Timeless

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter 18

"Are ye sure, Lass?" Shaw took her hand, caressing the back of her knuckles with the pad of his thumb. "Ye ken yer always welcome with my warriors."

"In your tent, you mean," Ri grinned. Shaw returned the grin unabashedly. "Nah," Ri shook her head. "You know I'd love too, but I have enough work to keep me busy here," She nodded in the general direction of the study. "Not to mention Fi. She's still pretty shaken up by what she saw at the execution. Austin is too, but he still has a few issues with me he's trying to work through. He responds to you. You can get through to him where I can't, he'll talk to you; which is a large part of the reason I'm not protesting his coming with you. Just, please –"

"I'll take care of him, aye. I've already assigned him tae assist Iain, and I've told Iain that should anything happen tae the lad, he'd hae tae answer tae ye. I just wish I didnae hae tae go."

"We expected this," Ri reminded him. "Even with the death of Fergus, people still aren't trusting of the Frasers. We expected protests to accompany the refugees, remember?"

"Aye, I ken . . ." Shaw growled in displeasure.

"So we do as we planned," Ri nudged him playfully. "You go do your duty, and keep the peace between your clansmen."

"We planned for ye tae be there with me," Shaw reminded her wryly.

"No, we expected me to be there. Because at the time, there wasn't any reason for me not to be. And I'd like nothing better than to help you, but I have my family to think about. And you have yours."

"Why d'ye hae tae be right?" Shaw groaned, rolling over and throwing the blankets off of him. Ri stretch languidly, snuggling deeper into the warmth he'd left as he stood and began dressing.

"Because I'm clever," Ri snickered to herself. She closed her eyes and listened to him preparing for his journey. She supposed she dozed off at some point, because she remembered several kisses, sleepy on her part, gentle on his, and then the thud of the door as he closed it behind him. Then blissful dreamland . . . until she was disturbed by a sudden impact on the mattress next to her.

"Ri, what happened? You said you were going to say goodbye, but you didn't show. What happened?"

"I did say good bye," Ri mumbled, "for most of the night." She cracked one eye open, looking at her sister's position on the bed. "Speaking of, you might not want to lay there."

"Ew," Fi grimaced and scrambled back to her feet. "Anyway," she brushed herself off, "let's go do something! I want to go out, have a picnic or something!"

"So go," Ri shrugged. "Just make sure you take two guys with you. Not everyone around here's very nice, and anyway, let's face it, you're geographically challenged."

"But I want to go with you!" Fi whined. "And besides, I don't know how to ride a horse."

"Fine," Ri sighed. "Go talk to the cook about packing a brunch, and find two escorts. I'll be down in an hour."

"Why do I need an escort when I have you?" Fi wheedled.

"Two escorts, and you need them because I'm not enough. If something happens, and I have to fight, I can't do that and focus on keeping you safe. Grab two of the guys Shaw left behind and drag them out to the stables. I'll meet you there."