The Highland Guardian

by Jarecki, Amy

  “I reckon it’s high time she paid a visit,” Dunn mumbled from behind his damned cup.

  Jesus Christ. Though Reid’s mind was made up, this was no time to break an age-old alliance. Mairi bounced up to the table wearing a smile as if she were about to cross the threshold into wedded bliss.

  Every man stood.

  Reid’s tongue felt too big for his mouth as he took her chilly fingers and politely kissed the back of her hand. “I’m surprised to see you, m’lady.”

  “Well, I’m no’ overly surprised to see you, m’lord.” She gave him a wee snort before shifting her gaze to Dunn and turning a shade of scarlet. “Though I wasn’t expecting to see you here, sir.”

  Dunn bowed his head. “M’lady.”

  Reid introduced the Marquis of Tullibardine and they all sat. Mairi managed to position herself into the seat straight across from Reid, where she promptly leaned forward and stared at him. “What kind of trouble are you in, m’lord?”

  He stopped a low growl threatening to rumble from his throat as he gave her a sober frown. “’Twas a misunderstanding with a warden in Durham, and I aim to settle it anon.” He looked to her father. “I suggest you take Lady Mairi home, where she’ll be safe.”

  “I’ll protect her,” said Dunn.

  Reid cracked his knuckles under the table, wishing he could plant his fist in MacRae’s mouth about now. And why the bloody hell was the chieftain staring at the lass as if he hadn’t had a meal in a sennight? He nudged his friend with his elbow. “Nay. I need you with me.”

  “Mairi ought to be safe from harm if she stays above stairs,” said Dunn as if he were in charge. “We’ll see to it no one comes close.”

  Reid pushed his chair back. What choice did he have? His heart had been claimed by a lovely English rose and across from him sat the lass who, at five years younger, had been a thorn in his side at every clan gathering he could remember. Aye, Mairi had become a woman. And though she was now bonny and grinning at him, Reid couldn’t push away the love he felt for Miss Audrey Kennet.

  Love. He couldn’t help but admit that he had fallen in love with his ward. Would he ever be able to clear his name and claim the woman who’d stolen his heart?

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Lord Saltoun was an older man with a mop of gray hair and a beard that hung down to his chest. He’d no sooner opened the doors to them than he began shouting orders for hearths to be stoked with peat and food to be prepared. He not only appointed Audrey and Maddie with chambers above stairs, he offered his stable to Captain Ferguson and his crew.

  Once Audrey explained their purpose, Lord Saltoun immediately rose to their assistance. “I’ve two eighteen-oar sea galleys moored in the cove.” He gave Audrey a wink. “We’ll set sail come first light.”

  She clasped her hands and bowed her head respectfully. “How can I ever thank you, my lord?”

  “It’s thanks enough to have a chance to face that mob of backbiting dragoons. They ride through the Highlands like God granted them dominion over our lands, and I’d relish any opportunity to feed them their own tripe.” He looked to Maddie with a furrowed brow. “The only thing I do not understand is why I’m just hearing about this now, m’lady.”

  “Seaforth was in hiding,” the marchioness explained. “He’d hoped things would cool down afore the redcoats marched against his lands, but that was not meant to be.”

  “But I have a missive that will settle the question of his guilt once and for all.” Audrey clutched her satchel tight around her waist.

  “You’re kindhearted for a Sassenach.”

  After a fitful night’s sleep, Maddie and Audrey continued on their journey with Lord Saltoun and his crew of Highland oarsmen. Audrey stood aft and watched the bow break through the swells, as they headed toward the confluence of land from north and south grown nearer. When they sailed into the Cromarty Firth, Lord Saltoun regarded her from his position at the rudder. “’Tis a good thing the tide’s in. My wee boat is small enough to sail up the River Conon.”

  “Does that river cut through MacKenzie lands?” asked Maddie.

  “Aye, m’lady. Look around you. His Lordship’s influence stretches far and wide. Every man from here to Applecross pays fealty to the Earl of Seaforth.”

  Audrey had no idea how much land that encompassed, but she was awed. In the distance, it seemed like mountains stretched to infinity. “That would be a great many souls, would it not?”

  “Aye, a great many.”

