Heart of the Highlands Ch. 01

When the man stumbled back and held his jaw, Colin moved to stand defensively in front of Juliana, glaring at any other that would dare come near him or the girl. "How dare you call yourself a Scotsman ... treating a Lady like that," he challenged with his thick accent.

Robbie recovered from the blow and a black cloud of rage seemed to take over his features as he took in the man that suddenly stood between him and Juliana. Releasing his jaw, he retook the few steps he had stumbled back and glowered at the man. Seeing Juliana move instinctively further behind him as her hand covered her mouth in surprise only served to enrage him further. "Who the hell are you?" Robbie demanded as his friends stepped back a bit to give the oldest heir to the Kincaid fortune room.

Juliana blinked in surprise as the handsome young man was suddenly between her and the one person she loathed more than anything. She couldn't help but feel scared for what was suddenly unfolding before her or was it the nervous fluttering of being so close to him that was causing the inside of her belly to turn to mush?

Colin narrowed his eyes dangerously. He stood just slightly shorter than his opponent, but he clearly had a sure skill and grace about him that spoke volumes. Fear wasn't in his vocabulary. "Colin Mackenzie," was all he said. He'd never been a man of many words and there was no need to go any further now either.

Robbie's dark gaze raked over the man before him as he pushed the sleeves of his tunic further up his arms. "Well Colin Mackenzie, you just stuck your nose in business that doesn't concern you" and to Juliana's horror, threw a punch at Colin that caught him square in the jaw as well, sending him reeling back a bit against a surprised Juliana that tried to help by reaching out to grasp him by the arm with a startled shriek.

Colin grunted as he was hit and he stepped back but quickly gained his balance again. Pushing Juliana back protectively, unwilling to let her get anywhere near all this, h e launched himself at Robbie with a savage cry, tackling the man down. As he slammed into the ground, Colin quickly began punching him in rapid succession.

Juliana screamed as the men rolled around on the ground and a crowd quickly came running. She wanted to get Robbie off him but there was nothing she could do but scream for him to stop. It didn't take long for her own group of girls and the boys they had been flirting with the join the crowd that was forming around the men fighting. Of course, only the younger crowd was interested in such things as the festivities still held the attention of the elders and the young children that ran around.

Colin finally gained the advantage and shoved Robbie against the ground after quite a tussle, both breathing hard with bloodied lips and noses. Pinning the bigger man ruthlessly, a pre-death grip on his throat, Colin snarled, "Do ye yield?"

Robbie glared up at Colin, his pride wounded and his breath gone, struggling a bit before relaxing a bit, his eyes closing momentarily as he nodded. When Colin released him, he pushed at him angrily even as they both slowly stood; gasping for breath but neither one of them launched a new attack.

Instead, Robbie turned his gaze to Juliana and simply pointed at her and then thumbed towards himself, a hard jab at his chest as if to say "Mine" before shooting a warning at Colin as he strode off with his friends. "This is far from over, Mackenzie!" he bellowed angrily.

Colin winced as he flexed his right hand then wiped blood from his face with his sleeve, staring at Robbie's back. Once he gained his breath a bit he turned to look at the woman he'd fought to protect, seeing the shock and fear in her eyes. "Are you alright?"

Juliana stood shocked for a moment and then turned her gaze from Robbie's retreating form to the handsome man that had just defended her. His name was Colin and she wanted to throw herself into his arms, sobbing and thank him for more than he could possibly understand but before she could respond, Lucinda was suddenly at her side, her hands pulling at Juliana and drawing her close as she was surrounded by her twittering friends, all riled up from what they had just witnessed.

"Oh my gawd, Juliana! Are you okay?! What happened?!' and then suddenly she was bombarded with questions and the protective nature of the girls as her eyes met Colin's over the tops of their heads.

Colin's friends had begun to close in on him too. Again they'd been denied the chance to talk. Cedric clapped him on the back and he laughed, "Way to go Colin! Sure showed him! What the hell happened?"

Pulling away from his friend, he again wiped blood from his face with his sleeve. His mother would kill him for staining the silk tunic but it'd be nothing more than she'd do to him for getting in the fight to begin with; especially with Robbie Kincaid. Colin hadn't met the man until today but he sure had heard of the heir. He was as pompous as the man he'd be succeeding.

