Highlander's Fate: A Medieval Scottish Historical Highland Romance Book

by Alisa Adams

  They had decided to stay in an inn that night if they could find one, but the only ones they passed were packed to the rafters with other travelers using the same tortuous route.

  Eventually, they came to a reasonably well-maintained shepherd’s hut. The guards were amazed when Shona and Lachlan burst out laughing.

  "Oh my Lord, Lachlan. This brings back memories!" Shona giggled.

  The guards looked on, mystified.

  "Come on, lads!" Lachlan said heartily as he lifted Shona out of the saddle. "We'll tell you the whole story when we get inside. Shona, your hands are freezing!"

  He held them in his own for a moment before Shona batted them away.

  "My Laird," she said, being firm. "I am no' made o' china! My hauns are jist fine – stop fussin' like an auld wummin!

  The guards were chuckling behind their hands, and Shona put a finger to her lips to silence them, which made them worse. Needless to say, Shona was not allowed to bend down to pick anything up and forbidden from carrying anything heavier than an apple. She was beginning to wonder why Lachlan did not just wrap her up in soft sheep's wool and be done with it.

  The men made a fire and toasted bannocks, then shared out cheese, fruit, nuts, and dried meat washed down with goat’s milk and ale.

  Shona, who was developing some very odd tastes, needed to have a dozen pickled onions as well, which everyone else declined.

  "My Laird," Jamie, one of the guards asked, "ye were gauin' tae tell us the story o’ the shepherd’s hut."

  The guards thought their laird and lady were wonderful for being so free with them, but then Shona had been, and still was, a crofter's daughter, and spoke with the same working-class accent as they did.

  She had no airs and graces, and neither did Lachlan, who told the story from the point when Shona had saved him from dying by the loch. Then he went on to narrate how he had imprisoned their enemies, the Robertsons, and brought them to justice eventually.

  But when he told the story of the times he and Shona had spent in the shepherd's hut, his voice became husky and tender, and his eyes were full of love, as were Shona's.

  She added a few words of her own from time to time, like the descriptions of their two first kisses.

  "The first time he kissed me I thought he wanted tae break my teeth!" she said indignantly, remembering the first time his mouth pressed brutally against hers.

  "I did apologize several hundred times," he pointed out.

  She laughed and swatted him playfully.

  "But the next one wis lovely," she said dreamily. "Soft, tender an' very, very quiet…" Her voice had sunk to a whisper. "An' by that time I wis so in love wi' the big Lump I – oh weel, let's jist say it got better."

  There was a contented silence for a moment, then one of the guards, Andy, laughed.

  "I wish my wife wis here, milady." He shook his head, smiling. "She aye loves a good love story."

  "Wi' a happy endin' I'll wager!" Bruce, another guard, said, laughing.

  Lachlan liked them all. They were good solid family men – the kind he was, he hoped.

  Presently, Shona yawned. That made Lachlan order the guards to spread out the bedding at double quick speed so that she could lie down.

  "Honest to God, Lachie," she complained, " I'm no’ a wee lassie. I dinnae need tae be tucked in!"

  He kissed her.

  "Ye're my wee lassie." He imitated her lilting accent. "An' I will tuck ye in if I hae a mind, d'ye hear me?"

  "Aye, ye big lump. Come tae bed." She yawned again then turned over and was asleep in seconds.

  "Whit a grand lady," Colm, the biggest of the guards, said, smiling.

  "Yes," Lachlan said with tenderness. "Yes, she is. Goodnight, lads, see you in the morning."

  Then he wrapped his arms around Shona and began to dream.

  Their journey was hard but uneventful, even though they had to spend a couple of nights under the stars and pick their way along paths that could only be described as roads in the loosest possible sense.

  They arrived at Castle Drummond on a blustery October afternoon, when Shona was just on the point of passing out from exhaustion.

  20

  The Arrival

  Alexa, Moira, and Iain came out to greet them just as Shona got off the horse. Lachlan caught her neatly in his arms as if it were something he was used to doing, and she laid her head on his shoulder, breathing a sigh of relief.

