Taming the Wild Highlander

by Terry Spear

  Keary smiled, but the look was more self-satisfied rather than jovial. "Verra well. I will have you married in our kirk. Then you can tell your story to all who wish to attend the service. Allison, do you have something the lady can wear to her special ceremony?"

  Allison looked on—horrified.

  Angus did, too.

  ***

  If he wasn't in such a serious situation, Angus would have laughed. How in the blazes had he gotten himself into this? Gunnolf would have slapped him on the back and laughed. Niall looked as though he himself was condemned to marry the fae.

  Not that Angus didn't care for the lass. He did. He was certain something about her faeness had captured him all those years ago and even now he had a devil of a time breaking free of her enchantment. He'd never thought about any woman so long or hard or often as he had the fae lass. He'd told himself his interest in her had only been due to curiosity concerning her odd abilities. Yet, when he had seen her fairly naked, and then slept with her the last three nights, his body awakening in a fevered pitch every time, he tried to tell himself he would have felt that way with any woman.

  To an extent, aye, but with her, he wanted to go further. Now he had his chance. James would kill him. But he shouldn't have sent him on this mission. And her father would kill him. The lass herself didn't want this to be everlasting—not when she had agreed this arrangement was only a ruse.

  They would have to do this and annul the marriage as quickly as possible.

  They wouldn't share the same pallet again.

  They'd be married according to spoken words only.

  They would not consummate the marriage.

  He couldn't read Edana's expression. Oh, aye, she was red-faced and embarrassed. He could see that plainly enough. But he didn't know if the whole idea of marriage horrified her or she was coming to agree with the notion. Mayhap she feared her father would say yes to a marriage between Keary and her. And Angus could be the lesser of two evils.

  That's when Angus decided that he couldn't allow Keary to have her. He was certain she didn't wish to marry Keary—not with the way she had quickly explained again how she and Angus had already married. Threatened Keary even with her father's men and his in battle! Angus could see her da possibly agreeing to Keary's offer if no one else wished the lass's hand in marriage. Keary was now a laird of his clan.

  But Angus couldn't see her belonging to the man.

  "So when do we do this?" Angus asked, more demanding than asking as if he was going into battle.

  Edana's lips parted and he thought about how kissable they looked, only now her cheeks had turned ice white.

  ***

  It was all set then. Wearing his cleanest tunic and plaid, Angus stood in the small kirk with a gathering of Keary's clan members. Normally, Angus would have worn a dirk and his sword, but Keary had not returned his weapons to Niall or him.

  He was anxious, waiting for Edana to arrive. Niall appeared just as nervous, his gaze shifting from Angus to the door and back to Angus again. Keary stood near the altar, arms folded across his chest, looking superior as he watched the entrance to the kirk.

  Angus had the impression that Keary expected either Edana or him to back out of the arrangement. Angus wouldn't, if it meant saving Edana from Keary. He thought Edana wouldn't, yet women were known to change their minds so he truly couldn't predict what she would do.

  When she walked into the kirk with Lady Allison, Edana looked astonishing, wearing a lovely pale blue léine, her skin scrubbed clean, her hair plaited. Murmurs of approval rent the air. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her, release her hair, and make the faux marriage real. She looked apprehensive and he hated Keary for forcing them to do this in front of his people. He gave her a small encouraging smile, but then her gaze shifted to the left of him, and he turned to see Keary stalking toward her. He noted Allison was biting her lip, holding Edana's hand, her focus on her brother.

  He thought Keary intended to escort Edana to stand with Angus, but instead, he took her arm and said, "A moment of your time." Then he escorted her promptly out of the kirk.

  His clansmen began to whisper to each other, casting each other looks. Allison hurried after her brother and Edana.

  Niall looked at Angus and Angus didn't know what to think. Not until he saw four armed clansmen enter the kirk headed straight for Angus and his cousin. "He has changed his mind about my marrying the lass," Angus warned Niall.

