by Terry Spear
When he saw the caves, he hoped Gunnolf was still there. He feared Keary might suspect they'd come here for shelter since Dougald and Gunnolf had been found here before, and they'd need to leave at once.
Angus bade the ladies and Niall wait and he went inside, whispering, "Gunnolf."
He heard only the slightest movement, and then saw Gunnolf with his sword readied. His gaze quickly took in Angus's lack of clothing. "God's wounds, what has happened?"
"We are in trouble," Angus said. "We must leave at once."
"You have no clothes."
"Nay. We are lucky we managed to get free at all." Angus called out to Niall and the lasses, "'Tis safe to come in."
They hurried inside and made their way to the inner most cave where Gunnolf's bags and blankets were spread out on the gray rock. He quickly lit another candle. Gunnolf gaped at Allison. "What is she doing here?"
"Saving your friends," Allison said, sounding annoyed. "And before you suggest I return to the keep, what do you think my half-brother would do to me when he learns I have not only freed Edana so he canna marry her, but that I also released Angus and Niall, who he planned to use to get her concession? Eh?"
Gunnolf shook his head, then jerked his thumb at a couple of dark lumps lying near the back of the cavern, mostly immersed in the dark. Two hefty men from the looks of it. "Mayhap they will offer something that you can wear."
Angus frowned as he and Niall headed for the men. "Who are they?"
"They were on their way to see the chief of the Clan Chattan," Gunnolf said, "with news Keary intended to take the chief's daughter to wife. I quickly took care of them, figuring you had gotten yourselves into a quagmire. But I was waiting until first light to leave for Edana's castle. 'Tis good I did, too."
"Aye," Angus said, quickly stripping the one man of his clothes and dropped the dungeon blanket over him.
Niall did the same with the other.
"Keary will be furious," Allison whispered, sounding even more worried.
Served Keary right. Angus felt really hopeful they might get away. "They had mounts?"
"Aye, that they did. We are still short a couple, but that will give us three. So which direction will we head now?" Gunnolf said, packing up his blankets.
"Lady Allison said Oppida served as her father's mistress, but that Keary forced her to leave the clan's holdings. So she must be with some other laird," Edana said, sounding expectant that they would continue to search for her brothers.
Angus shook his head. "The only place we are going now is to your father's keep. As well as I know him, Keary will likely try to recapture us. He willna wish to lose you if he thinks he still has a chance to have you for his wife."
"He doesna even know me," Edana said, sounding annoyed.
"'Tis your charming ways and he couldna help seeing how bonny you are." Angus helped Edana onto the horse he would ride as Niall pulled Lady Allison onto his.
"Nana," Edana said, with regret.
"Your horse?" Angus asked, wrapping his arm around Edana as they headed out across the glen, more than glad to have her close again and under his protection, though he wished he had his own sword.
"Aye."
"I am sorry, Edana. If we could have taken our mounts, we would have."
"Aye," she said, leaning her back against him, and he was thankful to have her tucked in his arms again. "I understand. Mayhap my da can bargain with Keary to release her."
"Aye, and my horse and Niall's also. As long as you are no' part of the bargain." Angus smelled the lavender fragrance in Edana's hair and was at once reminded of where the night might have taken him—marriage and consummating the relationship with her later that very eve. He closed his arm tighter around her. Whatever would happen, would happen. If her father insisted he wed her, he would do so, if she wished the same.
He could do worse, he supposed, if he were his brother, Dougald, and sharing a bed with a wife whose ghostly brother bothered them at night.
Or one who saw visions of the future. He thought he'd end up with a wife like Eilis, who hadn't any special abilities, but he rather liked the idea of having a wife who was gifted. If it didn't land him in any more dungeons.
"Have you heard anything more from your brothers?" Angus asked.
She shook her head. "I fear for them."
"Aye, I know, lass. I would continue on our way to locate them, if it had not been for the trouble we are bound to face with Keary and his men, the fact we are not heavily enough armed, and we have two women with us."
She nodded.
"Your da willna permit you to leave with us should we reach your castle before Keary catches up to us."
"What if we were to see James instead? You could get another horse and—"
"Nay, lass. Concerned for your safety and with keeping clan peace, my brother willna permit you to leave with us either."
She slumped against him.
He ran his hand over her belly and kissed her hair. He hated disappointing her, but he couldn't allow her to believe she would go with him when he was certain she wouldn't have that option no matter where she went. "You were indeed bonny when I thought to have you as my bride, Edana," he said quietly.
"You wouldna have minded too awfully much?"
"To keep you from Keary, I would have married you in a heartbeat."
"But if it were no' for him…"
"I am surprised you have had no offers, lass."
"Many times over," she said, so quickly, he wondered if she was fibbing, not wishing any man to think no one wanted her hand in marriage.
If that was the case, he could understand the lass's feelings. He pondered that for a time. He couldn't imagine why anyone would not wed the lass, unless it had to do with her odd gift. It did not bother him, now that he understood more of what she could do. But other men with a weaker constitution could be unduly concerned. On the other hand, if she'd truly had so many offers, why was she still unwed?
