A Rogue at the Highland Court: An Arranged Marriage Highlander Romance

by Barclay, Celeste

  Eoin joined some men who left to hunt, and Kenneth retreated to a solitary spot under a fir tree. Ewan used the moment of quiet to read the missive Allyson intended for him. Its contents surprised him. There was sincerity in Allyson’s words, and he heard her voice as he read it. But there was also a touch of defeat, as though she held little hope that she would escape alive. That she feared for him and the others and expressed her guilt rather than plead for rescue spoke to him. Several days ago, he was convinced she was a coward and spoiled to run away because she didn’t get what she wanted. But the time alone on the road, then what she must be facing in the keep, made him realize she was far from a coward. She was dangerously naïve, but she wasn’t a coward. The rain made it almost impossible to see, but when he stepped to the tree line, he believed he saw her still standing on the battlements. Alone.

  * * *

  It was approaching nightfall when the Elliot warriors arrived. A swollen river and bogs that threatened to suck down man and beast slowed their progress. Learning that Lord and Lady Grey were departing the next morning also forced Ewan to delay his plans, but he recognized that it would even the odds if they breached the walls either under the portcullis or through the postern gate.

  The men huddled around three cook fires, having built more now that their numbers swelled. Ewan chewed on the rabbit leg but tasted little. He once more longed for a hot meal and an ale. The notion of a willing woman made his cock twitch, but the appeal wasn’t there as he gave it more consideration. It wasn’t exhaustion that failed to raise his sail. He wasn’t sure what it was, but as tired as he should have been, nervous energy thrummed through him. It wasn’t like what he felt on the eve of battle. The anticipation of freeing Allyson the next day then being underway made him fidget. He’d long ago consumed the whisky packed with his bedroll, so he had little to do as a distraction. When nature called, he stepped away from the camp and away from the light. The darkness allowed him to notice a small light that shone at the keep. It was lower than the torches on the battlements, and it appeared to flash. It shone bright then darkened, then brightened again with a steady pattern. Ewan was certain it was a beacon.

  Ewan crept out of the woods and inched along the tree line until he viewed the castle with nothing obstructing his view. The light appeared to come from a chamber window, and Ewan’s intuition screamed that it was Allyson trying to signal him. He pushed through the tall grass until he glimpsed a figure in the window casement. It looked like Allyson, but he couldn’t see the woman’s face until she held the lantern higher. Ewan recognized Allyson, and he recognized the panic on her face. He sprinted the rest of the way until he stood beneath the opening in the wall.

  “Ewan?” Allyson’s voice floated down to him.

  “Aye, Allyson. Tis me.”

  “Catch.” Ewan raised his hand in time to grasp a potato with a piece of linen wrapped around it. “Hurry. They’ll find me soon.”

  Allyson lifted the light once more as if to help as he stepped away from the wall. He considered telling her to jump, but the height was still too great. If he failed to catch her, the fall might injure or knock both of them unconscious. He nodded and spun on his heel and sprinted all the way back to the camp.

  “Allyson dropped another missive,” Ewan announced as he came to a halt by Eoin.

  “What? How?” Kenneth demanded.

  “I spotted a beacon and sensed it was Allyson. She stood in a window with a torch and dropped this down to me.” Ewan held up the potato before unwrapping it, then dropped the linen and potato but kept the parchment. He unfolded it and scanned its contents before looking up aghast. He looked at the others before reading aloud.

  Elizabeth is dead. Sage strangled her on his wrack while coupling. Accident, he claims. Lord Grey furious. Locked Sage in chamber with body. Lord and Lady depart soon. Word spread to the village. Servants fear Elizabeth’s father arrives by morn. Greys avoiding Charlton. Discovered Charlton nabbed me. Fear he’ll kill me when he comes for revenge. A.

