A Beauty at the Highland Court: A Star-Crossed Lovers Highlander Romance (The Highland Ladies Book 7)

by Celeste Barclay

Twenty-Three

  Arabella’s heart felt lighter than it had in months. She lay in bed knowing that the next few weeks would be among the most challenging of her life as she left her self-destructive habit behind. But she felt optimistic knowing that not only had the king granted permission for Lachlan and her to marry, Lachlan hadn’t abandoned her in her darkest hour.

  The evening meal had been trying as her father and Beathan glared at them. Arriving at the Great Hall on the king and queen’s coattails had caused a stir, but it was sitting with Lachlan for a second night in a row that had everyone’s chin wagging. She stuck with watered ale all night, and she found that the slightly fuzzy-headed feeling was enough to replace the normal carefree feeling whisky provided. Lachlan whispered that he understood that while they were still at court, she would do better to have a little alcohol each day than to cease drinking abruptly. It would begin weaning her without throwing her into the depths of withdrawal with an entire royal entourage watching.

  Arabella recalled dancing once more with Lachlan. They kept their conversation light, but they enjoyed one another’s company. They moved together with such ease that the music seemed to carry them on magical winged notes. She’d danced with a few other men and been polite, but she’d hurried to Lachlan’s side when she noticed Beathan approaching. Lachlan had dropped his hands from his partner’s with barely a polite apology and pulled Arabella into his. They moved around the other dancers and slipped out of the Great Hall.

  Arabella closed her eyes, the memory of their goodnight kiss lingering. Lachlan had taken all the whisky jugs, full and empty, when he left. Arabella’s conscience felt clear for the first time since she began drinking. She still yearned for a taste, but she didn’t feel the compulsion to drink that she had for so long. While the evening hadn’t been perfect, it had been better than any she could remember since the last time Lachlan visited. Despite the long nap that afternoon, the evening exhausted her. Her eyes drifted closed as she pictured Lachlan lying beside her as he had earlier that day. Except they both lay there without a stitch on.

  “Wake up, you ungrateful wretch,” a deep voice barked in the dark. Arabella opened her eyes and found a shadowy figure standing beside her bed. “Move yourself, lass.”

  Arabella recognized her father’s voice, but she didn’t understand why he was in her chamber. She looked up at him in time for the gown he flung at her to land on her head. She ripped it away and glanced at Rebekah. She knew immediately that her roommate was awake but didn’t dare to make a sound. Arabella knew it was Rebekah who’d alerted Lachlan, and she was confident the younger lady would do so again. She just didn’t know how soon Rebekah would get to him.

  “Get dressed,” Mitcholm hissed. Arabella rose from the bed and pulled on the gown. It was one with laces in the back, so there was no way she could fasten the entire length on her own, but she did what she could to tighten them. She was grateful that she slept in a chemise, so the fabric would cover her back despite the gown not being on properly. A thunk beside her feet told her that her father had dropped her boots nearby.

  “I need stockings,” Arabella whispered.

  “Hurry.”

  Arabella slipped to her chest and opened the lid. She pretended to rummage around, but she bought herself time to find one of her dirks. She owned two sgian dubhs along with the longer blade she’d carried the nights she went to the Merry Widow. The gown her father chose in the dark wouldn’t allow her to hide the larger knife, but she tucked one sgian dubh into a hidden pocket before pulling out the stockings. She went to the bed and sat near her pillow. She turned away from her father as though she sought privacy while putting her stockings on. She’d pulled on a thigh bracer Maude and Blair gave her just after Lachlan taught her how to use a knife. She reached under her pillow for the other sgian dubh and slipped it into the holster. Sleeping with a knife under her pillow was another precaution Maude and Blair taught her, despite having lived at court for a few years before the sisters arrived.

  She stood again, and despite the dark, caught her cloak when her father tossed it at her. She looked over at Rebekah as her father opened the door. Light from the passageway illuminated her roommate’s bed just long enough for Arabella to see Rebekah nod. Once in the passageway, Arabella blinked several times as torch light shone before her. She found her three guards waiting for her, along with two of the men who’d arrived with Mitcholm. None of the men would meet her eye, and Arabella’s trepidation mounted. She knew in that moment that wherever they were going, it wasn’t to her home at Lochwood Tower.

