Mac whispered, “Things are not the same, sadly.”
Alex and Brodie rode out, followed by their guards. A sick feeling in Alex’s gut told him he was making a mistake. How could he leave the lass behind? He was a Scottish laird, head of his clan. His people looked to him to do what was right. That should include protecting the innocent.
They also depended on him to protect his clan and their possessions. One of the reasons he was on this journey was to find out who the new marauders were—and stop them. Kidnapping a woman from a neighboring clan would only cause more trouble. He could not endanger his family or his people that way. His father had ensured he knew his obligations. Chasing a beautiful lass was reckless and dangerous. He simply couldn’t do it.
Yet he could not erase the blue-eyed beauty from his mind. Mac had said her name was Madeline. Though he knew not how to intervene, he could not let her marry the Comming.
Alex would not allow it. Madeline was his.
***
A few days later, the Grant brothers began the journey back to their keep. Alex had no more information than he had when he had left, except that he did not trust the MacDonald laird.
After finding a clearing, he motioned to his men to make camp for the night. Several went off in the hopes of finding some fresh meat to roast. Alex stood in the center of the clearing and kneaded the muscles in his neck, attempting to relieve the tension there.
“Brodie, build a fire and I’ll find us something to eat.” He wandered off into the wilderness with his dagger in hand.
A short time later, he and several men returned with enough rabbits to roast for dinner. Alex tossed one to Brodie to skin.
“They are not much, but they will have to do.”
Brodie peered at him. “Alex, something is in your head. What is it?”
Alex motioned for his brother to follow him away from the clearing, not wanting his guardsmen to know his private thoughts.
“Brodie, do you remember the MacDonald lass?”
Brodie smiled. “Aye, the dark-haired one you sent me?”
“Nay!” Alex shouted. “No’ her. The laird’s stepsister.”
“I ne’er saw her. How could I remember her?” Brodie asked.
“Well, I did.”
Brodie whistled. “Och, ‘tis why you asked those questions about a yellow-haired lass. Why did you no’ mention this before?”
“Mayhap because I could not believe my own eyes. She is every bit as fair as the stable master said.”
“Brother, if she is still on your mind, that tells me more than aught else you could say.” Brodie’s face broke out in a big grin. “A lass has finally caught your eye?”
“She caught more than my eye. I opened her chamber door by mistake. She had been beaten.”
Brodie’s face registered the same shock Alex had endured upon seeing the bruised side of the lass’s face. “Beaten? Who would dare beat the laird’s stepsister?”
Alex raised one eyebrow as he peered at his brother.
“No’ the laird? You think he would beat a woman so?”
“Did you no’ notice how he was with the servant girls, Brodie? He hit them. The lass I sent to you lived in fear of him. He must be cruel. He ordered us out because I questioned him about his stepsister. There is something wrong there. I cannot get her from my mind.” Alex grabbed at some brush in frustration, collecting the dry materials in his arm before returning to the clearing. It could be used for another fire so they could eat.
“Is that why you have been riding so hard? Trying to banish her from your mind? But what can you do? She is his stepsister, and besides, he claims she is betrothed to another.” Brodie fanned the fire, giving his brother a hard look.
“I am tired enough tonight to sleep. We will think on it on the morrow.” They finished cooking their meat and ate in silence, but Alex’s mind raced with thoughts and worries. He threw the remainder of the rabbit bones over his shoulder and strode to his horse. As he tugged on his extra plaid, two pieces of parchment fluttered to the ground. He bent down to retrieve them. A sick feeling swirled through his gut as he opened one.
Laird Grant,
Laird MacDonald has been beating his stepsister Madeline whenever he sees fit. We fear for her life. Is not right to beat a woman so. She is only eight and ten summers. Afore her death, our lady Elizabeth bade us to call to you for help if we were in need. She sed you were an honorable man. Ples help us.
Mac Dumfrey
Alex read the note and then handed it to his brother.