  Ewan looked at the faces that shared his shock. He shook his head as he read the missive for a third time. The sound of horses galloping toward them made all the men scramble to hide among the trees, those closest to the fires kicking dirt to extinguish them. A large contingent of riders approached with Lord Thomas Grey’s standard at the front of the line. Ewan watched as the knight and his lady raced away from their home and the impending retribution. None of the Scots moved until the last English rider was out of sight.

  “They’re tucking tail and running,” Laird Elliot spat. “What type of man besides Sage inspires such terror that a vaunted knight would run away from home? In the dead of night, at that.”

  Ewan couldn’t believe Kenneth’s genuine confusion. He bit his tongue to keep from shouting. The type of man who knows another is coming to avenge his daughter. A father who won’t stop short of tearing everyone limb from limb for taking his lass from him. Ewan opted for a different line of comments.

  “Do we try to intercept this reiver and partner with him to storm the keep, or do we leave him to break into the keep and we follow once the gates are open?”

  “You’d have us make a deal with the man who put my daughter in danger? I’ll gut Charlton before I do that.” Kenneth fumed.

  “You can do that after we get Allyson out alive. One way or another, the man who took her into that cesspit will be the one who helps us get her out.” Ewan narrowed his eyes as he placed his hands on his hips. He shifted his weight forward, knowing he made his threat clear without speaking aloud. He wouldn’t allow Kenneth to get in the way of retrieving Allyson.

  “They will raise the portcullis for him,” Eoin spoke in calm tones, the voice of reason between two hotheads. “We don’t need Charlton to know we’re here, but we do follow him through when they open the gate. They’ll allow him entry because they know him from previous visits or because they fear him just as Allyson does.”

  Ewan nodded, conceding his brother was correct. He dropped his hands from his hips and pulled his plaid over his head before settling against a tree trunk to wait out the night.

  * * *

  Allyson dashed back to her chamber once she’d extinguished her torch in the empty fireplace of the chamber she’d slipped into. She dropped the bar across her door and stoked the fire. She’d taken firewood from Lady Grey’s chamber when the woman went belowstairs to ready for her journey. Allyson had already squirreled away extra peat earlier that day. She didn’t know how long she’d have to remain barricaded in her chamber once Elizabeth’s father arrived. She would also use a lit torch as a weapon if the reivers attacked her. She climbed into bed to catch as much sleep as possible since she suspected the next day would be very long.

  * * *

  The sound of screams woke Allyson as the sun rose. Weak light floated through her window, but it was enough to see across the chamber. She ran to peer out at the chaos erupting in the bailey. It was easy to recognize the man who’d captured her as Charlton’s stout pony screamed and reared before the reiver slashed his sword across a guardsman’s belly. He attacked with indiscriminate rage as he called for Sir John to present himself. Allyson watched as a band of cutthroat cattle thieves flowed into the bailey following their leader. Allyson hadn’t been able to see the man the night she arrived, but she recognized Charlton from stories she’d heard while she still lived near the border. King Edward sanctioned the man’s thievery because the reiver’s band of outlaws fought for the English monarch and were instrumental in beating back the Scots when they attempted to reclaim land that had once been part of their country. It wasn’t long before her abductor dismounted and fought his way to the keep steps with several of his men in tow. Allyson refused to be unprepared for this attack.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Ewan leaped from his horse as the Gordons and Elliots charged in after the reivers. Ewan wasn’t interested in avenging Allyson until he was certain she was away from the battle. He left the fighting to his brother and her
father once he saw men rushing into the keep. He took the steps two at a time until he barreled through the doorway. Fighting continued in the Great Hall, and he sliced his sword through anyone who impeded his progress. He stormed up the stairs until he reached the landing, then began pushing open one door after another. He swept all the chambers, realizing he was on the floor where the lord and lady’s family slept, but he wouldn’t take the chance of missing Allyson. Ewan charged up the stairs to the next floor and repeated the process until he came to a locked door.

  “Allyson, step back,” he bellowed before running, then ramming his shoulder into the door. The wood splintered as it gave way. Ewan kicked the door open and searched for Allyson.

