking to my tent in noticed some of the warriors had made a fire and were preparing a meal.
"Rose?" I said as I made my way into the tent. It was fairly large. In the centre I could stand up straight and it had five corners, making it wide enough to walk around.
"Food is ready would ye like to get some?" I asked when I saw her. She had her back to me and was sat on a large fur placed on the ground.
She turned to me and smiled, "I already have some for us." I noticed the two bowls of stew beside her with two tuffs of bread. I smiled before walking over to her, sitting by her side.
Gently I grasped her waist and pulled her closer to me, kissing her neck. She kissed me once on the cheek before pushing away from me silently.
"What?" I asked her. Did she have a problem with me kissing her? She hadn't before...
Rose said nothing and turned her back to me before returning with a bowl of water and a rag cloth. She knelt in front of me and placed the bowl beside me silently before her small hands reached towards my chest and slowly pulled the shirt from over my head.
Once the shirt was thrown to the side Rose's hands draped across my chest lightly which stirred a feeling deep inside me. Rose turned back to the bowl and dunked the cloth in it before dragging it across my chest, whipping away the dirt, splattered blood and sweat from my skin.
Rose was silent whilst she did and I looked into her eyes to see something hidden behind them.
"Did anything happen while you were with Alistair, well apart from the incident with the warriors?" I asked her.
Rose shook her head, "no."
"He didn't do or say anything?"
"No."
"Are you telling me the truth?" I asked Rose, the sounds of the warriors eating and laughing were the only noises that filled the tent.
Rose looked up at me through hooded eyes, "yes."
We sat in silence for another five minutes as Rose finished washing my upper body. Once she was done she put the cloth and bowl to the side, moving the bowls of food next to them.
"Dinner?" I questioned.
"We can eat later." Rose said, smiling up at me before climbing into my lap and placing her hands on my face and drawing my lips to hers. I smiled before claiming her lips with my own, wrapping my arms around her delicious body.
"My appetite has just intensified considerably lass." I smirked before pushing Rose down onto the furs on the ground and claiming her as mine.