by Hazel Gower
Duncan slipped out of her, and Holly turned to face him wrapping her arms around his neck, she brought him down and kissed him. “Good. I’m glad. I like that you can’t resist me, because the feeling is mutual.” She brushed her lips over his again and took deep breaths of his woodsy smell. “Did you come to find me?”
“Aye. I’d like to ken why ye're this far from the keep without a guard? Ye should ken what could happen to ye. Did ye learn nothing from what happened with the McCoy?” Duncan’s hands held her waist and gripped her tighter with each word. “Do ye ken what they would do to ye if ye got caught? I canna have anything happen to ye. Ye're mine. Me wife. Mine.” Holly dropped her arms from his, as his hold on her made her wince and her own anger started to rise. “Ye're nay to leave this keep without at least two guards. Ye're too valuable.” Duncan’s face was red with anger and Holly stepped away from him and grabbed her clothes.
Dressing angrily, Holly shot back, “I was there, Duncan. I killed a freakin’ man. The McCoy’s attack is something I’ll never forget. I know what they would have done. I’m not stupid. I thought coming here would be okay as it’s closer to the castle, and I’m sick of being cooped up.” Holly did up the dress as best as she could and slipped into her shoes. “And I may be your wife, Duncan, but I can’t be there for your beck and call. I’m not used to being surrounded by so many people all the time. I need time to myself. I need to come here for a breather, swimming relaxes me, plus I always have knives on me even in the water.”
Dressed as best as she could by herself, Holly stormed back to the castle to find Blair. She needed to get away from Duncan, so didn’t even bother to check if he followed her.
The long jog back to the castle gave her time to think over things. Did she want to have a child in these times? Holly didn’t even want to think about the birth, with no drugs and no doctors. With all the dangers, was it safe to have a child? The child she had would be important. If she had a son, he would be the next laird, and that was a lot of responsibility, that is, if he survived until adulthood with everything that was against them in this time. Holly placed her hands on her stomach and went over everything she’d learned since being here. She didn’t know if she could let her son train at the young age they started them here. Or if she could let her daughter marry at fourteen, even sixteen.
Slowing her pace, she glared at the two men who followed her down to the village. Holly knew she was being followed, at first, she’d thought it was Duncan, but when they came to the clearing she saw it was two of his men, Mason and Ian. “You’re my guards now, aren’t you?”
“Aye,” they both replied.
“I’m only going to the village, so you don’t need to follow me there.”
“Aye, we do,” Mason answered.
Growling, she turned and stomped down to the village. She could understand needing guards if she left the surrounding area, but not to go to the village.
Once in the village she went to the house that Mary had told her was Blair’s. The door opened before she could knock. “Ye're late.” A woman with blonde hair and a small frame said as she pulled her into her cottage. “I’m Blair. I know ye’ve heard about me. I ken some things about ye.”
Holly let Blair drag her to a seat.
“Sit. Ye need to sit and get comfortable. It will be better for the bairn.”
Holly could feel her eyes widen at the woman. “How…I mean…I only guessed today…um a couple of hours before I came here.”
Blair sat across from her and patted Holly’s hands. “I kenned for a while, but ye had to learn first.”
“Oh. Ah, do you know why I’m here?”
“Aye. Yes, ye do.”
“I do what?”
“Ye have powers. I dinna ken if ye should ken what they are though.”
“I don’t understand. Are they not good powers? Will they cause trouble?”
“Nay. Aye.” Blair ran her fingers through her hair. “Emotions. Ye can manipulate them. Ye're bonny, but did ye find that ye have always been well-liked? That no one could stay angry at ye for long? It’s part of yer gift. If ye wanted to, ye could make people fall for each other, but ye could do the opposite. The seed has to be there though.”
Holly could feel her heart sinking. Did that mean she wasn’t really Duncan’s soul mate? Had she manipulated him? She blinked to stop her sudden tears from falling.
“Och, lass, this is why I dinna wanna tell ye.”
“Is that why Duncan and Callam both fell for me?”
“Nay. One is your soul mate the other has fallen for ye.” Blair grimaced. “They always liked the same things and went for the same women.”