  Arabella didn’t dare speak as the men surrounded her, and her father led the way. The men were all warriors and moved without making a sound. With their silent tread, they heard every noise coming from the closed chamber doors, but Arabella had heard a door open behind them. She prayed it was Rebekah watching them. But she also prayed the lady-in-waiting had enough sense not to follow them. When they arrived in the bailey, Arabella found her father’s other men waiting with their horses saddled. She turned toward her mount, but Edwin blocked her way.

  “I’m sorry, Lady Arabella,” Edwin whispered. “But the laird ordered you to ride with me.”

  “Then why is my horse with us?” Arabella murmured.

  “Too valuable to leave behind,” Edwin explained.

  “Where are we—”

  “Enough!” Mitcholm bellowed loudly enough that everyone shifted uncomfortably. “You will ken when you get there.”

  Edwin helped Arabella into the saddle. She moved as far back as she could, allowing Edwin to mount in front of her. She didn’t feel right riding with Edwin’s arms wrapped around her. Despite the ominous situation, it didn’t feel appropriate after what she’d shared with Lachlan and now that the king gave his blessing for them to marry. She would ride pillion instead. They walked their horses out of the bailey onto the road leading away from the castle. Once clear of the gates, the party spurred their horses to a gallop.

  “I honestly don’t know,” Edwin said as he strained to his voice low. “But I suspect a convent like your father has been threatening.”

  Arabella sat in stunned silence. She assumed King Robert had spoken to her father and informed him that he supported Lachlan marrying her. Her father was acting in defiance of the king. As they left the city limits, they turned west, and Arabella feared she knew where they headed. A rock settled in her stomach that bounced with each step the horse took. Fear tried to take hold, but she made herself think of Maude and Bair, asking herself what they would do. If she was to become a Sutherland, she needed to think like one.

  Lachlan’s eyes opened in the dark, and he reached for his sword. The sound of his chamber door opening woke him. A tiny figure slipped into his chamber but didn’t advance. He waited to see if the shadow of a weapon would appear, but the person didn’t move.

  “Who’s there?” he demanded.

  “Och, thank the blessed Christ. You’re awake,” Rebekah sighed.

  “I am now. What’re you doing here, lass? You need to leave before someone sees you.”

  “Laird Johnstone just came and forced Arabella to dress. He made her go with him. I saw her, her father, and five men in the passageway. She had her cloak and boots on. The men looked prepared to ride. I waited until they wouldn’t be able to see or hear me, then I followed them, assuming they were going to the bailey. They just rode out.”

  Lachlan reached for his leine, which he’d fortunately left at the end of his bed. He pulled it on as Rebekah spoke. He rose from the bed, and she spun around. He didn’t bother to reassure her, focusing on pleating his plaid and getting it wrapped around him. He pushed his sword into its scabbard and slung it onto his back. He tugged on his boots before going to the small locked chest he’d brought with him. It carried the coin he had with him. He shoved it into his satchel before throwing in the rest of his clothes. He suspected he wouldn’t be returning to court again. He would find Arabella and ride for Dunrobin.

  “Return to your
chamber as though naught has happened, but be at the kirk when the queen arrives for morning Mass. Tell her what’s happened. Tell her my men and I have gone after Lady Arabella. Her father threatened to take her to a convent, and I believe he’s making good on that. Let Queen Elizabeth know that I’m riding to Inchcailleoch Priory then Dunrobin.”

  Rebekah gasped, recognizing the convent often called “the island of old women.” It was renowned for its severity, the sisters swearing vows of silence. Their vow of poverty was extreme, and the nuns were known to wear hair shirts and practice self-flagellation. Rebekah nodded in the dark and spun on her heels. She slipped through the door before Lachlan crossed the chamber. He stepped into the passageway and watched Rebekah run toward the wing where the ladies-in-waiting slept.