Juliana felt like a trapped bird in a cage as her friends circled around her, talking about Robbie and his assuming ways and how unlucky she was if things worked out the way the rumors were flying and how dare he treat her like he already owned her in public and then on and on and on until her head was spinning.

And then the questions started about Colin and how he got involved and wasn't he just dreamy and didn't she feel so lucky to have two men fighting over her and it all just went on until she wanted to scream. She kept looking around, standing on tiptoe, trying to find the one person she DID want to talk to. She at least owed him a thank you or an apology ... something ... anything! But he seemed as swallowed up in the crowd as she did.

Colin grimaced as he flexed his right hand within the gauntlet he wore. Cedric caught the look and frowned knowingly, gripping his friend's forearm. Once Colin was able to breathe again he nodded and Cedric let go.

He was handed a damp handkerchief to clean up with and he washed his face, wiping the dirt and blood away. Looking over the crowd, he tried to see the red-headed beauty. He wasn't going to let her get away without at least knowing her name.

Shoving through the throng of his friends and through the twittering females that quickly moved out of his way, he approached the woman. All kinds of whispers and murmurs were going through the crowd as they slowly parted, giving him room.

Juliana felt the crowd part and her friends move beside and back behind her, all the noise suddenly dying down to whispers and she glanced up to see Colin pushing his way through towards her. Out of a habit her mother had never been able to break her of, she reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear nervously, her green eyes filled with concern as she saw his swollen lips and the remnants of blood on his tunic and the exposed part of his chest.

She couldn't help but let her gaze flow over him appreciatively as a smile that bloomed up from within her touched her lips as he reached her. "I ... I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry about what happened," she said, instinctively touching his arm with her small and gentle hand.

He drew back instinctively, his right hand tucked almost protectively near his middle as if to ward off anything touching it. Meeting the woman's eyes evenly, he ignored those around him. Colin's eyes were icy blue and they shone with a fiery spirit that refused to be tamed, let alone be quenched. He was a wild man inside, regardless of his outer rich appearance. "I just need to know your name, woman."

Juliana drew her hand back quickly. It was obvious that he didn't want to be touched and she felt horrible for even trying. Fighting back the tears that she felt welling up inside her from the whole ordeal; from the stress and then Robbie's proclamation that she would be his and now ... now the one man that she suddenly did want to know didn't even want her to touch him. It was all too much but she swallowed back her need to cry. It could wait until she was alone. "Juliana," she softly offered, "Juliana McKay."

A light smile appeared across his bruised and bloodied face. He wipes his lips with his sleeve as if to be absolutely sure there was no blood and he reaches to take her hand in his left, raising it to his lips to softly kiss the back of it. "Honored to meet ye, Lady Juliana McKay. I am Colin Mackenzie, of the Black Stag Clan."

At that, the whispers started up again along with a few giggles from the girls behind her. Juliana couldn't help but smile at the gesture and where she wanted to leave her hand in his for a moment longer, slowly drew it back as she did a small dip in the manner of a curtsy, just enough to show her appreciation for his valor.

"The honor is mine, valiant Knight Mackenzie. How can I ever thank you for your chivalry bestowed upon a lady in need?" The giggles started again and she elbowed the nearest one to her with a genuine smile this time.

Bowing in response, he bent at the waist before righting himself again, meeting her eyes brazenly. Despite his shy habits, he did know how to conduct himself appropriately in a court. "No need to thank me. I just hope I did not make the wrong conclusions from what I saw." He knew in the back of his mind had it been a different situation, different place with no one around, Robbie would have probably raped the beautiful Juliana McKay. Robbie just seemed that type of brutal man.

Juliana smiled at him as the girls started to twitter around her again, pulling her off for a round of questions she was sure. But she managed to respond before she was pulled away, "You didn't make a mistake, Knight Mackenzie. I thank you again!"

And then she seemed to be lost in the middle of the throng of girls again as they made their way away from the small lake, the moment gone as some of the girls glanced back over their shoulders at the boys closing in on Colin again. It almost seemed as nothing had happened in the first place except to that part deep within Juliana that thought she would never meet a man that would catch her eye.

She had been wrong.