  Allyson heard the booted feet running toward her door, so she’d pulled each of her dirks from the sheaths on her thighs. She had a torch blazing in a sconce near the fireplace, so she positioned herself within reach of it. A garbled voice came through the door before it burst open, and Ewan appeared on the other side. They stared at each for a moment before Allyson dropped her knives and ran into his open arms.

  “I’m sorry. So, so sorry,” she murmured against his broad chest as his arms wrapped around her. She went lax as the fight and fear drained from her, and she felt safe for the first time in days.

  “I know, lass. You can make it up to me by coming with me, so we can be away from this hellhole and get you somewhere safe.”

  Allyson nodded as she leaned back to look at her handsome savior. She wasn’t sure what possessed her; perhaps it was a relief after the constant uncertainty, but she gave in to the urge to kiss Ewan. She grasped handfuls of his leine and pulled him down to where she could wrap her arms around his neck and press her lips against his. His surprise was short-lived, then he returned her need with a need of his own. Forgotten were the hostile words exchanged and the shared resentment. There was only a consuming fire between them. Ewan swept his tongue across the seam of her lips, pressing the tip between hers when she didn’t understand. She parted them enough for Ewan to invade, surging into the warm, silky cavern just as his cock wanted to do with her sheath. A voice in the back of his mind niggled that this was the least appropriate time to grow aroused, but Allyson felt and tasted better than any other woman ever had. A few passes of his tongue across hers, and Allyson caught on, dueling her tongue with his. She thrust hers into his mouth and moaned at the decadent feeling, but noise down the passageway startled them apart.

  “Go.” Ewan pointed to the far side of the chamber which would put the bed between Allyson and the door. She scooped up her knives and ran to hide. She peeked around the corner and watched as two men stormed into the chamber. Ewan swung his sword from side to side in wide arcs as they attempted to trap him between them. Ewan thrust his sword into one man’s ribs before withdrawing it and swiping it across the outside of the other man’s thigh. Both men dropped to the ground, and while Ewan ran the second man through, Allyson crawled to the first man’s side and slid her blade across his throat. Ewan spun around as the dying man sputtered. His eyes widened as he took in the sight of Allyson kneeling beside the now-dead man, his blood splattered on her kirtle and dripping from her dirk. She shrugged before rising to her feet.

  “I’ve hunted stag before,” was all Allyson offered as an explanation. Ewan nodded and reached out his hand to her. Allyson grabbed her packed satchel and placed her palm against Ewan’s. Both stared as a charge passed between them, a current that pulsed as strongly as their desire had only moments earlier. They left the chamber, then the keep, in silence. Ewan steered them away from the fighting in the Great Hall, taking Allyson out through the kitchens. They dashed across the bailey to where the Gordons and Elliots gathered. Laird Elliot engulfed his daughter in a tight embrace before cupping her cheeks and dropping a kiss on her forehead. They stepped apart, but Allyson bristled when a voice carried across the bailey. She spun around and caught sight of the man who’d brought her to Chillingham. The Scots watched as the leader of the reivers dragged Sir John Sage by the hair through the bailey until Charlton shoved the man to his knees.

  “Much as I would like to gut you, you worthless pile of dung, King Edward won’t allow it. Not yet. I will turn you over to him for him to decide your fate. I wouldn’t make plans for a long life if I were you, Sage. You will die by my hand for what you did to my daughter.” Charlton bashed Sir John’s temple with the hilt of his sword.

  Allyson glared at the man throughout his pronouncement, and as though he sensed her, he swung his gaze in her direction. Ewan pushed her behind him, and the men encircled her, swords raised, prepared to defend her.

  “Lord Elliot, you come out the victor this day. You have your daughter while I don’t have mine. I’d hoped your beautiful daughter would turn Sage’s head from my Elizabeth, but alas, they were a matched pair.” Charlton plowed his booted foot into the unconscious Sage’s ribs. “Don’t expect me to be so generous the next time we meet. If I didn’t have a daughter to bury and this shite to shovel, I would challenge you here and now.”

