She stepped back hastily as a rat ran from out of Clandon’s cell and between her feet. "Ugh."
Clandon actually laughed. "‘Tis only a rat."
She managed a smile. "Only a rat, he says."
"And a small one at that," Tynan said, the barest of smiles twitching across his lips.
How could these two have a sense of humor about this? Then Alenna reminded herself that they had always lived with horrors most twentieth century people could barely imagine.
"How are ye, Clandon?" Tynan asked.
Clandon puffed his scrawny chest out. "I am guid, sir. They canna scare me." He nodded to the two men chained to the walls. "They tried to scare me, but I told them to bugger off."
Alenna smiled slightly at the boy’s choice of words.
"Can ye think of any reason the baron might wish to harm ye?" Tynan asked.
"Nay, sir." His small shoulders sagged a little as he gripped the bars like a lifeline. "I stay out of his way."
"We’ll think of a way to get you out. You have my word," Alenna said.
Tynan gave her a hard glance, as if she might have said something wrong. "Stay quiet, Clandon, and dinna say anythin’ to make the guards angry. Have ye enough to eat?"
"Aye, sir. They have fed me."
Alenna imagined only too well what type of rancid gruel they’d given him. "We’ll have more food sent down."
"Wad ye, mistress?" His eyes widened, an innocent look that warmed her heart. He might be a tough boy, but a boy he remained. "I’d surely like some of that bread they say I stole."
Even Tynan smiled this time. "It will be done. We have to go."
Clandon’s face sobered, but he immediately bolstered it back to a hearty smile. Tears came to Alenna’s eyes at his bravery. Could she say, if she were in this dreadful place, she’d do as well? She doubted it.
Tynan put his hand on her shoulder. "Come. We must go."
She pressed the boy’s fingers one more time. "We will get you out of here."
The boy nodded and smiled.
As Tynan led her away, the tears Alenna had tried so hard to hold back trickled down her face. Anger and anxiety for the boy dug at her breast. Tynan didn’t appear to notice her tears until they reached the outside.
"Are ye all right?" he asked.
She wiped at the tears. "No."
Looking bemused, he put his arms around her and drew her close. "Dinna cry."
Without looking at him, feeling a sense of shame at her weakness, she said, "I’m sorry, I just can’t bear the thought of him being in there."
The pain in her heart overflowed. She buried her head against his shoulder, and he gathered her closer. Alenna needed the warm, hard shelter of his arms, needed to feel safe in this savage world. He murmured softly to her in Gaelic, and although she didn’t understand, the rhythm of the words soothed her. He caressed her back, gently touched her hair, rocking the slightest bit as he might comfort a frightened child.
With a sob, she gave in to the frustrations and dramatic changes that had taken over her life since she’d landed in the past. Her head throbbed again, and she realized crying made it worse. Still, it felt so good to let it all out.
When her tears dried she lifted her head to look at him, and he grinned. Her heart did a jump. Everything within her recognized the hot, undeniable attraction, the feeling that in his arms nothing and no one could hurt her.
"Are ye quite done soakin’ my cloak now, lass?" he asked, looking boyish and all man at the same time.
"Yes."
"Guid. Now let’s get ye back to Elizabet’s so she might give ye somethin’ for yer throat and yer head."
All her life she’d heard of peak experiences. Of moments in a person’s life when she knew without doubt her life had shifted inexorably toward a new direction. As they walked away, Alenna knew she had lost a piece of her heart to Tynan of MacBrahin.
* * *
The first morning rays of light streamed into Elizabet’s room as she looked at the bruises on Alenna’s forehead and throat. Alenna winced at the pain in her throat and head. Elizabet made a tut tut noise.
"‘Tis no as bad as it looks, Tynan, so ye can stop pacin’ the floor like a caged animal. Yer makin’ us all a twitter."
Tynan quit striding and sat in a chair. "I am not pacin’."
Alenna gave Elizabet a smile that asked how she endured his stubborn will. Elizabet finished dabbing the pungent cream on Alenna’s bruises.
"There. That will take the bruises down." She got up from the small table and poured a goblet of wine.
