Betrayal by J W Elliot

Author:J W Elliot [Elliot, J W]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-01-09T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

“Shh.” Redmond held a finger to his lips.

Lara lay prostrate in the dirt, peeking underneath the twisted branches of an old, heather bush. Redmond lay next to her. She hadn’t realized how much she relied on him for strength and confidence in the face this constant uncertainty. She wanted to throw away all the hurt and distrust, but it was too deep, too profound. Emyr, Finola, and Brigid lay next to them as they spied on a party of Dunkeldi picking their way up the narrow canyon. Lara couldn’t see them in the darkness, but the clip of their horses’ shod hooves and the jangle of their bridles penetrated the night.

Redmond had insisted that they leave the campsite after Brion had departed with Cedrick for his meeting with the Duke of Saylen. They had set up a fake camp with a fire burning before dusk and circled around to watch the camp from the little rise where they now hid.

Loose stones tumbled behind them. Redmond and Emyr rolled away and came up with weapons in their hands. Lara thought that maybe Tyg had finally returned, but Hayden crouched in the darkness, grinning at them. The ragged ends of the rope that had bound him dangled from his wrists.

“I got curious,” he said.

“Get down and shut up,” Redmond said.

Lara wondered why Redmond didn’t insist on tying Hayden up again. She glanced over at Brigid and Finola, who were both glaring. When Hayden crawled up beside them, both girls backed down the hill away from him and crawled to another vantage point. Lara scooted down the hill to sit by a boulder. There wasn’t anything to see, and she was getting dirt and stickers down her shirt.

She kept her gaze on Redmond’s back. She had been trying to work out what was bothering him. He hadn’t spoken much to her since he and Emyr had returned. She knew that he mourned the loss of the brother he had loved and admired. But there was something else. It might be that he resented the extra responsibility of her and the girls. Maybe he resented her presence. It could also be that he was worried about Brion.

Lara remembered well how Redmond had followed Neahl around as a child, insisting that he could do anything Neahl could do. Redmond had worshiped Neahl. Perhaps that is why, when Neahl had boasted that he would kill Redmond for abandoning them, Redmond had left the island. She hadn’t considered before how much that must have hurt a young man whose only dream had been to please his brother.

But Redmond had also been gentler than Neahl. He had always constrained Neahl in his darker moods. And he had been brave and noble. When the Salassani attacked Comrie, Redmond had not scampered into the heather, like many of the men. He had picked up a wooden staff and fought his way to Lara’s home. He had pulled her from the burning cabin and carried her to safety under his secret hiding place beneath the rock by the lake.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.