Highlander’s Venomous Snake: A Scottish Medieval Historical Romance (Beasts Of The Highlands Book 7)

by Alisa Adams

I have been living in my little pink castle by the water. The castle is not truly pink, it is a sand color, but I think it looks pink. It looks out over the sandy beach of a small bay. My little castle sits right where there is a lovely burn fed by the sea. I can watch the seabirds from my window. I am not far from the village of Reay.

  At first, all was well, though I do miss my friends terribly.

  But then the sickness returned, just as before.

  My housekeeper insisted the healer come to see me, and I am sad to say that he cut me hair again when I was too weak to know what he was doing. Just like last time, the scunner!

  My hair had finally gotten down to my shoulders, ladies! I wept terribly when I found out it was gone again.

  This time the sickness is far worse, dearest friends. I fear there is no returning from it this time as I cannae even get out of my bed to stand on my own two feet.

  There is no hope of me lifting my beautiful sword now at all.

  Or riding my dear old, black horse, Inchturfin.

  I am told that my brother Wolf is away on another mission for the king, or I would ask for him to come. But really, it is my friends that I wish to be by my side at this time, in my final days. For I will never have another adventure with ye ladies again, I am afraid.

  I wish to see you all, one last time—Kaithria, Neely, Swan, and ye Gillis. I would ask for Lady Jane, but I know she is busy with her new husband! He is a Keith! The one she defeated the day you met your brother Kaithria! The Keith admires her warrior skills and all her care of his injuries after our small battle. You will be happy to know Kaithria, that he loves all her children as he had been longing for his own.

  Swan has found her happiness, as has Neely and now you, Kaithria. Gillis seems happy in her books and studies. I wish I could hope for my own happiness but I fear it is no longer in my future.

  Please come.

  Hurry.

  * * *

  Kindest regards from your dear friend,

  Lady Catriona MacKay

  2

  It was weeks since she had sent her letters to her friends. She had not heard anything back from them.

  Nothing.

  Not a word, not a visit.

  She lay in the darkness. She was staring at the bed hangings that enclosed her bed on three sides. She could just make out the shapes of them in the darkness. The large fringed tassels, the round iron rods that the heavy fabric hung from, the iron rings that attached to the rods.

  Cat sighed and began counting the iron rings holding up the bed hangings. That did not take long, however.

  She was waiting for “it” to pass.

  Cat stared at the shadows, willing herself to concentrate on finding and naming all the shapes that made up her bed.

  She would not think of the pain, or nausea, or the stark fear trying to snare her in its grasp. The anxiety would too often overwhelm her, making her shake and tremble and sometimes cry.

  She recalled the adventures she had gone on with Swan, Neely, Kaithria, and her newest friend, Gillis, who she met at Kinbrace, her Uncle Keir’s castle where Kaithria now lived as his wife. It was there that she had helped fight off Kaithria’s brother, Caden Zahrah Keith, and his men. The very same man Cat had threatened to kill many times. Kaithria’s very handsome and exotic brother, Cat thought to herself.

  She wanted to have that strength once again. She had been able to fight and wield a sword. Though her sword was very heavy, she still had been able to swing it at a thief on the road her friends had encountered on the way back to Brough Castle. Cat had lopped off the hair he had pulled into a leather thong that stuck straight up out of the top of his head; she had given him quite the haircut! She had been a fierce warrior woman that could defend herself and her friends.

  But this time, she was terrified she would not regain what once was.

  She heard the door open, followed by soft footsteps, and then the bed curtains parting slightly. A candle was held high, illuminating her small little space. Her own battlefield of pain.

  “Milady?” came a whisper.

  “I am awake, dear Rhona,” Cat said in a thin voice.

  “Can yer belly handle some food, do ye think?” Rhona asked tentatively.

  Cat managed to turn her face to peer up at her housekeeper. Her head hurt something fierce and she winced at the motion. There was a sharp pain behind her eyes.

  Cat smiled weakly at Rhona, trying to focus on the young woman that was so close in age to her.

  “What would I do without ye, Rhona?” she said hoarsely. “If you had not come to Sanside with me, I would have no one,” Cat said weakly.

