At the Highlander's Mercy

by TERRI BRISBIN

  He was out of his chair before his mind knew he was moving.

  Chapter Nine

  His strong arms encircled her, catching her before she landed on the floor. His motion still took them down, but he cushioned her body in his and suffered the brunt of the fall. Rob rolled them on the floor and they came to a stop in front of the hearth.

  ‘Are you hurt?’ he asked, helping her back up, but never quite taking his hands from her. And for one moment, God forgive her, she wished he would never let her go. Allowing herself that momentary lapse in reason, she gathered her hair that had tangled around them both in her hands and tugged it free.

  ‘No,’ she said, easing herself away from him. ‘My thanks for catching me.’

  ‘Mayhap you have walked enough for today?’

  Rob poured ale in two cups this time and handed one to her. Lilidh sat on the chair and sipped from the cup. Her thoughts were clear now, more so than they had been these last days and she wanted to know so much about what was going on and how this all had come to pass. Did she dare ask? She waited until he had approached the table covered in letters and documents before trying.

  ‘So, you still have not told me what this is all about, Rob.’ She sipped once more and dared a look at him. ‘And why me? Why now?’

  That needy, wistful part of her that wanted him to declare his undying love and that this was all just to get her back pushed its way to the surface of her feelings, leaving her more vulnerable than she’d felt in a long time. And considering that the man before her had cruelly disavowed her the last time they’d met, that revealed much to her. He took in and released a deep breath, but the tiny twitch of his left brow gave him away before the lie left his lips.

  Much as it had all those years ago.

  Before his words tore her world and heart apart.

  ‘We are a poor clan and need the gold your father will pay for your safe return.’

  ‘And from the MacGregors, as well, since you thought me still married to Iain?’ she asked, probing for the truth. A flash of sympathy and pity crossed his gaze and then it was gone. For her? For her loss? She knew not.

  ‘Both are prosperous, so, yes,’ he answered, the twitch giving away his reply before he spoke. Did he even realise he did that? Gave himself away so clearly? Or had no one other than she recognised it? Most likely no one paid as much attention to his face and expressions as she had during their time together.

  ‘Do you think my father will pay for my release?’

  This was the pivotal question, for Lilidh understood exactly where she stood in her father’s regard and what he must do against this insult. And paying for her return was not what he would do. Did Rob remember what he’d learned from the Beast of the Highlands from his fostering years in her family?

  When silence was the only thing that hung in the space between them, she knew he did remember how her father responded to insults or threats. Lilidh drank down the rest of the ale and placed the cup back on the small table. The exhaustion of the day and the toll of the last several weighed down on her then. There was one more question she must ask.

  ‘What is to become of me here, Rob?’ She was going to add ‘before my father arrives’, but did not. He began to say something and stopped, then once more. Finally he spoke.

  ‘You are under my protection now,’ he replied.

  ‘And what must I do to keep that protection?’

  Once again, he paused and then tried to say several things at the same time. ‘I have said it, so it continues until—’

  ‘Do I work in the kitchens on the morrow?’ she asked. She could never resist poking at him or her brother.

  ‘I think that is best.’ Ah, an answer. Her leg would not be able to manage those stairs day after day. If that was going to be her fate here, then she really must throw herself on his mercy.

  ‘If I am to work there, is there a place on the lower floor where you can hold me prisoner? I cannot …’ Her hand slipped down to touch her thigh where the most damage had been done.

  ‘No. You sleep here.’ She was startled at the intensity of his tone. So that would be the way of it. He did intend to bed her and was just waiting for a time to do so.

  Perhaps now would be that time? She swallowed her fear and nodded. It was hard enough for her to bring up her maimed leg and ask for an accommodation due to it, but she would not raise the subject again with him.

  Not certain if she should move or if he would, she waited for his orders. She did not plan to allow him to do this without a struggle, for more than her honour would be in shambles if he did. She knew him, had watched him grow into the man he was now, and in spite of the miserable way in which he had tossed her aside before, there was honour at his core. Taking her against her will would tear him apart. Regardless if it was for the good of his clan or to prove something to his cousin.

  It would tear him apart.

  She raised her chin and closed her eyes. If she had to fight him off to keep them both intact, she would. But Lilidh prayed it would not come to that.

  ‘Go to bed!’ he barked out in a brusque tone.

  She jumped even though she tried not to. Rob filled another cup with ale and turned away from her. When his attentions were elsewhere, she limped over to the bed and climbed up on top of it.

  ‘Lilidh,’ he said softly. The devil come to call? She met his gaze and waited on him. ‘Get undressed. Take your rest without worry this night.’

  Another reprieve? Would he sleep in the same bed and not touch her? Her body ached. Her head ached. Every part of her screamed out in complaint, so she decided to take him at his word. She loosened the gown and pulled it over her head. The stockings remained in place mostly because her feet were chilled. The shift for obvious reasons. Tugging the thick bedcovers free, she climbed in under them and settled on one of the fluffy pillows. By the time her head touched that pillow, sleep was overtaking her.

  A fine defence she would raise if Rob did indeed try anything. Would sleep ward him off one more time?