Holly hugged herself. “Can I make the man that’s not my soul mate not like me?”
Blair sighed. “It is nay that easy. Even without yer powers, ye're a very bonny woman. Magan said ye’re willing to try many things to please people.” Blair leaned over and wiped her tears away. “A positive is always easier than a negative. In other words, it is easier to make the seed of love grow than the seed of hate.”
“It’s not the gift I was hoping for. It’s not a gift that can help the clan.
“Ah, that is where ye're wrong. That horse of yers loves ye because ye made it grow to love ye within seconds on meeting ye. Think of the possibilities. Ye could keep animals away, or help train them. Ye could help couples. Persuade clans to stop fighting. Stop feuds. Ye could even bend the king’s ear.”
“How will I ever know if people will like me for me, and not the powers making them?”
Blair leaned over and placed her hands on Holly’s heart. “Ye will ken here.”
Holly stood. She couldn’t listen to any more. She needed to leave.
Duncan was in a foul mood all afternoon, thanks to his argument with Holly. He’d waited for her with her damned horse, but she didn’t show. The stable master told him she hadn’t been to see Midnight. She’d gone to see Blair, Mason had reported to him. Duncan was uneasy about that, especially when she came home and went directly up to their chambers. During the evening meal, Duncan had shot glares at Blair because Holly didn’t even come down to eat. He’d pulled Blair aside after he’d eaten, but she had refused to tell him anything, saying it was his wife’s decision what, if anything, she chose tell him.
After he’d spoken to Blair, his mood had worsened, and he was glad they’d found the Fergussons’ raiding party. Three had escaped, but they captured four, seven if he counted the boys he had caught peeping on Holly.
Duncan stormed past the kitchen down to the dungeons, determined to expel his energy and anger getting the information he needed out of the Fergussons.
A couple of hours later, he’d let go of some of his anger, but was worried that if the Fergussons and McCoys teamed up, he’d have it a lot harder keeping his borders free of raiding and any fighting. Duncan needed to prevent the marriage from going through. Duncan didn’t want to, but if he couldn’t figure out something soon, he was going to ask his brother to sacrifice ever finding his soul mate and take the Fergusson girl to marriage.
Tired, he trudged up to bed, needing to hold Holly in his arms and ken she was his. Walking into their chambers, Duncan was shocked to see Holly asleep on the chair by the fire, wrapped in his plaid. Leaning down, he gently picked her up. Holly’s eyes fluttered open, and she smiled, snuggling into him. “I love your smell. I love being in your arms,” she said sleepily. “You have to be my soul mate. You have to be the one. I love you.”
He stilled and stared down at Holly. Her eyes were closed again, and she looked to be sleeping. Had she meant what she’d just said? Did she love him? It was the first time he’d heard her say it. Did it count if she said it in her sleep?
Duncan kenned he loved Holly, but neither he nor she had said it before. He placed her on the bed and saw that she had nothing on under his plaid. He brushed the hair off her face. Moving away from her, he undressed and got into bed, gathering his soul mate to him. “I love ye, too, me angel.” Holly
didn’t show any sign that she’d heard him.
Leaning down, he pressed his lips to the top of her head and breathed her in before closing his eyes and letting sleep claim him.
Chapter Twelve
For the first time since arriving in the past, she awoke before Duncan. Her mind was still in turmoil over what Blair had told her. She detangled herself from Duncan and stared down at him. Her heart did its usual flips and Holly closed her eyes. Surely, what she had with Duncan meant he was her soul mate. Why did Blair confuse her?
Holly needed to talk to someone. She would go see Midnight. Holly felt bad for not seeing him yesterday. Easing off the bed, she dressed and headed down the steps straight to the kitchen.
Mary was surprised to see her. “Ye're up early this morn. Is everything all right?”
“Yeah. Would you mind terribly if I took my food to go and I came to help you for lunch?”
“Mistress Holly, ye dinna need to ask. Ye're the lady of the castle. Ye dinna have to help in the kitchen.”
