Caitriona went into an inexplicable laughing fit, pointing at something across the room. Robert and Edan did not know what had caused her such humor, seeing nothing of what had sparked it, but it led them both to laugh as well.
Before long, the three were all stumbling their way through the halls, forgetting any argument or any prearranged appointments.
Sleep came on hard and unbidden.
Oblivious to any reason for a delay in Edan’s arrival, Isabel finally drifted to sleep, enjoying peaceful dreams of a living Laird with fiery red hair and ocean blue eyes.
Chapter 26
Behind the castle, and just beyond the meadow, the forest stood tall and imposing for any stranger who wished to cross it and enter into the clan’s territory. Under cover of trees, two figures stood in the midst of a heated debate, silhouetted by the night sky and the waning moon.
“I will tell them everything if ye dinnae get me back what is mine,” Cormag threatened. “I want me place back. I want to be the same fierce warrior ye ken me to be. Ye should have seen me during the battle!”
Callum sighed, and it turned into a cough. Cormag eyed him with a vicious smirk before Callum was able to speak. “I ken ye are a great warrior, but there is so much more that ye arnae. Ye arnae a good man, ye be a killer.”
Cormag scoffed, “Me? A killer? We’re all killers! We kill the English in defense of oor land and ye have the sense to call me a killer? Then what are ye, Callum? Have ye ever asked yerself that?”
Callum clenched his jaw and focused on the ground for a moment with a penetrating stare. He knew it was not wise to respond to Cormag in a rush. Tempers flared too easily.
“There is a difference between being a killer who enjoys it and being someone who has to make the difficult choices on behalf of his family,” he replied.
“Whatever ye say,” Cormag replied. “But ye are nae more innocent than I. And, Callum, I ken yer secrets. Ye cannae hide them for long. And if ye dinnae get me back in me place, yer secrets will come tumbling out of me mouth faster than I can stop them.”
“Ye threaten me? Truly? As though I were a simpleton without any power over ye?” Callum replied.
“Ye have nae power over me! That’s me point! Ye wish for power, certainly, but when all is said and done, ye arnae Laird and I’m nae yer subject. Have ye thought about that?” Cormag challenged.
“And ye believe that ye have the power over me merely because ye ken a secret that ye be holding over me head? Cormag, a right pillock ye are,” Callum said.
“Aye, and I’m nae ashamed for it. If I be a pillock, then I’ll be one forever. What I want is to be a pillock with the honor of the warrior I am. And it’s time ye stood up for me and ensured that I am fully reinstated and that I’m fully honored for me skill or yer little secrets will come down on yer head,” he said.
“Alright then. As ye wish. I will speak with me nephew, and we will discuss oor arrangement about ye. I will make sure ye are given what ye rightly deserve,” Callum promised.
Perhaps this time I can convince Edan to execute him. I’ll be more insistent. After all, this cannae continue, Callum thought.
“Good. Do yer duty, Callum. Or I’ll have to do mine,” Cormag said as a final threat. He turned and walked out of the forest and toward the castle, leaving Callum standing beneath the trees where he coughed into a white handkerchief.
Callum continued to plot, but the cold was not good for his lungs late at night. He knew it was best to return to the castle. Between his problems with Cormag, and his uncertainty about his nephew’s decisions, Callum felt that the clan might be falling apart.
It was complete darkness outside when the light footsteps of Rose pattered through the hall outside of Isabel’s room. She had heard of the English prisoner, that she was beautiful and charming. But to Rose, all living creatures had seemed mere ghosts since the death of her husband.
Knowing there was an English woman in the castle was too shocking to Rose. She had to know why the young lady had come to be there, and how their enemy could live so civilly among them.
With a frail hand, Rose creaked the door quietly open. The candle in her other hand burned dimly which only slightly illuminated the world around her.
As her eyes adjusted to the dark in the room, waiting for the walls to accept the glow of the flame, Rose tried to focus on the bed. Then she saw the outline of the young blonde girl, lying comfortably beneath the woolen covers. Her full mouth was beautiful, her cheeks looked like a porcelain doll, and her eyelashes were long, thick and dark.
Rose understood why whispers of the English beauty had spread even to her own ears, despite being a woman forgotten. For Rose, who had largely been ignored since her grief, it was strange to learn about the many changes that had happened in the castle over the past year.
Isabel stirred.
Strange, thought Rose. Her brow reminds me of that boy Edan loved so dearly to ride with.
She moved her hand closer to Isabel’s face but quickly withdrew it, not wanting to wake the young woman. Rose wondered why her son had been named so consistently in the rumors. Could it be that he had truly fallen in love with her?
The small woman slowly backed out of the room, wandering past a large window. She saw two pale faces, barely visible and quite small, coming at different paces from the woods.