  "My Laird!" Moira said reproachfully. "Why did you take your wife on a journey like this when she is with child? She is tired unto death."

  Lachlan winced at the thought of anything happening to his beloved wife.

  "I did not, my Lady," he replied hotly. "But—"

  "Dae no’ blame him, milady," Shona spoke up. "I wouldnae let him go withoot me. I am a terrible clingy wee thing when I'm wi' child. I'm afraid that somethin' will happen tae him."

  Her accent was that of a common working person, but nobody cared. Shona was Shona, and she reasoned that if nobody liked the way she spoke, then they need not listen.

  Lachlan put her down and shrugged as if to say: "See?"

  "I apologize, my Laird," Moira said, blushing. "I was not thinking. I am with child too, you see."

  "No need." Lachlan kissed her hand. "Your concern does you credit, Lady Drummond."

  When he smiled at her, and the bristles on his chin brushed against her fingers, she had butterflies in her tummy, which was the effect Lachlan McGregor had on most ladies.

  Shona greeted Iain and Alexa with a curtsey and a smile, then managed to take only two steps forward before Lachlan swept her into his arms.

  "Will you show us to our bedroom, Lady Drummond?" he asked. "I am not being rude, but Shona needs to sleep. I will be back forthwith."

  "I will do it." Alexa leaped forward, smiling at Shona, who tried to return it, but whose drooping eyelids made it impossible.

  "My Laird, I had heard that your wife was the most beautiful lady in the Highlands," Alexa said, gazing at Shona. "I did not believe it, but I believe it now."

  Lachlan looked down at Shona with such a loving look that it almost brought tears to Alexa's eyes.

  "Not just the Highlands," he replied. "The whole of Scotland, and probably the world."

  Just a slight exaggeration, Alexa thought with wryness.

  But when she looked at Shona's finely sculpted cheekbones, winged brows, and long black lashes, her small fine nose, and full luscious lips, she was not so sure. Her eyes were a startling bright green, and her face was heart-shaped atop a swanlike neck.

  Lachlan saw Alexa looking at her, and smiled.

  And she's mine, it seemed to say.

  When they reached the top of the stairs, Alexa noticed that Shona was already asleep and that Lachlan was not even slightly out of breath.

  "This woman," he said ruefully, "could sleep on the edge of a knife."

  "It's a talent I wish I possessed!" Alexa laughed.

  Presently, they came to the bedroom allotted to the laird and lady. Alexa opened the door and pulled the curtains shut while Lachlan laid Shona on the bed.

  "I'll wait for you downstairs," Alexa said, and he nodded, but his attention was already on his wife again.

  Lachlan was indeed concerned about Shona. She was pale, and her fatigue was worrying him. Still, he thought that the best remedy was probably sleep, so he kissed her forehead and pulled the blankets up over her shoulder, then went downstairs to meet Alexa.

  "Are you betrothed, Mistress Alexa?"

  "Not yet, but I am being courted by a very good man. No doubt you will meet him."

  "No doubt I will meet everyone!" He laughed. "A new face always attracts people like bees to a honeypot! But we are only here for a short time."

  They went into the parlor, where Iain poured Lachlan a glass of wine.

  "How long will you be staying, Lachlan?" Iain asked. "Because you are welcome for as long as you wish."

  "Thank you, Iain. But no more than a week. Shona is
expanding rather too quickly for my liking, and I must get her home before winter really starts. It is a very uncomfortable journey for her already."

  "Why did she want to come?" Alexa asked, curious. "A week or even ten days is not very long."

  Lachlan took a sip of his wine, gazing out of the window toward the sea.

  "It is for Shona," he answered, chuckling. "She cannot be without me – indeed, we cannot be without each other! I know it sounds silly, but she would spend the whole time worrying about me, and I about her." He shook his head. "Ridiculous, I know."

  "Ridiculously romantic, you mean!" Alexa smiled at him.

  "If she were not here, I would miss her too much. But this trip was not my idea. Our other children are still young, but Shona insisted, and as you can see, I find it difficult to deny her anything!"

