“Reed… what has happened to ye?” Kendrick urged as he darted to his feet.
“Help me, milaird…” Reed rasped as he held onto Kendrick for purchase. “Help me!”
“What happened to ye?” Kendrick shouted. His heart thundered in his chest.
All at once, Reed dropped his act, doubling over with laughter. “Ah, but it is easy to fool ye, my friend!” Reed patted Kendrick on the back. “What happened to ye, he cried like a wee lass!” he teased. The Laird didnotfind his jape funny, but he should have expected nothing less. He had been truest friends with Reed all his life.
Kendrick knocked him on his injured shoulder, pushing past him and making for the keep.
“Ach!” Reed howled, dashing after him. “Easy, milaird,” he cried. “Do ye nae ken how to take a joke?”
“Say, I break yer other arm. We can see how ye take a joke yerself,” Kendrick mumbled. “Ye ken how worried I am for ye, but yer jokes are always there to torment me.” After a short bout of silence, Reed stopped laughing. “What really happened to ye?”
“Ah, ‘tis only my old mare,” his friend replied. “Ran wild. She gets madder with age, ye ken.”
Kendrick rolled his eyes. Reed adored riding, and this was hardly the first time he had fallen from one of his mares. “And ye fell off her?”
“Nae, she ran round the stable. Knocked wee stable lad, Douglas, out. I had to tame the beast myself.”
“Ye’ve never been able to tame yer horses. It’s nae a surprise.” Kendrick huffed. “How is wee Douglas?”
“The lad is fine. Slept off his injury for a while and returned to play with the other boys.”
“All braw, then.”
“What about ye?” Reed looked at Kendrick’s bruised and bloodied fingers. “Ye were ready to punch down the keep’s oldest oak, and the eve is hardly underway.”
“Naething, my friend. Naething.”
“Are ye sure o’ it?” Reed put a hand to Kendrick’s back, halting the both of them. “It cannae benaething, I ken ye.”
Kendrick took a deep breath, he had to share his thoughts with someone, he supposed. Logan would never understand. It had to be Reed. “Ye ken, I must marry soon, and ‘tis nae easy to choose a lassie.”
“I ken. What I cannae understand is why ye cannae wed our lass, Sophia.”
“It cannae be Sophia,” Kendrick declared.
“And why? Ye loved her when we were bairns, did nae ye?”
“Aye.” Kendrick nodded. “I loved her.”
“Do ye still find her sweet on the eyes?”
“O’ course, Reed. Who would nae?”
“Then why cannae ye ask her to marry ye?”
“Ye dinnae understand. Naeone can. I must keep her safe,” Kendrick whispered, yet he realized how ridiculous it sounded.
“Keep her safe from who?” Reed looked around the dark field in search of any possible danger. “Dinnae tell me it is from yerself, because I will punch ye, I swear it.”
Before Kendrick could think of a lie, one of the keep’s footmen ran up to them. His face glistened with sweat as he gasped for air. “Milaird, yer uncle calls for ye!”
“Tell him ye couldn’t find me, lad,” Kendrick groaned.
“Pardon me, milaird, but yer uncle demanded I do nae return without ye.”
“Then dinnae return to him.” Kendrick knew he was getting the boy in trouble. “Ye may tell him I ordered ye.”