  The birds of morning sung her from her sleep. Sunlight poured through the window high up on the wall of Rob’s chamber.

  Rob’s chamber?

  Rob?

  Lilidh opened her eyes and found the bed empty save for her. Although an imprint dented the pillow next to the one where she’d slept, the bed’s surface was cool to her touch. If Rob had slept next to her, he was long gone.

  Pushing her hair away from her face, she slid up against the headboard of the bed and glanced around the chamber. From the amount of sun and the angle of the light, she guessed it must be nigh to mid-morn. And she was still in bed?

  A tray holding a small pot and a wrapped bundle sat next to her on the table. Touching the pot, Lilidh found it yet warm, though not hot. Unwilling to leave the snug cocoon of bedcovers and also reluctant to allow the food and drink to go to waste, she decided to remain where she was until summoned once more into the fray. Or to the kitchens, whichever happened first.

  The betony tea warmed and soothed her as it had before and the bread and cheese filled her belly. Soon, she grew restless sitting in the bed, so she slid out and stood while her leg became accustomed to standing. A clean, though plain, gown and a clean shift lay on the chair waiting for her. Dressing quickly, Lilidh found herself with nothing to do and nowhere to go.

  Footsteps down the long corridor drew her attention. From the sound, she thought it might be Beathas. When the door opened, it was the old woman who entered, carrying a basket on her arm.

  ‘You look better this morn, dearie,’ she said with a smile. ‘Let me have a look at your head.’

  She pointed at the chair, so Lilidh sat and let her examine the lump that felt less swollen now than yesterday. And each touch felt less sharp than it had even the night before. A good sign, she hoped.

  ‘Does your head still ache?’ Beathas asked her.

  ‘Not so much this morn.’ A few moments later, the examination was done.

  ‘How are the b
ruises?’ The old woman’s gaze softened as it fell on her neck and face.

  Lilidh shrugged. As long as she did not press or explore them, she did not feel them. ‘’Tis well.’

  A niggling feeling that Beathas thought Rob responsible for something more than he was bothered her again. The harsh treatment of Symon and his men caused the bruises—Beathas must know that because she saw to her needs from the first. But the woman’s sympathy spoke of something else.

  Desperate to divert Beathas’s attention to the matter, she stammered out a question instead.

  ‘Why was I not summoned to the kitchens this morn? It must be quickly approaching midday,’ she said, accepting the brush from Beathas and beginning to tame the unruly curls on her head now that the dressing had been removed.

  ‘The laird has given new orders,’ she began. ‘You are to remain here after all.’

  ‘He has? I am?’ Rob had seemed resolute last night, and now?

  ‘Aye. You are to stay in this chamber and the corridor. He said you can walk the length of it if need be,’ Beathas explained. The woman watched her closely as she explained Rob’s new commands about her. Did she think him trying to assuage the guilt from other actions by being kinder now?

  ‘Did anyone argue with him when he ordered this change?’ she asked. Surely Symon and his sister would.

  ‘Did not listen to them,’ she said with a chuckle. ‘He brushed their words aside and said there were too many ways for you to escape through the kitchens. Safer to keep you in here, where no one could get to you and you could no’ get far.’

  With her leg as it was, she could not get down the steps to escape. Hmmm. She had not thought about escape possibilities from the kitchen when she’d been there. She needed to use her mind and keep an eye open for such opportunities. It would take some time for her father to plan his attack and she needed to use that to discover whatever she could about the Mathesons’ strengths and weaknesses. She knew he would try to negotiate first because she was being held.

  So, she would also try to encourage Rob to look for a peaceful way out of this situation for all of them before the MacLeries arrived in force.

  Beathas finished just as Siusan arrived carrying a large basket of clothing and another smaller basket filled with threads and sewing supplies. Lilidh stood to greet her.

  ‘Your work for the day,’ Siusan announced, putting it near the chair on the floor and handing her the smaller basket. If the woman was pleased not to have Lilidh under foot in the kitchens, Lilidh could not tell. Her tone gave no hint of her feelings on the matter.

  ‘What is this?’ she asked, reaching into the basket and pulling out a tunic.

  ‘His lairdship’s laundry, of course. For you to repair.’ Lilidh dropped it back in the basket and looked at Siusan. ‘He has no wife and there is no lady in charge of such things yet.’

  ‘Tyra does not oversee this for Rob?’

  ‘Their betrothal is only a recent thing. Mayhap once this is all settled.’

  Betrothal? Rob was betrothed to that woman and never said anything to her? No small wonder that the lady reacted as she had to Lilidh’s presence in the hall. Especially if she believed Rob and Lilidh were lovers. Wives usually had to learn forbearance when it came to other women their husbands chose and, in the case of lairds and chiefs and nobles, those other women could be quite public.

  Still, betrothed to that woman? A topic to discuss with the man who now claimed her as his and not for this servant’s ears.

  ‘From the kitchens to this,’ she said, bringing their conversation back to the task before her. ‘Is he not afraid I’ll sew all the seams shut? Can I be trusted with scissors?’

  ‘Lady Tyra raised those very questions to the laird.’