  “Och, milady, dinnae fash. I am here, just as I was at yer brother’s home, MacKay Castle. Of course I would come with ye to yer new home,” Rhona said as she set down the candle on the table beside the bed. She drew open the bed curtains.

  Cat stared at Rhona as she fussed around the bed. Rhona had pale, red, almost orange hair that glimmered in the candlelight. It was pulled back in a tight bun off her face, a face that was pale and heavily freckled. Her eyebrows and eyelashes were almost invisible, so pale were they. She had round brown eyes and a thin mouth that was currently drawn down in a frown. She was tall and thin and moved in hurried sharp movements around the bed.

  Cat furrowed her brows as she tried once again to focus on Rhona.

  “What are ye wearing, Rhona?” Cat asked her quizzically.

  Rhona looked startled for a moment, then she quickly drew the cloth that was hanging at her chin back over her face. Only her eyes showed above the cloth.

  “’Tis a bit of cloth to cover me mouth and nose. Richerd says it is to ward off the sickness ye have. It is to protect me from the poisons in the air, so I dinnae get sick as well,” Rhona said as she tucked the sheets around Cat. “He says they were used during the plague, so it may work around ye. He filled two cloths with special herbs and I stitched them together. When I breathe, the sickness is filtered through the herbs.”

  Cat stared at the lumpy cloth over Rhona’s mouth and nose.

  “The plague was long ago Rhona,” she said weakly. “I dinnae think I have the plague. And their masks looked like bird beaks,” Cat said tiredly.

  “Aye, the beaks were filled with herbs that killed the poisons!” Rhona said as she plumped Cat’s pillows.

  “They dinnae work,” Cat said grumpily.

  “’Tis best to be cautious,” Rhona said sharply.

  Cat drew back in surprise, then she frowned sadly. “Of course it is. I am sorry. I would never wish this illness on anyone, least of all ye, dear Rhona, after all ye have done to care for me,” she said quietly.

  “I have brought ye some kale and porridge. Ye must eat!” Rhona said firmly.

  “Every morning ’tis kale and porridge Rhona,” she sighed. “It hurts me stomach to eat anything,” Cat said anxiously.

  “Ye are fading away to nothing, milady. Ye must eat,” Rhona said again.

  “Rhona, ’tis evening, isnae it? I cannae even tell anymore,” she said listlessly. “I need to meet with the villagers about the grain fields,” Cat started to say as her fingers worried at the sheets.

  “Och, ye are trying to get out of eating,” Rhona grunted. “I met with the villagers and told them what ye wanted. All is well,” Rhona said efficiently. She looked sternly down at the porridge on the tray she had set on Cat’s lap.

  “Dear Rhona, ye are me savior,” Cat said weakly as she obediently scooped up a spoonful of the porridge and swallowed it.

  Rhona smiled as she watched Cat eat. “Aye, I am and dinnae ye forget it. Now eat, milady!” Rhona said as she turned and left the room.

  Cat was left staring down into the pale green porridge. She leaned back, laying her head against her pillows, and stared around the dark room as the claws came back to painfully dig their sharp, fiery talons into her stomach. With the pain came the nausea and the sweating. She wrapped her arms tightly around her waist and stared into the shadows in the room.

/>   At least the bed curtains were open.

  Catriona MacKay grimaced as another sharp pain stabbed her stomach.

  She looked at the warm glow of the candle and began to count the number of times wax dripped from the candle beside her bed.

  Finally, the pain and nausea subsided. Cat lay sweating and exhausted, and finally dozed off into blessed oblivion.

  A cool, wet rag was pressed to her forehead. Cat sighed and turned towards the relief of the wetness on her hot skin.

  She slowly opened her eyes.

  “Lady Catriona? Ye were moaning in yer sleep,” a very young girl said. “And yer face is red and hot.”

  Cat offered a smile to the little chambermaid. “Ebie,” she said as her voice cracked, “I thank ye.”

  The young girl smiled shyly. “Can I get ye anything, milady? ’Tis morning. Are ye hungry?”

  “Och! Would ye please open the curtains and the shutters Ebie? I long to see some sunshine, and have some fresh air,” Cat said.

  Ebie looked worriedly at her. “Rhona says it will hurt yer eyes and we arenae supposed to touch the curtains.”

