An Unexpected Destiny (Completed)

Slip of the Tongue

I don't breathe until Dove has slid to a stop millimeters from crashing into the rumps of Robin and MacLeod's horses. Then, it is only a short gasp becaue I am thrown forward onto Dove's neck, my boots straining against the stirrups. I snap back and glimpse MacLeod glancing behind him with a startled expression. He shouts down to the other three to walk up the hill then asks if I'm alright.

I nod because my heart is sliding down my throat to where it belongs. I move Dove next to Robin's horse to look down the opposite side of the hill while Jude trots up behind us.

"What is it?" he asks.

I don't have an answer because I don't know. The hill curves downward in a long slope with thick, black woods on all sides, most of the trees being bare. At the bottom of the hill is a wide bridge constructed of thick  wood with a huge, deep ditch trenched beneath it. Even from here, I can see that the banks of the ditch are treacherouly steep; the bridge is the only way to the other side, which promises a short journey through the woods then to fields where the wind blows. Here, no wind, no birds. None of this would be an issue if there weren't three guys blocking the entrance of the bridge, complete with weapons.

"A toll bridge," MacLeod finally replies.

What? Out here in the middle of nowhere? Who is there to charge?

"A toll bridge?" Jude says, confused. "I thought those were only at the entrances of cities." He rides to my side. "Is there a toll for entering Dunbroch?"

"No. There's a bridge over a cavern. Besides that, just a heavy wooden gate operated by guards." Isen and Ferdinand ride up behind us and I feel crowded on this crest.

"How much do you think they will ask?" Robin asks MacLeod, who cringes.

"From the defensive look of them, I'd guess most of what we have left. Hopefully no more."

"I can pay for most of it," I say and drop the reins to dig into my bags. I would pay whatever price to cross that bridge; it is my ticket to Edinburough.

"No, Agnes," MacLeod protests, "We cannot have a lady pay for our way." I know MacLeod is a kind, good man who has treated me nothing but equal, but now he's putting me on a pedestal I did not ask to be put on. I suppose my readily accepted title does put me on a pedestal though, unwittingly so.

But I probably have more money than they do anyhow. I want to ask how much they have, but decide it much too inappropriate, so I try to compromise. "Why do we not see how high the toll is, and if it is more than half of what you have, I pay for that extra bit--you have paid for my meals in the taverns, MacLeod, it is about time I pay a little for you."

"No, my lady, we cannot ask you--"

"She is part of the company, MacLeod. Let her pay for her way; there is no harm in that. Besides, she most likely has more than we do all combined when we first set out," Robin cuts in.

Did... did he just... defend me? We all stare at him. It feels like the world has been flipped upside down.

Finally, MacLeod manages to stutter, "You-- you would have a lady pay for her own way when all of us men are present and able to pay for her?"

I am too slow to shake myself out of shock to say I have my own payment for a reason so Robin beats me to it. "As far as I am concerned, Agnes has proved to be a rare breed of lady who does not need a man to protect her nor pay for her way."

"That does not make it proper, Robin--"

"Come now, MacLeod. If propriety truly mattered to you, you would have insisted for Agnes to wear a dress while on this journey and to put away her sword and bow." He glances at all of us, and when his eyes meet mine, there is a certain you-owe-me manner in them that should irritate me. It doesn't. Instead, I want to give him a grateful tilt of the lips.