Luag knew his time with Katherine was coming to an end, so he clung to her more tightly than he would have otherwise, all throughout the meal. She didn't know, of course, so their conversation was light and casual, just the way he preferred it.

Aye, he had made the right decision in not telling her he’d be sending her on by herself tomorrow. She was as brave as brave could be, but she wasn't made to be a warrior's wife. For all her business sense and scheming, she was naïve about the ways of warriors in a way that he found at the same time refreshing and terrifying, when it came to her safety. And now he had to leave her alone in their tent and go to the war council.

Far sooner than Luag would've preferred, Gehrig appeared in the tent’s entrance. "They await ye."

"Gehrig."

"Aye?"

"Find someone else tae escort me. And give me yer word, as a MacDonald, ye wull bide with Katherine and keep her safe whilst I am away."

"Aye, ‘twill be sae." Gehrig disappeared outside the tent.

Luag turned back to Katherine.

The look she gave him made him chuckle. Her lips were determined to tell him she didn't need anyone to guard her, but her terror of being away from his protection was written all over the rest of her face. It was precisely this dual nature of hers that made her such good company. He relaxed into his chuckle and enjoyed these last bits of communication between them, their eyes drinking each other in.

The plaid parted again, and Igor was there. "I hae come tae take ye tae the Council, Luag."

Gehrig peeked in as well. "True tae my word, I wull be oot here tae see that no one bothers yer wife."

"I trust ye will na be bored whilst I am gone, dear wife." In front of him where Igor and Gehrig couldn’t see, he signed to her, “Stay in the tent, and dinna call attention tae yerself.”

She gave him a reassuring look and glanced toward the knapsack on her back. "I hae some reading that I did na quite finish, ye wull recall."

Gehrig and Igor gasped, but to their credit, they said nothing and turned to face outside.

Holding Katherine's gaze still, Luag commented to her in what he hoped was an offhand way that would pacify his kinsmen, "I would na let it get around that ye, a lass, can read. Ye may find yerself put tae work. Remember the burden it is tae hae such a rare skill for a lass."

Her face reddened, and her eyes moved all about the tent, particularly to Gehrig and Igor. "Oh no!"

He put a finger over her lips. "Dinna fash. Gehrig and Igor would na gae spreading word o’ anything that might take my wife away from me."

Throat clearings could be heard from outside the tent.

"Glad I am ye hae some aught tae occupy yer time whilst I am away. I wull hurry back tae ye."

He kissed her then.

He knew he didn't need to, that his friends would never doubt his word that she was his wife.

But time was running out, and when he returned after the war council it might be awkward between them, having to spend the night together again in such close proximity. No, the time to kiss her was now.

He started softly, hugging her to him lightly. He poured in all the longing he felt, all the regret about having to say goodbye to her just as he was realizing how much she meant to him.

He was surprised and amazed to feel her response. She kissed him back eagerly, deepening the kiss and opening her mouth to him. So willing was she, the two of them might have done some aught they regretted, had Gehrig and Igor not been waiting outside.

But alas, the kiss was not even a long one.

He broke away with a sigh and stepped back from her, gave her a nod and what he hoped was a reassuring smile, and then left the tent and approached the waiting Gehrig.

"I ken it canna be exciting, the idea o’ standing here guarding my wife, and so I give ye the loan o’ this knife the lowlanders made." Not feeling at all sorry for the lie, he held out the Swiss Army knife.

Gehrig took it, at first with skepticism and then strong interest, which played on his face despite his best efforts to control it.

As Luag walked away with Igor, he gave Gehrig the sternest look he could manage.

Gehrig nodded at him, and it was enough.

Luag knew Gehrig would do his utmost to keep her safe.

Luag and Igor walked through the camp a ways. There was hustle and bustle, getting things ready to start the morning march toward Aberdeen. Donald's plaid was the same one he'd always used, large enough to cover a tree that sheltered a dozen clan chiefs. It sat alone atop a small hill, for privacy.

Everyone looked over at Luag when he entered.

Their objections were vehement.

"I ken he is yer nephew, but he has been away sae long."

"Certies ye dinna wish him tae bide with us whilst we plan."

"Ye said it yerself Donald, he is a traitor."

"Ye canna believe he has truly returned tae embrace his MacDonald heritage."

Donald held up his hand and received silence. "Welcome, Luag. Please, dae join us." With a gesture, he dismissed Igor.

The man’s footsteps had receded and no others were heard. Donald laid out his plans for their attack on Aberdeen.

When the meeting was over, Luag got up to leave.

Donald gestured for him to stay after everyone else had left. "I always kenned ye would return tae me one day. Nay, I am na angry ye left. Ye would na hae any spirit in ye if ye had na.”

