“Then not now,” she said. “When ye’re ready, ye’ll tell me.”
That seemed to bring him some relief, but he was still struggling with the question. It was true that he hadn’t spoken of it since it happened, the event that shaped his life and cast him out of his clan.
The event that saw him living on the streets.
Perhaps the time to talk about it was now before he lost his nerve.
“My da is the chief of a small Morgan clan,” he said. “We come from a small village called Ledmore in the Highlands. ’Tis so far tae the north that there are villages around us that still have the way of the Northmen, from the times when their princes ruled our lands.”
“It must have taken ye a long time tae come tae Edinburgh,” she said.
He nodded. “It took me almost a month. Traveling from the Highlands isna a simple thing.”
“Go on.”
He sighed faintly, reaching out to take her hand and hold it against his broad chest as he lay there and stared up at the roof of the hay shelter. Thrilled, Lucia let him.
“The English were swarming Berwick and border villages,” he said. “The call went out for men from the Highlands tae help defend Scotland from the Sassenach raiders. Even though my clan is small, we had many excellent warriors, including my da.”
“And ye?”
“And me,” he said softly. “Once, they called me the Highland Defender. So much of my life was spent defending the Scots against the English. I know about warfare and I know how tae fight them. Therefore, when the call went out for Berwick, my da answered. He took me, my cousins, and fifty of our best lads, south tae the borders. By the time we got there, the English had burned several border villages, like Jedburgh and Hawick. My da and I were—”
“There ye are!”
Suddenly, there was a big, round woman standing at their feet, pointing accusingly to Lucia, who immediately leapt to her feet.
“Colly!” she hissed. “What are ye doing here?”
The old nurse had blood in her eye as she looked at Lucia. “Ye shameful hussy,” she said, jabbing a finger at Bane. “I came tae tell ye that Lady Currie no longer wants her horse, but I find ye cavorting with…with a man. Lady Currie shall hear of this!”
Lucia moved toward the woman, trying to keep her attention off Bane, who was now on his feet and watching the situation with a good deal of concern.
“Hear of what?” Lucia said, trying very hard to keep her temper in check. “We’ve done nothing. We were talking.”
But Colly would have none of it. “Ye’re a sinner, ’tis what ye are,” she said. “Ye disgraceful little wench. Come with me right now and confess yer actions tae Lady Currie!”
Lucia stood her ground. “But I’ve done nothing,” she said firmly. “I came tae the stable tae tell Angus tae have Lady Currie’s horse prepared.”
Colly’s attention turned to Bane and she looked him up and down as one did when sizing up a prize stallion. “Ye came here tae sin,” she hissed. “Ye’re a filthy cat, come tae mate with more filth. Ye come tae the stable too much as it is, and now I know why. Come with me now!”
“I willna,” Lucia said. “Tell Lady Currie what ye must, but it would only be yer own lies. All ye do is lie and beat m’lady’s servants and then ye lie tae Lady Currie’s face about it. We all know it.”
Colly lunged at her, grabbing her by the shoulder and tearing her garment at the seam. Lucia, defending herself, shoved at the old woman, who stumbled back but charged again.
This time, however, Bane was there.
He stood between Lucia and the large old woman, who plowed into him. He didn’t do anything more than put up a hand to prevent her from grabbing at him, but with her momentum and unsteady balance, she ended up falling back onto her buttocks.
She howled.
“A brute!” she screamed. “He is going tae kill me! Help me!”
She began screaming and Lucia looked at Bane in a panic. “Go,” she hissed, pushing him away. “Ye must go!”
Bane was moving, looking at her in confusion. “Why? I’ve done nothing.”
Lucia was pushing him away from Colly, who continued to scream. “Ye dunna understand,” she said anxiously. “The woman is determined tae hurt everyone. She willna rest until she has ye punished. Bane…ye must leave Meadowbank. Get out of here, or she’ll make ye wish ye had. She’s evil, that one. Please—go!”