"Oh, no. I don’t want any, thank you," Alenna said, wanting all her senses in working order.
Elizabet chuckled and headed for Tynan. "Nay, ‘tis no for ye."
Tynan took the goblet without a word and downed half the measure in a gulp.
Johanna came into the room from outside and stopped in her tracks. She barely gave Alenna a glance, but at the sight of Tynan, a large smile spread over her face. The grin boasted a cunning, almost feral intent, backed up by clear feminine interest.
"Tynan," Johanna said as she curtsied to him. "Are ye goin’ to the baron’s party?"
He smiled slightly, but not much. "Aye." He looked at Elizabet. "I suppose ye are goin’?"
Elizabet hesitated, looking first at Alenna, then at Johanna. "I am not sure if I like the idea of the assembly. Not for me and Johanna."
Johanna’s veneer of cheeriness slipped. "But—"
"‘Tis not decided, Johanna. I dinna like the idea of women simply being picked by a man and havin’ him run off with her for a fortnight. Some would say ‘tis a sin against God."
Johanna opened her mouth as if to protest, then subsided as if she thought the better of it. With a stiffness in her stance, she retreated to a chair and sifted through a basket of needlework.
Alenna doubted any man would run off with Johanna, based on the sharpness of her tongue and her rudeness, but who knew for certain? Plenty of men could be tempted by her prettiness, to possess her body and care nothing about her mind.
"I must go," Tynan said suddenly. He slammed back the last of his wine like it was water. "I trust ye will see to Alenna until I return."
Elizabet nodded. "Of course."
"Where are you going?" Alenna asked.
"To the baron. ‘Tis time I asked him to release Clandon."
"I’ll go with you," Alenna said and popped out of her chair.
"Nay," he said firmly. "Stay here. I’ll no have him thinkin’ this is yer idea. I dinna like the idea of ye bein’ around him, after what happened this night."
"He probably already knows I visited Clandon in the dungeon."
"I can work quicker without—"
"Without me following like a stray puppy?" she asked tartly.
"Aye." Before she could say another word he turned and walked out the door.
As she subsided into a chair, Elizabet’s tinkling laugh rang out. Alenna gazed at her in surprise. She’d never heard the little woman laugh so heartily.
"What’s so funny?"
"Aye, what is so funny?" Johanna asked, obviously equally intrigued by her mother’s action.
Elizabet’s laughter stopped, but not her grin. "Just this moment I had a vision. And ‘tis quite a nice one at that."
"Just this minute you had a vision," Alenna repeated.
"Aye. About Tynan and yerself. It makes me very happy. I see ye together in the future. Yellin’, arguin’ and …" she paused, her face coloring a little. She glanced at her daughter.
"Go on," Johanna said, a childish pout forming on her lips. "Tell us."
"Nay, I canna tell while ye are here, Johanna. ‘Tis no for yer ears."
"Humph." Johanna got up and stomped out the door, slamming it behind her.
"I dinna ken what I am goin’ to do about that girl."
"She has quite a temper," Alenna conceded. "But the suspense is killing me. What were you about to say?" Did she really want to know? Hell, yes. "Tynan and I
were together in what way?"
Elizabet’s brilliant smile broke a little. Her ageless face held a glimmer, like a gentle sparkle of snow on a cold morning. Anticipation quickened Alenna’s breath. No longer did she consider visions the stuff of fairy tales and impossibilities.
"‘Tis very important Tynan learn to trust ye … and to trust himself," Elizabet said.
"Trust me? I thought he’d learned that a long time ago."
"Aye, in a sense. But he is like a babe alone in the night. His fear haunts him. His weakness haunts him. As a warrior, he canna be seen to have weakness. And as I told ye before, he has built a wall about himself. Now that ye have torn down the wall, he dinna ken which way to turn."
"I’m not sure I understand."
Elizabet sat forward, talking in a low tone, as if the very walls might listen. Alenna also leaned forward to catch the woman’s soft voice.
