by Sondra Grey
Duncan made an exasperated sound in the back of his throat, reached over, and hauled the reins out of his brother’s grasp, stopping the horses.
Adam glared at him. “If not to Tor, they’d take her somewhere else. Somewhere secure. There aren’t many of them who have her. Ten men riding together can’t hide a trail. There’ll just be a few. So where might a few men go with an unwilling woman?”
“Christ, Adam, they could be anywhere. There are any number of abandoned houses between here and Castle Tor!”
“I think they went North,” said Adam, after a moment. “When I was captured in the battle of Kinlochlevin, Ewan talked about taking me to Tower Loch. I need to get onto Cameron land and look for a tower by a loch.”
“Are you kidding man,” said Duncan. “Do you know how many lochs there are on Cameron land?”
“I’m not quite the idiotic you take me for, brother,” said Adam, impatiently, “When they took me, we weren’t too far to Loch Arkaig. But they didn’t take me to Tower Loch, they took me to Bohenie. And they’ll not take her there. They know I know of it. I’ll head to Loch Arkaig.”
“If you’re not an idiot, then this is certainly an idiotic plan,” Duncan insisted. “Are you so sure it’s Ewan Cameron that took her.”
Adam shook his head. “It’s all I have to go on.”
“You should wait for the ransom, Adam. It’ll come any day. You’ll want to be here…”
“There’ll be no ransom. They don’t want money. They want the land. They want to expand their territory. The Camerons pride themselves on beating the King at his own game. Lochiel is a match for James in canniness. They’ll use the law to possess Inveralt. Inveralt isn’t deeded, ultimately to me. James didn’t change his father’s decree. The land is still deeded to the Blacks, to my wife’s get. And she was a widow when we wed, so there’s no proof of consummation. It’s why they grabbed her so early after we wed. If the Camerons a priest, they can annul our marriage. Think about it, Duncan. Why else would they take her and not take Inveralt itself?”
Duncan swore beneath his breath. “What if you’re wrong, man?”
Adam shook his head, stubbornly. “I’m going to Loch Arkaig.”
“All right.” Duncan glowered. Behind him, Simon and Joss had saddled their horses and were pelting up the path.
“If there is a ransom, keep a rider ready. You know where I’m headed. And have our men watch the borders. I’m not convinced the Camerons aren’t waiting to try something else.”
Duncan nodded just as Adam’s squires rode up.
“Where are we going, Adam?” Joss demanded.
“North. To Loch Arkaig.” Adam held Duncan’s gaze until his brother dropped the reins.
Adam, Simon, and Joss arrived on the south side of Loch Arkaig in the middle of the night, at full dark. The moon was brilliant that evening, but not bright enough to illuminate the other side. The South side of the loch was nothing but dense brush, no castles to be found there. But there were plenty of natural beaches, and the men camped along them. It had taken Joss a half hour to convince Adam that, if there was a tower near the loch, they’d not find it in the dark. Simon had volunteered to take the first watch. After what had essentially been two and half days of hard riding, Adam had fallen into a deep and dreamless sleep.
He was awakened by Simon’s hand on his shoulder. His young squire’s eyes were invisible in the dark, but his hand moved quickly from Adam’s shoulder to cover his mouth. Adam blinked and Simon tapped his ear, so Adam listened.
The noise was faint, but somewhere down the beach something large was moving in the water. There was no wind, and no tides, and so the soft, thwap thwap could only be made by a creature.
“Tis probably an animal,” Adam hissed.
“Or a Cameron,” murmured Simon.
“Or a Selkie,” Joss offered, sitting up. Adam got to his feet, pulled off his boots so that he might move more silently, and the three padded down the shores to see what was making the noise.
The noise stopped before they’d reached the point from whence it came. And the men paused, pulling back into the brush, their eyes straining down the bank. Minutes, they held there, then finally they spotted movement.
In the distance, something small and white picked itself up off the ground and stripped. Adam blinked, almost positive that, in the distance, the figure was now that of a nude woman.
“What on earth,” Joss hissed.