After he finished reading, Brodie glanced at his brother with one eyebrow raised, “What’s on the other?”
Alex answered with his jaw clenched. “A map. Our plans are changing.”
RESCUED BY A HIGHLANDER
CHAPTER THREE
Madeline eased her legs to the side of the bed and sat up slowly.
“How long have I been here, Alice?” she asked her maid, unable to hide a grimace of pain.
“Three days, and you still do not have the strength you need to be getting out of bed!” Alice grumbled as she rounded the bed to help her.
Madeline groaned as she rose to her feet. “I need a warm bath to ease my aches.”
After sending a girl for hot water, Alice helped her remove her night rail. Maddie forced back tears as the maid removed the binding from around her ribs and gently probed her multiple bruises. As soon as the girl came with the water, Alice filled the tub with it and sent the other servant away.
“I thought they might have been broken, Madeline, but perhaps they are just bruised,” she said once they were alone again. “Even so, bruising a woman’s ribs is beyond madness. You need to get away from him,” Alice cried out as she helped Madeline into the tub.
“And where will I go?” Maddie sighed as the warmth enveloped her body.
“I know you mean to escape to a convent, lass, but have you thought to ask him to allow you to join one?” Alice’s voice softened as she swept Maddie’s hair back from her face.
“No. For I know what his answer would be. Kenneth means to marry me to Niles Comming to strengthen his bonds to the man. But I will not do it.” Maddie cringed at the thought of what her life would be as the Comming’s wife. “I could not suffer through even one night by his side after what he did to me.”
Alice’s voice grew quiet as she carefully washed her mistress’s back. “I fear for your life. In fact, Mac and I asked the laddie you have been schooling to pen a letter for us. Laird Grant and his brother stopped here the other day. Mac hid it in the laird’s things before he left.”
“You did what?” Madeline cried, lifting herself from the tub and promptly falling back into it as pain lanced through her. “How could you do such a thing, Alice? Kenneth will beat you when he finds out. And who is Laird Grant?”
“Your mother gave me Laird Grant’s name before she died. We were to contact him if we ever found ourselves in any trouble. We did not realize he had passed on until his sons came to the keep. Your father believed the old laird to be an honorable man. Do you not remember visiting them when you were a child? You loved to spend time with the old laird’s daughters, Brenna and Jennifer. Wee Jennie was just a babe when we were there. The Lord looked down on us by sending the new laird to our keep. That is what I believe. The Grants are good people.”
“Aye, I do remember them,” she said with a small smile. “Brenna was sweet. It was so nice to have a friend my age. And Jennie was so wee and cute, and she followed her brothers everywhere. But why would you involve them? I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
“Someone needs to come to your aid, lass. Mac and I cannot fight Kenneth ourselves, much as we love you. I just pray the laird finds the missive and puts a dagger through Kenneth’s cold heart.”
“What an awful thing to say,” Maddie said, dipping a bit deeper into the warm water of the bath. “I hate Kenneth, but I do not wish him dead. He cannot help his nature. They say his mother was a mean-spirited woman. Mayhap ‘ti
s not his fault he has ended up the same way.”
“That does not make it right. He could have chosen to be different. He should have learned the ways of your precious mother. He was around her enough.” Alice plaited Madeline’s long golden tresses while she finished soaking. Maddie leaned her head back toward Alice, enjoying the soothing ritual.
“And if not, he could learn from your kindness, Maddie. Everyone knows you would never knowingly hurt anyone. But it seems the more kindness you show, the meaner he gets.”
“I shall find a way out of this without hurting anyone. Besides, where would I go if I managed to escape Kenneth?” Maddie’s voice dropped as she stared into the water. “I have no other kin. Finding an abbey that will accept me is my only alternative to his plans.”
Alice’s voice trembled as she spoke. “I do not know what to tell you, lass. You know that Kenneth and the Comming will force you to do their bidding if you stay here. Between the two of them, their power is too mighty for us to resist. The Lord needs to help you either to a convent or a more powerful lord’s keep. No good will come from you staying. The danger is too great for your fine-boned constitution.”