“I like to. You are all my friends, and I love our chats.” Holly felt her heart sink as she remembered her powers. “At least you are my friends. I don’t have to be yours. Look, maybe I should stay away.” She turned away, only to feel the world tilt.
“Mistress Holly.” Mary rushed to her and wrapped her arms around her waist. “Sit. Edna will be back in a moment, and she can go get the laird.”
Holly stood, groaning when her world spun again. “No. I know what is wrong.”
Mary’s eyes widened, and huge smile spread over her face. “This is wonderful news—”
“No, Mary. Ye can’t tell anyone until I tell Duncan. Promise me.”
Mary sighed. “Aye, I promise.”
They sat in quiet for a moment until Edna came in through a door that Holly didn’t know about.
“The boys are terrified, Mary. I ken they’re prisoners, but if Lady Holly saw the little one she’d—”
“Edna,” Mary yelled and rushed to Edna whose eyes went wide as she looked at Holly.
“Mistress Holly. Ye're up early,” Edna said.
Holly got up slowly and went to the door Edna had come out of only to be stopped by her. “I dinna think ye should go down there.”
Holly narrowed her eyes on Edna. “Why?”
“Have ye seen the laird?” Mary butted in.
“Don’t change the subject, Mary. What is down there, Edna?”
Edna chewed on her bottom lip. “I’m sure there is a good reason the laird dinna tell ye about it.”
“Edna.”
“Okay. The dungeons are down there. I was just bringing food down there, so ye ken there is nay need for ye to be down there.”
Pushing Edna out of the way, Holly walked down the steps until she came to a hall, then she saw them.
“Oh God.” Holly felt physically sick. She held her stomach and could feel tears rolling down her cheeks. In the first cell, Holly could see three boys, two teenagers and one child who looked terrified. She walked further down, where she saw two more cells filled with four men.
Going back to the boys, Holly wiped her eyes and went to the cell. “Hello. Who are you three?”
A lanky blond came to the bars. “I ken who ye are. Ye're even bonnier up close. I’m James Fergusson, Lady Holly. Me cousin is with me, and me brother, Bran. He’s scared, but will nay admit it. ”
“I’m sorry you are in here. How did you get in here?” Even in the dark, Holly could see the teenager’s cheeks flush.
“We were raiding and me, me cousin, and brother got distracted.”
“How did ye get distracted?”
James cleared his throat several times and Holly heard chuckles from the men in the other cells.
“Ahhh…um…we saw ye in the loch.”
“Oh, you did, did you?
James looked like a tomato as he nodded.
“I gather Duncan caught you?”
“Aye. Ye husband is nay someone ye defy. He is kenned for his brute strength and showing nay mercy. Nay one has beaten him, even when men fight in groups against him. They say he is possessed by a demon and has super strength. I ken he has a temper and nay one defies him.”
Holly laughed. That was not the Duncan she knew. Sure, she’d seen him take out the McCoy’s men in the attack without a scratch, but he’d never hurt anyone in his clan. Duncan was worked up with her yesterday, capturing the boys and the men must have been why he’d been the way he had been at the loch. What Holly was angry about was that he hadn’t told her about the boys or the men he’d caught. Duncan had come and fucked her and told her not to go to the loch again without guards, but hadn’t told her about his prisoners.
How could Duncan keep boys like this? James’s brother was still a baby. Holly needed to talk to Duncan. “Let me talk to Duncan and I’ll see what I can do. I’ll be back later.”
“Thank ye.”
Holly nodded. “Tell your brother I’ll get him out.” With that she walked out and up to the kitchen. When she entered, Fiona and Iris were there too. Edna and Mary looked worried.
“Make sure they have plenty of food and drink. I’m going to go see Midnight and cool off before I talk to Duncan.”
Holly grabbed some bread and cheese and walked down to the stables. She knew if she talked to Duncan now she would yell, and might say something she would later regret. Holly knew she needed to cool down first.
Once at the stables, she saddled Midnight and went for a gallop around the paddock.
