"Are ye sure ye're feeling a'right?" Keeva asked her, eyeing her friend with concern, "Ye're looking a bit green."
"Actually, nay, no' really," Lily finally admitted with a grimace, rubbing her abdomen, "My stomach has had quite the complaint fer some time now."
"How about we go outside fer a bit?" Keeva suggested with a hand on Lily's back, "The fresh air will do ye good."
Lily only nodded her head in answer. Her stomach had suddenly started churning and she was afraid if she said anything, more than simply words would come out.
Keeva led her outside quickly and just in the nick of time too - as soon as they exited the keep doors, Lily deposited her dinner in the nearby bush, oblivious to the droplets of rain making quick work of drenching her dress.
As a healer, Lily had started to suspect why she felt so ill, only to have it confirmed when the way of women never came upon her that month, but she kept the suspicion to herself, not wanting to jump to conclusions and getting everyone's hopes up - including her own - but also not to add to the worry with a potential murderer on the loose.
She would be absolutely thrilled to carry the child of the man she loved and who loved her! Head knowledge told her Alasdair would be ecstatic too, based on their conversation many weeks ago when he was showing her around the keep for the first time, but her emotional state made her doubt if he wanted this so soon.
With a groan, she wiped her mouth with her sleeve and stood up again, holding her stomach.
She certainly hoped she was with child - at least then she would have a reason for feeling so awful all the time.
Lily turned to face her friend again who still stood under cover from the rain and froze when she saw Keeva's shocked and worried face.
Was this the time to share her suspicions with a friend who was closer to her than a sister ever could be?
Lily and Keeva opened their mouths to say something at the same time, but Keeva's eyes suddenly grew wide and she quickly drew her sword, coming out from under the cover and standing in front of Lily protectively.
The next thing Lily knew, her whole world turned into silent chaos. There were at least a dozen men surrounding them without saying a word and Keeva doing her best to fend them off, the pouring rain drowning out whatever sounds the clashes of swords made.
From the little Lily knew about sword skills, she could see if this was a fair one-on-one fight, none of them would have been a match for Keeva, except mayhap the one with brown hair that shone with a red tinge in the firelight. However, it was twelve against two and Lily had not one slither of fighting skill in her, so rather it was twelve against one.
Make that one and a half, Lily thought proudly as she hit one of their attackers over the head with a rock she found, but her triumph did not last long. Strong arms suddenly encircled her waist, depleting her lungs of oxygen as she was lifted off her feet. Lily kicked up a struggle with an involuntary scream only to be cut off by a feminine-sounding cry and groan.
Momentarily ceasing the worst of her struggles, Lily peered through the rain for the sound's origin. Her eyes widened and her heart lurched when she found Keeva lying face down on the ground.
"Keeva!" she shouted, resuming her struggles with renewed vigour, "Let go o' me, ye brute! Keeva!"
Her friend made a move to rise, but the man towering over her with the red-brown hair used the butt of his sword to send a final blow to Keeva's head causing her to fall limply to the ground once more.
"Nay! Do no' hurt her! Keeva!" Lily screamed, her voice sounding hoarse with panic starting to set in as the strong arms gripped her even tighter, carrying her away from her unconscious friend and away from her keep, "Help! Alasdair! Hel-"
Her cries were cut short as a gag came roughly over her mouth and was tied tightly, digging into her skin. It would have been no use anyway, the rain outside and the music inside provided the perfect interference for this kidnapping. They approached some horses waiting in a quiet corner of the bailey and the men mounted. Another man came up to the captive Lily and harshly tied her hands together with some rope. With her hands now tighter together than they had ever been in her life, she was most unceremoniously thrown up to the man with the red-brown hair already on his horse.
Her new captor's arms encircled her, ensuring against her escape. Without warning the horse broke into a gallop, sending Lily straight into her captor's chest. His arms tighten around her much too familiarly for Lily's liking, making Lily even more uncomfortable.
She looked over their shoulders, her soaked hair sticking to her face. The Mackenzie keep, her home, became smaller and smaller and her heart sank.
Were these Callum's men? What were they planning to do with her? Were they not after Alasdair? Would Alasdair come for her? Would he be able to find her in this rain?
***
It felt as if his stomach dropped all the way to his boots.
He had never experienced such anxiousness before getting married.
