“I’m no’ sure,” she said, her eyes glancing back and forth.
“Don’t worry. No one is going to see us.”
“Well, mayhap.”
They probably would have made love in the water like Lance wanted if a loud crash of thunder from outside the cave hadn’t startled Coira.
“It’s goin’ to storm,” said Coira, clinging to him so tightly she almost choked him.
“It’s all right, Coira. Please don’t tell me you are afraid of storms, too?”
She glanced out the entrance of the cave to the dark clouds rolling across the sky. “Lord Ralston kept me locked in the cage in all the elements,” she said with tears in her eyes. “There was a bad storm one night, and it rained so hard I thought I would drown. I wanted to die before that storm ended.”
He could see how upset she was and knew he had to get her back to the castle before the sky opened and the downpour started.
“You’re trembling, Coira.”
“I’m s-sorry,” she said. “I feel so cold all of a sudden.”
“Then, let’s get you home.”
They emerged from the water dripping wet, and hurriedly put on their shoes. Coira didn’t bother to don her wet hose. Once outside, lightning flashed across the sky. Coira jumped and clung to him at the next crash of thunder. Then the rain started to fall.
“Coira, I want you to ride back with me. I’ll tether your horse to mine.”
“Thank ye, Lance.” Tears flowed down her cheeks. “I dinna mean to be so afeard. I thought I was over the bad memories. But when ye brought me to Liddel Castle and I saw the cages as well as Sir Philip, everythin’ became worse.”
“I’m sorry, Coira.” He reached out and gently brushed the tears from her cheeks. “I never meant to hurt you.” He started to think about the conversation they’d had. Coira said castles and land didn’t matter. She had grown up living off the land and in a tent. How could she be satisfied living that way and with gypsies? The girl was amazing.
He hoisted her up into the saddle as the rain poured down around them. Then he pulled himself up behind her, wrapping his arms around her to stop her trembling and to keep her safe and warm.
He started thinking about what else she’d said. She told him that all that mattered was the people he loved and not to take them for granted. Had he taken it for granted that she would want to live at Liddel Castle? He had only been trying to give his new wife everything she deserved. Suddenly, he wondered if, mayhap, his values had been misplaced.
“Coira, I have something I need to tell you.” He decided he didn’t want to keep secrets from her and would tell her what he did. Aye, he would explain to her that keeping the castle was all that mattered to him before, but now he realized that what she said was true. She was more important to him than any castle or land. His heart broke every time he thought about Coira being kept a prisoner in a cage!
Thunder boomed again, and her fingers dug into his arm. Her body shook harder. Perhaps, he should wait until they were back at the castle and dry. Aye, he wouldn’t upset her anymore right now. He needed her to calm down first before he told her anything that might upset her.
“What is it, Lance?” she asked.
“It’ll wait,” he said. “Let’s pick up the pace and get back before it rains any harder.”
Scottish Rose
Elizabeth Rose
Chapter 10
Even through Coira’s fear of storms, she felt safe in her husband’s embrace. Her body still trembled, but it was more from being wet and from the cold. They rode through the castle gates just as the sky opened up turning into an even harder downpour.
“Get inside and into dry clothes,” he told her, dismounting and reaching up to help her from the horse. “Have Zara help you. I’ll meet you in my solar. Jack? Jack,” he called out. “Where are you?”
“Here I am, my lord,” said Jack, running from the keep, stopping to nod at Coira. “Lady Coira, how was your ride?” he asked.
“Egads, you fool, tend to the horses,” spat Lance. “This is no time for pleasantries.”
“Lady Coira!” Zara rushed out to meet them. “You are soaked to the skin. I had no idea the rain was that bad. Come, we’ll go inside and get you into dry clothes.”
Once inside the solar, Coira changed into dry clothes while Zara made a fire in the hearth. “Give me those wet things,” said Zara, waddling over and taking them from her. Zara looked down at the clothes in her hands and shook her head. “Where are your hose?”
“Oh, that,” said Coira, running a towel over her wet hair. “My hose are in the travel bag.”
“Something tells me that you were doing more than just riding and eating food on the grass.”
“We were, Zara,” she admitted. “Lance took us to a cave with a pool of water inside.”
“And?” Zara raised a brow.
“And . . . I pushed him in.” Coira giggled and continued to dry her hair.
“Then you jumped in after him?”
“Nay, of course no’,” she said, bringing the towel over to the fire as well. “He pulled me in. We kissed and would have made love if the storm hadna scared me.”
“Coira, I am starting to think being married has changed you in ways that I don’t understand.”
“What’s no’ to understand?” Coira smiled, feeling warm inside just thinking about her husband. “Lance is a kind, carin’ man. I feel guid about myself around him. I feel safe when I’m in his arms and I ken he would never hurt me.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Zara mumbled under her breath, but Coira heard her.