  "Edana!" Angus yelled, as he and Niall readied themselves for a fight. Keary wasn't having his way this easily.

  ***

  "I have changed my mind, Edana," Keary said, escorting her back to his sister's chamber. "The MacNeill brothers canna always have their way. I will send a messenger to your father, asking permission for your hand."

  "But I am already married…," Edana said, trying to jerk her arm free from Keary's steel grip, her heart drumming with a mixture of anger and anxiety.

  "Nay, you are no'. You wouldna have been riding with an escort in search of your brothers. They said you were alone and made no mention that you were married. Concerned for your safety, your husband, had he been Angus, wouldna have allowed you to travel with your wee escort." Keary left her in Allison's room and said, "Allison will stay here with you to provide companionship. But a guard will also be posted outside her door, so dinna think of leaving the chamber."

  "Where would I go? You must be daft to think I would do anything but abide by your wishes."

  His mouth curved up into a sinister grin. "I am glad to hear it. Dinna think ill of me if I dinna believe it." He turned to Allison. "Sister."

  Then he stalked out of the chamber where a guard already stood and closed the door.

  "What will he do to Angus and Niall?" Edana asked, wringing her hands. She had not considered anything like this would happen.

  "Here," Allison said, handing her the léine she had traveled in. "I will help you to change clothes." As she helped her remove the garment, Allison asked, "Why were you looking for your brothers here?"

  "One of my brothers said a woman by the name of Oppida had caused him trouble. Gunnolf—"

  "Gunnolf?"

  "Aye. He said that Dunbarton kept the woman as his mistress."

  "Aye, my father's mistress. But she no longer resides here. As soon as Keary took charge of the clan, he threw her beyond the walls of the keep. I dinna know where she is now, but I suspect she has found another man to warm her bed and protect her. She is verra beautiful. But Keary hates the woman and forbids anyone to speak of her."

  "Then…then my brothers were no' here when they saw this woman."

  "No' unless it was months ago when my father was still alive."

  "It wasna." Edana crossed the floor to the small arrow-slit of a window. At least it confirmed her fear that they might not be here. "Och. What will he do with Angus and Niall?"

  "Free them. Eventually. Mayhap no' until your father agrees to your marriage to Keary. He may do so only on the contingency that you go through with the marriage arrangement."

  "James took Keary prisoner once, but he said James gave him a chamber to stay in. Will he allow Angus and Niall the same luxury?"

  Allison shook her head, but she was busy gathering items and stuffing them in a bag. "I fear not."

  Edana paced across the floor. "If I tell him I will marry him, will your brother let them go?"

  "I doubt it. He will be afraid you would say no to the marriage as soon as the men are gone. You said Gunnolf told you about Oppida…"

  Edana had said too much already. If they did not leave the castle, Gunnolf would go to her father and mayhap her father's men could make Keary see the error of his ways. If she could help it, she would not marry the dreadful man. But if Allison thought Gunnolf waited for them beyond the castle walls, would she tell her brother? And the men would then search for the Viking and take him hostage as well? Then again, would her father be glad to be rid of her and just agree to marry her to Keary?

 
"If he is out there, 'tis good," Allison said. "You are all packed and ready for a journey. Aye?"

  "We canna just walk out of here."

  "Watch us." Allison went to the door and opened it. "Can you have a tray of food brought up for us? Edana looks pale and she believes if she has something to eat, she will feel better."

  "Aye, Lady Allison."

  She shut the door and smiled at Edana.

  "He will still be guarding the door," Edana said.

  "Oh, aye. But I have a plan."

  Chapter 8

  Angus took measure of his cuts and bruises, not bad—all in all. Minor, compared to fighting in a real battle where he'd managed to incur sword wounds also. He glanced at Niall. "How did you fare, Cousin?"

  "Better than Keary's men did," Niall said, sitting in the dark cell, the only light, a torch against one wall. "But I am certain it was only because the men were told to hold their punches. James wouldna have liked it if we had been hurt too badly. I guess Gunnolf had the right of it when he said all of you were just as likely to get us locked in a dungeon."