Alice sighed as she brushed the stray curls back from Maddie’s face. “You belong with a strong, gentle man and many bairns at your feet. You know you are happiest around the wee ones, and if you join a convent, you will never have a family of your own. But you belong with a good man, Maddie, not the Comming. I hope the Grant laird heeds our message.”
Maddie placed her elbow on the side of the tub and leaned her head on her hand. Every night her mother had told her a story at bedtime. She would rub Maddie’s back as she spun fantastical stories about fairies and dragons. But the stories changed over time; in the last year of her life, Maddie’s mother had always told her stories about a blonde-haired knight who would come to claim her as his bride. Sometimes the story would simply be about the knight arriving to meet her and her family. Other times, he would rescue her from terrible situations.
She sighed as she thought of her troubles. Was her current situation bad enough to warrant being rescued by her knight in shining armor? Oh, how she hoped it was.
“Do you know I have been having dreams?” Maddie asked as she raised her gaze to the only woman she trusted.
“About what, child?”
“A dark-haired man, a stranger. He comes to me and comforts me. He seems familiar, but I have never seen him before. He makes me feel as safe as my da did. But he is not fair like him, and he is much larger.” Maddie ran her finger through the water as she thought.
“In my dreams, he touches me. He is so gentle. I think he loves me. But I know it could never come true.”
“Why is that, lass?”
A single tear gathered in the corner of Madeline’s eye. “Because I could never allow another man to touch me.”
***
Alex and Brodie sat together on a log in a clearing a wee bit away from their men. The peaceful silence of the dawn and Highland forest surrounded them. Crisp morning air always cleared Alex’s head. He rubbed the rough stubble on his face as he listened to the rustling of critters through the trees.
“If we ride most of the day, we should make the MacDonald keep by nightfall,” he said, “and we can search for the hidden entrance on the map. We shall enter the tunnel a couple of hours after dark. I only hope the tunnel is still functional. If the previous laird is the only one who knew of it, it could be difficult going.”
“Most castles have secret tunnels built into them.”
“True, but ‘tis unusual for them to be secret from the laird himself.” Alex stood up, striding over to a patch of mint leaves and grabbing a few to chew on.
Brodie didn’t answer right away. He crossed his arms in front of his chest before he spoke. “Alex, are you sure this is what you want to do? You know it could cause a war if MacDonald believes ‘tis us.”
“Aye, I understand your concern, but I cannot walk away. I saw the bruising around her eye and on her throat.”
“Mayhap she fell.”
“The missive from the stable master says the laird beats her. How can I walk away from an innocent lass? Someone has to help her.”
“Is this what da would have done?” Brodie stared into his eyes.
Alex didn’t look away. “Aye, without a doubt. You know our father would not walk away from such a thing. Do you no’ remember the night he and our mother sat and talked to the three of us about women and how they should be treated? Our brother knew how serious da was. Robbie ne’er made a joke through the entire conversation. ‘Tis near impossible for him.”
Brodie chuckled as he looked up at the clear blue sky. “Aye, I do remember. Never have I seen Robbie so serious.”
“He knew how important it was to them both for us to take our leadership of Clan Grant seriously.”
“You mean your leadership?”
“Nay, da said we are all leaders for the clan, no’ just me as laird.” Alex rubbed the sleep from his eyes, deep in thought. “Had you seen her, you would not be able to walk away. ‘Twas only the fear of starting a clan war that made me leave the keep without her. I could not deliberately start a clash.”
“Then why deliberately start a clash now?” Brodie asked with a raised eyebrow. “What has changed?”
“A plea from someone privy to the old laird’s business. Clearly, the MacDonald trusted his stable master. If she were my daughter, I would hope someone would help her.”