  Moira, who had been quiet until now, laughed.

  They chatted inconsequentially for an hour or so, then Iain brought up the subject of the swords.

  "I haven't told Shona about the swords yet." Lachlan had a troubled frown on his face. "Even the thought of the whole story makes me angry. I had them made as a symbol of our betrothal – one for each of us so that we might always protect each other.

  "I showed them to no one except my cousin, Alban, and his wife, Blaire, then I locked them securely away while they were there to see me. I thought no more about it. I trusted them, you see." He sighed.

  "In the time between then and our marriage many – I suppose you could say traumatic – events happened. I will tell you the story later. But I wanted to look at the swords one day, and they had gone, and only two people knew where they were – Blaire and Alban.

  "Because of what had gone on before, I knew it was Blaire, and she is likely the reason why they ended up in the bandits' hands. But I will tell you the whole complicated story later – if you want to hear it, of course. "

  "We had better hear it!" Alexa said. "Because there will be trouble if we do not, my Laird! My appetite has been thoroughly whetted!"

  Lachlan laughed.

  "I never disappoint ladies, Mistress Alexa. I am too afraid of them! Would you like me to get Shona down for supper?"

  "Nae need, Lachie!" Shona said from the doorway. "I am here!"

  Alexa had always pooh-poohed the word 'radiant' when applied to pregnant women, but she had to admit that there was something about both Moira and Shona that was indescribably lovely.

  Shona was wearing a dark green linen dress that brought out the color of her eyes and had a sprig of heather in her dark hair. The whole effect was simple but enchanting.

  Shona came over and would have sat down beside Lachlan except that he pulled her onto his lap.

  "McGregor, this is no' appropriate behavior fer polite society!" Shona scolded him, then got up and sat down beside him, frowning a warning at him.

  "Nonsense!" Moira laughed. "It's lovely to see a couple having fun together. We should all do it more often! Now, gentlemen, you know that we ladies are eating for two each, so mind you do not finish everything."

  There was a lot of mirth around the dinner table that evening.

  After a few glasses of wine, not only was Shona sitting on Lachlan's lap but Moira and Alexa had a turn too, then it became a game of musical chairs with everyone sitting on everyone else's. At one point Lachlan was even sitting on Iain's.

  It all ended too soon. For Lachlan, who’d had six glasses of wine and had been up since dawn, it was long past bedtime.

  Moira bade them both goodnight.

  "Please sleep for as long as you wish in the morning," she said graciously. "And I will have breakfast brought to your room. If there is anything you need, just ask one of the house staff. Goodnight."

  "Goodnight," they chorused.

  When Lachlan and Shona got up to their bedroom, Lachlan collapsed onto the bed, groaning.

  "I am sorry, lovely Shona," he groaned out, "but the fires of passion have been extinguished by half a dozen glasses of wine."

  "I forgive ye, Husband." Shona smiled at him wearily. "I think the first thing we will be askin' fer the morrow is willow bark tea fer oor sair heids!"

  * * *

  "I have never seen a more loving couple!" Moira mused aloud as she and Iain cuddled up in bed together.

  A hot stone had been placed in it earlier to warm the sheets, and now they were as comfortable and cozy as it was possible to be.

  Outside, the winds were blasting hailstones against the windows, but Moira didn't care – it made her feel even better to know that the howling winter winds could not invade her little piece of paradise.

  This was the time of the day she looked forward to most. She looked over at Iain, but he had already fallen asleep, so she lay in the dark thinking about the coming baby and feeling it kicking.

  She began to talk to it, and wondered if all pregnant women did this, or if she were the only madwoman in the world, then she laughed out loud. It probably was not fair that one woman should be so happy, but then she might not always feel this way.

  After the baby was born, time with Iain would be precious, even more so than now. She looked at his dear face and smiled.

  Iain woke up first in the morning and was surprised to find Moira fast asleep, head pillowed on her hands, still smiling. He chuckled – he was so lucky to have her.