The larger man, someone she vaguely recognized, was coming at a near stampede, while the other lagged far behind.
Rose was not always lucid, but at that moment, she knew something was amiss.
Whatever should two little men be doing out this time of night? she wondered.
And with that final thought, Rose flitted from the room and returned silently down the hall as if she had never existed.
Isabel woke suddenly, feeling as though she were not alone. She grabbed the little blade from beneath her pillow and readied herself. Edan was not there. No one was there.
What was that? she wondered, certain that something had come and gone. She had a distinct sensation of not being the only one in the room.
Isabel struck a match with shaking fingers and lit a candle. She was expecting to see some sort of ghost or goblin coming at her from the darkness, but there was nothing.
She began to wonder where Edan had been. Had he come after she’d fallen asleep and went on his way again? Or was it not as late as she supposed?
The night sky was pitch darkness, so she was certain it was definitely quite late.
Isabel held the candle tightly and left the room in her bare feet. She made her way down the hall to see if she could hear any signs of life. Or perhaps Edan was on his way.
Deciding it was a waste to have a midnight walk without a destination, Isabel wanted to go to the library, and perhaps pass Edan’s door on her way.
She stopped at his floor and listened. She could hear the sound of light snoring. Her hand rested on the wood. She would have liked to go in, but no. There was no sense in that. She could not just go to see him. Her mission for him was quite different.
So, Isabel continued toward the library when she suddenly heard the quiet steps of someone who — like her — did not wish to be seen.
She hid behind a corner, blowing out her candle quickly, and watched as Callum passed by and into his room after checking to make sure he was unseen. In the shadows, Isabel remained hidden. But she wondered why he would be so desperate to remain unnoticed.
Isabel knew that he was able to come and go as he pleased. But for Isabel to be seen walking at night, it would be seen as an attempt to escape. It simply didn’t make sense that he was trying to remain concealed.
Once he was inside, Isabel continued down. The halls were dim to walk at night. She was relying on the lamps on the wall to light the way, but they were too far apart to be adequate.
Again, she heard footsteps and this time they were heavier and less concerned with anonymity.
Hiding again, Isabel watched Cormag snort and walk through the hall. She did not know wh
ere he might be going, but it seemed strange that he and Callum were both out so late.
Cormag did not generally stay in the castle at night, and the thought of him within the halls left her uneasy.
She was confident that the guards would not have let him in for no reason, but it still seemed strange to Isabel.
Exhaustion swept over her, and she remembered again that it was unwise for her to be wandering the castle so freely in the middle of the night. Should she be seen, who knows what might be said?
Abandoning thoughts of the library, Isabel retreated to her bedroom. Despite suspicions raised, and doors closed, the castle was finally ready to sleep.
Chapter 27
Early in the morning, Isabel was in the library. She had not gone to breakfast. Her stomach still felt raw since the fated evening two nights ago when Edan had not come to her rooms.
He had thought her strange behavior was anger at him for not coming to be with her, and he explained with deep apologies that he’d been foolish to get so drunk.
Since then, she had kept her distance and Edan had not felt welcome near her. It was his deepest desire to bring her back into closeness with him so they could have the night he had dreamt of. But seeing she had not come to eat, Edan found his way to the library hoping to see her there. He had not been disappointed.
“Lass, come with me to the market. We have to get ye out of these walls,” Edan hoped his idea appealed to her.
Without taking her eyes from the book she was reading, she replied, “You really think that is a good idea? Even in the great hall, I see their eyes, the way your people look on me with such hatred and disgust.”
“It isnae going to be like that forever, lass. They just see ye as English, but soon ye ken they will see that ye are one of them. Just a kind, radiant woman in flesh and blood and beauty,” he replied.
“You do not know that. It could very well be that they hate me forever. You cannot tell me that they will suddenly love me, my Laird,” she said.
Edan placed his hand at the small of Isabel’s back, pulled her into an embrace and looked down on her face as she gazed up at him.
“Ye have the most amazing eyes, lass,” Edan said, looking into her green irises.
“Thank you,” Isabel replied softly, her breath catching at his nearness. Edan’s lips were on hers, warm and full and comforting. He forced her lips open and his tongue explored her mouth with yearning.
Edan found himself utterly forgetting about the market, and he hugged Isabel tighter in his grasp. And with one swift motion, Isabel was airborne.
She felt so light in his arms. Edan lifted her effortlessly and set her on the chaise longue. He moved his body on top of hers. The weight of him was what she needed to soothe all of her fears and anxieties. This was all she craved, this was what she wanted.
For a moment, just for a moment, I will indulge in this. The knife is not here to tempt me anyway. So just one last time I will enjoy his body on mine, she promised herself. And for a mere second, Isabel believed the lie that she could indulge only once more in her need for Edan.
