Wild Highland Mistletoe: A Stolen Bride Novella (The Stolen Bride Series) by Eliza Knight

Author:Eliza Knight
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Knight Media, LLC
Published: 2014-12-13T11:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

LOOMING atop a hill, and down the beach about a mile was Dunrobin. They’d hidden their horses on the opposite shore and glided unseen across the loch, mooring their small boats on the sandy shore. Scouts walked on the top of the castle battlements. In order to stay hidden from them—whether they were Sutherland or nay, because if they were Magnus’ own, they would inadvertently alert their enemies that he was coming—Magnus decided, they’d do best mooring a mile down the beach and walking the rest of the way.

Magnus glanced up at his home. The castle looked quiet, lights filtering from a few windows reflected on the sea below. It had taken him and the men longer to get here by going around the loch to the other side, but in the process, they’d avoided any of the traps that Ina and her entourage would have set up.

The slow, methodical walk up the beach was going to be another quarter of an hour at least. His muscles were tight with tension. He didn’t want to waste another moment until he could get to his family, but he understood the need for care. One wrong move and he’d not be able to get past the Ross clan in order to see to his family’s safety.

From what he and Blane could make out, there were no ships moored at the Sutherland pier, which hopefully meant the Ross clan had approached from the front or sides rather than from the water. Magnus’ scouts returned with good news that no Ross scouts appeared to be hidden this far down the beach. If they were careful, they could avoid them altogether.

“Any man we cross along this path that is not of Sutherland decent—or that of my cousins—should be considered a foe. Leave no chance for them to sound an alarm. We take no prisoners today.” Magnus nodded to each of his men as they took in his orders. There would be no quarter given for anyone who dared to threaten his family.

They crept up the sand, their booted feet leaving impressions that reflected in the moonlight, but the waves lapping on the right washed away any trace of their steps. To their left were the dunes and rocky rises. Magnus kept his gaze on them, just waiting for the enemy to make themselves known.

Moving in silence by communicating in hand signals only, they stopped every ten or fifteen feet to make certain they were not being followed and that no one at the castle seemed aware of their presence. In the grand scheme of things, Magnus supposed he should be angry if they made it without alerting the Sutherland guard, but then again, if the men were alerted, their element of surprise would be ruined. Besides that, they couldn’t truly be certain that the guards upon the gate were not Ross warriors already—though he prayed they weren’t.

Less than a quarter mile from the castle, they slipped between two rocks and made their way up a tight natural stair.

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