“Why did ye say that, Zara?”
“It’s nothing.” Zara spread the wet clothes out around the fire. “Just remember, you chose the card that depicted a blue rose.”
“Enemies to lovers,” she said, thinking about the card. “It already happened when I married Lance to make the alliance.”
“Perhaps,” said Zara, acting very odd. “Or perhaps the enemy part has not quite emerged yet.”
“What are ye sayin’?” asked Coira.
“You’ll find out. You’ve been shaken up enough today, so don’t worry your head about it.”
“Nay.” Coira reached out and grabbed Zara’s arm. “If there is somethin’ ye need to tell me, then do so. Dinna keep things from me, Zara.”
“I don’t want to worry you anymore tonight, but I think you ought to know.”
“What is it? Tell me.”
“It’s about Lance.”
“What about him?”
“Sit down.” She guided Coira to a chair. “I overheard Lance’s squire telling another knight that Lance tricked you into telling him where the Stone of Destiny is hidden.”
“Oh, that.” Coira, waved her hand through the air in a dismissing manner. “We already talked about that. I kent he wanted information, and I told him the last hidin’ place of the stone to satisfy his curiosity.”
“But there’s more.”
“What more could there be?”
“Coira, I know the real reason Lance asked you those questions.”
Coira’s stomach clenched into a knot as the feeling she’d been betrayed entered her mind. “Tell me, Zara. I need to ken the truth.”
“He gave the information to Sir Philip and that’s where the man went – to collect the Stone of Destiny and give it to King Edward to gain favor in his eyes.”
“I see.” Coira’s knuckles turned white since she gripped the edge of her chair so hard. “Why would Lance do such a thing?”
“It seems that Liddel Castle should have gone to Sir Philip after the death of Lord Ralston’s wife. But Lance swooped in and claimed it as his own. Now, Sir Philip means to take it back and fight to do it if he has to. But he told your husband that if he got you to divulge the secret whereabouts of the stone, he would take it to the king and the castle would be Lance’s after all.”
“My husband betrayed me?” She stood up, feeling that Lance was not the husband she though
t him to be.
The door to the room opened and Lance walked in, followed by Jack. Both of them were sopping wet.
“Oh, good, there’s a fire,” said Lance, looking toward the hearth. “I am so cold and wet that this is a sight for sore eyes.”
“My lord, I’ve been trying to tell you something,” said Jack.
“Ye betrayed me!” shouted Coira, feeling furious. “How could ye?”
“What?” Lance stood at the fire warming his hands, looking up in confusion.
“I ken ye told yer uncle about the hidin’ place of the Stone of Destiny only because ye wanted to keep Liddel Castle for yerself.”
A shadow crossed Lance’s face and he came closer to her. “Coira, I wanted to tell you about it but was waiting until you had calmed down from the storm.”
“Calmed down? How could I calm down? I trusted ye and yet ye betrayed me.”
“I understand how you feel, and that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“There is nothin’ to say,” she snapped.
“My lord, I think there is something Lady Coira should know,” interrupted Jack.
“Not now, Jack. Can’t you see I’m trying to talk to my wife?”
“I thought ye were different, and that ye cared about me,” Coira continued.
“I do, sweetheart. I care about you very much.” He reached out to touch her on the shoulders. Coira pushed his hands away.
“Ye are no better than yer uncle.”
“Now, don’t even say such a thing, because that’s not true.”
“My lord?” said Jack, once again trying to get Lance’s attention.
“Not now, Squire.”
“It is true, and I ken that now. I am only glad that I gave ye the wrong information.” She smugly crossed her arms over her chest.
“Wrong information?”
“My lord?” said Jack.
“What do you mean, wrong information?” A look of fear mixed with disbelief showed in Lance’s eyes.
“I am no’ daft. I kent ye were tryin’ to find out where the stone is hidden, so I told ye its last hidin’ place.”
“So, it’s not in the river now?”
“Nay,” she said with a smile, shaking her head.
“Then where is it?”
“No one kens the answer to that but the MadMen MacKeefe. But even if I kent the answer, I wouldna tell ye.”
“So, you betrayed me as well,” Lance pointed out.
“That’s different,” she said. “I was only throwin’ ye off the path to protect Scotland’s coronation stone.”
“You both seem to have betrayed the other,” Zara interrupted.
“You have no idea what you did,” Lance said in a low and steady voice.
“My lord,” interrupted Jack once more.
“God’s eyes, Squire, what is it?” snapped Lance.
Thunder rumbled off the walls of the castle as rain pelted down against the wooden shutter covering the window.
“I just thought you and Lady Coira should know that when you left, the dog tried to follow.”