Bane realized she meant he had to leave Meadowbank altogether. “But I canna leave ye,” he said. “If she’s out tae punish me, she’s out tae punish ye. I willna leave ye.”
Lucia looked at Colly, who was now rolling onto her knees, crying loudly, as people began to take note. Angus had come out of the stable and servants in the kitchen yard were beginning to come through the gate that separated the kitchens from the stables. Lucia grabbed Bane by the arms and turned him toward the postern gate.
“Ye must go,” she said. “Please, before Laird Currie’s guards come. Run back tae where ye came from. I’ll find ye there when the situation calms down. But for now, ye must go!”
“Come with me,” he begged, even as they both moved toward the gate. “Please, Lucia…come.”
Her eyes were filling with tears as she rapidly blinked them away. “I canna,” she said hoarsely. “My debt for my father isna paid yet. I canna dishonor him by leaving before it’s settled. As much as I want tae go with ye, I canna do it.”
“But—”
“Please, Bane, go! I will find ye when this dies down, I swear it.”
He could see the anguish in her eyes and it tore at him, but more people were now coming to Colly’s aid as she wept and pointed at Bane. He knew it was time to leave but the sorrow he felt, and the disappointment, was immeasurable. Just when his life seemed to be going well, just when he’d found a woman he couldn’t stop thinking about…now this.
He was coming to think that nothing in his life was ever meant to go his way.
“Very well,” he said. “I’ll go. But find me in the alley tomorrow, the alley where we met. Swear tae me ye’ll come.”
“I’ll try. But if not tomorrow, as soon as I can.”
That wasn’t good enough for him. “Soon,” he insisted. “If ye dunna come tae me soon, I will come for ye. Do ye hear me? I will return for ye, Lucia.”
She simply nodded, the tears spilling over that she quickly wiped away. Bane’s last look at her as he bolted through the postern gate was of her miserable, sad expression. Even as he raced back to Edinburgh as fast as his feet would take him, all he could see were the tears in her eyes.
All he could feel was the hole in his heart.
I will return for ye.
He meant every word.
Chapter Six
“Colly says the man brutalized her,” Lady Currie said. “She has a bruise on her buttocks to prove it.”
Lucia had known this moment would come.
In Lady Currie’s fine bedchamber, she was facing off against Lady Currie and Colly, who was feigning great injury. Ever since Bane had fled earlier in the day, the woman had been pretending he’d beat her, infuriating Lucia greatly. But it was her word against Colly’s, and as she knew, Colly would always be believed. It was nearing the twilight hour and Lady Currie was already heavily into her wine, as evidenced by her semislurred words.
It wasn’t an ideal situation.
“May I tell ye what really happened, m’lady?” she said steadily. “I fear ye’ve gotten yer information from a woman who lies tae ye constantly. She lies about everyone and everything, and every servant here can tell ye that.”
“Ye little toad!” Colly exploded, bolting up from the chair she had been sitting on and exhibiting signs of a woman who wasn’t as ill as she wanted everyone to believe. Quickly realizing that, she suddenly put a hand to her head in a feeble gesture. “She is guilty, m’l
ady, guilty. She is trying tae cast the blame on me!”
Lady Currie put her hand up to ease Colly, who shuffled back to her chair, nearly doubled over. It was a good act, one she’d used on her mistress many times when things didn’t go her way.
It usually worked.
But Lucia wasn’t going to let the woman bully her or lie about her. “Yer nurse has been trying tae sully me in yer eyes since I arrived at Meadowbank, m’lady,” she said. “She doesna like it when anyone gets too close tae ye. I know she raised ye, but surely ye can see that she tries tae control ye. She shames ye and lies tae ye. I know ye’re a bright woman. I know ye can see what she does.”
“Enough,” Lady Currie snapped softly. “I will not hear you speak ill of Colly, Lucia. The unfortunate relationship you two share is becoming a burden upon me. I cannot do without her and I do not want to do without you, so what am I to do? And who is this man she speaks of?”