Their lips were like a magnetic force that drew them together, and they were unable to separate. Feeling the eager movements of Edan’s body, Isabel wondered if this would be the moment they were meant to have under the trees just two nights before.
But he slowed his body down, much to her displeasure. With a final few light kisses, Edan separated his mouth from Isabel’s and withdrew. He pulled his body up to a standing position and helped Isabel to her feet.
“We really do need to get to the market, if we are to get ye anything,” he said apologetically.
There is only one thing I need right now. Isabel tried to ignore the burning sensation she felt. She could not help noticing the bulge under Edan’s kilt and felt certain that he, too, needed it.
“Whatever you wish, my Laird,” Isabel said obediently.
“Ye ken, ye dinnae have to always be submissive,” Edan said, catching Isabel off guard.
“What do you mean?” she inquired, trying not to show her offense.
“I mean, I love that fighting spirit ye have. I love the way when we first met, ye were openly disgusted by me. Dinnae get me wrong, lass, I have nae interest in ye hating me again. But it was quite lovely to watch yer independence,” he explained.
“Ah yes,” Isabel replied. She didn’t know what else to say as she considered his words.
“Well, my Laird, I suppose it is like this,” she began more confidently. “Being your prisoner makes it all quite challenging. At first, it was being your prisoner that gave me the fuel for my hatred.
“But now, my Laird, I am trying to find my place here. I am still, after all this time, a prisoner. Eventually, that becomes discouraging. And yet I am also your lover. And being the lover of a man who is ruler over his people, that also brings me to uncertainty in my independence.”
Edan considered her words as carefully as Isabel had.
Perhaps I have allowed myself to play the doe-eyed lover too well, Isabel wondered. That’s why I have to keep my distance now. If he had come that night, would I have really murdered…I mean executed him? I have to think first.
Oh, and he is probably just standing here thinking I am angry at him for not coming to meet me. What frustration this is! Or maybe he thinks I am angry for still being his prisoner. He knows so little of the truth.
They stood in silence before Edan cleared his throat attesting to both their discomfort.
“So, would ye like to go or nae?” he asked, showing her that she had the option to say no.
“Indeed, I would be interested to see what it is you trade, and I would not mind getting one of those woolen blankets that keep me so warm. I should like it for the day I return home,” Isabel said.
The awkward quietness plummeted again as they both thought of her leaving.
“Right…well, let us be gone then, lass,” Edan said.
By the time they had reached the marketplace, Isabel had already been sneered at by half those she passed.
“My Laird, I do not think this was such a good idea,” she whispered to Edan.
“Ye are fine, me lass, dinnae worry,” he replied.
In that moment of verbal reassurance, a young boy, of no more than seven or eight years old, came to Isabel and stamped hard on her foot. His freckled face displayed a furrowed brow.
“Bloody English!” he shouted in his high-pitched Scottish accent.
“Ah!” squeaked Isabel. Her eyes followed the child as he ran off, amazed that at such a young age he could display that sort of hatred for her. Isabel felt certain that his parents were somewhere nearby watching and praising him for his action.
Edan was trying not to laugh, but he also had compassion in his eyes for Isabel.
If I werenae here with her, I have nae doubt she’d be spat upon, he realized. It truly was a risk bringing her here, and her discomfort was not unwarranted.
“Me Laird, Edan, what a pleasure to see ye!” exclaimed a plump woman surrounded by children. She wore a head wrap that left only her rounded cheeks with the small face inside them displayed.
“Marion, it is good to see ye as well!” Edan exclaimed, giving the woman a hug. He lifted one of the smaller children into his arms for a moment and played with him in the air before setting him back down.
“Lass, this is Marion, me old nursemaid when I was a wee lad,” Edan explained.
“A wee lad? Aye, and I’m a wee lady! Nae, this was quite the chunk of a boy! Lass, ye should have seen him when his thighs reached down to his ankles!” Marion exclaimed with a jolly laugh.
Edan laughed along with her. “Ye shouldnae be spilling all me secrets, Marion! Anyhoo, is Bill around?”
“Aye, he’s inside smoking meats. Head on in, he’d be right thrilled to see ye I’m certain!” Marion said.
Isabel stood shaking as Edan left her out in the middle of everything. She was terrified by some of the glances she received from those passing by
. She spotted the little boy who stomped on her standing right behind Marion.
“So ye be the one they keep speaking about?” Marion asked. All of her smiles had vanished, and only angry creases remained along her forehead.
“Y-yes, I suppose,” Isabel replied in her hesitant way.
“The one who’ll be dragging us all down with oor Laird? Aye, we ken all about ye, lass. The mysterious prisoner who captivated his heart. Ye ken we all believe ye are going to drag him right down into hell if ye dinnae leave us,” Marion said bitterly.
The Highlander's Enigmatic Bride: A Scottish Historical Romance Novel Page 15