"Before ye came into his life, it was an endless time of trainin’ for battles. For workin’ hard to get the baron’s patronage so that Tynan might forget everthin’ he was before he came to MacAulay Castle."
"Why would he want to forget? He told me he left Glenfinnan, but he hasn’t explained why."
"I canna tell ye that. He must do that himself. But it will be hard gettin’ him to speak of it. Ye have to ken he has been sorely wounded. Worse than anythin’ most men have to go through with a woman."
"He was in love with a woman who spurned him? Florie? But he said he wasn’t in love with her."
"Nay. Florie is a part of it, but not the whole. Has he told ye about Mary?"
Alenna thought back, but couldn’t recall him mentioning the name. "No."
"Ye must ask him about her. If he can tell ye about Glenfinnan and Mary, that will be half the battle."
"But what has this woman to do with me?"
Instead of answering precisely, Elizabet said, "Ye dinna believe Tynan could love ye. But I see the future. I dinna see where ye are, but ye are happy and together. And Tynan’s child is growin’ in yer belly."
Alenna gasped and clasped a hand to her stomach.
* * *
CHAPTER 15
"A baby!" A flush of heat flowed through Alenna as the implications hit her full force.
Pregnant. With Tynan’s baby. They’d have to … that meant that they …
"No," Alenna said, as if speaking the word would make it so.
Elizabet didn’t look fazed by Alenna’s adamant denial. "Aye. That is the way of it."
She would have to stay in this time. In this place. "I can’t. I’m going back to my time, one way or the other. I can’t stay here and make … make babies with him."
Elizabet put up her hands. "I tell ye only what I see."
Perhaps the truth made her head spin, not the bruise on her forehead. Before Alenna could further contemplate the bombshell Elizabet had dropped, the door opened and Tynan strode through, towing Johanna by the arm. The girl jerked her arm out of Tynan’s hold and marched directly to the chair she’d sat in earlier. She wiped at the tears on her cheeks.
"Dinna wander about the castle teasin’ every man ye see," Tynan said gruffly to Johanna. Then he turned to Elizabet. "Why do ye let her do this?"
Elizabet’s mouth pulled down. "She does what she will most of the time, and there is little I can do about it. She has the will of a goat, no doubt."
Despite the girl’s impudence, Elizabet always seemed to have a good understanding of the girl’s attitude. But maybe not. The tranquil world Elizabet built around herself, one filled with potions, lotions, and visions, could have a crack or two. As any single mother in any time, Elizabet probably had experienced difficulty raising her daughter. Especially a daughter who seemed intent on catching a man’s attention.
Silence settled over the room like a blanket, and Alenna sensed the tension rising as Elizabet and Johanna stared at each other.
"I think we should go," Tynan said to Alenna.
"You didn’t see the baron yet?"
"Nay. I spoke to Dougald, and he told me the baron is no takin’ visitors right now. When Dougald heard of Clandon bein’ thrown in the dungeons, he went to the baron himself. The baron refused to release Clandon." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Dougald saw Caithleen and said she was worried for ye. Perhaps ye should go to her."
Alenna stood and nodded. "You’re right."
As they departed and walked along the bailey, her mind turned into a jumble. Just when she thought she had a grip on the situation, and a perspective on her purpose in being here, fate threw her a curve. With Tynan beside her, she felt distracted and unable to think about anything but Elizabet’s suggestion that she would one day carry Tynan’s baby.
Thinking about Elizabet’s vision filled her with images that overwhelmed her common sense. Erotic pictures swamped her imagination. Without a doubt he wanted her, even though he made no attempt to seduce her. Why did he hold back? Could it have something to do with Mary?
"Did you know a woman called Mary?" Alenna asked on a whim, unwilling to wait for a better time to ask. With the way things changed around here, there might not be another time.
He stopped as if he’d been poleaxed. His mouth twisted in contempt.
"Aye," he said hoarsely. "Who told ye about her?"
"Elizabet."
"Bluidy hell!"
"She told me it was important I ask you about Mary."
He began walking again. "She had no reason to tell ye. That’s in the past. It doesna mean anythin’ to me."
