Highlander’s Wicked Desire (Wicked Highlanders Book 2)

by Fiona Faris

  “All o’ yer plans for intimidation are well and good, but nae a one o’ them allows for us tae see the Lady Elizabeth back safely here in Skye where she belongs.”

  “Aye, I had similar thoughts meself. That is why I am going tae go aboard the ship tae find her. If she is there, I will find a way tae bring her back home or die in the tryin’. If she is nae there, then maybe they will take me and leave the rest o’ the island alone. Once they see that the island is heavily protected by all the men o’ the island fightin’ as one, they will nae risk comin’ ashore when they can take their retribution out on me.”

  “Nae!” Mary objected.

  “I will nae stand by and let them take ye,” William growled in protest.

  “It is nae yer choice tae make,” James gave him a look that said to be still, and his Keeper returned to being silent so as not to disrespect his laird in front of the other men.

  “Who would lead the clan in yer absence, James?” Donald MacDonald asked in concern. “I dinnae believe there tae be a man among the clans who could do as well as ye have done since yer faither’s passin’.”

  “In spite o’ the current situation we find ourselves in?” James asked in surprise.

  “Aye, e’en then. It could have happened tae any o’ us. The lass just happened tae wash up on yer lands instead o’ ours. She’s a bonnie lass tae be sure. A temptation tae any man, includin’ me, silver hair and all,” Donald smiled in reassurance. Several of the other men who had seen her at the gathering chuckled and nodded their heads in agreement. “Yer actions are nae the problem here, James. Ye acted as any honorable man should. The problem is the Sassenach bastards that think they can do as they please with our people and lands. I for one have had enough o’ their shite!”

  “Aye!” A chorus of agreement went around the table.

  “That bein’ said, dinnae throw yerself away for the love o’ a lass if ye can help it,” Donald advised.

  “I will do me best tae stay alive, Donald, if I can.”

  “That is all I ask, lad.”

  “Perhaps there is a way that we can keep the Sassenachs off o’ our shores and sneak aboard tae look for the Lady Elizabeth,” Robbie offered thoughtfully.

  “Aye?” James asked his brother, motioning for him to step forward and join the discussion.

  “I warn ye, ‘tis nae the work o’ a Christian.”

  “Let us hear it, lad, and judge for ourselves,” Donald prodded.

  “We have the numbers tae discourage them from steppin’ foot on the island if James turns himself o’er tae the Sassenach scum, but I doubt that we have enough tae keep them from tryin’ if he does nae do so. What if we could provide a distraction for James tae slip aboard the ship unnoticed and keep the Sassenachs from comin’ ashore, or e’er returnin’ for that matter, if it worked well enough?”

  “What is it, lad? What is yer idea?” Donald prodded again sitting on the edge of his seat in curiosity.

  “The bodies o’ the Sassenachs that washed ashore with Elizabeth have been molderin’ in the grave since we found them. What if we were tae dig the bodies up and send them out into the water between the island and the ship. James could pretend tae be one o’ the bodies and slip aboard the ship tae look for the lass. Every man aboard ship would be lookin’ at the bodies in the water, nae lookin’ for James.”

  “And ye believe that this would frighten them enough nae tae come ashore? Would it nae anger them further?”

  “Nae, if we keep back one o’ the bodies tae use as cannon fodder.”

  “What?!” some of the men looked indignant while others looked intrigued.

  “Would ye wish tae attack if someone was shootin’ rotten corpses at ye from a cannon? I dinnae ken about the rest o’ ye, but I wouldnae stay verra long in a place such as that.”

  James sat in shock at his brother’s deviously brilliant mind. Donald MacDonald had a look of similar surprise on his face. “Robbie, me lad, ye have a mind for military tactics that would rival Julius Caesar himself.”

  “Aye,” James agreed, clapping his brother on the shoulder and shaking his head in a mixture of awe, disgust, and pride.

  “It would work,” Robbie reassured him, meeting his eyes. “Ye could rescue Elizabeth and get back tae the island. Nae one would e’er ken it ‘til it was all o’er.”

  “Aye, it verra well could work. Lads?” he asked the other men about the table for their thoughts. They all agreed, some with reservation, others with vigor, but they all agreed. “Then may God have mercy on our souls for it.”

  “Amen,” William murmured from behind him, nodded at James, and then turned to gather men to dig up the corpses.

  * * *

  Elizabeth spent days alone in her cabin, with only the one soldier who came and went tending to her needs. She was surprised to learn that the man was an officer, as they would not usually be assigned such menial tasks; but she discovered that he had volunteered to be her protector for fear that any other of the unscrupulous men on board would have taken liberties with her person. He had been brought along with his men to see that justice was served in conducting the Scottish prisoner back for trial and was nothing like either of the Earls. Unfortunately, like many of his kind, he believed the word of her father and Declan over her own. No matter how much she tried to convince him otherwise, he believed that she was mad and hysterical, just as her father had claimed, and that James was guilty of murder.

