They rode until the darkness made it too difficult to see, then stopped for the night in a small clearing, built a campfire and untied him just long enough to let him eat. Two of the men went off by themselves and were arguing, but the only words he heard clearly were "Laird Brodie" and "lass." Then he spotted something very odd. One of the men sitting not far from him wore a kilt of Macoran colors. He thought he recognized him, but could not remember his name.
Stefan's hands were tied again, although not as tightly as before and he thought he had a good chance of escaping once his captors went to sleep. But wolves howled, kept spooking the horses and few got any sleep at all. When the chances of escape looked bleak, he thought about the feeling of having Kannak in his arms. He slowly relived every second of their brief but precious love and committed it to memory.
*
From the crest of a hill the next afternoon, it was obvious this hold was twice if not three times the size of the Macoran village. Dozens of horses grazed in a meadow behind the village. Beyond that were cattle and farther still, a large herd of sheep; a sure sign of a prosperous clan. Stefan looked for an avenue of escape and decided to run east - If he managed to get away.
They at last walked their horses into the Brodie courtyard and the men pulled him down off of his. The large, square, three story keep cast a long shadow over most of the courtyard, already a crowd was gathering and the old man standing in the doorway of the keep was obviously not pleased. He set his glare on one of the men, who quickly climbed the steps and disappeared inside.
"Ye dare disobey me?" said the old man before he closed the door.
It was not hard to guess who the elder was for his hooked nose reminded Stefan of Agnes Macoran. The rest of his captors and the other clansmen who gathered stared at the door, paid little attention to Stefan and just let him stand there. But some of the women couldn't seem to take their eyes off him. If he'd thought of it, he might have flirted with one or two hoping they would help him escape, but he didn't think of it. Instead, he was trying to guess why his captors were accused of disobeying.
The voices inside the keep got louder and then the door burst open and the warrior marched back out. He pointed at Stefan, ordered him taken away and then demanded the other Macoran be brought inside.