"But you didna accept any of them. Or your da didna approve?" he asked.
She shook her head.
He opened his mouth to ask which. Then he sighed heavily and asked about another matter still bothering him. "Why did you no' tell your da why you were leaving? You said you couldna speak to him."
She let out her breath. "Some things are no' meant to be discussed between a man and a woman."
He contemplated that, but couldn't come up with anything she could mean. "He will be angry that you left."
"Aye."
"What will he do with you?"
"Lock me in my chamber until my brothers come home. When they dinna, mayhap he will believe me. By then, it could be too late."
Angus was torn. If the lass could help him find her brothers, he still wished to take her with them. But they couldn't travel past Keary's keep without having more of an escort. "I will ask your da if you can continue to ride with us, if he will send some more of his men to safeguard you and a maid to ride with you."
"I thank you, Angus."
"Aye, lass. I wish your brothers safe." But he was certain her father would not permit her to go with him.
After spending even a few hours in the cold, musty cell with naught more than a worn blanket, he knew how sick men could become. He planned to ride out from her home again as soon as they could and search for her brothers.
They traveled all night in the direction of Edana's castle, taking infrequent breaks to rest the horses and water them at a stream when the sun began to rise. At first, the only sounds they heard were the water trickling in the stream and birds singing in the trees. But then they heard the sound of horse's hooves striking the ground, coming from a northerly direction, they all turned to look and see who approached. Angus feared the worst. Keary's castle was north, and Edana's south.
"Keary's men," Allison said in a panic, as the sky grew lighter, a small yellow glow in the distance as the sun began to rise, though gray clouds hung in the sky and it appeared the sun would soon disappear behind them.
They quickly mounted, Allison riding again with Niall, Edana with Angus and headed at a gallop for Edana's castle. They were still too far from the safety of the curtain walls to ride at a full gallop with riders doubled up on two of the horses.
Angus was concentrating on what lay ahead when he saw two men riding toward them from the south. At first, he feared further trouble, thinking Keary's men had circled around them.
"My father's guards," Edana said, sounding vastly relieved.
"We have more help headed our way," Angus called out to Gunnolf, who was following them, acting as a rear guard.
"Good, though the odds were still in our favor," Gunnolf said.
On a good day, aye, but having the women with them, nay.
"Where is Una?" Edana called out to her father's guards.
"We saw you from afar, and it appeared you were in trouble, lass," the older of the two men said, eying Angus. "We left her behind in the woods yonder. She is safe."
"This is Angus MacNeill," she offered. "And his cousin, Niall, and friend Gunnolf. My father asked for them to find me."
"And those men?" the man asked, pointing in Keary's direction.
"Keary Dunbarton, Laird of Lockton and his men. They are trouble, Kipper."
Six men rode with Keary and he probably had thought he could overtake them and reclaim Edana and return his half-sister Allison home when he had only two naked, unarmed men to fight. But now that Keary and his men were facing five men instead of three, Keary motioned for his men to stop. They were still a goodly distance away, and Angus could barely make out that they were Keary and his men if it hadn't been for the direction they had come in and that Allison knew them so well.
"Your father has had men searching for you when we couldna find you, lass," Kipper said, riding beside them. "We came across them earlier yesterday morn and told them we had lost you during a storm."
Edana stiffened in Angus's arms, and he assumed she was worried what her father would say about her leaving her home as she did. Angus noted Keary and his men continued to follow them, keeping their distance.
"Where is your horse?" her father's guard asked.
"Oh, Kipper, the Laird of Lockton has got her."
"Mayhap your father can bargain for her and have her returned to you."
"Keary wishes me for a bride," she said.
The man's brows rose. "Does he now?"
"She already has a husband," Angus said, not liking how the man sounded. As if it was a good thing Keary wished her for his wife.
Kipper glanced at Angus and smiled. "Two offers at once? Things are looking up for you, lass. Your da will no' have much to say in what you do now. Your husband will."
Edana glanced up at Angus. "Do you hear him, Angus?" She wasn't smiling, but the eagerness in her voice said she was much intrigued with the notion.
He wondered then if she thought he would easily do her bidding without his objection. Much more so than her da. "Aye, lass."
It seemed he had a wife, and he still hoped neither her father nor James would want to kill him over it.
They soon came upon a green-eyed lass waiting in the woods who smiled with obvious relief. "Edana, oh thank the Lord you are safe."
"It seems the lass had two offers of marriage since we lost her during the storm," Kipper said, "and she has accepted one of them."
"Two offers? When you have never been offered for before?" Una said, grinning. "Who is the lucky man?"
No offers ever? Angus banked his expression, but Edana's face had flushed as if she'd taken in too much of the sun. He thought again about her unusual abilities and how a husband could be a danger to her if he had known of them too late and feared her and wished to get rid of her—expediently. Maybe she had offers, but concerned for her welfare, her father had said no to them.
"I am Angus MacNeill," he said to Una.