  “Charlton, you’ve always had brass bollocks. You assume much to believe you’d survive a fight with my men and these Highlanders. You’ve run away from our fights too many times to count. Come to my land again, and your soul will join your daughter’s. Wherever that might be.” Kenneth glared at his adversary. They’d postured this way many times over the years, but both men were experienced warriors who refused to back down, so both survived the countless skirmishes inherent to life along the border.

  Ewan wasn’t interested in the borderers’ banter. His sole interest was getting Allyson onto his horse and away from Chillingham. He took the reins from one of his men and helped Allyson onto his horse. She tried to shift to the animal’s back, behind the saddle, but Ewan shook his head. He wasn’t satisfied with Allyson riding pillory. He wasn’t certain if he feared she might topple off the back without his arms to hold her in place or if he wanted to feel her in his arms, her body nestled against his. Ewan reasoned that it was the former, but his heart knew that it was the latter. He mounted behind her, adjusting her to offer her as much comfort as possible on a saddle not intended for two riders. Ewan nodded to his brother and their men before spurring his horse toward the portcullis and freedom.

  * * *

  Allyson roused when Ewan tapped her shoulder. She rubbed her eyes, unaware she’d drifted off.

  “You’re almost home, lass,” Ewan whispered. Allyson shifted, and Ewan groaned. She looked over her shoulder, but he shook his head. He’d been in a permanent state of semi-arousal for the entire two-hour ride to Redheugh. Allyson drifted off soon after they set off, but Ewan had endured the feel of her hip rubbing against his groin with each step his steed took. He watched her face, and her expression didn’t look like one of excitement or relief. “You don’t look happy to return to your clan.”

  Allyson nodded. She was silent for a long moment before glancing at the keep in the distance, then looking into Ewan’s green eyes. She noticed they were the shade of grass after a summer rainstorm. She pulled her lips in as though she weighed her words before speaking them. “Has the thought of going somewhere or being somewhere ever been more appealing than actually being there?”

  Ewan unconsciously tightened his hold around Allyson. Her voice was so soft and resigned that something in his chest pinched his heart. She didn’t look like a young woman eager to see her family or return to her home.

  “I suppose court is like that for me. It seems exciting, but I’m always happier to ride away.”

  Allyson nodded, but said nothing else until they rode into the bailey. Ewan assumed she was nervous about what her father would say to explain their arrival. Ewan helped her from the saddle, and when she looked like she might collapse, he tucked her arm through his. They walked together into the Great Hall, where four similar faces turned toward them. Ewan noted Allyson’s siblings bore a striking resemblance to the older woman amongst them, but there were traces of their father in their features. Allyson d
idn’t look like any of them. Where her hair was blond and her eyes blue, all the members of her family that Ewan saw possessed brown hair and brown eyes.

  “I know. I don’t look like any of them. Surprising?”

  “A little,” Ewan admitted as they approached the woman who was clearly the matriarch. Lady Margaret Elliot smiled at Ewan, but it slipped when she turned her gaze on Allyson. Ewan felt Allyson tense, but her expression remained neutral.

  “Allyson, this is a surprise. Your father’s messenger arrived demanding men ride out to join him, but he said naught about them returning with you. What’re you doing here?”

  Ewan was taken aback at the curt tone and frigid reception Allyson received. He shifted, but Allyson’s fingers dug into his arms. He glanced down at her, but she continued to look at her family. She knew her mother had more to say. She was certain the woman had a good idea that whatever the reason was, it had something to do with the betrothal, since that was why her father went to court and why Ewan would be accompanying them.

  “Mother, I ran away from court to avoid marrying Ewan. I evaded Ewan and father for three days but the border reiver, Charlton, captured me and took me to Chillingham. I’ve been there for the past four days.” Allyson knew there was no point in avoiding the truth. Her family would soon know once her father began his rant against her. She knew it was inevitable; she just didn’t know when it would start.