Lucia eyed the old woman who was sitting in the chair, doubled over with contrived agony. “He is the man who saved me from harm when the sausages were stolen last week,” she said. “He was kind tae me and helped me, so I brought him back tae Meadowbank and put him tae work with Angus. We were speaking and nothing more when Colly came across us in the stable yard. She tried tae attack me like she always does, and he stepped in between us. She hit him and then fell back on her own fat arse, and that is the truth. I will swear upon the Bible that he never touched her.”
Colly started to wail, as was usual with the woman when things weren’t going her way. Lady Currie passed a concerned glance at her nurse before collecting her cup of wine and going to Lucia, taking her by the arm and leading her away so the nurse couldn’t overhear their conversation. Whether to keep the details from her or whether not to cause the woman any further stress was anyone’s guess.
“Lucia, you know I want to believe you, but Colly said she saw you fornicating with this man,” she said quietly. “What were you doing?”
Lucia sighed heavily. “I’m not so foolish that I’d be fornicating with a man for all to see, m’lady,” she said. “We were in the hay shelter next tae the stables when Colly came upon us and started screaming at me. She called me names and tried tae hit me. Ye have seen her do this before, many times, so ye know I’m telling ye the truth.”
Lady Currie listened closely. It was clear from her expression that there was some doubt, but the way she kept glancing at Colly told Lucia that the doubt was in Colly’s story and not her own. She took another swig of her wine, too weak to make a decision.
“Colly raised me,” she said after a moment. “When my mother would not, it was Colly who raised me.”
“I know, m’lady.”
“I cannot and will not send her away.”
“I know, m’lady. But she is not a good woman.”
Lady Currie looked at her with pain in her expression. She knows, Lucia thought. It made her feel sorry for Lady Currie, who was in a strange land with a man who was old and crusty and diseased. She was young and beautiful and smart. Keeping Colly with her was the only thing she had to remind her of where she’d come from, her only measure of comfort. The lovers, the lavish spending…that was simply to forget the situation she found herself in.
Even Lucia could see that.
“Lucia, if you could just try to get on with her, I would be grateful,” she finally whispered. “But I must punish you for this.”
Lucia tried not to show her surprise and fear. “If you feel you must, m’lady,” she said, lowering her gaze. “But I swear tae ye, I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Lady Currie took another drink of wine. So much of her existence involved the bottom of a wine jug, especially in moments like this.
“I will think of a punishment,” she said. “Meanwhile, make sure the carriage is prepared. We are going to the Cal tonight.”
That wasn’t what Lucia wanted to hear, but it was better than immediate punishment. Or, in her mind, that was the punishment, given how she felt about the place. Still, she couldn’t quite let the subject go because Bane had been wrongly accused by Colly, and Lucia was genuinely worried about him. He’d come such a long way in the week he’d been at Meadowbank, and she didn’t want to see him revert to that ale-smelling pile of filth she’d first met.
“M’lady, may I first speak of the man I was with?” she said. “As I told ye, he saved me from being assaulted by those who stole the sausages, and he was doing good work with Angus. I sent him away when Colly fell because I was afraid for him, but he dinna do anything wrong. Could I please bring him back?”
Lady Currie eyed her. “A reward for him, is it?”
“Aye, m’lady. He was very brave.”
“And you like this man, do you? No need to deny it because I can see it in your face. You are more concerned for him than you are for yourself.”
Lucia lowered her gaze, trying desperately not to flush. “I…I feel a responsibility toward him because he protected me, m’lady.”
“Is he handsome?”
There was something in the woman’s questions that seemed rather pointed, beyond the usual inquiry, that gave Lucia pause. Lady Currie was known to be a purveyor of male flesh the way some people were experts on prize horses or sheep. If she told Lady Currie that Bane was handsome, undoubtedly she would allow him to come back…
But more than likely for her own purposes.
