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He waited until he caught her alone near the water to talk to her

"Brenna, I haven't betrayed you, and I want you to stop looking as though I have It wasn't possible for me to take the time to send someone with Gilly to Quinlan's family"

"I understand" Her voice was coround so she wouldn't have to look at him

"No, you don't understand," he muttered "MacNare and a fair nuh I would have loved a good fight, I couldn't give in to the pleasure because you would end up in the thick of it I wasn't about to put you in such danger"

He raised his hand when she tried to interrupt hiet home, I'll send one of my soldiers to find your mare and take her to Quinlan's father then"

"Thank you, Connor Is our eneh," he answered

"I didn't hear theh to hear"

He was ready to dismiss the topic and turned to leave

She wasn't "Connor?"

"Yes?"

She hurried after hiht to kiss him on the cheek to let hi the time to explain the circumstances, but the memory of how he had reacted to her affection the last tih to hurt, and so she decided not to provoke hiet used to it It isn't customary for ain"

He seemed determined to ruin every kind rating habit of walking away fro her to chase after hiive her any other details, such as explaining why they were safe now but hadn't been safe earlier in the day, and she was si with hi her additional information

She went to the creek and washed as quickly as she could The water was ht before By the tis, even her scalp felt nuowns, but thankfully she still had two clean but wrinkled ones left in her satchel

The cold night air was rapidly stealing what little strength she had left She draped the shorter tunic over a bush in hopes that the damp air would ease the wrinkles out and sat down to brush her hair She rushed through her night prayers to get them over and done hile she braided her hair, and when she was finished, she could barely find enough strength to put her shoes back on and stand up again

She was thinking how lovely it would be to sleep in a waruilty because poor Gilly wouldn't have a warht An unfamiliar noise turned her attention then The sound had been whisper faint and seeh she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary The trees were too thick, and the ht down on the branches, but she was still certain she'd heard so that shouldn't have been there

She stayed completely still, closed her eyes, and patiently waited several ain It was as clear as a shout to her now and very like the fa over steel

Men eapons were co their way, God help them They weren't allies, she knew, because friends wouldn't be sneaking up on them, would they? No, of course not, she reasoned They would shout their greeting

She couldn't tell howthere were more than just a few

She tried not to let her fear control her actions She wanted to run as fast as her legs would carry her to warn Connor of the danger co their way She walked instead and tried not to , after all, and any sound she ive them her exact location

Lord, she was scared She called to her husband in a soft voice as soon as she reached the narrow clearing, then saw him near a cluster of trees in deep discussion with Quinlan They obviously had sought privacy for their talk, because they stood well away froid stances that the issue under discussion was serious Connor didn't like what Quinlan was telling hi his head every other reeain as she approached, but he put his hand up in silent colance her way

She couldn't wait until they finished, of course—they'd all be dead if she did—and so she braced herself for his disapproval, then reached up and pulled his hand down

The defiant action gained his full attention His initial irritation vanished the second he sa frightened she was

"What is it?"

"Soldiers are co toward us, Connor I couldn't see their nu to be quiet"

Much to her confusion, her startling announceet the reaction she'd anticipated

Connor smiled "You actually heard therasped the ramifications yet "Yes, I heard them I don't believe they're allies

They wouldn't care aboutnoise if they were, would they? We should leave with all possible haste Why are you suessed he didn't understand when he didn't iht him at all sloitted until now, and unfortunately, his friend seemed to suffer the sa so hed

She felt like throwing her hands up in despair She settled on wringing theether instead "Connor, I'm… concerned"

"You have no reason to be concerned"

Connor usually didn't notice hoo at his wife's hair now He couldn't iine what she'd tried to acco quite like it

He considered himself to be an astute s, so he was careful to sound only mildly curious and not critical when he asked her to explain what she'd done "What the hell have you done to your hair, wife? Did you mean to tie it in knots all over your head?"

She couldn't believe he wanted to talk about her appearance "My braid? You want to discuss my braid?"

"Ah, so it's a braid," he said "I hadn't realized"

She started backing away from him She shook her head several times, and every time she moved, one of the knots came undone "Can't you see hoorried I aine why she orried, unless she hadn't been paying attention to him when he'd told her not to be concerned Or had she heard and chosen not to believe hi to lecture her, no matter how much she provoked him No, he would simply help her reason it all out in her ent woman; it wouldn't take her any time at all

"Exactly why are you worried?"

She was overwhelmed by his incomprehension and was, for the moment, rendered speechless No one could be this obtuse, not even warlords

Quinlan couldn't keep silent a er He felt he was farwoht to lend his counsel before his laird put his foot in his s "I believe your wife is still upset about the ht ere in jeopardy"

Brenna was vigorously nodding her head in agreement when Connor denied the possibility "No,his gaze directed on her all the while "She knows I'll protect her from harm Isn't that so, Brenna?"