  She could see the mirth in the older woman’s blue eyes. Oh, to have been a witness to this scene! It would have almost made things funny. Almost. ‘And?’

  ‘She will not be raising those questions again,’ she explained. ‘The laird made it clear what her position in his hall is and what is his.’

  Stunned that he had taken a public stance against Symon and Tyra on this, Lilidh sat down on the chair and lifted the tunic once more. Searching in the smaller basket, she found a matching thread and began to sew the tear along the seam closed. Embroidering and sewing were always a great way to clear her thoughts and her mother had always encouraged her skill in it.

  ‘I will come back later with more,’ Siusan said as she walked to the door. Beathas left at the same time and she listened as they walked away, chatting quietly as they went.

  Well, if nothing else, she would be busy. There must be at least six or seven tunics and trews as well as shirts. It would take her most of the day to finish these, but she did not have to walk down those steps and that was a good thing.

  More importantly, Rob had heard her words and fears about her leg and done something about it. For her. What had happened to make him take her side, especially against his betrothed? Since she did not want to give anyone there a reason to return her to the kitchens, Lilidh decided to work on mending the clothes. When her leg began to cramp from sitting too long in one position, she stood and paced the chamber.

  Did he mean for her to be allowed out of the chamber?

  Should she try?

  Making her way over to the door, she lifted the latch and peered out. The two guards on duty immediately blocked the door, preventing her from leaving at all.

  ‘Beathas said I may walk,’ she said, glancing from one to the other. She fully expected them to order her back inside, so when they parted and nodded permission to her, she paused before stepping into the corridor.

  Lilidh worried through the first few paces, but then each one became a bit easier. Each guard walked to the opposite end of the corridor and blocked it so that none could leave or enter from the stairs. Though several times they looked as though they wanted to say something to her, they never did. Not wanting to bring any untoward attentions by remaining there too long, she covered the length of it four times, counting the paces between one end and the other.

  Counting the paces between the three chambers on one side and two on the other. Counting how many paces it took to reach the stairway. By the time her leg was loose and somewhat comfortable, she had memorised the locations and distances to all the rooms on this floor.

  Her father would be proud.

  When she returned to the bedchamber, Lilidh took some of the thicker threads and tied knots to remember all the calculations she’d made. Then she tucked the threads into her sleeve to keep it safe for when she needed it. For that moment, it felt good to be thinking ahead. To be making a plan.

  The next interruption to her work came when a tray was delivered to her as sunset approached. Standing and stretching as a servant she’d seen in the kitchens entered with it, Lilidh waited while the girl put it on the bigger table on the other side of the room. Since Rob had left parchments scattered over its surface, she gathered them into a pile and moved them so as not to damage them.

  Once alone, the documents proved too much temptation for her and she reached for the one on top of the pile and read it.

  Latin was no obstacle for her—she could read in several languages, though not as easily as her cousin Ciara could. Ciara was permitted to work with her father on contracts and such while Lilidh had only been allowed to watch silently during some sessions.

  Watch and learn, lass, her father and uncle instructed.

  So she did, and she had learned much about the workings between clans and about contracts and, more importantly, about men. How they thought. The reasons behind their decisions. Now, looking over this offer of friendship from the MacKenzies, Lilidh understood the difficult place Rob was in.

  The old laird had been approached and given some indication of willingness to switch his allegiance from the MacLeries to the MacKenzies—a move that had far-reaching implications. An alliance between them would shift the balance of power in the west of Scotland and create in
stability where her father strived for peace. On his terms, certainly, but peace and stability.

  Still, there was nothing except a long-standing relationship to keep the ties strong between the Mathesons and the MacLeries. The old laird’s regard and friendship had resulted in Angus sending his illegitimate son to foster with her family. And that her father accepted Rob spoke of the respect between the two men. Until he had repudiated their love and humiliated her before all.

  And now? How would Rob go? If he had ordered her kidnapping, clearly he was trying to tweak her father’s nose as he left. Worse, he was trying to bring her family into war, for if the MacLeries rose against the Mathesons, the MacKenzies’ offer of support in this letter alone would guarantee their involvement. Had she become the instrument of war to bring down her powerful family and redistribute the power and wealth in the western Highlands?

  Perhaps the other letters and documents held the answer to that critical question. It was as she reached for another missive that she heard the footsteps approaching the door. The heavier step and pace told her it was a man. When she heard the voices outside the door, she knew Rob had returned to his chambers.

  Lifting the tray and carrying it to the bed, she then scattered the documents across the table, hoping Rob would not notice. Going back to the bed, she slid onto it and brought the tray nearer to make it appear as though she’d eaten there and not gone near to the table. When the door opened, she stuffed a piece of bread in her mouth and tried not to look guilty.

  Chapter Ten

  When he’d awoken at dawn’s light, Rob had discovered her tucked against him, but even then, hardly moved from the night before. A man’s presence in her bed did not disturb her rest, even if she did not remember which man it was at her side. Cursing himself for that thought and the resentment it caused within him, Rob carefully peeled himself away from her and climbed from the bed. Certainly she was accustomed to a man at her side—she’d been married for months. At least until Iain died, whenever that was. Glancing back at her, he noticed that Lilidh did not move.