  Cat closed her eyes and sighed. Then she opened them and looked back at the young girl who came up to Sanside House from the village.

  “Did ye mail me letters, Ebie?” Cat asked as she worried at her lower lip.

  Ebie stared curiously at her. “That was many, many weeks ago, milady.”

  “Have there been no messages, no letters or visitors for me?” Cat asked.

  “But milady, there was! Lady Swan MacKay and Lady Neely McKinnon came to see ye over a week ago. Mayhap ye dinnae remember? Rhona said ye have had trouble remembering things,” Ebie offered pitifully.

  Cat tried to concentrate. She shook her head. “Nay, I dinnae remember them coming. I know I would remember a visit from me friends. I have been looking forward to seeing them so much!” Tears brimmed in Cat’s eyes.

  “Perhaps ye were sleeping?” Ebie said quietly.

  “I cannae believe I would sleep through their visit.” Cat closed her eyes tightly and breathed slowly. “Send Rhona to me if ye please, Ebie,” Cat said quietly as she looked at the young girl who stood nervously beside her bed. “And open those shutters and curtains before ye go, please. It willnae hurt my eyes to have some sunlight.” She offered the young girl an encouraging smile.

  “I’m sorry milady, Rhona said she is not to be disturbed. And milady, I cannae open the curtains or the windows. Rhona gave me vera strict orders and I darenae go against her!!”

  As the young girl hurried from the room, Cat noted that Ebie was not wearing one of Richerd’s face masks.

  Just as Ebie closed the door, Cat caught the brief sound of loud voices downstairs. The voices were female and they were arguing.

  Is that Kaithria and Gillis? Cat thought to herself.

  She was about to try to sit up again when her door opened and a tall, dark Highlander stepped inside her bedchamber.

  3

  Cat woke up in her bed with a smile on her face. She remembered him carrying her to the burn, and the wonderfully cooling feel of the water as it sluiced over her sweaty skin. It had felt like heaven. And being held in his arms…and his kisses...it was all so unexpected. She sighed. Then she bit her lip, remembering her warning to him that he could not fall in love with her because she was dying.

  He had ignored that, saying love was not within him anyway.

  She also remembered his demand, his order that she get well. He had carried her back here to the house and lay her down gently upon the bed.

  She had watched as he walked quietly out of the room, her eyes roving over his broad back, muscular arms, and narrow hips in his dark kilt that showed powerful, strong, long legs as he walked away across the room. His black, straight hair hung to his shoulders and swung with his powerful, cat-like walk.

  Her eyes had grown heavy with the need to sleep as she watched him. Her strength had been used up. She had fallen into a deep, restful sleep for the first time in a long time.

  “She smiles in her sleep though she looks to be at death’s door,” came a soft voice.

  Cat opened her eyes at the sound to look into the dimly lit, shadowy room. She saw a figure sitting in a chair across the room. The shafts of sunlight that had managed to peak their way through at the edges of the shutters lit up the speaker’s face.

  “Gillis!” Cat said excitedly.

  “I am here too, Catriona,” came the calm voice of the other figure sitting in the matching chair next to Gillis.

  “Kaithria!” Cat said on a sob as the two women came rushing to her bedside.

  “We dinnae want to wake you,” Kaithria said quietly in her soothing, husky voice as she held Cat’s hand and helped her sit up.

  “How long have you been here?” Cat asked with a big smile as tears ran down her face.

  “A while,” Kaithria said quietly.

  Cat looked at her friend, Lady Kaithria Zahrah Keith Gunn. She looked content, concerned, but also full of joy. Her black hair was gleaming and her tawny, golden eyes crinkled at the corners with happiness. She was not wearing her black cloak like she used to, to hide herself. Instead, she wore a lovely pale blue traveling gown and an overcoat with the Gunn tartan.

  Cat turned to Lady Gillis Ross. She clutched both of her friends’ hands. Gillis looked so pretty in her gown of white with sprigs of flowers embroidered all over it. She had a green tartan traveling cloak over her shoulders. Her light brown, honey hair was shining and her soft brown eyes were staring intently back at Cat. She squeezed Cat’s fingers reassuringly and moved her fingers to hold Cat’s wrist for a moment.