Adam pulled his dirk. “Stay here,” he said and trod on silent feet down the beach. As he grew closer, the figure becoming clearer beneath the moonlight, it took Adam only one sweep from top to bottom to recognize that this was no selkie. It was his wife, standing naked on the beach of Loch Arkaig, wringing out her shift.
Annis hadn’t the faintest notion of what her next step would be. But she knew she couldn’t continue lying on the beach. She got slowly to her feet, realizing that her whole body was trembling with cold and fatigue and stress.
The day would warm the weather, but she had only her shift to clothe her, and that was sopping wet.
Annis stripped the shift off, shivering as she tried to wring it out. The fabric twisted in her fingers, water puddling at her feet. Annis tried to keep her mind on the task at hand, not to think about how she was going to get back to Inveralt. She wasn’t even sure what direction she’d swum. For all she knew, she was now North of the loch, and she’d have to hope she could find someone not of clan Cameron to help her get back to her home. Which clan owned the land above the Camerons? The Macdonalds?
Without warning, Annis was wrenched backwards, landing against a hard chest, a hand cupped itself over her mouth and a hot voice in her ear hissed, “Good God woman. Are you trying to kill yourself with chill!”
The shock was too much for Annis. She fainted.
Annis came to slowly, awareness coming over her like a beam of light through a dense fog. She licked her lips and shook her head, trying to clear it and realized, as she did, that her hands weren’t tied, nor were her feet. She was straddling the neck of a horse, and it was still dark outside. Someone’s arm was holding her in place, and her head was pressed against a firm shoulder.
She realized, too, that her legs were bare, but that she was wearing a shirt and though her hair was damp, the shirt she was wearing was dry.
Behind her, the shoulder on which her head rested was bare. Annis struggled to sit up.
“Tut, stop that,” came a soft voice behind her. “You’ll spook the horses to making noise and we’ll have every Cameron within a league rushing here to reclaim you.”
“Adam?” Annis barely dared to hope it was he. “Is it really you?”
“Of course, fool,” muttered her husband, darkly. “Who else would it be?”
“We found you on the south shore of Loch Arkaig, lady,” came a soft voice over her shoulder. Annis peered over to see Simon’s faint outline riding beside them. “You fainted on the beach just an hour ago.”
“Loch Arkaig?”
“Yes,” said Adam, “emerged from the water like a Selkie and gave Joss the fright of his life. Whoa, there. It’s all right now.”
Adam’s voice softened as a series of violent shakes wracked Annis from head to toe. He had to rein in the horse while he stilled her, spoke to her in soft, soothing words until the shaking stopped. Then her head collapsed back against Adam’s shoulder. She was safe. Blackness threatened to pull her back under, but Adam gave her a vicious shake. “No, you don’t,” he said, kicking the horse back into motion, “You’ll tell us what happened to you.”
“Where are we?” she asked, instead, her eyes unable to pick out anything but trees.
“Somewhere south of Gairlochy,” said her husband. “There are more direct routes to Inveralt through the woods, but at night, it’s best to travel on the roads. Now that I’ve satisfied your curiosity, you’ll satisfy mine. How did you come to be swimming through a loch in full dark?”
“I’m a good swimmer,” said Annis drowsil
y.
“I think she’s had a bit of a shock,” murmured Simon, drawing his horse abreast of Adam’s.
“Annis,” said Adam, giving her a shake. “Lass, we need to know what happened to you.”
“Camerons,” murmured Annis. Eyes struggling to stay open. “Three of them.”
“Where’d they keep you?”
“Up high,” said Annis, her words slurring.
“So there is a castle on Loch Arkaig?”
She nodded, head heavy.
“How’d you get out, Lady?” this was Simon.
“Climbed down. Didn’t want to wake anyone taking a horse, so I swam.”
“The Loch’s a fair distance across, Adam,” said Simon.
Annis’ husband didn’t respond, and Annis felt herself start to drift off to sleep in the silence.
“Annis,” he shook her awake again. “Are you hurt?”
“Everything hurts,” she confirmed.
She felt him inhale behind her head. “No, that’s not what I’m asking.”