  He rushed to the barracks and roused his men. Much like the last time he’d had to wake them, they all scrambled to ready themselves without question. Lachlan tapped his satchel, and the men dumped their belongings into their own. As his four guards finished preparing to leave, Lachlan went to the stables and found the stable boys preparing to return to their beds.

  “Do you ken where the Johnstones headed?” Lachlan asked as he offered the youngest lad a coin. The boy’s face lit up as he nodded.

  “The island of auld women.”

  An older boy boxed his ear. “You don’t tell people’s business,” the older boy admonished.

  “She didn’t look like she wanted to go,” complained the younger stable hand. “She kept looking at the castle like she hoped someone was coming.”

  “She was hoping it was me,” Lachlan stated. “You did right to tell me, lad. She didn’t leave by choice.”

  Lachlan said no more as his men arrived and they led their horses from the stables. The men mounted and charged out of the bailey. Lachlan pointed west as soon as the road widened, and his men followed. He briefly explained what he knew and to where they rode. None spoke at they raced to catch up to Arabella and her clansmen. Lachlan knew her father wouldn’t dally, but he prayed they weren’t moving as fast as he and his men. He was banking on Mitcholm Johnstone believing no one would follow him, at least not that soon after they left.

  As the minutes turned into hours, Lachlan doubted whether he was going in the right direction. He wondered if the Johnstones had paid the stable boy to tip them off. They picked up the trail soon after leaving Stirling, but within an hour, there were too many prints on the road to determine which belonged to the horses Arabella and the Johnstone men rode. He pushed the Sutherland warriors and their horses as they charged over hill and dale. The priory was a day’s ride from Stirling Castle, but Lachlan didn’t want to be apart from Arabella that long. He had no way to know what condition she was in or how her father was treating her. Neither Rebekah nor the stable hand mentioned Beathan, but Lachlan knew the man could have been waiting to meet them somewhere outside the city gates. Lachlan didn’t know how many men he might face to win Arabella’s freedom.

  “Lach,” Wallace, the most experienced tracker, pointed to the rode before him. “The ground evens out just ahead. I may find their tracks again.”

  The five men reined in and Wallace jumped down from his horse. He knelt down, his hand hovering over the ground as though he might feel something rising from the earth that would tell them what they needed to know.

  “It’s them. I recognize the hoofprints from several of the horses. But I can’t tell how long ago they made them. If they’re riding like we are, stopping only long enough for the horses to have a drink, then they will remain ahead of us. From how deep the prints are and the kickback of dirt, I’d say they are riding hard, too.”

  Lachlan nodded and looked into the distance. The moment Wallace mounted, they spurred their horses again. They continued riding west, stopping every few hours to rest the horses. It was sundown as they approached Inchcailleoch Priory, and they still hadn’t caught sight of Arabella or the other Johnstones. Lachlan wouldn’t question Wallace because he didn’t doubt his friend. But his frustration grew when they failed to catch up. The men were weary and dirty as they rode into the priory’s center court. As he walked his horse into the stable, he noticed several horses that were too fine to belong to the nuns. They weren’t workhorses. They were warhorses. Lachlan had found the Johnstones’ mounts; now he needed to find the Johnstones.

  Twenty-Four

  Arabella stood in the refectory, looking around and unsure of what to do. The prioress had pointed her in the dining hall’s direction before leading her father to the outer parlour, the room set aside for her to meet with outsiders. Arabella didn’t dare move since no meal was being served, and she was alone.

  “Bella?” A soft voice made Arabella turn around. She looked at a face she recognized but never thought to see again. It was familiar, yet very different to what she recalled.

  “Madeline?” Arabella walked toward Madeline MacLeod, stunned to find the woman dressed as a novice. She knew Maude's husband and Madeline’s brother, Laird Kieran MacLeod, brought Madeline to the priory, but she hadn’t thought she might see her again. The woman possessed the same moss green eyes Arabella remembered, but a wimple covered her raven hair. A simple habit replaced the once lavish court gowns she wore. Madeline had worn a perpetual sneer when she wasn’t in the queen’s presence, and even when she’d smiled, there’d been smugness about it. The woman who walked toward Arabella appeared serene.

