“Hmm,” he said after a moment. “Me, as well.”
They continued on, and once they crested the steep rise, she spotted the man standing guard with his horse a few yards away. Lachlan waved, and the man waved back. As they approached, Synne spotted the man’s dark blond hair, and the wariness of his gaze when it landed on her.
“Alan, I need you to take a message to my father,” Lachlan said without dismounting.
Alan’s brown eyes narrowed on Synne. “Who is she?”
“Synne. I’m guiding her across our land, and I’ll be taking her farther north.”
Alan’s gaze jerked to Lachlan as he frowned. “North? We need you here.”
“I’m aware of the upcoming battle with our enemy, but a bigger foe is coming this way. Listen to me carefully, because I need you to tell my father these words exactly.”
Alan stood there for a moment, a muscle in his jaw ticking. Then he bowed his head slightly. “I’m listening.”
“I’m fulfilling my duty to protect our clan as I’ve vowed. Grandmother knew about this, and it’s finally come. Keep everyone close to the castle. What’s coming doesna care who we are. They’ll kill without hesitation.”
Alan repeated the words verbatim.
“Good,” Lachlan told him.
“Let me come with you,” Alan said and glanced at Synne. “You could use another sword.”
Lachlan moved his mount forward until he could lay his hand on Alan’s shoulder. “You’ve been my friend for as long as I can remember. There’s no one else I’d rather have by my side, but the clan is more important right now. I need you to watch over them in my place, help my father and the others. I ask this of you because I know I can trust you.”
“What are you no’ telling me?” Alan asked.
Synne wished it was as easy as speaking the truth, but not everyone knew about witches and magic. If the wrong person was told, she and Lachlan could be burned alive. She had shared with Lachlan on a whim, but also because she knew that if it came down to it, she could handle herself and get away. Both she and Lachlan could overpower Alan as well, but there were more lives at stake. The clan—all clans, actually—needed to be warned.
“A lot,” Lachlan answered. “Trust me.”
Alan bowed his head. “I always have.”
“Thank you. I doona know when I’ll be back. You might see strange things in the forest. Doona go after them.”
Synne flattened her lips because Lachlan was making things worse, not better. She caught Alan’s attention. “While you might not want to, I would advise alerting neighboring clans, as well.”
The way Alan looked at her reminded Synne that she wasn’t Scottish, and she’d just announced that to him by speaking. Just when he’d been about to let all questions drop, his gaze sharpened because she hadn’t been able to keep her mouth shut.
Lachlan straightened and gave her a hard look before he looked back at Alan. “Synne didna bring this to us. It was already headed this way. She’s only trying to stop it.”
“A woman?” Alan asked with scorn.
Lachlan’s expression hardened as he glared at his friend. “Aye, a woman. She saved my life this morning. Heed my words, Alan. I doona want to learn that the clan was attacked and people killed simply because Synne is a sassenach and a woman.”
Alan looked away and swallowed. “Fair point.” He blew out a breath and met Lachlan’s gaze. “If you doona return to us, your father will never forgive me.”
Lachlan smiled and clicked to his horse. Synne watched him before her gaze slid back to Alan. She glanced at the ground. “Everyone I knew and loved, as well as the home I had, was destroyed by what’s coming.”
“Then why no’ face it?”
Lachlan stopped and turned to look back at her. Synne stared into his gray eyes that were as steady as his hand. Radnar would’ve liked him. No doubt, Radnar would’ve taken Lachlan in and shown him everything he knew.
Her gaze slid to Alan. “I intend to face it. That’s why I’m going north. Others ready to fight are waiting for me.”
“Then you two better get moving,” Alan said with a nod. He turned and strode to his horse before mounting it. He spun the animal around and raced eastward.
Synne then nudged her horse to start moving.
“We’ve got another day of riding to get across my clan’s land,” Lachlan told her.
“And how much farther north can we go?”
He lifted a brow as their horses walked side by side. “Depends on how fast we travel and what we run across. Clans doona like others crossing their lands. We’re constantly at war with each other for one thing or another.”
“Sounds exhausting.”
He chuckled. “It’s life. I’ve never known anything else. Most times, the wars are settled by one laird offering a daughter up for marriage.”
“I can’t believe women agree to that.”
“They doona have a choice.”
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “Of course, they do. They have a brain, a mouth, and they can think for themselves. How would you like to be offered up to a woman as a way for a war to end? A woman you might detest.”
“I doona think I’d mind if that woman was you.”
She looked at him to see him grinning. Despite her ire, she found herself smiling in response. “You have to admit, you’d hate having that choice taken from you.”
“Sometimes, the choice is out of a man’s hands, as well. I’m well aware that if I doona choose my own wife, there’s a chance my father will offer me to one of his enemy’s daughters as payment for a truce. When two clans are bound by marriage, they become allies. There is strength in numbers.”
“It’s ridiculous.”
“Perhaps, but we’re going to be crossing some of those allies’ lands on the way north.”
Synne wrinkled her nose. “If you ever have children, don’t make them marry someone they don’t want to. No one deserves that kind of life.”
“It’s no’ always bad. My mother was such a bride, and she and my father fell in love. It can turn out all right.”
“Perhaps,” she admitted. “But I wager that more times than not, it doesn’t. You doom a woman to a life of misery, while a man can find himself a mistress if he wants.”
Lachlan made a sound in the back of his throat. “Women do that, as well.”
“Aye. They do.” She flashed him an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I grew up with vastly different beliefs, and just because I agree with mine, doesn’t make yours wrong.”
“It doesna, but I admit I like hearing different views. It makes me think, and it makes me consider that the way we’ve done things in the past isna always right or wrong. It’s worked, but it might no’ always work. And since I’ve a sister who is terrified she’ll be offered up as a wife to one of our enemies, I’d like to tell you I’d never do that. But if it means an end to the war, if it means a truce and allies? A laird must take into account more than just one person. He must consider his clan.”
Synne nodded slowly. “I hadn’t thought of it that way. You do have a point.”