  “How was your wedding trip?” Cat asked Kaithria. “Tell me all aboot it! And Gillis, how is your animal medical training going in Edinburgh? Och, I have missed you so much, both of you!”

  Cat was overcome with emotion and started to sob. She put her hands to her face.

  Kaithria and Gillis hurried to sit on the bed on either side of Cat. Kaithria put a soothing hand on Cat’s hair while Gillis put her hand on Cat’s wrist once again.

  “You shouldnae be near me, you’ll get sick,” Cat sobbed between her fingers.

  “I dinnae think so,” Kaithria said quietly in her calming voice.

  Cat took her hands away from her face and looked back and forth between her two smiling friends. “But even Rhona wears a mask so she does not breathe in the poisons in the air from my sickness. I could not bear it if I got you ill.” She stopped, despair showing starkly on her face. Her thoughts were of Caden, who she had kissed. What if I have already gotten him ill? she thought fearfully.

  Kaithria stared calmly at Cat, who looked like she was about to start crying again. Kaithria looked at Gillis meaningfully.

  “Very well, if it will ease your mind,” Kaithria said in her soothing, husky voice. She pulled her embroidered hanky out of the pocket of her skirt and tied it over her mouth and nose. She looked over at Gillis, who was doing the same.

  Cat stared sadly at them. She was about to say something when she paused with a sniff and touched her hair self-consciously. “It’s short again,” she whispered sadly.

  “The beholder sees nothing but beauty, they say,” Gillis proclaimed.

  Kaithria glanced at Cat, who was looking at Gillis oddly. Kaithria grinned at Gillis. “I believe the saying is ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder,’ Gillis,” Kaithria said quietly.

  Gillis looked at Kaithria and blinked rapidly. “Nay, I do not think so.” Then she turned back to Cat. “Did ye feel any better when yer hair was cut short?”

  Cat shook her head in misery.

  Gillis made a harrumphing noise, “Of course not,” she said to herself under her breath. She pulled a carpenter’s pencil out of her hair and wrote something rapidly in the small book that she had pulled out of the pocket of her skirt. She jabbed her carpenter’s pencil back in her hair and looked over at Kaithria.

  The look was not lost on Cat. “What? What is it?” Cat a
sked with a sniffle.

  Kaithria nodded at Gillis.

  “Well, when Lady Swan MacKay and Lady Neely McKinnon came to see you—” Gillis started to say, but Cat interrupted her.

  “Nay! They never came! I wrote to all of ye but ye are the first to come. Ebie, my chambermaid, said they came, but I know I would remember if Swan and Neely were here. I know I would remember seeing them!” Cat started to cry again.

  “Hush now,” Kaithria said softly as she adjusted the hanky over her mouth and nose for it kept slipping. “Let Gillis finish. It will make sense, ye’ll see.”

  Cat wiped at her tears, hating that she was crying so much. She took a breath and looked at Gillis. “I beg yer pardon, that was rude of me. Please do continue,” she said as she folded her hands in her lap.

  “They did come,” Gillis explained, “but your housekeeper; Rhona? Is that her name?”

  Cat nodded her head quickly. “Aye, she has been a dear, taking such vera good care of me.”

  Gillis harrumphed again, “A lasting impression is made first…” she said quietly in a singsong voice.

  Kaithria leaned towards her. “’Tis ‘first impressions are the most lasting,’ Gillis.”

  Gillis’s face showed no reaction. “Och, nae, I believe the saying is ‘a lasting impression is made first.’” Gillis looked at Kaithria and gave a sharp nod of her head.

  Kaithria sighed. “Continue, Gillis.”

  Gillis turned back to Cat, who was staring at her with avid interest. “Your Rhona would not let Lady Swan or Lady Neely see you,” Gillis said. “She was very firm about it and turned them away.”

  Kaithria added, “They wrote to me and told me what had transpired with yer housekeeper.”

  Cat frowned and her shoulders slumped. “Rhona did not want them getting sick. I should think that is why,” Cat said with disappointment.

  “She was not wearing a mask when Lady Swan and Lady Neely came, like she was today,” Gillis added and looked at Kaithria again.

  “I dinnae understand,” Cat said.