The thought turned Lucia’s stomach.
“Nay,” she finally said. “I would not call him that, m’lady. He is a man who saved me and nothing more.”
Lady Currie’s gaze lingered on her, possibly to determine if she was lying or not, but she didn’t press. Finally, she shook her head.
“He will not come back,” she said. “That is your punishment, Lucia. Your friend is not permitted at Meadowbank, and you are not permitted to see him again. This will be the end of it. Now go, and make sure the carriage is prepared. I want to leave soon.”
Lucia didn’t argue with her. If it was a punishment, it wasn’t much of one, nor was it one she planned to obey. As she moved to quit the chamber, she happened to see Colly as the woman sat up in her chair, surprisingly healthy-looking now that she thought Lucia was being punished. Even if she didn’t know what form that punishment was to take because she hadn’t heard the conversation, she still knew that her nemesis would see some retribution from Lady Currie.
When their eyes met, a sinister smile spread across Colly’s lips. In response, Lucia drew a finger across her throat, indicating what she’d do to the old woman if given the chance. As Colly began to wail again, Lucia fled the chamber. She wasn’t going to let that old woman get the better of her.
But it wasn’t the last volley in the battle of wills.
That came later in the evening.
As Lucia headed up a dark stairwell to tell Lady Currie that her carriage awaited her, Colly was waiting for her in the shadows. Just as Lucia reached the top of the stairs, a blow to the face sent her tumbling all the way back down to the bottom. As she shook off the stars in her vision, she happened to see Colly’s dark form at the top of the stairs, moving away before any words were spoken.
That told Lucia that the battle between them had just turned into a war.
Chapter Seven
She didn’t have much time.
In order to make up for losing the sausages last week, Lucia had begged to go to the butcher’s again. When Lady Currie denied her and sent one of the stable grooms instead, Lucia offered to gather wildflowers for Lady Currie’s bedchamber. The woman was particularly fond of blooms called “treasure flowers,” which had pale-purple petals, and others called “everlasting flowers” because they never seemed to die. The colors were very bright and Lady Currie loved them.
Therefore, Lucia was given permission to gather flowers for her lady’s chamber, and she headed out on a bright, cool morning, her destina
tion the hills to the north. At least, that was what she told Lady Currie, and in truth, she did manage to make it there.
Briefly.
There was a heavily forested area surrounding a small loch, and she picked her way through the bramble, cutting flowers with her knife and quickly tossing them into the basket. Anything with color, she cut.
But she had another destination in mind and flowers weren’t the focus.
Bane was.
It had been three days since she’d seen the man, and she could hardly sleep for the thought of him. With her basket full of colorful autumn flowers, she hurriedly made her way into Edinburgh. She returned to the alley where it all started and felt some apprehension. It was a dangerous place, but she doubted men would ambush her for flowers.
At least, she hoped not.
The alleys were dark and angled because Edinburgh was built on crags, so everything was sloped. That familiar smell of urine and human despair filled her nostrils as she entered the alley where she first saw Bane.
Lucia didn’t want to spend too much time alone, walking up and down the alleys, because that was asking for trouble, but she wanted to give Bane enough time to find her if he was anywhere near. She was about to head down another alley that had a livery when someone grabbed her from behind.
Terrified, Lucia swung the basket with all her might at the person behind her, hitting him in the head as the flowers went flying.
“Och!”
Bane had his hand up on his head where she’d hit him, and Lucia’s eyes widened.
“Bane!” she gasped. “I dinna know it was ye!”
He was grinning. “That’s the second time ye’ve hit me in the head,” he said. “I should have known better than tae surprise ye, but I’ve been watching the streets for three days. God’s bones, it’s good tae see ye. I’ve missed my angel.”
She grinned, a sweet and dreamy grin because his words brought back that familiar giddy feeling he was so capable of bringing about. But she put her hand on his head, rubbing the spot she’d struck.
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