  When the shout rose on deck that they were coming upon the Isle of Skye, her father had her brought above deck. The soldier escorted her to where her father stood and left her in his care. “I have brought you here, daughter, so that you might witness what happens to those who defy me and your future husband. Before this day is out, you will be on your knees begging for my forgiveness for your foolishness. Did you not think that Declan’s spies would find you? Did you not think that they would tell us everything that you have done to defy me? You, foolish girl, deserve everything that you are about to suffer; and before this is over, I will slit the throat of the Scottish laird who dared to handfast with my daughter without my consent, right before your very eyes. When this day is done, you will never think to defy me again.” The Earl ripped the ribbon from her wrist and threw it out to sea. Turning to Declan, he gave a nod and walked away.

  “Lash her to the figurehead so that she can see what her defiance has wrought,” Declan commanded with a grin of deviant glee.

  “My Lord! I must protest!” the soldier stepped forward at the order.

  “Stand down, lieutenant. You are under my command and as such must do exactly as I say.”

  “I am the King’s man,” the soldier argued.

  Declan struck him across the face, cutting his words short. “And I am an Earl by appointment of the King. This is my ship. You will do as I say, or you will hang from the yardarm for insubordination. Do I make myself clear?”

  “My Lord,” the soldier backed away, knowing that the Earl meant every word of his threat.

  Declan grabbed Elizabeth by the arm and dragged her to the bow of the ship. “Nay!” she fought back against him, but to no avail. Sailors awaited her there with ropes to lash her to the figurehead. The gold-painted carving of a human skeleton caused shivers to pass along Elizabeth’s spine. The men made her crawl out onto the farthest edge of the bow and tied her there hanging above the sea. The wind whipped at her hair and clothing as the sea’s spray drenched her again and again. The seawater burned her eyes and nostrils, getting into her mouth and choking her.

  When the ship finally came to a standstill in the water, she was able to look toward the Isle of Skye, and she could not believe her eyes. There along the coast for as far as the eye could see stood a solid line of tartan-clad warriors. Flashes of red, blue, and green plaid whipped in the wind as they stood shoulder to shoulder in the most gloriously intimidating sight that she had ever laid eyes upon. She had seen armies of redcoats before, in their flashing red jackets; but they were nothing when compared to the f
ighting men of Skye. When the wind died down for the briefest of moments, allowing the men’s tartans to rest at their sides, Elizabeth was shocked beyond words to find that behind every man stood a woman, the dirks in their hands flashing in the sunlight.

  “What in God’s name?” she heard her father exclaim in the ship behind her as he must have seen the same sight. “What are they doing now? Someone, get me my spyglass!”

  Elizabeth looked back toward the shore and saw a large number of men carrying cloth-wrapped bundles down to the shore and setting them afloat onto the water. She could not see what they were from such a distance, but she had a feeling that she would find out soon enough. What is James up to? She wept at the thought of him seeing her as she was tied to the bow of the ship and being helpless to do naught about it.

  The cloth wrapped bundles floated closer and closer to the ship until the first one thumped into the side of it. “Saints preserve us!” a sailor cried out in horror.

  “What is it man? Speak up,” her father demanded.

  “They’re bodies,” Declan’s voice answered her father’s question. “They are the dead bloated corpses of our dead sailors and soldiers by the looks of their uniforms.” Elizabeth was not sure whether it was anger or admiration she heard in the Irishman’s voice for such a vile scheme.

  “Corpses! They have launched a bevy of corpses!” her father raged in disgust.

  “What sort of barbarian is this Scotsman?” the lieutenant’s voice spoke of his utter disbelief at such a sacrilege. “No Christian man would ever do such a thing. The man is a monster.”

  “Yes, he is.” This time Elizbeth definitely heard the admiration in Declan’s voice.

  Everything went silent on the ship as the men stared out over the railing in disbelief. Elizabeth looked down and saw the rotting corpse of the man that James and William had been forced to kill by the loch float beneath her. She felt bile rise but forced it back down her throat. She was not going to give in to weakness. If James had been strong enough to employ such measures, she would be strong enough to endure them. She knew it could not have been an easy choice for him to make.

  “We cannot go ashore, My Lord. We will be killed in the water before we are halfway there by the rifles of the Scotsmen lining the shore,” the lieutenant pointed out. “Even if I could get my men to agree to enter the water among the dead, we would never make it to landfall.”

  “Ready the cannons,” Declan ordered. The sound of men scrambling and the groaning of heavy wheels on wood and metal filled the air. “We will show this Scottish beast that we will not be intimidated by such frivolous grotesque acts.” The glee in his voice told a different story than his words. It was clear that he relished the challenge.

  “Ready, My Lord,” the gunner’s mate informed him.

  “Fire!” Declan roared.

  The ship jerked as a deafening roar shook every timber. Elizabeth felt as if her teeth might shatter; she clenched them so hard in response to the cannon’s fire. The first cannonballs missed their mark splashing down helplessly into the water. The force of the cannonballs drove the dead bodies even closer to the ship’s hull.