Alex decided to conceal the strongest reason he was going back, because it held no logic at all. A pair of ocean blue eyes had haunted his sleep last night and he would do anything to stop the fear that had gripped them.
His brother sauntered over to his horse, swung his leg up and mounted in less than a second. “Aye, let’s do it.”
RESCUED BY A HIGHLANDER
CHAPTER FOUR
Madeline slowly trudged up the hill, returning to the keep after her lessons with the wee ones. How she loved her time with the children. They were always so sunny and bright, always so willing to work hard. She envied them their innocence.
From her vantage point, the keep had the same strong appearance it had always possessed, but nothing was the same once she stepped inside. The powerful stone walls now kept her imprisoned—not protected. She gazed out over the outside walls, wishing her knight were out there somewhere. The sun dropped against the horizon.
Alice had tried to keep her in her chamber, but it dampened her mood to stay in there alone. She needed the young ones to keep her going. Truth was, she did hope for many of her own bairns, but to carry a bairn, she would need to get close to a man. She thought of the few men she remembered from the Grant keep. While she recalled how Brenna and Jennie had loved their brothers, Maddie had never had a good relationship with any men except for her father and Mac, Alice’s husband.
If only her parents were still with her. Under their protection, none of this would have happened, but they had been gone two summers. She missed them so much. How she wished she could talk to her mother again just once. Her father had been so kind and gentle. She missed the long afternoons they would spend riding horses and how her mother used to lull her to sleep by brushing her hair before bedtime. Every day had been wonderful back then, but now many of her days were nightmares. She had nowhere to turn, no one to trust but Alice and Mac.
No sense looking back, Madeline thought. She slowed her pace, trying to ease the pain from her bruised ribs. As she reached the keep, she held her breath and glanced around, hoping to avoid Kenneth. She had not seen him since the last beating. Earlier in the day, she had gone to the kitchens to go over the menus with the cook, hoping good food and drink would appease her brother for a time.
She stepped inside the door without seeing him, but before she could feel any relief, she turned toward her chamber and immediately slammed into him.
“Ah, Maddie, how are you feeling today? Better?” Kenneth asked with a grin on his face. “Must be time for an
other one of our talks, or have you changed your mind about the Comming?” Kenneth leaned in toward her, coldness deep in his eyes.
“Nay, Kenneth, I have not changed my mind. I will not wed him.”
Kenneth grabbed her arm and pulled. “You will do as I say, Madeline, and if I have to beat you until you cannot walk, I will,” he ground out, pinching and twisting the tender skin on the inside of her upper arm. Madeline bowed her head to draw the strength not to scream. All had gone quiet in the great hall, and warriors and servants alike had turned their heads away, not wanting to witness the cruelty Kenneth was inflicting on their beloved Madeline.
“Do not go far tonight, Madeline, I think we need to talk again.” Kenneth’s lips curved into a smile as he roughly let her go. “As always, I look forward to it!”
Madeline turned and proceeded toward the stairs, making sure to pause and greet each servant she passed. He could beat her all he wanted. She would not do his bidding. When she reached her room, she slipped quietly inside and lowered herself to the bed.
Only then did she let the tears flow.
What recourse did she have, after all? Her parents had taught her to respect her elders. But try as she might, she could not please Kenneth. His harsh treatment of her had started way before the Comming had asked for her hand. She did not understand it.
Her father had never raised his hand to any woman. Why was Kenneth so vicious? Was it the usual way of the world? Did most men treat women callously? After all, the Comming was no better than Kenneth, and she had noticed peasants slapping their wives on occasion. Thoughts of her knight in armor danced through her head. But would such a man beat her into submission as well?
Mayhap her mother and father had protected her from the cruelties of the real world. If that were true, she wasn’t certain she wanted to be part of that world. At least she would be protected from such ugliness if she joined a convent, and according to her mother, orphaned children abounded in such places. Perhaps she could care for them as her life’s vocation. Their innocence and trust needed to be protected.
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