  "How many times have you been in one?" Angus asked, sitting down on the pallet, wrapping the raggedy blanket around his shoulders.

  "Two."

  "This is my first stay in one, so mayhap you are the reason."

  "Edana is the reason," Niall scoffed. "Would you have really gone through with it? Married her?"

  "Aye, I would have." She had an unswerving loyalty and love for her brothers, a fierce warrior's determination to protect herself from villains if what she said about the two ruffians who had attacked her was true, and even sought to safeguard her beloved horse, when she moved her inside the shieling. She was sweetness and light and innocence. Yet she was quick-witted, too. When he closed his eyes, he could feel her soft body pressed against his chest and yearned to be with her in marital bliss.

  He couldn't help but worry about her with Keary and clenched the thin blanket tighter in his hands, the iron manacles around his wrists, jangling with the slightest of motions. If he could, he would wring the man's neck for what he had done.

  "What if you had married Edana and Keary had insisted that he and others served as witnesses to the consummation. Would you have taken it that far?"

  His blood hot with annoyance, Angus didn't want to envision that—him buried in the sweet lass for all to see. He wouldn't have allowed Keary or anyone of his staff to watch. "There is no sense in predicting what might have happened. We just have to come up with a plan to get out of here."

  "Before Keary gets her father's agreement to marry her," Niall said.

  Angus scowled at his predicament, glad James couldn't see him now.

  It had been a couple of hours since they'd been incarcerated and the small window high above showed the sky was dark, the night upon them. The door creaked open to the cells below. Angus thought it odd that the door was not pulled roughly aside by some burly man, but slowly, cautiously.

  Angus whispered, "Get ready."

  Niall whispered back, "You have got a plan?"

  "Aye, if someone else doesna already have one for us."

  Footsteps tapped on the slippery, circular stone steps leading into the dungeon—tiny footsteps, not hulking booted man-sized footsteps.

  "A woman," Niall whispered.

  "Aye." Angus thought his brother Dougald would be the only one to have such luck with the ladies. He could barely make out the candlelight in the distance, heard the jingling of a ring of keys, and was ready to act if the maid was intent on freeing him and Niall.

  As the figure drew closer, he could see the faint light cast on the most beautiful face in the world—Edana's, though her eyes were narrowed and her mouth pinched with worry. But he feared for her at the same time. She had changed back into her green léine, no longer wearing the blue one she'd worn for the wedding.

  Overwhelmed with joy to see her, he wrapped the blanket around his waist to hide his nakedness. "Here," he whispered.

  "And here," Niall said, as if worried she would forget to free him, too.

  She had a devil of a time inserting the big keys into the steel lock of the door, and silently he prayed no one would catch her, wishing he could aid her. She entered the cell quickly and worked the key on Angus's manacles, her hands shaking terribly, and finally managed to set him free. He kissed her quickly on the cheek, took the keys from her, and hurried to unlock his cousin.

  "Oh, Angus," she said, and placed the bone handle of a dirk in his hand.

  He wrapped his arm around her to give her a brief, encouraging embrace. She trembled from the cold in the cell and from fear. "Bonny lass, follow behind us."

  He and Niall led the way, intent on fighting for their freedom and not wanting the lass harmed. He would confront any danger they had to face, though he might have to ditch the thin, worn blanket to fight better. He hoped his cousin had covered himself also.

  When they reached the top of the stairs, Allison was waiting for them, wearing a brown brat and léine. Three packed leather bags, a few blankets, and a sleeping guard rested at her feet. A tray of half-eaten bread and stew sat nearby.

  Angus was surprised, then again—not—as Allison was the one who had rescued Dougald and Gunnolf the first time they had been incarcerated.

  "Quickly," Allison whispered, giving Niall a dirk, then carrying one of the bags, she hurried down a corridor leading into another stairwell.

  Niall seized one of the bags, and Edana carried the other, the rolled blankets tucked under her other arm. Angus stayed close to Allison, Niall following Edana.