  Wringing her hands, she watched the scenery sail by. The oarsmen heaved and strained to pull the boat against the wind, though with the protection of the firth, the swells weren’t as unforgiving as they had been the day prior in the open sea. As the time passed, Audrey’s unease grew, especially when Saltoun announced they were entering the confluence of the River Conon. “How much longer?”

  The man frowned. “Don’t go wishing your life away, lass. We’ll drop anchor soon enough.”

  “I only hope we arrive before the dragoons,” said Maddie.

  “Me as well.” The words barely escaped Audrey’s mouth when the unmistakable crack of a musket resounded on the wind…followed by another, then another. She met Maddie’s startled gaze. As the boat rounded a bend in the river, the roar of a battle in full force raged. Along the bank, redcoats were running toward kilted Highlanders, with bayonets affixed and swords pointed forward.

  “Oars up!” shouted Lord Saltoun. “Tack to shore and drop anchor. Ready your weapons. We’ll be fighting redcoats afore this hour is done!”

  “We’re too late.” Audrey shot Her Ladyship a panicked grimace.

  Maddie pointed. “Aiden!”

  Audrey sucked in a gasp as she saw Reid leading the cavalry straight for a line of foot soldiers wielding bayonets.

  The marchioness covered her eyes. “I cannot watch.”

  Audrey couldn’t turn away. Swinging his sword in an upward arc, Reid cut through the front line at a gallop, heading straight for the next line of formation. He sat his stallion like a Viking, his hair whipping on the wind as he bore down on his next opponent. Men fled as he easily broke through a line of pikemen. Reid never once stopped to look in his wake. Surging forward, he continued to strike.

  Lord Saltoun’s men climbed over the hull and raced into battle.

  “Haste!” Audrey grabbed Maddie’s elbow and dashed forward, climbing over rowing benches until they reached the bow.

  Watching Reid cut down his next attacker, she suddenly couldn’t breathe. “God, no! He’s heading straight for Captain Fry.”

  Audrey’s gut twisted as the two men meet on horseback. Their swords clanged, the echo making her teeth rattle. Her muscles twitched as if she were in the midst of their fight. Reid’s horse was taller and his reach longer, but Fry attacked like an asp, thrusting and pulling away to avoid Reid’s hacking strikes.

  The two opponents were equally skilled, expertly maneuvering their horses as each fought with savage strength.

  “Dear God!” Gulping, Audrey clapped a hand over her mouth.

  “We can’t just stand here helplessly,” shouted Maddie.

  Audrey glanced down. A musket and powder horn lay at her feet. She snatched them from the deck. “See if you can find musket balls.” She pulled the cork with her teeth and charged the weapon with black powder.

  Maddie straightened with a pouch in her hand, pulling out a lead ball. “Here.”

  “Thank you.” She took it and dropped it down the barrel, ramming it with the rod as fast as she could. Taking aim, she willed her trembling fingers to still as she waited for a clear shot. With his reins in his teeth, Reid chased Captain Fry, launching himself at the fleeing blackguard. The two men tumbled to the ground in a flurry of fists and blades.

  “Aiden!” Maddie cried, thrusting her finger toward her husband.

  With no clear shot to help Reid, Audrey panned her sights to the marquis, now battling man-to-man, his sword clanging loudly against a beastly dragoon’s cutlass. An attac
ker ran toward Tullibardine’s back, bayonet aimed for a lethal strike. Audrey sucked in a deep breath and squeezed the trigger.

  Click-boom!

  The weapon fired with a forceful kick. Skittering backward, Maddie grabbed her arm and helped Audrey steady herself before falling over a rowing bench. She waved her hand to clear the smoke. The attacker was down.

  Audrey snatched the powder horn and recharged the musket. “Hand me another ball.”

  Across the battlefield, the fighting grew fiercer. Fry was running away from Reid. Now would be her chance, blast it.

  “Here.”

  Audrey stuffed in the tow followed by the ball and shoved it all down with the ramrod. Both Reid and Fry had lost their swords. Fighting like dogs, the captain got away and started to run. Reid made chase, took a running dive, and tackled Fry. They rolled on the ground, fists flying. The earl gained the advantage and threw a jab to the captain’s jaw. A flash of steel whipped out from Fry’s sleeve.

