A Spy at the Highland Court

by Barclay, Celeste

  Dearest Ric,

  The king grows anxious awaiting your latest report on the Maxwells’ numbers. Graystone and Hargate await your word for the next attack. King Edward doubts your loyalty and insists you make your move on the Dunbars’ main keep. You would do well to heed your king’s desires and not continue to keep him waiting. I have seen for myself that the people within your castle believe your loyalty is to the usurper, so they will not expect your attack on their laird. You have the aid of Graystone and Hargate once they have trounced the Maxwells.

  Do not keep me waiting any longer. I would see you soon for your latest news.

  Ever yours,

  Bella

  Isa dropped the missive and ran to the nearest chamber she knew would have a chamber pot. She heaved into it, over and over, until there was nothing left within her. Her heart felt as empty as her stomach, and both ached with a pain that doubled her over. Her husband was a spy, not for King Robert but for Edward Longshanks. Everything about their marriage had been a lie. Everything since the very first time they met had been a lie. He had used her to gain land near the border and entry into another border clan from where he could run his nefarious operation.

  She forced herself to trudge above stairs to their chamber to find a sprig of mint to freshen her mouth. She smoothed back her hair and forced herself to relax her face into the look of serenity she mastered while serving the queen.

  She left their chamber and made her way to the stairs. She was halfway down when she noticed her husband standing close to the woman she had seen. It was clear they had a familiarity with one another that came only from intimacy. She watched as the woman put her hand on Ric’s arm, and he did nothing to remove it. Ric shook his head several times before pushing her hand away and pointing to the door.

  It was only then that Isa realized the woman could see her. The Englishwoman’s look of smug satisfaction set Isa’s teeth on edge. Isa was certain it was Bella. She had had her suspicions, but now that she saw the woman in her home with her husband, there was no doubt. Bella nodded to her, and Ric turned to see who Bella was looking at. The color drained from his face as he saw Isa watching them. He ran across the Great Hall to the stairs taking them faster than Isa thought any man could. Ric caught her arm as she made it to the landing.

  “Let go,” she hissed.

  “Let me explain.”

  “Explain? You don’t need to. I already know.”

  “It’s not what you think.”

  “I don’t need to think anything. I told you, I know.”

  Ric had a sinking feeling as he looked into Isa’s eyes, and the stare that looked back at him was filled with loathing.

  “What I don’t know is which is worse. That you parade your mistress in front of me each time you leave and return and now she’s in my home. Or that you’re a spy. For King Edward.”

  “Isa, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t I? I see Bella with you each time you leave. At least you have her ride with one of your men, but she has her own horse when you return. She has been with you each and every day that you have been away. I think you never ended your affair with her. You duped me into believing you care so you could marry me all the while carrying on with the woman you really care about. I read her missive. I know.”

  Ric felt the blood run cold in his veins. He did not know where to begin to explain or what he could safely tell Isa. His mind screamed that he had to disabuse her of the idea that he was unfaithful.

  “I can’t deny that the woman is Bella, but she is not my mistress.”

  “Then what do you call a woman who isn’t your wife but who travels everywhere with you?”

  “She doesn’t travel with me. If you read the missive, then you know she is my go-between. She has stayed in the village at times. I know she’s watched me ride out a few times and even caught up with the riding party when we return and pass the village. But she doesn’t travel with me.”

  “You are a miserable liar, Dedric. I know she does. She is never, ever in the village when you are away.”

  “Then she is off finding her various messengers because she is not with me.” Ric’s voice was beginning to rise as his frustration increased. “I have always been faithful to you.”

  “You haven’t a clue what that word means. You haven’t been faithful to anyone but yourself. You weren’t faithful to either of the kings you swore fealty to. You haven’t been faithful to the pledge you made to my father since you intend to attack my clan. And you bloody well haven’t been faithful to me, whether it was swiving your mistress or lying to my face.”

  Isa wrenched her arm free from Ric and turned toward their chamber, but Ric caught her again.

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about, Isa. Things are not as they appear.”

  Isa scoffed and crossed her arms as best she could with Ric still holding onto one.

  “You don’t say. I believe I just learned that today. I hadn’t even heard that you returned, and when I discover you have, I discover you brought Bella with you.”

  “Isabella—”

  “Dedric,” she sneered.

  “You think you know everything, but you don’t.”

  “Then tell me. Tell me the truth, and maybe I will believe you.”

  Isa raised her eyebrows at him, and Ric could see that she was willing to listen, but he could not figure out what he could say that would not put her in danger. Ric knew he had taken too long when a wall shuttered in Isa’s eyes, and her lips curled in disgust.

  “You can bed me whenever you’re home as is your right. I would be the liar if I said I could deny you. We both know at least my body can’t. But don’t speak to me. Don’t touch me. Don’t do anything near me beyond what you must.”

  “Isa, you’re being irrational. I know you don’t mean that.”

  “Don’t I? Remain home long enough to find out.”

  Ric straightened to his full height and pushed his shoulders back.