  21

  The Treasure

  The next morning, they paid a visit to the underground strongroom where Iain kept the most valuable items in the castle. There was a door to the stairway which led to it, and it was the longest, darkest journey to quite the coldest and most miserable place Shona had ever seen. The stone steps wound down to a stout oak door with three keyholes in it and outside stood two guards armed with pikes and swords.

  "We are now twenty feet underground," Iain said, "and this is one of the most secure places in the castle. I hope you think my arrangements are good enough."

  He unlocked the door and allowed them to pass.

  Inside was another door, also with three locks. He held up the lantern, and they gasped.

  The gleam of gold and jewels was everywhere.

  They advanced into the chamber, which echoed hollowly, and looked around.

  "There are a few of my own pieces there," Iain said, pointing to a high shelf, "but the rest is what I got from Satan's Lair. I suspect that they were keeping many of the pieces because they were too easy to identify. My guess is that they would have been smuggled abroad."

  "An' south o' the border," Shona said grimly. "Blaire was in league wi' a great many thieves doon there. We didnae discover the size o' her operation till she wis gone."

  "She sounds like a wicked woman," Alexa spoke up.

  Shona nodded and went back to the search.

  "This is mine!" she exclaimed, pulling a fine gold chain out of a finely wrought enameled box. "Lachlan gave it tae me when we were still courtin'! I thought I had lost it!"

  She began to go through the heaps of chains, necklaces, brooches, bracelets, and earrings.

  Shona did not own a great deal of jewelry but what she had was of very high quality. Lachlan had given her jewelry almost up to the time of their betrothal, and much of that was present. But there was none in there that he had given her afterward because Blaire was gone by then and Shona's jewelry was still in her own possession.

  Blaire had been very selective, choosing the pieces that Shona had been unlikely to miss, and Shona had made it easy for her by leaving her jewelry box unlocked and on view. The household staff would be suspected, or Shona would simply blame herself.

  Suddenly Lachlan cried: "No!"

  He put a hand over his mouth, shaking his head in disbelief. "How could she?"

  He was holding a rope of black pearls with a gold clasp at the back, looking at it as if someone had struck him.

  "Oh, God, Shona! She is a monster!"

  "Whit is it?" Shona asked with desperation, looking at what he was holding. "Whit is the matter, darlin'?"

  "They
were Pilar's." He looked unbelievably distressed. "I gave them to her as a wedding present, and she thought she had lost them. It broke her heart. She never forgave herself."

  Shona wrapped her arms around him, and he began to weep, his body shuddering against hers.

  Moira tactfully led the others out, and Shona held Lachlan till the storm had passed.

  When the others came back in, Lachlan apologized.

  "I'm sorry," he said, embarrassed, "but Blaire has done us so much damage."

  "You don't have to speak about it," Moira said kindly. "Now, let us see the rest."

  Lachlan nearly burst into tears again when he saw the swords laid side by side on a velvet covered table. He knelt on one knee on the cold stone floor and laid the blade of the smaller one on the palms of both hands, then looked up at Shona.

  "Will you marry me, my Lady?" he asked, his voice husky.

  "I will, my Laird… again," she replied, smiling down at him.

  He stood up.

  Then Iain gave Shona the bigger sword. She did not kneel but gave him a deep curtsey.

  "Will you marry me, my Laird?"

  "Yes, my Lady… again," Lachlan replied and kissed her.

  She looked at him, mystified. "Lachie, whit is this?"

  "It was meant to be your betrothal gift," he replied, "which disappeared just before we found out about Blaire. It was going to be a surprise, but it never happened. She must have taken it long before I was going to give it to you.

  "I showed it to Alban and her, and they saw me lock it away, but I suspect she found the key through someone's carelessness, maybe even my own. Or she may have bribed or blackmailed one of the servants. Who will ever know?"

  "Now, I think we must see if there is anything else here that is yours, Lady Shona, then take you upstairs again." Moira frowned. "You have both had quite a shock."

  They looked through the rest of the hoard but found nothing else that belonged to them. The experience had left both Lachlan and Shona stunned and lent the rest of the day a strange air of sadness, even though Shona was thrilled with her sword.