  “Watch the knife!”

  Reid evaded the blade as it sliced too close to his throat.

  Groaning with frustration, Audrey headed for the ladder. “I need to be closer.”

  “No.” Maddie caught her arm. “Stay on the boat. ’Tis too dangerous.”

  “You’d do what you could to save the marquis, would you not?”

  Her ladyship released her grip and gave a nod. “Keep low and out of sight.”

  “I will.” Audrey pushed the musket into Maddie’s hands. “Keep the barrel pointed up and hand it to me once I’m over the side.”

  The hem of Audrey’s gown got soaked as she waded through the knee-deep water to the gravelly shore. Crouching under the willows, she held the musket at the ready as she hastened toward the fighting. Men grunted and screamed, the stench of blood thick on the air.

  Fight well, my love. I’m coming.

  A branch cracked behind her. With a gasp, her back stiffened. An arm slung around her throat while the musket was torn from her grasp. Her shoulders crashed into the wall of a man’s chest.

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were fighting for those filthy Scots,” Wagner Tupps growled in her ear, his voice as menacing as the keenly honed dagger he leveled at the pulsing vein in Audrey’s neck.

  When she opened her mouth to scream, the thug stuffed a dirty rag inside, gagging her as he dragged her into the shadows of the forest.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Reid’s muscles burned like the glowing heat from iron scorched by a smithy’s bellows. Captain Fry fought as dirty as he’d wielded his cat-o’-nine-tails. Upon Reid’s every jab, the man came back with a crippling punch to the kidneys or a strike to the jaw. He’d drawn a blade from his sleeve and another from his stocking. Every time Reid disarmed him, Fry came again with a fiendish attack.

  But Reid was bigger and stronger, and the time he’d spent at the cottage rebuilding his strength kept him alive.

  As the fight persisted, Fry tired. He resorted to vicious jabs to the newly healed scars on Reid’s back. But pain had long since been overcome. With Fry’s next strike, Reid seized the man’s wrist and bent it downward until the captain dropped to his knees, cringing in pain. As the captain crumbled, Reid drove his knee into the man’s face while he twisted Fry’s arm harder.

  “Mercy!”

  “Did you take mercy on me?” Reid demanded as he landed another knee in the man’s snout. “How many innocent men have you savagely whipped?”

  “I will ruin you!” Blood streaming from his mouth, the captain struggled to wrench away from Reid’s grasp. “I was doing my duty. I am an officer of the queen.” Fry raised his hand and grasped Reid’s knee, trying to jerk Reid off balance. But hours of training and honing his strength paid off. Reid’s knee broke through Fry’s defense, connecting with the man’s chin. The captain’s head snapped back, and he dropped to the ground in an unconscious heap.

  Barking, Cluny bounded straight for them and pounced on Fry’s chest, sinking his fangs around the man’s throat.

  “You’re a bit late, old fella.”

  Cluny growled and held fast, the dog’s eyes wild.

  “Good lad. Hold him there until they lock him in irons and ship him to Inverness for trial.” Reid wiped his hands on his kilt, taking in the scene. The fighting had stopped, and his men were mustering the redcoats who were still able to stand into the center of the lea and binding their wrists.

  “Och, ’twas a bloody good feud. One I’m glad I didn’t miss,” said an old man with bowed legs and blood spattered across his face.

  Reid shook his head as recognition set in. “William Fraser, Lord Saltoun?” Grinning, he shook the man’s hand. “What the bleeding hell brought you down from your dunghill?”

  “It seems your Sassenach lassie was attempting to deliver a missive to you from the queen in hopes to avoid a battle. Though I daresay she’s a wee bit late.”

  “Audrey? What the—?” Reid shot his gaze downriver. Good Lord, the Marchioness of Tullibardine was sprinting toward them.

  “Maddie!” The marquis hastened in beside her. “What the devil are you doing here?”

  Her Ladyship clapped a hand to her chest as she sucked in consecutive breaths, looking straight at Reid. “A-a man has taken Miss Kennet!”

  He clenched his fists and looked beyond Her Ladyship. “Bloody Tupps,” he growled and sprang into action.