But that was what he’d asked. She shook her head in confusion.
“Did they… Did they touch you, Lass?”
Touch her? “All over.” And she couldn’t stay awake any longer. She let the blackness take her once more.
Chapter 12
A dam reached Inveralt just hours after the sun had crested the horizon. Duncan had placed scouts at the outermost reach of the property, and Adam watched blearily as one rode towards him, the other shot off towards the manor, no doubt to alert his brother.
Sure enough, Adam was fifteen minutes from the keep when Duncan thundered up the trail, dressed in just his shirt and hose.
“Good god man,” he gaped, seeing Annis clad in only Adam’s shirt.
“Aye,” Adam. He was in no mood to say anything else. All over. They’d touched her all over. He hated himself. Not even Ewan Cameron hated Adam as much as he hated himself. It had been his responsibility to protect Annis. Poor little brown bird. And he’d failed.
“Were you right then, Adam? Was she at Loch Arkaig? What the hell happened, man? Where did you find her? Where are her clothes?”
“Adam was right,” said Simon, when it was clear that Adam wasn’t going to answer. “Twas the Camerons who took her, and they brought her to a tower keep on the north side of Loch Arkaig.”
“Lord, Adam, what happened to her hands?”
Her hands? Adam reached around and picked up one of his wife’s hands. He’d not examined her but to dry her with his kilt and throw his shirt across her nudity. Now, in the light of day, he could see that her palms were viciously blistered. Her wrists were chaffed raw where they must have tied her up. Rage seared through his fatigue but he shook his head to clear it.
“How many Camerons where there?” Duncan pressed.
“It can’t have been many,” said Joss.
“You didn’t see?”
Adam shook his head. It didn’t matter how many. They’d touched her all over.
“Duncan,” said Simon, trying to grasp Adam’s brother’s attention. Adam knew he had to say something.
“Duncan, I’ve ridden now many days without sleep. I’m going to trust you to set guards around my property. We’ll speak of this more when I’ve a clear head on my shoulders.”
“Let me take your wife, then,” said Duncan. “She’s injuries that need to be seen to.”
Without waiting for Adam to respond, Duncan reached over and Adam jerked his horse away so violently, that the beast knocked into Joss’s mount.”
Duncan blinked, surprised.
“I’ll take care of her myself,” he said, staring down and noticing, for the first time, her ankle: purple, blue, and green with bruising, rubbed raw with rope burn. The Camerons would pay for what they did to the Macleans.
“You’ll write our father immediately. Tell him what happened and that I want the might of Clan Maclean at my call. We’re going to war with the Camerons.”
Annis was aware of reaching Inveralt, was aware of a woman she recognized as the village healer applying ointment to her palms, wrists, and ankles, and wrapping her hands in bandages. She was aware of being poked and prodded in the ribs, and of Adam, standing over her, face expressionless.
“What happened to her ribs?” he asked the healer.
“Horse,” Annis managed to mutter.
“She got kicked by a horse?” she heard Elise somewhere in the distance.
“I don’t think so,” said the dry, rasping voice of the healer. “Maybe she rode across its withers?”
“That might explain the bruises, yes,” she heard Adam say. But she heard no more after that.
Annis wasn’t sure what day it was, when she awoke fully, opened her eyes and tried to stretch. She stopped, abruptly, hissing as her abdomen cried out in pain. Looking down, she saw that someone had dressed her in a nightgown. Hesitantly, she rolled it up and observed the map of faint green and purple bruising along her stomach.
Her hands had been wrapped in bandages, and her left ankle was bound tightly. She looked as if she’d been through a war. Getting up, she tested her ankle. It hurt, and she bit her lip against the pain. Steadying herself on her other ankle, she hobbled towards the door.
Someone must have been waiting, for the door opened abruptly, nearly sending her tumbling backwards.
“Lady!” said an unfamiliar Maclean man. “You should not be up.”
Annis blinked at him owlishly. “Where is Adam?” she asked.
The Maclean took a deep breath, his expression nervous. “Below, lady, shall I fetch him for you?”
