Page 112 of Love Me Forever

“I do not doubt it,” Royce said.

“He is a determined man.”

“Nay, he is a greedy man, and greedy men make mistakes.”

“You expect Arran to make a mistake?” Ian asked.

“He has already made it.”

Ian waited in silence.

“He has challenged me.”

Ian had heard endless gossip about the legendary Royce Campbell. He thought most a myth until he had met him a few years ago and had seen with his own eyes the man’s fearlessness and his extraordinary skills and the respect given him.

Arran had chosen an opponent far beyond his meager skills, and Ian had no doubt that the man would be sorry.

Ian addressed his one concern. “My sister?—”

“Is stubborn,” Royce finished, raising his tankard in a salute.

Ian laughed and raised his own tankard in agreement. “That she is, and it could prove troublesome.”

“Add to that being with child, and you have explosive.”

Ian’s laughter rumbled through the great hall. “It is good to see that her courage has returned.”

“Courage, aye, but she is not invincible.”

“She has been vulnerable too long.”

“I understand that,” Royce said, “and there is still a part of her that is. There is a deeper part that fears that her husband will forever haunt her and that she will never be strong enough to fight him. I wish to help her change that.”

“I think you have. When she returned with you in tow, she looked different; she looked full of life. She defended herself as she once did when we were young, and it was good to see.”

“Your sister had a courage that was undeniable when she was with me at the cottage. I was a badly scarred stranger seeing to her every need, and she showed not an ounce of fear, though I knew it was there; she just refused to allow me to see it. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to rely on a strange man for her every need. It took courage.”

“Aye, it did, and I am grateful it was you who found her.”

“I had thought of that often myself, but then, I thought our meeting was meant to be; we were meant to be.”

“It was fate, for it obviously intervened.”

Royce raised his glass for another salute. “I was destined to love your sister. She is mine, and no one else shall have her.”

Ian half raised his glass and teased, “Are you certain you want her? She is stubborn.”

“Stubbornly beautiful Ian had to drink to that. Their tankards clinked and moved to their lips when the hall door flew open and William and John rushed in.

“Strangers have been spotted in the woods.”

CHAPTER30

Night fell fast prohibiting the men from thoroughly searching the woods and surrounding area. Extra guards were posted around the village and in and around the keep. Brianna could not take a breath without someone being aware of it. She was constantly watched,

and she did not protest.

Royce was relieved by her change of heart, though her calmness troubled him. She looked and acted as though nothing concerned her. She smiled, laughed, teased her brother, and chatted endlessly with Moira at the evening meal.