  “Load!” the gunner’s mate commanded.

  “Fire at will, gunner,” Declan ordered.

  “Aye, My Lord. Fire!”

  Another cannon’s blast rocked the ship, jerking Elizabeth’s body fiercely against the ropes that bound her. This time the cannonballs reached the rocks at the island’s shore. The castle will have no choice but to fire upon the ship and I will be certain to die when they do. Elizabeth’s heart ached for James and the life they could have had together. Silent tears slipped down her cheeks as she heard the castle’s cannons boom in reply. At least I will die knowing that the men who threaten James and his people will die with me. Elizabeth closed her eyes and waited for death to come.

  Chapter Thirty

  “Ship, ho!” the guard from the castle wall called out alerting them of sails upon the horizon. The fighting men of Skye moved to take their positions, with their women close behind them. The children had been moved a safe distance inland under the care of the minister and the clan’s elderly. James, William, Robbie, and a few other men walked down to the shore where they had deposited the corpses ready for when the ship arrived. They waited until the ship drew in as close as it was going to come and weighed anchor. James nodded to his men, and they released the bodies into the water. They had made narrow rafts of sorts so that the corpses would not sink to the bottom before reaching the boat. The bodies bloated state after sitting out in the sun also helped to keep them afloat.

  James removed his tartan and weapons, handing them to Robbie. He slipped into the water with the bodies in nothing but his shirt and his sgian dubh. James planned to use the small rafts to hide himself. He knew that William would return to the castle to command its defenses, while Robbie would wait for him to return with Elizabeth. They had agreed that should James fail and die in the attempt, Robbie was to rescue Elizabeth in his stead. Robbie had wanted to go with him, but James had explained to him why he needed him to remain behind. It had not been an easy parting between them, having just found each other after so many years of lies and pain.

  “Stay safe, brother,” Robbie requested from the shore.

  “And ye, brother. Remember what ye promised me,” James replied.

  “I will nae abandon her, should ye fail; but for both our sakes, dinnae fail.”

  “Aye,” James nodded, then turned and swam out toward the ship.

  When the first volley of cannon fire crashed down into the water around him, James nearly drowned in the rough waves that followed. He was grateful that they had just missed him. When the second volley crashed into the rocky shoreline, he feared for Robbie’s safety, but there was no turning back now. When he reached the ship, he swam around the side away from the island to avoid detection and climbed up the anchor chain. He slipped over the side and ducked behind a barrel. He searched the deck of any sign of Elizabeth but did not find her among the men at the railing. Slipping below decks, he moved from cabin to cabin, but did not see her. He knew it was a great risk to go any further, but he could not leave the ship until he knew that she was not on it.

  He moved back toward the stairs to the door that led further below decks. Opening the door, he came face to face with a redcoat soldier. “The Scottish barbarian laird, I presume?” the soldier inquired leveling a pistol at James’ head. He took the sgian-dubh from James’ hand.

  “Aye,” James answered knowing that there was nothing that he could do. It was almost as if the man had been waiting for him.

  “You have come for the Lady Elizabeth?”

  “Aye,” James nodded. “Where is she?”

  “Answer me one question first.”

  “Verra well,” James agreed, eyeing the barrel of the pistol to indicate that he did not have much of a choice.

  “Is the lady mad, prone to hysteria?”

  “Nae. Where would ye get a daft idea such as that? What have ye done tae her?” James moved forward in anger, ignoring the gun in his concern for her safety.

  “It was her father who told me so. I have done naught but protect her as best I could, as a gentleman. His Lordship, on the other hand, I cannot say the same. He has tied her to the ships’ bow.”

  James saw red, then black, as he charged the soldier. The soldier hit him over the head with the pistol, and he fell to the floor. The soldier gestured for him to stand. “I will take you to her, before I lock you below decks. His Lordship will wish to speak with you before I do. You will be able to see her from where he stands at the rail.”

  “I will kill ye. I will kill ye all for layin’ hands on her.”

  “I can assure you that you will not, for you, sir, are bound for the gallows.”

  “For what charge?”

  “The murder of the Earl’s man.”

  “I didnae murder anyone. The man I killed was in protection of the Lady Elizabeth’s life. I wrote a letter telli
n’ him o’ the circumstances and returned his man.”

  “Are there any witnesses that can collaborate your story?”

  “Aye, the Lady Elizabeth.”

  “I fear that may not be enough if the courts believe His Lordship’s claims that she is mad.”

  “I can provide witnesses tae show that she is nae.”

  The soldier nodded his head. “I will testify as to what has happened here on this ship, the mistreatment she has received. It should weigh in her favor.”

  James nodded his head. “I thank ye for that.”

  “Shall we?” he gestured with his gun up the stairs.

  “Aye,” James said at the same moment that he stepped foot on the stairs. The castle cannons fired in the distance and he braced himself for what he knew was coming. A series of thumps and splashes sounded overhead, followed by cries of horror among the men.