His uncle’s praise hit Luag’s skin and slid down it like oil, but he had to take it if he was going to stay long enough to undermine his uncle’s plans from the inside.

Uncle himself escorted Luag back to his tent, followed by his usual lackeys, amid almost-stares from everyone.

Katherine might not have noticed it if she'd been along, not being accustomed to MacDonald ways, but Luag knew all the signs of a people afraid to show their true opinions. These signs were what had first alerted him in to his uncle’s dissimilarity from other clan chieftains, back when he was a boy. Donald claimed the absolute control he had over his clan was what made him worthy of command, but Luag’s cousin’s clan had not been like this at all. Neither was Leif’s clan like this. They both commanded through being revered as capable leaders, not by fear.

"I trust ye wull hae a pleasant night with yer bride," Donald said with a gleam in his eye that made Luag all the more determined to see Katherine on her way in the morning.

"And I trust ye wull with yer bride as wull," Luag said with the appropriate amount of deference.

Even though this had been an impudent thing for Luag to say, Uncle chuckled and clapped him on the back before walking off.

Luag turned to Gehrig, who had stood stoically through this whole exchange, appropriately looking the other way and pretending he couldn't hear. This wasn't out of any sense of politeness or respect, Luag knew, but out of Gehrig’s desire to keep his skin on his back.

Now that Donald was walking away, Gehrig gave Luag the barest smile in greeting. "This is some knife ye hae. Ye want tae sell it?" He said this even as he held it out to Luag, obviously knowing full well that Luag would not part with it for money, it being such a remarkable thing.

"I thank ye for yer appreciation and yer offer," Luag said, accepting the knife with a smirk of a smile that said he knew how valuable a thing it was and while he appreciated the offer, there was no way he was going to accept. "I trust ye had na trouble manipulating its various parts?"

They were whispering, Gehrig understanding how Luag wouldn’t want this to get around, lest he be relieved of the knife in his sleep. "Quite a remarkable thing."

"Aye, the lowlanders are nary sae primitive as we are led tae believe. They are quite capable o’ going on withoot oor help."

Gehrig gave the slightest wrinkle of his nose, indicating he agreed, and walked away, giving Luag’s hand the barest tap, which had to substitute for a forearm grasp in the presence of such suspicion as there was in the MacDonald camp.

Luag ducked into his tent.

Katherine put what she called her phone into her bag. She did so quickly enough that if he hadn't known what it was, he wouldn't have had any idea. So far, so good.

He removed his sword and lay down on top of it on the billet next to Katherine, placing the covers over him and her but pointedly turning his back to her, his reassurance there would be naught untoward between them.

Not that he didn't want her, but he didn't wish to ruin her for marriage in the future. To someone else. He swallowed some panic rising in his throat inexplicably.

"Sae what was said at the war counsel?" she whispered next to his head.

He whispered back over his shoulder, "Donald plans on coming up from the south and surprising Aberdeen."

"I finished the book while ye were away," she whispered tentatively. "I was just reading the pertinent parts again. There is na record o’ any attack on Aberdeen. Are ye certain he wull dae it?"

"Aye. I dinna claim tae ken him overly wull, especially after being gone these ten years, but aye, he is gaun'ae attack from the south."

"Why dae ye suppose what ye heard differs from what the history book says?"

"The druids were trying tae change history, and Donald was taking their counsel, aye? Perhaps this is the bit that needs tae change in order for Scotland tae become a world power through Donald."

"Aye, that makes sense. We need tae tell Leif."

“Is that enough? Here we be. I hae the opportunity tae end everything in the most obvious way."

Her body clenched up and she placed a hand on his arm. "What most obvious way? What dae ye speak o’?"

Talking over his shoulder with his back to her was putting a crimp in his neck. Surely she was reassured by now that he wasn't going to try anything. Luag turned onto his back, wriggling around the sword so it wasn't stabbing him in the bum. He had to lie atop it. He couldn't allow anyone to steal it from him, and it had to be within reach if someone tried something. "My uncle is sleeping, and everyone now kens he has welcomed me back. I could gae tae him, say I wished a word with him, and rush in afore they could wake him. I could end this once and for all."

She jumped on top of him and held him in an embrace that was even more startling than their kiss had been earlier. "Ye will na. 'Tis foolish! Ye would die yerself with the deed undone!” She clung to him, and then as an afterthought, she added, “ And then where would I be? What would they do tae me?”

She was right.

He clung to her, holding her with as much abandon as she was holding him. And then he gently pushed her off him. "Katherine, I dinna trust myself with yer virtue a moment longer. Say ye wull stay ower on yer side o’ the billet."

She was breathing heavy, and at first she started to reach out to him again. But sense took over and she nodded, rolling onto her stomach next to him on his back. This was a much more sensible arrangement for whispering to each other, and he was angry at himself for not thinking of it sooner.