  “I don’t take orders from you, Isa. I’m your husband, and you should have a little more faith in me.”

  “Faith? I thought I’d already shown how faithless you are.”

  “There are matters of politics along the border that exceed your understanding, and they are not your concern.”

  Isa gasped before she closed her eyes for a long blink.

  “You pompous arse. I grew up along the border. I was the daughter of a border laird long before I made the mistake of becoming your wife. You do not have a monopoly on understanding what is at stake. How dare you speak to me as though I’m some insipid dimwit? You are not the man I thought you were. You are so much less.”

  Ric reeled back as her words cut through him. He knew she was angry, and she had every right to be based on what she believed she knew. He just wished she would trust him more.

  “You will regret what you’re saying. That’s not how you truly feel, Isa. We both know it.”

  “How I feel?” She shook her head. “Whatever feelings I might have had, you crushed. You keep dancing around the truth, telling me to trust you, but you won’t give me any reason to. You have ruined everything. If only you could tell me that Robert put you up to this, or that you offered to spy for Robert instead. Something that could keep me from thinking the worst of you.”

  Ric panicked. She was too close to the truth, and he would protect her at any cost. If she knew too much, then she was in danger of saying the wrong thing to someone or be used against him.

  “Then you shall be disappointed. Perhaps it is best that your soft feelings end now before they go any further.”

  The color leached from Isa’s face, and Ric feared she might faint. But it was her turn to stand to her full height with her shoulders back.

  “As I said before, you can claim your rights whenever you’re not too busy swiving Bella. Other than that, stay away from me.”

  “You are developing a foul mouth, Isabella.”

  “You taught me the
word and the deed. One of the only useful things you’ve done.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “Nothing. As you pointed out, it all means nothing.”

  When she attempted to push past him, this time he let her. He knew they both needed time to cool off, and he needed to figure out how to resolve their argument while dealing with Bella’s demands. He would kill the woman with his bare hands.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Isa slipped into the kitchens near the larder and found a sack which she filled with three wheels of cheese and as many apples as she could find before she slipped into the main area. She spied loaves of bread cooling near the window. She inched closer, then knocked over a metal tray that clattered to the ground. As the women who had been busy working turned to see what caused the noise, Isa swiped three of them and pushed them into her sack, leaving the kitchen as inconspicuously as she entered. She kept the sack in front of her as she made her way through the bailey, taking an indirect route to the stables. She looked around to see if any of the stable boys were lurking in the stalls.

  When she saw no one and heard nothing, she pulled an apple from the sack and stood before Bridei. She gave her steed the treat and quickly began to saddle him. She checked the saddlebags and breathed a sigh of relief that no one had found or removed the pair of leggings, tunic, and plain surcoat she kept in it for when she used to ride out from the royal court. She had convinced a few guards when she was still quite young to ride with her if she pretended to be a boy. She knew she could not leave unescorted, but if she looked like a lady-in-waiting, no one would let her leave, guards or not. She had taken to keeping them in her saddlebag, and now she was grateful.

  She did not have time to change, nor would it matter since Bridei was so recognizable. She had to get through the gate before anyone could stop her. She knew Bridei could outrun any horses other than Ric’s and Alasdair’s. She had to get far enough away from the keep before either of them learned she was gone.

  Once she finished saddling her mount, she led him from the stables and did not bother hiding her smile when she saw a hay wagon nearing the gate. She pulled Bridei around to the side farthest from the gatehouse and passed through with no questions. As soon as she was past the portcullis, she kept Bridei in the shade cast by the wall. She knew the guards would be looking out rather than down. She led her horse until there was no place to hide any longer. She mounted with ease and spurred him toward the east.

  Isa knew where she was going. She was glad that only one person might think of her destination, and she prayed it took Alasdair a while.

  Robbie watched the chestnut horse leave the stables, but he could not see who led the horse. He frowned, knowing the horse was Lady Isa’s and no one but she rode him. He followed the horse out of the bailey wall and nearly wet himself when he recognized Lady Isa mounting the horse them galloping away from the keep. He spun on his heel and ran back within the wall.

  “Sir Alasdair!” Robbie ran toward the lady’s cousin. “She’s gone. She rode out alone.”

  “Isa?”

  “Yes, Lady Isa rode out on Bridei without anyone to escort her. She was riding like the wind. I didn’t even know her horse could run that fast.”

  “You have no idea. Where is your lord?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since we arrived in the bailey. He had a matter to attend to.”

  Alasdair narrowed his eyes.

  “What type of matter? If my cousin is riding away from him, then the matter was not their reunion.”

  Robbie looked away and shook his head.

  “I can’t say. That is for Sir Ric to explain, but we must tell him about his lady wife sharpish.”

  Both men turned toward the keep as Ric burst through the doors.

  “Have you seen Isa? We had an argument, and I thought she would go to the study or the kitchens, but she’s in neither, and no one has seen her.”

  “I have. Sir Ric, she just left.” Robbie squeezed his eyes shut.

  “Left? With whom? The guards know she isn’t to leave without me, even if she has men with her.”