He had never loved so deeply before getting married...
Still staring at Keeva in shock, Alasdair heard his mother dismissing their guests while Ivor barked orders at the servants, "Ye two! Take Lady Keeva to her chambers! And ye! Fetch Maisie and send her to attend to Lady Keeva - and send fer me as soon as she wakes!" Just then two servants gently took Keeva from Alasdair, leaving him just standing there. "Keir! Go -"
"On it!" Keir interrupted and immediately hastened outside.
"Fergus, Blake," Ivor continued a little quieter but no less urgently, "Go organise a search party in case Keir is able to make anything out in this rain."
"No need to make haste," Keir announced disgruntled, reappearing right next to Alasdair, "I can no' make anything out."
"Nay!" Alasdair jumped into action, "Make haste! I want two scouts sent in every direction to see if they can find them - they can no' have gotten far!"
"Are ye mad?" Keir's voice jumped out at him incredulously, "'Twould -"
"And ye!" Alasdair roared, grabbing his second's soaked collar, "Ye are the best tracker in Scotland! Ye can even track things in the dark! What do ye mean ye can no' make anything out?!"
Slightly taken aback, Keir responded quietly in his ever calm tone, his wet hair sticking to his face, "Alasdair, the rain has washed everything away. Even the best tracker in the world could no' track them now."
Alasdair bowed his head and eased his grip on Keir's collar, sighing.
What was going on with him?
"Forgive me -"
"There's nothing to forgive, Alasdair," Keir reassured him with hands on his shoulders as Alasdair let go. When he looked up into his second's cloudy blue eyes, Keir sent him a small comforting smile with a whisper, "We'll find her."
"Do ye still want us to send out the scouts?"
"Aye."
"Nay."
Alasdair and Ivor spoke at the same time, followed by Alasdair scowling at Ivor and Ivor raising an eyebrow at Alasdair. Fergus and Blake glanced at each other in uncertainty before mumbling their excuses to check on the injured guest and slipping out the dining hall.
"Ivor..."
"Alasdair, this is no' like ye. Calm down and think clearly."
"I am thinking clearly!" he shouted, approaching his first threateningly.
"Nay, ye're no'," Ivor countered simply, "Yer judgment is being clouded by yer concern fer Lily."
"Are ye no' concerned?!"
"O'course, I'm concerned," Ivor raised his voice slightly and everyone froze. Ivor never shouted and raising his voice was almost just as uncommon, making it very effective. The dark haired first continued in his normal quiet voice, "But I am no' allowing it to affect my judgement. Ye ken very well that sending scouts out without any direction when we have someone who will be able to give us better information is a bad move. Why is it a bad move?"
Alasdair sighed, forcing himself to relax his shoulders, "'Twill spread our men out too thin, leaving Mackenzie without defence."
"And?"
"'Twould put those men at unnecessary risk," Alasdair answered again, feeling once more like the lad he had been when under Ivor's tutelage, "What do ye propose we do?"
"Wait fer Keeva to wake up."
"And how long will that take?" Alasdair asked exasperated once more. He ran his fingers through his hair, "Whoever has Lily could be anywhere from here to Sinclair territory by then!" He gestured with his hand sweeping away from him as he said this and almost hit Dolag in the face who unexpectedly appeared next to him. "Dolag! Sorry, I did no' see ye there."
"'Tis no' matter, m'laird," Dolag brushed off her near encounter with the floor, "Lady Keeva's awake."
Alasdair met Ivor's dark eyes for a moment before all three of them dashed to the guest chamber.
"I'm fine, Maisie!" Keeva's annoyed voice carried through the open door as they approached the guest chamber. "Let go o' me, I need to find Alasd-"
"Woah!" a deep voice suddenly exclaimed.
"M'lady!" Maisie gasped, "Ye need to lie down."
"She's right, Keeva," Blake's voice came, "Ye've been dealt a terrible blow. Dolag will be back any moment now with Alasdair."
As the three of them entered, they saw Blake leading Keeva back to her bed, supporting her as she sat gently down.
"How are ye feeling?"
Her head snapped up towards Alasdair when she heard his words.
"We need to get her back! Right now - arg!" Keeva grimaced and put her hand to her head in pain, probably caused by her sudden attempt to stand.