As his strides lengthened, Alenna quickened her pace to keep up. "If it didn’t mean anything to you, you wouldn’t be so angry right now."
Tynan heaved a breath indicating weariness as much as annoyance. "Mary was a woman I knew in Glenfinnan."
As they moved into the quadrangle she said, "Elizabet told me that much. Was she the woman you said you’d loved and then lost?"
When he swung on her this time, he grabbed her by the shoulders. Swiftly he steered her into a small enclosure well hidden in a notch next to a tower. The overhanging ceiling and quiet afforded privacy.
"What are you doing?" she said, balking as he pressed her against the wall and planted his hands on either side of her head. Tynan leaned in close, as if anyone could hear them in this little hole.
Alenna could see the lines at the corners of his eyes, and the pure, unrestrained heat within their depths. A hard, conquering, warrior flame warning her to watch out or she’d get burned.
"What I want," he whispered in a tight, soft voice, "is for ye to stop meddlin’. I’m helpin’ ye with Clandon because he’s a mere boy. I’m helpin’ ye with Caithleen because no woman deserves the way the baron is treatin’ her. But I dinna give ye leave to try and understand me."
Her breath accelerated. Damn him! An outrageous desire to kiss away the scowl on his face nettled her, dared her to do it. Perhaps she would do it and see if this odd need for him would dissipate like a whirlwind.
"Tynan, it was a simple question. Why are you acting like this?"
"I’m no tellin’ ye what happened to Mary," he said, his voice going bass. "She was the only woman for me. I loved her with all my heart and she was murdered. Is that enough for ye?"
She was the only woman for me.
Sympathy and something deeper welled in her at the harshness of his words. So Tynan had loved once. With a spurt of awareness Alenna realized she gave a damn that he’d loved a woman and lost her. A lot more than she should.
"I didn’t mean to bring back bad memories. If I could understand about Mary—"
"Then what? Then ye wad have me wrapped around yer little finger, because whenever I dinna do as ye bid ye wad mention her and I wad crumble?"
In a fit of frustration she placed both of her hands on his chest and pushed. "No, damn it!"
He barely budged. "What then? Why this burnin’ need to ken what happened? Eh?"
As his voice trailed off, she closed her eyes. Somehow, despite her best efforts, the man
remained like stone. The sharing she’d experienced with him outside the dungeon had disappeared.
Alenna sensed an unmistakable chemistry between them despite his hostility. A burn that threatened to erupt right here, right now, even when discord should have kept them apart.
Although her eyes were closed, she felt his gaze like a feather touch. Could feel him tracing her lips with his gaze, her throat, her breasts …
Butterflies inside her stomach did a pirouette, reminding her the man made her nervous at the same time he generated her desire. Lord help her, she didn’t want to open her eyes and see a wall of masculinity in front of her. But, since she had little choice, she might as well face the music.
Alenna opened her eyes. The curl of his lips, the tilt of his head dared her. His look defied her to make a move to escape, either from his condemnation or his closeness.
More than anything she wanted to rip the top off the powder keg and discover the real Tynan of MacBrahin. What would he be like if he loved a woman?
She licked her lips. "So that’s why you say a knight should never love a woman. Because you loved once and lost her and that means you can never do it again."
She placed her hand on his chest again, letting it linger there. He sucked in a quick breath.
"Dinna touch me like that."
"Why? It shouldn’t bother a cold, unfeeling man like you."
Maybe the statement verged on unfair. She knew somehow where this was going to end up. At least she hoped she would be right.
She was.
"Damn ye," he hissed.
Before she could react, he leaned in to her, pressing his warm body against her. As his mouth covered hers she gathered a feeling of triumph to her. This was what she wanted. Lord help her, this is what she needed.
Tynan showing his feelings. Releasing his need and sweeping her into a sweetness she’d never found in another man’s arms.
Everything seemed to recede … the sounds of a horse whinnying in the stables, the laughter of children at play, the shout of a peddler selling his wares. All of it paled in significance beyond this drift in time. Everything stilled and hovered with a soft, giving ecstasy.
A Bridge Through The Mist Page 18
