The sun was setting on the cool autumn evening. As Lucas rode through the meadow outside of the keep walls, with no pain and no one chasing him he was overcome with a sense of pure freedom he hadn’t felt since well before the battle of Dunkeld. These were the lands he grew up on. This was his home. His hair was thrust back out of his face. Leaves swirled around the horse’s feet, and the sweet smell of wood smoke filled his nose.

The ghosts of his father and Gavin may have been fast on his heels, but the fresh air and Magnus’s words were working through him.

He pulled the horse to a stop as he approached close to the tree line and the springy moss-covered banks of Loch Cadney. The cave he was looking for was close by, but he wouldn’t be able to ride into the thick brush.

“I dinnae ken yer name beastie, but ye are a good steed.” He brushed the horse’s thick mane. It was the same horse he had stolen from the farm house when he and Ella were fleeing Evans earlier in the month. The horse that brought Ella to her new home.

It didn’t take Lucas long to come upon the cave. He had to cut through the growth at the mouth, and there it was. He felt crazed with relief. It was as if a piece of childhood still stood intact. Laughing to himself, he thought the blasted little cave would survive them all and still be there hundreds, maybe thousands of years after everyone and everything he loved was gone.

“It seemed so much larger when I was a lad,” he said out loud to no one, crouching to get inside. He had grown a bit since the last time he was there. He picked up the small sling shot and a wooden horse laying on the slatted stone next to a charred black circle where he used to make fires as a boy. He went to quick work starting a fire on the same spot. Staring at the flames as they danced and reflected on the stone, he turned the toys in his hand. Memories of his father rushed him. The last time Lucas had hidden in the cave he couldn’t have been more than eight or nine years. He had done something to make Gavin and Milly cry, what was it?

He couldn’t remember exactly, but it didn’t matter. He remembered clearly deciding he would rather live in the cave forever than face his father’s wrath. He had spent the night in the cave, and in the light of morning he emerged to see a large red ball of woolen plaid snoring like a bear right at the mouth of the cave. His father had not only found young Lucas, but allowed his son’s stubbornness free reign and didn’t drag him home immediately to apologize.

Upon seeing his sleeping father, he had burst into tears, his little body wracked with guilt. His father had woken and spoken with him about his feelings. Explaining that sometimes the simplest gesture, like apologizing for a wrong doing to someone he loved, could feel insurmountable. But it was important to face his fears. An honorable man always apologized.

Now as he sat in the same spot all these years later it appeared Lucas had not fully learned his lesson.

“How will I ever live up tae th’ man ye were!” he shouted at his dead father into the nothingness. He banged his fist against the cold earth and dropped his head. He had not allowed himself to grieve for the man he had looked up to his whole life. A man who was larger than life. Yet it appeared, he also hadn’t taken to heart any of the lessons Angus tried to teach him. He’d been a fool and made Ella cry. Lucas allowed himself to weep for his lost father.

He loved Ella. He loved her enough to share the burden of Evans impending approach with her. He wanted to be an honorable man for her. She deserved to know. The last thought he had before allowing his exhausted body and soul to slip into a dreamless slumber was of Ella. Her dark grey eyes, and gilded hair. Her smile, laughter, sharp wit, and first thing in the morning her forgiveness.

Ella woke again to an empty bed. She had tried desperately to keep her eyes open waiting for Lucas, but the babe growing in her stomach had other ideas and sometime before dawn she had succumbed to sleep. Now she looked to his side of their shared bed, and it was clear Lucas hadn’t even bothered to come in. Heat crept up from her center. The wise words given to her by Kelly and Milly the afternoon before flew out of her mind and all she could think of was Lucas in another woman’s arms.

It was one thing to avoid her during clan meals and waking hours, but she was his wife, and he was Laird. He couldn’t humiliate her by sleeping in another’s bed. If he didn’t want to be married to her in the truest sense, then that was fine by her, but he should have the decency to at least be discreet. What if Violet or any other maid had come in to stoke the fire and saw he hadn’t slept with her? The rumors were already flying around he keep, they would only get worse. She refused be made a fool in her own home. She rose to quickly dress herself. It was still early enough that she may be able to catch up with her husband in the main hall. Maybe he didn’t need to come to their bed, but he would need to eat.

Milly was already seated at the table enjoying what looked to “Ella like toast with jam. Her stomach did a flip-flop, but she pushed down the urge to wretch.

“Good morning sister…” Ella didn’t wait for her to finish her greeting.

“Have you seen your brother, he didn’t bother to come to our chamber last night,” she spat out. Milly’s face dropped.

“Nay, I haven’t seen him at all.” Ella sat next to her friend, defeated.

“I know you don’t think he would have a mistress, but if not, where is he?” she asked, refusing to allow herself to cry again. Milly wrapped her arms around Ella.

“I dinnae ken, but I ken who might.” Ella looked up to see Milly pointing at Magnus who had just walked into the main hall with Kelly.

Ella rushed at the large man, taking him by complete surprise. “Where is my husband!”

“Shh, now my lady,” Magnus replied, looking around to see if any other clan members in the hall were watching them. Ella was past caring, she wanted information about Lucas, and she wanted it now. “Kelly told me of yer condition, and yer concerns. ‘Tis not what ye think, I assure ye. Lucas would never take another over ye. He has been struggling for certain, but I think he needs ye more than ye ken. I’ve urged him tae tell ye what’s been eating him, but he is afraid. I’ll not break his trust, and I dinnae ken where he was last night, but I saw him riding that sad excuse for a horse intae the keep just now. Ye’ll find him at the stables. May I suggest ye go tae him?”

Relief flooded Ella. He hadn’t taken a mistress. Magnus wouldn’t lie to her, and he especially wouldn’t lie to his wife. She looked from Magnus to Kelly who gave her a slight nod and a smile. The confidence that was fuelled by her anger was ebbing. She was unsure if she could face Lucas alone, right away. She clutched her stomach.

“Kelly, will ye come with me?” The nausea was coming back and if she needed help, she wanted her friend by her side.

“Aye, of course my lady,” she replied.

Milly came running up, a piece of bread falling from her lips. “Ye’ll not be goin’ without me!” she added.

“Ladies,” Magnus said bowing dramatically as the women turned to leave. “I’ll leave ye tae beat up my Laird without me. I’m famished.”

Ella hugged her plaid around her to ward off the chill as she, Kelly and Milly made their way across the yard toward the stables. It was a grey morning, and Ella could smell snow on the air. Winter may have arrived. She was unsure what she would say to Lucas when she saw him. She was torn between screaming and shouting how dare he put her through the turmoil of the last two weeks, and taking him into her arms, showering him with kisses and begging him to tell her what has been troubling him.

Kelly and Milly were both chattering mindlessly Ella was only half listening, her mind occupied on thoughts of Lucas and what could possibly be troubling him. Suddenly she froze, a familiar woman stood before the entrance to the stables, and Ella reached out her arms to silence the two women. Edina was sneaking into the stables and she wasn’t alone.

“Of all the stupid…” Kelly whispered, and Ella grabbed her arm tightly, her vision began to cloud over, and thoughts of violence ran through her. He was faced away, and too far to have heard them approach. She made a shushing sign with her free hand. A shudder ran through her, and her posture went rigid. Ella would have recognized the tall, thin man with his hunched over upper body from a million miles away.

Commander Anton Evans was in the keep with Edina, and they were headed to exactly where Lucas was supposed to be. Ella’s worst nightmare was happening.

“It can’t be…” she whispered. “He’s here.” She picked up her skirts and rushed toward the stable. Unaware of her friends following suit.