Annis wanted to go downstairs herself. She wanted to see with her own eyes that nothing had befallen Inveralt. She was so worried that the Camerons might have set fire to her property, might have raised the barns and scorched what was left of the fields. But it didn’t appear to be so. The keep still stood. Nothing around her looked at all disturbed.
“Annis, you will return to bed at once,” said Adam, softly, as he rounded the corner of the landing. There were lines beneath his eyes, but other than that, he looked no worse for wear – he’d not been battling the Camerons as she’d feared. His golden hair looked as if he’d been running his hands through it, but beyond that, he looked hale.
Annis turned and hobbled back to the bed, sitting down as Adam came in and pulled a chair next to her bedside. Turning around, he said to his clansmen, “Fetch Duncan and Lachlan. She’s awake, and we’ll have her story now.”
The minute the clansmen left, he turned back to Annis, his voice low. “Annis, lass, do not say anything to Duncan and Lachlan about…about…” He ran his hands through his hair again and looked incredibly close to crying. Crying? Adam?
Annis reached out and touched his arm, tentatively. Adam closed his eyes, as if her touch somehow pained him.
“About what?” she asked, puzzled.
Adam opened his eyes, blue orbs staring into hers with a pained intensity. “Christ, lass, are you going to make me say it?”
“Ah, the sleeping beauty awakens!” called Duncan, appearing at the door. Unlike her clearly distraught husband, her brother-in-law offered her an encouraging smile.
Adam turned a grown on his brother. And then nodded at the door as Lachlan stood in the entry, eyes finding Annis’ and offering her a small smile.
“Now that you’re awake, Lady,” said Duncan. “Do you want to tell us the whole story? From top to bottom. How did you come to be swimming in Loch Arkaig at night?”
And so Annis took a deep breath and told them about meeting the Camerons in the lane. About how they’d tied her up and thrown her across the saddle.
Adam paced the room while she spoke, glancing at her anxiously every now and again, giving her meaningful looks that she couldn’t quite read. Duncan and Lachlan ignored him, and listened patiently to her tale. When she finished her account, she looked over at Adam.
“I didn’t dare hope you’d find me,” she said, softly.
Duncan reached
out and placed a hand on her knee. Adam’s eyes fastened on his brother’s hand and turned his back on them. “I thought you’d be ransomed. I told Adam he should have stayed here. I’m glad he did not listen to me.”
“I am too,” said Annis, softly, staring at Adam, who still stood in the corner of the room.
“I need to speak with my husband alone,” she said, after a moment. Adam was behaving oddly, and while Duncan and Lachlan seemed to pay him no mind, Annis knew that something was wrong. They nodded, stood, and left the room.
Once they were gone, Adam whirled, but stayed where he was, staring at her as if the sight of her pained him, as if he didn’t dare come closer to her.
“Adam?” said Annis, shaking her head. “What is it?”
Adam stared at her. His eyes were full of intention. This was not an Adam that Annis had seen before. She’d seen focused Adam, charming Adam, rude Adam, Impatient Adam, but this Adam was different. He seemed fragile and, at the same time, dangerous.
“What is it?”
“What is it?” his voice almost broke. And he took a quiet moment to compose himself before he strode over and sat back on the chair he’d vacated.
Reaching out his clasped her hand in his.
“What is it?” she repeated.
“Annis, how could you ask me that?” he said. “I failed… I failed you completely.”
“But it’s all right,” said Annis, striving to be soothing. “I’m all right. Nothing happened…”
“Nothing happened!” Adam’s voice rose, incredulous. And he stood, pacing to the edge of the room and then back. “Lass. They….they…touched you all over.” His voice was a whisper so fierce that the hair on her arms stood up. She stared at him blinking.
“What?” she asked, confused.
“You told me. When I asked you…” he trailed off and took a hunk of his golden hair in his hands.
The memory came back to Annis, his question: Did they touch you. And her answer. All over.
Oh god! He thought…
“You cannot tell anyone what you’ve told me. They’ll think you a ruined woman. They’ll not look at you the same…”