  The varlet had a hold on Audrey’s arm while he dragged her from the forest, straight for the galley. Reid ran for his horse, leaped aboard, and gathered his reins. Slamming his heels, he demanded a gallop, heading straight for the boat. I’ll kill you, ye bastard!

  Horses pummeled the ground behind him, but Reid didn’t spare a backward glance. Tupps shoved Audrey over the hull and into the boat, and climbed after her. The feisty lass whipped around and attacked, pounding her fists on his chest.

  Tupps snapped his hand back and slapped her face. Stumbling, the lass disappeared below the edge of the hull. His gut roiling with bile, Reid leaned forward and demanded more speed from his stallion. As they reached the galley, he launched himself from his saddle into the boat. Crouching, he regarded his quarry. “You’ve caused enough trouble for one lifetime, ye illegitimate cur.”

  Tupps whipped around and drew a knife. “Did you not take enough lashings from Fry?”

  Reid’s eyes narrowed. “The captain’s cat-o’-nine-tails is retired for good.”

  Wagner sliced his knife through the air, making it hiss. “I’ll have to finish what he left undone.”

  With one hand, Reid moved Audrey behind him as he drew his dirk with the other. “In your dreams, little man.” Tupps pattered behind the rowing bench, making a show of flailing his dagger. Seaforth wasn’t impressed. “Are you planning to use that thing, or are you dancing a jig?”

  Baring his teeth, the man roared and lunged forward. “The Kennet lands are mine!”

  Reid pushed the knife away to protect Audrey, smashing his shin into a rowing bench. He grimaced in pain but kept hold of Tupps’s knife-wielding hand. With a twist toward the thumb, he forced the weapon to drop to the timbers.

  Tupps swung around, landing a jab to the jaw. “I want the girl,” he grunted.

  Rage shot through Reid’s blood, but he managed to maintain his grasp. “You’ll never touch her.” He jabbed for Tupps’s flank with his dirk, but his opponent pivoted aside.

  Audrey shrieked as the bastard landed another punch, hitting the side of Reid’s head. As he winced, the slippery eel twisted from Reid’s grip.

  Wagner lunged for his knife, wrapping his spindly fingers around the hilt. Springing from the timbers, he drove his blade straight for Reid’s heart.

  With a sharp inhale, Reid rolled aside, the blade skimming past his arm. After the long fight with Captain Fry, his endurance had reached the ragged edge, and now his back was prone to his assailant. Reid hastened to his feet. A loud crack thudded. Ready for anything he whipped around, dirk at the ready.

  Tupps lay
flat on his face, a pool of blood spreading beneath him.

  Audrey squeaked in a high-pitched gasp. She stood over Tupps’s body while an oar dropped from her trembling hands. “He—he—he fell on the knife. I didn’t mean to k-k-kill him.”

  In the blink of an eye, Reid climbed over a bench and pulled her into his arms, shielding her face from the gruesome sight. God, she was a warrior princess, tough as the Highlands. But he knew the remorse that came with taking a life. He held her close to his chest and touched his lips to her ear. “It’s all right, lass. You did what needed to be done. You are the bravest woman I have ever met.”

  She trembled like a leaf in the wind. “He was going to stab you.”

  “Aye, and you stopped him.”

  “I did.”

  He kissed her forehead. “My God, you are astonishing.”

  She coughed out a nervous laugh. “Do you mean that?”

  “Did you not just save my life?”

  When she gave a nod, Reid inclined her chin upward and skimmed his lips across her mouth. In that moment, the only two people in all of Christendom who existed stood wrapped in an embrace in the belly of a boat. It didn’t matter who saw. It didn’t matter what had come before or what would come after. Reid claimed Audrey’s lips and kissed her with the deep love filling his heart. He closed his eyes and plied her mouth with more emotion than he’d ever experienced in his life. He ran his fingers through her hair and held tight, never wanting to be separated from her again.

  Dear God, he loved this woman.

  “Beg your pardon, Seaforth,” Cromartie’s voice brayed from the shore. “It seems you’ve forgotten you’re promised to another.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  One moment Audrey was kissing Reid and melting in his arms, and in the next, her blood ran cold as realization sunk in. No wonder he’d never spoken of the future.

  Reid was promised?

  Her stomach convulsed. Pushing away, she had to cover her mouth to keep down her breakfast. “Is…is this true?”