  “Ric, she left alone. Whatever you argued about must have been very bad. She’s run away.”

  Ric blinked several times as he tried to understand what Alasdair and Robbie were telling him.

  “Was someone going to fetch me? Let me know that my wife is riding just miles away from enemy camps?”

  “We were just going to look for you.”

  Ric pushed past them as he whistled loudly. He ran toward the stables.

  “Saddle and mount up. We ride again.”

  Alasdair followed him into the stables.

  “Let me come. I know the fastest way to Dunchtag Moore.”

  “Is that where you think she went?”

  “That’s where I would check first.”

  “Splendid. Her father already hates me. Now I have to arrive looking for my wayward wife. I just pray she doesn’t say the wrong thing.”

  Alasdair’s eyes widened as understanding dawned. He was the only man with whom Ric had shared the truth. He had come to respect and like Isa’s cousin, and with him in charge of her safety when he was gone, Ric felt the man had to know what to be prepared for.

  “Then you should definitely let me come.”

  “No, I can’t. What if she returns while I’m gone? I need to know that she’s safe if she is here without me.”

  Alasdair seemed to mull over Ric’s words as the knight finished saddling his horse.

  “Very well. But if she isn’t at with our clan, then she could be anywhere. The weather could kill her if reivers or English don’t find her first.”

  “You don’t need to tell me that,” Ric snarled at Alasdair.

  Ric mounted and charged out of the bailey. He went in the direction that Robbie pointed. He could not understand why she would head east when her parents lived to the west. He wondered if she was trying to confuse him.

  Isa gritted her teeth as the cold water splashed over her boots and along the hem of her gown. She had steered Bridei into the stream several miles back to hide her tracks. Her legs were freezing, and the water was soaking through the leather. She steered her horse up the bank and jumped down. She looked around and stood still as she listened for any sounds that did not come from forest animals. She pulled the dirk from where she kept it in her boot and reached behind her. She pulled the laces loose enough to not fear stabbing herself, and then cut through them just as Ric had the day they married. The memory made her pause as she swallowed her sob. She let the gown fall to the ground before unlacing her boots. She quickly pulled on the leggings, the tunic, and the surcoat. She was glad that she had already been wearing her plaid as it added an extra layer and would give her some protection when the temperatures dropped at night.

  She relaced her boots and mounted Bridei. She looked at the gown and decided to leave it where it lay. It was a remnant and a reminder of a time she wished she could forget. She knew she never fully would, but it felt good to shed the past and leave it behind her. She spurred Bridei on as she continued to head east before turning north.

  It took Isa four days of hard riding before she reached her destination. She had lived off the food she rationed and the animals she caught. She rode until it was too dangerous to continue in the dark.

  She had taught Bridei to lay on the ground when he was a colt. She and Alasdair often camped out with the other lads from their clan. Her uncle, Alasdair’s father, once told her that if there was a danger of freezing to death at night, she should make her horse lay down so she could shelter against the animal. Bridei had grown used to it and now thought little of it when she gave the command. She dared a fire only long enough each morning to cook what she was able to snare the night before. She did not trust the smoke not to give her away at night.

  She was sure Ric would chase her, but she did not want to alert anyone else to her presence.

  When she arrived at the Stewart keep, she was
exhausted, hungry, and filthy. She wanted to fall into bed and sleep for a month of Sundays, and she knew this was the only place where she could do that.

  Ric was at his wits’ end. He had tracked Isa for the first few miles after leaving the keep, but her trail ended at the edge of the stream. He knew she must have entered it to keep him from tracking her, but knowing that led him to where her abandoned gown lay on the far bank. He thought his heart would give out when he recognized it and saw the laces had been severed rather than just untied. His mind flashed to how he had cut away Isa’s gown the afternoon they married and why he had done so. He had been unable to wait another moment to see and feel Isa’s body. He feared someone else had felt the same way. There were no signs of a struggle and no other hoofprints. They followed the ones that led away from the stream until they faded into mud from a recent storm. Neither he nor his most experienced scouts could pick up a trail after that.

  Ric led the search party south, fearing he would find Isa being held hostage by reivers or English troops. Despite the number of men, they were able to go unnoticed as they traveled. Ric and a select few scouted ahead most days, and he had even sneaked to the edge of three English camps, but there was never any sign of Isa. They had a run-in with a pack of reivers who were more interested in their mounts than the men, but they would not get the mounts without killing Ric and his scouts. The outcome was not in the reivers’ favor. Ric continued to ride east until he came to the border with the MacLellans. He met a patrol that recognized him, as he had come to his own clan’s aid more than once since taking up residence at Barsalloch Pointe. The men said they had not seen anyone cross into MacLellan territory alone, and they had not spotted the remnants of anyone’s camp.

  Ric never questioned whether Isa would intentionally cross over into England, so he reasoned the only other choice was to turn north. They rode the boundary between Dunbar and MacLellan territories for three days, asking any of the patrols they spotted if they had seen anything that made them suspicious, or a lone rider moving across their land. No one had any information to share.