captivated by the enemy
Scottish highland Romance
Fiona MacEwen
Contents
Chapter 1 Robbed!
Chapter 2 The Other Clan
Chapter 3 Manfred McCullough
Chapter 4 The Plan
Chapter 5 The Proposal
Chapter 6 Never
Chapter 7 Blaine’s Sword
Chapter 8 Kendra Speaks
Chapter 9 The Proposal
Chapter 10 The Laird
Epilogue
About the Author
Other Titles by Fiona MacEwen:
Chapter 1
Robbed!
Ness McGregor was in a very foul mood and wished to speak to no one–at least, this was what she told Mr. Knightley, the man who sat in front of her cart, clutching the horse's reins. Often she snapped at him and asked to be told whether they had reached home. Mr. Knightley replied as best as he could, maneuvering the cart through the semi-darkness.
Outside, thunder rumbled, causing Ness to shudder. Lightning zigzagged from cloud to cloud, illuminating the night sky for a fraction of a second. It was going to rain; there was no doubt about that. Ness silently prayed it would not begin to pour until she was safely tucked in bed. She hated to be stuck in a situation like this when it was raining. Even now, although it had not yet begun to pour, she was rather annoyed she had had to sit so still in the cart for so long. By now, it must be nearing midnight. What was worse, home was nearly a whole town away. This was turning out to be the most terrible day of her life.
If only she had listened to Matilda! If her ears had not been closed, she would be lying comfortably in a bed, not sitting in this cart.
She had gone to Braes from Glenstrae, to attend a ball that her friend’s father had organized. The ball had been, to put it quite simply, marvelous. Indeed, Ness and Matilda Brown had danced till their hearts could hold no more joy. Afterwards, the two women had gone to sit by the creek and talk. By the time Ness got up to leave, it was already very late. All the other guests had taken their leave.
Ness knew what this meant: traveling at this time was quite dangerous; one was very likely to be robbed to the last coin. In fact, many were said to have lost their lives because they failed to heed the advice of others.
Matilda had offered to let her stay at her house until morning when it would be safe for her to return home. She would be able to change out of her gown before she slept. But Ness would hear of no such thing. She had made a promise to her father to return home once the ball ended; she would not break her promise, no matter what. Trust was a fragile thing between her and her father. Ness never wanted to lose that trust.
“But, Ness, ye ken how reckless it is,” Matilda had complained. “It is not done.”
“It is to done,” Ness had replied swiftly. “People have done it lots of times.”
“Aye, but many of them have been robbed, even killed!”
“Many, not all,” Ness had said coolly, and that was the end of the conversation.
Even Mr. Brown had advised her to stay overnight.
“We have plenty of room, Ness,” he said amicably. “And there is nothing to worry aboot; this hame is quite safe.”
“I must return hame noo,” Ness said. And she would listen no more. She hurried out of the house, ignoring Matilda’s cries, marched to her cart where Mr. Knightley sat, dozing, and shook him awake.
Mr. Knightley fell off his seat and landed on the ground. In an instant, he was on his feet, dusting himself down. He snatched up his lamp from where it had fallen and peered at her. His eyes widened in surprise. “Miss McGregor!”
“Mr. Knightley,” she said crisply. “I want to be taken hame.”
“Noo?’ Mr. Knightley spluttered. “B-but it is nearly midnight!”
“Why does everybody keep telling me that?” Ness snapped. “I demand that ye to take me back to Glenstrae noo!” She flashed him a sweet smile, inclining her head so that her dark curls shook. “Unless, perhaps, ye wish to lose yer job. All that would take is a brief meeting with my father.”
In the lantern’s light, Ness saw the color drain from his face. “Aye, right away, Miss.”
And so, they had taken off. Less than an hour had passed before Ness realized that she had made a huge mistake. Mr. Knightley could hardly see, and so he drove very slowly along the winding path between the tall trees. At the rate the horses and cart were moving, Ness was certain they would arrive at her father’s house by morning. She had become worried and angry, and snapped at Mr. Knightley, retiring into silence moments after.