  “Aye, it’s me. I ken I don’t look the same, do I?” Madeline’s smile held genuine warmth, and Arabella didn’t know what to make of it. “This is my home now, and I’ve found peace in my work.”

  “You like it here?” Arabella blurted, then covered her mouth with her hand. She glanced around but relaxed when Madeline’s smile didn’t falter. It put her more at ease.

  “I didn’t at first. I was resentful. The nuns terrified me just from the stories I’d heard. It didn’t take long for me to realize that if I was respectful and did my share of the work, the rumors were exaggerated. I’ve accepted that Kieran was wise to bring me here. This is a far better place for me than court.” Madeline embraced Arabella, and it was a moment before Arabella responded. It shocked her to find comfort in Madeline’s arms, but she supposed it was the sense of familiarity after the hair-raising ride from the castle.

  “Are you now a nun?” Arabella tried to remember what she knew of monastic life and becoming a nun.

  “Not yet, but soon. I was a postulant for two years, and I’ve been a novice for two. I shall take my final vows in a few months. Then I will be a nun,” Madeline explained.

  “Are you still called Madeline?” Arabella wondered since she knew some nuns changed their names.

  “Aye. Though I haven’t decided whether I will renounce it for something else when I take my vows. But Bella, what are you doing here? Are you in need of respite for the night?”

  Arabella looked around, unsure of who might hear them. She wanted to trust Madeline since she seemed so different, but it scared her to. She hadn’t seen the woman in years, and they hadn’t been friends when Madeline left Stirling. Arabella looked back at Madeline and continued to debate what she should tell her.

  “Come with me,” Madeline suggested. “We can talk in my cell. No one will listen.”

  “Cell?” Arabella balked. After her experience in the castle’s dungeon, she didn’t want to go near any place called a cell.

  “It’s what we call our chambers in the dormitory,” Madeline replied.

  “I don’t know if I dare. The prioress sent me here while she speaks to my father,” Arabella said as she shook her head. She felt her uneasiness growing as she continued to look around her. Her father’s anger hadn’t abated despite a day’s ride. He’d barked at her to remain silent as they rode into the priory’s courtyard. She didn’t know if Lachlan was aware of where they headed, and she didn’t know if he followed. She wanted to believe he did, but a niggling part of her feared it would relieve him to be done with her. As her fear edged into terror, the need
to drink made her edgy and jumpy.

  “We can step into the gardens. We’ll see if the Mother Abbess comes toward the refectory.” Madeline leaned closer to Arabella and whispered. “Whatever it is has you terrified, and you don’t need anyone listening in.” Madeline steered a reluctant Arabella outside into the twilight. Madeline led them to a garden just outside the building that held the refectory and was next door to the outer parlour. “What’s happened?”

  Arabella weighed what to tell Madeline and opted for the most basic parts of her story. “You may recall that Lachlan Sutherland and I formed a friendship when his sisters arrived at court.” Even in the dim evening light, Arabella saw how Madeline’s faces went up in flames. There was no way the woman pretended the amount of remorse that filled her eyes. Madeline nodded, and Arabella watched her fight back tears.

  “I’ve never been able to apologize,” Madeline’s whisper was hoarse. “Please go on.”

  “Over the years, it became something more than friendship, but we never thought to do aught aboot it. Neither of us wanted to spoil our relationships with Maude and Blair. My father arranged a betrothal to Laird Beathan Gunn. When it became obvious that time was running out, Lachlan and I finally were honest with one another aboot how we feel. My father is irate that I’ve made things difficult for him to complete the betrothal with Laird Gunn. And King Robert spoke to my father last night and told him that the betrothal can no longer go forward. King Robert has given his blessing that Lachlan and I marry, and my father is angrier than I’ve ever seen him. He took me from Stirling Castle in the middle of the night and brought me here.”

  “So, you were brought here as punishment too. You and I aren’t the only ones, Bella. You’re in good company,” Madeline said as she offered a soft smile. “Do you think Lachlan will figure out where you are?”

  Arabella nodded. “I do.”