  None of them dared speak as Allison took them up more narrow winding stairs, then she stopped. "I must blow out the candle. This is Keary's chamber. We canna make a sound. I know my way in the dark. Edana, hold the back of my brat. Angus and Niall, you will have to follow us. If he wakes, I dinna wish to be any of us."

  Angus would not kill him if he could avoid it, though God's truth, he wanted to because of Keary's attempt to take Edana from him and force a marriage on her when she had already agreed she was Angus's wife.

  "Aye, proceed," Angus said, praying Keary slept like the dead.

  When they moved into the chamber, the place was dark as pitch. He held onto Edana's shoulder as Niall held onto his, stepping on his bare heel twice. It seemed to take forever before they made their way across the rushes on the cold stone floor and entered into another hidden passage, leaving Keary's chamber behind.

  They continued down more stairs, and when they finally reached an outer door and he felt the chilly breeze and fresh air on his face, he breathed a tentative sigh of relief.

  But they weren't out of danger yet.

  "Thank you for rescuing us," Angus whispered as they moved quickly across the uneven terrain, a mixture of soft grasses and hard stones. He wanted to ask if Allison had clothes for them, their horses, swords, anything. Rocks cut into his feet and he shivered from the cold.

  "My chamber was guarded," Allison quickly explained, her voice hushed. "We only came away with the clothes that belonged to Edana and some of my own."

  That explained why she had no rags for them to wear.

  As cold as it was this late spring night, he and Niall wouldn't last long wearing only thin, holey blankets.

  But then he worried about her words. "Return to the keep, lass. You dinna need to concern yourself further about us," Angus said. He didn't want to have to fret over Lady Allison's safety as well.

  "Are you mad, Angus? You are stuck with me. I helped you to escape. This time they will know of it. The last time, no one knew 'twas me who freed Dougald and Gunnolf. When Keary learns Edana and the two of you are gone, who would he blame?"

  Angus heard Niall chuckle softly under his breath. He could laugh all he wanted but they were in a worse mess than before.

  Praying no one would learn any of them had left the keep until morn, he continued with the others to make their way to the cave where Gunnolf should be staying. Without horses and as slow as he and
Niall stumbled along, it could take a couple of hours.

  "Stop," Angus said, his feet hurting too much to take another step. He pulled off his blanket, then stripped some pieces from it to tie around his feet. They could still see the torches lighting the castle, way off in the distance, but the light didn't stretch much further than a few feet from the massive stone walls. The night was so dark, the ladies would not see him or Niall in the shape they were in—naked, beaten, shoeless. "Strip off some of your blanket to use to protect your feet or you will never make it," he said to Niall.

  "No one said we would need to be rescued from a dungeon, and that we would have to run away in the dark naked," Niall complained, though Angus knew his cousin was grateful to be free.

  "There is a first time for everything." Angus stood and wrapped the remaining blanket around his waist.

  Edana placed her hand on Angus's chest. "Take our blankets. Between Allison and me, we have four. You and Niall can wear them and mayhap they will help keep you warm."

  Angus quickly fashioned the cell blanket like a belt around the blankets Edana offered him as Niall did the same with the others.

  "I am ready," Niall whispered, and they all headed out again with Angus in the lead, winding his way through wet woods, leaves, moss, and pine needles cushioning their path now. The rags covering his feet soaked up the dampness.

  The air smelled like wet grass and moldy leaves and of pinesap—fresh and invigorating. They startled a resting male capercaillie, the slate-colored grouse, making a racket until it soared high above the treetops in silence.

  When Angus was certain a small candle's flame could not be seen from the castle, he lit it. With Edana's hand in his, her hand on Allison, and Niall holding Allison's free hand, they continued on their way.

  Even if they could reach Gunnolf in time, Angus didn't have any idea what they were going to do without horses or much in the line of weapons. Gunnolf had a spare tunic and brat and a couple of blankets that were warm. Edana would have her blankets, mayhap Allison also.