Una's face brightened. "He is the one you talked about. The one…" She paused as she studied Edana's face—her furrowed brow that said drop the subject—at once.
Angus was more than intrigued. What had Edana said about him?
Then Una smiled again. "You will have to tell me all about it later, Edana."
Chapter 9
Edana wished she hadn't looked back at Angus to see how he had reacted to learning about her little white lie—and now he had seen how red faced she was. In truth, though she had tried to tell herself it didn't matter that not one man had offered for her hand, it bothered her more than she'd like to admit.
Did Una have to tell on her? Next, she'd tell Angus that Edana had never even been kissed! Another flush of heat invaded her as she thought about lying nearly naked with Angus that first night. And sleeping two more nights wrapped in his arms, though she had worn all her clothes. She had still felt his manhood pressed against her backside, suggesting her body forced his to react in such a manner. Gratified she could make a man feel something for her, she would treasure those nights forever—no matter how scandalous such behavior had been if anybody, not of their small party, had learned of it.
Gunnolf warned them, "Keary and his men are following us."
Her heart gave a little skip and Edana glanced back.
They were trailing them at a distance. "What do you think they mean to do?" Edana asked, her heart rate speeding up. She thought Keary would have given her up when he realized she had somewhat of an escort and that she didn't intend to wed him no matter what.
Before anyone could answer, she said, "Nay, he canna believe he can convince my da I would still marry him." She paused, then added, "He canna think to steal me away when we take a rest, can he?"
Angus tightened his hold on her, comforting her to an extent, but she still worried. What if Keary and his men planned to kill her escort?
He couldn't. Both James and her da would want Keary and his men's heads.
A worse notion came to her. What if her da believed he would have a greater advantage if he wed her to Keary? Angus was but James's younger brother. He didn't own a title or properties.
She rubbed her arms as the ghostly chilling mist descended upon them.
Lady Allison glanced over Niall's shoulder to see her half-brother Keary riding after them. Allison appeared anxious. Her brother had to be furious with her for helping them all steal away from Lockton Castle.
Angus didn't know what to say to allay Edana's fears. He knew Keary's doggedly following them was not a good sign. But if Keary took her by force, Angus imagined her father would not be pleased with Keary. Even if he did make a better husband as far as alliances went. Truth was, the Clan MacNeill had many more men they could call upon and James would do it, too, if Angus asked it of him.
He wished her maid had not let on in front of everyone that Edana had never received an offer of marriage. He had felt her stiffen a little at the maid's words and immediately, without thinking even, he had leaned over and kissed Edana's cheek. He was fairly certain why she had not been asked and it all had to do with her fae-like abilities. If she had ended up with the wrong man, he might have her drowned as a witch.
He was curious about what Edana had thought of him that the maid let slip. More than curious. "Is it true what your maid said?"
"Una? She is mistaken," Edana said. "Many suitors have approached my da for my hand in marriage."
"Aye," he said, not sure he believed her. "But that isna what I meant."
She glanced over her shoulder at him. "What then?"
She knew what he was intrigued about. She couldn't give him that wide-eyed innocent look and pretend she didn't know. "What Una said about you thinking of me?"
Edana's face blossomed anew with color, and she quickly turned away from him. He chuckled. She could not deny it.
"Was it about when we saw each other in our youth?" It must have been. They had not seen each other until now.
She remained quiet. He pressed her back against his chest, encouraging her to relax. "Tell me."
"There is naught to tell."
"You thought me a handsome lad? Wished I would kiss you?"
He shouldn't have mentioned such. With her settled against him, he knew she had to be well aware of how much her soft body incited his. Any talk of kissing or anything further than that was getting him worked up all the more.
When she didn't respond, Angus said, "I wanted to kiss you."
She was so still, he thought she wasn't breathing.
"Oh, aye," he said. "My brothers all gave me the devil when we returned home, saying I was bewitched by the fair maiden and so speechless, I could only stare dumbly and not say a word on my behalf."
She chuckled. "I…thought you believed me…odd."
"Beautiful. Different from the other lassies, aye. But that was some of why I was so drawn to you. The smiles you bestowed on your loved ones I wish you had bestowed on me."
She frowned at him. "I thought you believed me a foolish young girl."
"Nay. You made me smile."
"I made you laugh at me."
"Never. Your smiles rendered every day inside and outside the castle bright and sunny. Then when you saw me watching, you hid that beautiful smile away."
"You were afraid of me."
"Nay, no' afraid."
"You were," she insisted.
He chuckled. "A mon doesna tell a lass he is interested in that he fears she might reject him."
"Reject you?" she asked, her tone disbelieving.
"Aye. What if I had tried to speak with you and you dismissed me, or…ran away."
She didn't say anything but he needed to know what she would have done.
"Aye, lass?"
"I dinna know. I might…I might have kissed you."
He grinned. "My brothers were right then," he said on a heavy sigh. "I should have spoken with you."
"I am no' saying I would have kissed you, but…"
"You wanted to. My brothers said it would be my loss if I didna speak to you. And then I was off with my brothers to fight and there was never any time to return there."