Ness wondered what her father would make of this. The Laird of Clan McGregor was the closest thing she had to a friend; Matilda came next. Wilson McGregor was the only family she had left, besides her younger sister, Anna; Ness had lived twenty-two years in the world without ever really laying eyes on her mother. Katherine McGregor, her father said, was attacked by an enemy clan shortly after Ness’ birth. That was the last time Wilson ever saw his wife. He heard rumors, weeks after, that she had been killed. Some said she was being kept in a dungeon. Be that as it may, Wilson knew that he was never going to see his wife again.
For this reason, he was exceptionally fond of his daughter, and gave her everything she ever wanted. But Wilson McGregor could be very strict. When Ness disobeyed him, he did not hesitate to scold her. She made sure to stay out of his way whenever he got angry; very little angered him though. All in all, Wilson was a wonderful man, and Ness loved him dearly.
Still, she was reluctant to face him after returning home later than he expected.
Another peal of thunder filled her ears, dragging her out of her thoughts. A second later, Mr. Knightly gave a yell. Ness saw him flick the reins. The horses whinnied and shot forward, causing the cart to jerk in their wake, and Ness was tossed about in her seat. When she finally regained her balance, she shot a glare in Mr. Knightley’s direction.
“Have ye gone mad?” she screeched.
Mr. Knightley glanced over his shoulder at her but did not say a word. He did not need to. The look of horror on his face was enough for Ness to know that something had gone very wrong. Something had frightened him.
To be exact, someone had.
Ness listened intently, peering out of the cart. She could hear the sound of… of horses galloping. Aye, that was it! Horses. But these were not her horses.
Was it possible that Matilda or her father, or perhaps a number of their servants had come after them to persuade them to return to their home in Braes? Ness found herself wishing that such was the case. At this point, there was next to nothing that she would not give to get out of her cart and lie on a warm bed.
All of a sudden, she let out a shriek. The face of a man had appeared by the window, his menacing eyes illuminated by the lantern he was carrying. In his other hand was a sword. He looked at her and broke into an evil grin.
“Mr. Knightley–help!”
The sound of hooves grew louder. Several more men sped ahead of the cart, yelling, and slashed with their swords.
“Nae!” Mr. Knightley yelled.
There was a blur of movement and he fell off his seat, tumbling to the ground. The cart gave another violent jerk and began to slow down. In a matter of seconds, it had ground to a halt, nearly throwing Ness forward. She could hear her horses whinnying in panic as they galloped away. The assailants had set them loose.
“Oh, dear,” Ness whimpered. “Whit shall I do?”
The men surrounded the cart, shouting in triumph. Two of them dismounted their horses and swaggered towards the cart. The door was wrenched open and Ness was pulled
out.
“Unhand me, I warn ye!”
“Silence, wummin!” snarled the man who had grabbed her by the wrists. “Do ye want to die?”
Ness said nothing in reply, but spat on the ground and glared at him. The other men burst into laughter.
“Such beautiful earrings ye have got there!” said one. “Widnae ye like to share them with poor me?”
Robbers, Ness realized. The men were robbers.
One of them slid his hand across her shoulder and ran a finger on the necklace she had on. “I’ll bet both my legs that this here is a real diamond necklace.” He looked around at the other men. “Boys, it looks like we struck gold this time–or should I say, diamond!”
“Oh, ye villains! I shall report this to my father!” Ness cried. “He will have yer heads before the sun rises, I tell ye!”
The bandits roared with laughter.
“And who might yer father be?” asked one of the men.
“Why, the Laird of Clan McGregor, of course!”
That wiped the grins off their faces.
“Yer father is a Laird?” the man croaked.
He looked extremely nervous.
“Are yer ears stuffed with wax?” Ness snapped. “I just told ye so!”