“I can’t believe him, Midnight. He has boys as prisoners. What the hell will happen to my child if Duncan is willing to imprison children? Midnight, one of the boys was no more than eight. I would be crazy by now if that was my child. How can Duncan thinks it’s okay to hold children in a dungeon?”
Needing to feel free, she led Midnight out of the paddock and rode down to the village and back. On the ride back, a furious Duncan rode up to her.
“I told ye yesterday, ye dinna leave the keep without guards.”
“I didn’t go far from the keep.”
“I dinna care, Holly. Ye should ken the danger.”
Narrowing her eyes, she gave him her best death stare. “You mean like a bunch of boys peeping at me at the loch?”
“Who told ye?”
“Never mind who told me, I want to know why you are holding boys?”
“They are not boys, Holly. They kenned what they were doing.”
Holly rolled her eyes and steered Midnight back to the stables. “Two of them are teenagers, Duncan, and one is a baby for Christ’s sake.”
“He is nay a bairn.”
“He is to me. He is no threat to me or to you, Duncan. Let them go.”
“Nay. Ye need to stay out of this. It is men’s business.”
“Oh. My. God. You did not just tell me to stay out of this and that it is men’s business.”
Duncan had the gall to nod. “Aye, I did. Stay out of it, Holly. I have enough to worry about. I dinna need ye getting involved.” He left with her staring after him, fuming.
Two of Duncan’s men, Greggor and Mason, stayed behind. Mason had the right of it not to look at her, but the smirk on Greggor’s face had steam coming out of her ears. “Greggor, I’d wipe that smirk off your face or you’ll regret it. I will help karma and I heard she can be a real bitch.”
Needing to throw her knives, she raced Midnight out of the keep again, because if she stayed, she’d kill a certain redheaded laird.
When the evening meal was almost over and Holly still hadn’t returned, his anger over the situation and her show of disrespect in front of his men had Duncan fuming. He’d been feeling bad for speaking to her the way he had, but as she didn’t turn up to the nooning meal, he sent Ian to go find and check on her. Greggor, Mason, and Ian came back telling him that he should let her cool off some more, otherwise she’d kill him, and his anger had risen higher.
Shoving his finished plate away, he went to the doors only to stop when Holly w
alked right by him, ignoring him, and went toward the kitchen. It was like that, was it? He stalked her and grabbed her, turning her to face him. “Where have ye been?”
“Away from you, so I don’t throttle you for keeping children locked up.”
“They are Fergussons, and they came to raid. The ‘children,’ as ye call them, were spying on ye.”
“They are teenagers and were curious. Let them go, they didn’t know that you would hold them in a dungeon.”
“I said nay. They should nay have watched ye. I’m the only one who gets to see ye like that. Stay out of it, Holly. This does nay concern ye.”
“God, you’re a dickhead. Right now you’re being an arsehole.” Several people gasped at her comments. “At least let the child go.”
Duncan narrowed his eyes on her, and gripped her tighter and growled, “Nay. I’ll nay let the lad go. He and his other clan members are me prisoners.”
Holly mouth fell open and shut only to open again. “You can’t hold a baby. He can’t be any older than seven or eight.”
“The lad is old enough to know what going on the raid meant. Stop interfering in men’s business.” Duncan had had it. Holly kept putting herself in danger, and if he didn’t find a way to stop the McCoy and Fergusson wedding, she’d be in more danger.
Holly was shaking with anger. The boy was way too young to be in the dungeon. Holly glanced around the hall to see everyone quiet and watching her and Duncan. “Fine, if that how you feel, but I don’t support you in having that child in the dungeons. Whilst he resides in there, I will reside somewhere else,” Holly glared back at Duncan. She was steaming mad that he’d told her she was interfering in men’s business for the second time. The child wasn’t a man; he was still a baby. She removed herself from Duncan’s hold and stormed to the keep doors, fuming the whole way. Holly couldn’t stay in a time where children were held in dungeons because their neighbors were fighting.
Holly reached the doors only to have a muscular arm come around her and throw her over his shoulder. “Put me down this instant, Duncan.” His hand came to rest on her backside, and she snarled, “Don’t even think about it. I swear you will regret it.”