"'Tis a'right, Keeva," Fergus assured her, kneeling on the other side to where Blake still was next to her, "Just tell us what happened."
Keeva took a deep breath, nodding, "I came to find Lily after the ceremony and when I found her she did no' look well. When I asked her about it, she said she was feeling rather sick to her stomach. I suggested we go outside fer some fresh air and when we got there, she spewed all her dinner into the bushes."
"Poison?" Fergus verbalised what Alasdair was thinking.
"Possibly," Keeva shrugged, "I was about to ask her what was wrong when we were attacked." She looked up at Alasdair, shaking her head, her brown eyes full of distress, "I tried to stop them, I did, but there were too many. I'm sorry."
"Ye were caught off guard, it happens to the best of us -" Fergus patted her hand reassuringly, but she cut him off as she yanked her hand out of his grasp.
"Getting caught off guard is never an excuse!" she snapped, eyeing him darkly, no doubt thinking back to the excuse Fergus had used when sparring with Keir a few weeks ago.
Alasdair suppressed a smile that threatened to form, intrigued by her energy and fire.
Keeva calmed herself before continuing with a grim expression, "But one thing is fer sure: Sutherland is behind all this."
There was a pause and Blake stiffened slightly.
"How do ye ken?" Blake's soft question was full of vulnerability.
"They wore yer colours," she answered gently, nodding solemnly at his plaid.
"Anyone could wear these colours -"
"Nay, Keeva's right," Alasdair spoke up, letting his arms drop to his sides as he faced his friend, "We had a thief among our shepherds a few weeks ago but he -" Alasdair stopped, cleared his throat and continued with a more honest tale, "I let him go."
"That does no' sound like ye," Blake mumbled surprised.
"'Twas upon Lily's intervention," he elaborated, feeling embarrassment swirl in him once again. Blake's expression cleared in understanding and the young laird continued, "I sent scouts out after him, also because o' Lily, and they found out that he was from Sutherland and carried the same arrows as the one Lily was shot with."
Blake clenched his jaw as his eyebrows furrowed together, nodding as if he knew that already but hadn't wanted that to be his answer.
A disconcerting silence fell upon them.
"Does this no' remind anyone of the wedding night?" Ivor broke the silence reflectively, stroking his chin, "Ye ken, a big celebration feast during which Lily was taken?"
"Weel, that's a bit o' a eerie thought..." Keir muttered with wide eyes and an unsettled look on his face.
"Nay, that's a good point," Alasdair agreed, straightening up a bit, "When we were attacked on the journey home, she was also almost taken then..."
"What if both these attacks and the ones we've had here are all connected?" Ivor pressed on, "What if Lily was actually the target all along? What if the arrow really was meant fer her?"
"And how would you explain the poison in Lady Fiona's cup?" Blake wondered.
"Weel, we previously thought Lady Fiona mistook Alasdair's fer her own, but what if she actually mistook Lily's?" Ivor suggested, "I noticed there were two goblets by her place. I did no' think o' it before but the poisoned one was actually situated between Lady Fiona and Lily's places, no' between her and Alasdair's."
"How could we miss that?!" Alasdair gritted his teeth, clenching his fists.
"Weel, we'd better set off quickly," Keeva spoke while rising to her feet, "By the looks o' things, they did no' seem friendly - ooh!"
Blake and Fergus each grasped one of Keeva's elbows as she stumbled when she went to walk.
"I think ye'd better stay here, lass," Fergus tried to soothe her.
"Fer once Fergus, ye've actually used that mouth o' yers to speak some sense," Keeva acknowledged with a hint of humour seeping through while Fergus' face deadpanned. Keeva grimaced while holding her injured head, "But make haste, ye lot! They were headed north at quite a pace."
Without a further word, the five men raced off to saddle their horses and set out.
Providence was on their side as the rain stopped just after Keeva had woken up and they started heading north.
The five men went on ahead as getting more men ready would take too long and Lily's kidnappers already had a rather long headstart.
They rode hard to make up the distance, praying that they truly were going in the right direction. After some time, they decided to ride a bit further apart to see if they could make out some sort of clue as to where the attackers might have disappeared to.
The search continued late into the night, but with no success.
Alasdair's stomach twisted painfully. It was hopeless.
How would they ever find her in the dark with no trail or trace?