The man nearest to him took a step forward. “Ye lie, womman. If yer father is so important, he would have many carts following ye for protection. But, when ye sleep, tell him I said hello.”
Ness gave a frown. “Sleep?”
The man gave a sinister chuckle, soon joined by others. Then, before she could move, he swing a large fist. Ness felt his knuckles connect with the side of his head. She toppled and fell. The last thing she saw before her eyes slid shut was a man dropping to a crouch beside her.
When Ness awoke, jerking to her feet in an instant, the men were all gone. So were the horses and the cart. She felt her ears and neck. The earrings and necklace were gone. A cold feeling in her feet told her that she was no longer wearing shoes.
A moan escaped Ness’s lips. Those items had cost a fortune.
But there was an even bigger problem: she was stranded. Mr. Knightley was nowhere to be seen; perhaps he had fled. Without him, the horses and the cart, there was no way Ness would get back home before morning. Even getting home was a problem. It did not matter whether she had a horse or not. In the darkness, she was not sure which way she had come from and which way she had been headed when the robbers struck. With her luck, she would get lost—or worse—killed within the first ten minutes of traveling.
“Oh, how gallus I hae been,” she wailed, raking her fingers through her hair. “Matilda warned me that this would happen!”
If she lived to tell the tale, Matilda would surely scorn her for the rest of her life. Ness sat on the ground, not caring that she was ruining her gown, and began to sob.
How much time passed, Ness did not know. But one moment she was wide awake, sobbing for all she was worth, and the next, she was lying on her side, her chest rising and falling steadily.
When she woke up again, there was a man standing over her.
Chapter 2
The Other Clan
There was very little that surprised Blaine McCullough. He was quite sturdy, both in body and mind. But, somehow, the sight of this woman lying on the ground like she had no care in the world, shocked him. Perhaps she had gone mad. No one in their right mind would lie on the ground in such expensive-looking clothes.
It occurred to him that she might not be mad; if she was as wealthy as Blaine thought, there was a great chance that she had been robbed. It made sense when ye thought about it: a woman traveling at this time of night in a place like this. She was lucky the robbers had had the decency not to rob her of her gown, too.
“Mr. Knightley?” he heard her say.
“I am naw him,” Blaine replied.
He raised his lantern to see better. She was a fair one, he decided. Her curly black hair was swept across her face, almost shielding her mouth from view. Her eyes had fluttered open and as she stared at him, unblinking, he saw terror in them. Surely she did not think he was going to harm her?
“I come in peace,” he said. “Ye look like ye are in great need of help. Ye were robbed, I take it?”
He took her silence for a yes. The woman sat up slowly. Blaine extended a hand. She took it after a moment’s hesitation, and he helped her to her feet.
“Whit do ye think ye are doing here at this time of night?” he asked. “These parts are dangerous, even in the light.”
She looked as though she thought he might strike her. “I…I was on my way hame.”
“Where do ye live?”
“Glenstrae.”
Blaine let out a low whistle. “That is a long way from here. Luckily, I happen to have a horse. I am headed to Argyll, the town after, but I can take ye to Glenstrae, if ye do not mind.”
“Oh, not at all!” she said.
Blaine took another critical look at her. She had obviously seen better days. The hem of her gown was ruined. There were bits of grime all over her face; she must have rolled in her sleep, or perhaps the robbers had roughed her up. Maybe both. She wore no ring. Why that particular detail caught his eye so easily, Blaine was not sure.
She looked extremely miserable. When he had first come across her, he had nearly fallen off his horse, fearing that she was a ghost. When he dismounted and drew nearer and realized that she was just a woman, the thought occurred to him to leave her where she lay. But he could not just leave a woman in obvious need of help.
He led her towards his horse and swung onto it. Then she mounted the horse, surprising him for a moment, and wrapped her arms around his middle. Blaine could feel her heart hammering against her chest. He flicked the horse reins, and they were off.
