*
In front of the keep, Macoran and his wife sat in chairs on a raised landing with five steps on either end leading down to the courtyard. From there, he could see everything that was going on and the members of his clan could all see him. Their laird nodded his approval each time a woman brought a taste of this or that for his pleasure, glancing often at Jirvel who seemed intent on examining each of the baskets the other women had made. She was quite good at ignoring him - too good.
It was Macoran who spotted the runaway horse headed into the market place first. People quickly darted out of the way and two of the men tried to catch it, but neither was fast enough. Nor could they understand why the brown mare with a white mane and tail was running for its life.
In disbelief, Macoran stood up. Men began to shout a warning, but the playing of the flute and the noise of the crowd made it impossible to hear and…Jirvel was directly in the horse's path. Panicked, Macoran added his shout to the others and started for the steps.
At the last second Stefan realized what was happening, dove in front of the horse and knocked Jirvel out of the way. He landed on top of her and was certain he hurt her. But he waited until the horse was gone, then quickly rolled off, sat up and turned Jirvel over. The look of shock on her face said it all and an instant later, Macoran scooped her up off the ground and was holding her in his arms.
"I hit her too hard, I knocked the wind out of her," a frantic Stefan said as he scrambled to his feet. The stunned crowd had grown completely silent, each eye held on the woman who was still not breathing.
Macoran leaned her back until her head nearly touched the ground and then jerked her up, "Breathe Jirvel, ye may not leave us, do ye hear me lass?" She did not respond and Macoran was horrified.
Just as worried, Kannak grabbed her mother's arm, "Breathe, mother, please breathe"
He was about to try tipping her back again when at last she blinked her eyes, drew in a huge gulp of air and started to cry. "Dinna weep, ye are safe now," Macoran whispered.
Kannak finally remembered to take a breath of her own and when she saw the worry in her laird's eyes, she tried to reassure him. "Mother always cries when she be frightened."
Standing not far away, Stefan was beside himself, "I am so sorry, Jirvel."