They rode for what seemed like hours although Blaine was certain that only minutes had gone by. Neither of them spoke, which was just as well. He felt more comfortable in the silence.
“Whit is yer name?” she asked him suddenly.
He let the question hang in the air for a few seconds before answering, rather reluctantly. “Ma name’s Blaine. And ye are?”
“Ness. Ness McGregor.”
At these words, Blaine brought the horse to a halt. He could hear the woman calling his name timidly, but he was too shocked to reply.
“Blaine?” She tapped his shoulder again. “How ye daein?”
Finally, he shook himself out of his thoughts. “Aye, I am. Ye are Ness McGregor, daughter of Wilson McGregor?”
“Ye sound surprised.”
“I didnae ken this. It is not every day that one comes across the daughter of a laird sleeping on the ground, completely barefoot.” Blain pulled the reins, and the horse kicked into motion.
“I had a horse and a cart,” she said. Then, after a moment’s pause, she added, “And I had a driver. The robbers must have taken everything away with them.”
“Including yer driver?”
He could almost feel her blushing behind him. “Naw, I do not think so. Mr. Knightley must have run. I have never met a man so feart in my entire life.”
Blaine could not resist a chuckle. But, deep in his mind, he was quite troubled. The moment this woman revealed her identity, something had clicked inside his head. A memory had swum to the forefront of his mind. Blaine found himself beginning to regret offering to help Ness in the first place. It would have been easier to just leave her where she lay and been on his way.
He hoped she did not realize who she was. It was a good thing he had not told her what his surname was, or she would have recognized him at once.
Even more troubling was what his father would think if he ever found out that his son had showed hospitality towards this woman. There was no doubt that would get angry. He had always gotten into a sour mood whenever her kind was mentioned.
“We do not mix,” he had once told Blaine. “We must never have anything to do with them, unless we are sending them to their graves where they belong.”
; Guess what, Father? Blaine thought grimly. One of the people ye hate so much is sitting behind me on the same horse.
Ness did not ask any more questions; she seemed too tired to even speak. The excitement of the night must have drained her. Not much time had passed by the time she fell asleep again, leaving Blaine alone with his thoughts. She nearly slid off the horse, but he caught her in time. He stopped the horse, dismounted, and remounted with Ness in front. She leaned against him, still dead to the world. Shaking his head, Blaine pulled the reins again.
By the time they reached the other town, the sun was rising. Blaine put out the lantern and shook Ness awake. It took three tries, but she finally responded to his touch, opening her eyes.
“Are we there?” she asked, groggily rubbing her eyes. She blinked a few times. “We are there! But we are almost outside town. I thought ye were taking me to my father’s castle?”
The laird’s castle? Was this woman out of her mind? If he even dared to venture near the place, his horse would return unscathed, dragging his own corpse behind it. “Naw way, Miss.”
“Why not? I am sure my father would like to thank ye for delivering me safely.” She waited for Blaine to dismount before following suit.
“I do not wish to go near the castle,” Blaine said through gritted teeth.
Ness turned to face him, disappointment showing on her face. If only she knew, Blaine thought.
“It does not matter. I should be glad that I am safer than I would have been if ye had not come by when ye did. Thank ye so much–” she froze in mid-speech, her eyes growing alarmingly. “Yer…yer…yer clothes!”
She was staring at his chest. Blaine looked down at the tartan he was wearing. It was a dark brown color, with red stripes running across it.
“The colors of the Clan Campbell,” Ness whispered.
She kent.
“And ye are of the Clan McGregor,” Blaine said.
“B-but–but that makes us–”
“Mortal enemies,” Blaine finished. He had suspected that this would happen, but had been hoping she would not recognize him. For a second, a fearful look flickered across her face, but it was quickly replaced with a look of curiosity.
Captivated by the Enemy: (Scottish Highland Romance) Page 1