“Sweetcakes?” Coira looked up in surprise, realizing she hadn’t seen the dog since they’d returned. “Where is she?”
“She’s gone,” explained Jack.
“Gone?” asked Lance. “Where did she go?”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” Jack sighed and held up his hands. “I tried to keep her in the courtyard as you’d instructed, but the dog wouldn’t stay. She ended up running out the gate just before it started to rain.”
“Sweetcakes is out in this storm?” Coira ran to the window and threw open the shutter. She scanned the courtyard below but didn’t see the dog anywhere. “I need to find her.” She turned to go, jumping in surprise as it thundered again.
“Nay, you’re not going anywhere.” Lance stepped in front of her. “It’s just a dog that used to be a stray. It’ll come back when it’s good and ready. If not, we’ll search for it in the morning light after the rain lets up.”
“Ye care only about yerself!” cried Coira.
“Coira, that’s not true. What do you want? Do you want me to find the dog? I said I’d search for it in the morning.”
“Nay, I dinna want anythin’ from ye. Ye are my enemy now.” Tears flowed down her cheeks as she pushed past him and ran from the room.
“Now you did it, you fool,” snapped Zara, taking off after Coira.
Lance collapsed atop a chair, dragging a hand through his wet hair. His clothes dripped and a puddle of water pooled beneath him. “Did you have to tell us about the dog right now?” he asked his squire.
“I suppose it could have waited.” Jack walked over and closed the shutter to keep out the rain. “But I know how much Coira cares for Sweetcakes and thought I should let her know immediately that the dog ran away.”
“It’s just a damned hound, Squire. What does it matter?”
“My lord?” Jack turned around and cocked his head. “I thought you’d want to make your wife happy by finding the dog.”
“The last time I tried to make my wife happy is what got me into this mess in the first place.”
“I don’t understand.” Jack went over and poked at the fire with an iron rod.
“I thought it would mean something to Coira to live in a castle and have a husband who owned land as well. I wanted her to be proud to be my wife. That’s the reason I did what I did.”
“But Lady Coira doesn’t seem to care about living in a castle,” Jack told him.
“I know that now. However, the damage has been done.” Lance stared into the flames, thinking of how angry his uncle would be when he found out he’d been deceived. “Sir Philip will most likely return from his trip tomorrow sometime. And when he finds no stone hidden where I told him it would be, there will be a battle between us over the castle.”
“What are you going to do, my lord?”
“What can I do?” Lance stood up and slogged his way to the door, his shoes squeaking with water with every step he took. “Saddle our horses, Squire, we’ve got a dog to find.”
“But what about Sir Philip?” asked Jack, running after him. “What if he returns while we’re away?”
“I know how long it takes to get to the River Annan and back. He won’t return at least until late tomorrow sometime. By then, hopefully I’ll have an answer about what to do.”
“Are you going to fight him for the castle?” asked Jack.
“I can’t answer that right now,” Lance told him. “Now let’s get a move on, because we have a dog to find before my wife calls me the enemy again.”
Scottish Rose
Elizabeth Rose
Chapter 11
Coira spent the night in Zara’s room, where she had cried herself to sleep. It wasn’t until she heard shouting from the courtyard that she awoke.
“What is it, Zara?” She sat up in bed. “Has Lance returned?” She found out from the stable boy that Lance and Jack went out in the middle of the storm to look for the dog. At first, she was happy. But after hours of a severe storm and they still hadn’t returned, she started to worry.
“I don’t know,” said Zara, sitting up as well. They shared the bed, but Coira wished she was sharing the bed with her husband instead.
“It’s got to be him. He must have found the dog.” She hurriedly dressed and pushed on her shoes and headed for the door.
“Where are you going in the middle of the night?” asked Zara.
“I have to see him, Zara. I need to tell him that I’m sorry for deceivin’ him.”
“Now is a fine time to think of that.” Zara swung her legs over the side of the bed and yawned. “Perhaps, if you could have told him before he left, none of the problems between you would matter.”
“I was angry,” said Coira, grabbing a cloak from a hook and throwing it around her shoulders. “But I had time to think. Lance said it was a knight’s dream to own a castle. I think I now understand his decision.”
“It still doesn’t make it right,” said Zara.
“Nay, it doesna. But I deceived him, too, and that wasna right either. I feel bad that Lance left in a storm to find Sweetcakes. But that tells me that he does care about me after all. I have to go to him, Zara.” Coira turned and ran down the corridor, heading out to the courtyard. She had worried for Lance’s safety and was happy that he’d returned.
She ran out the door of the keep, calling out his name. “Lance? Lance, ye’ve returned.”
“Well, look at what we have here.” The voice of Sir Philip stopped her dead in her tracks. She looked up to see his angry face staring down at her from his steed. The wagon with the cages on the back was right behind him. All her fears came crashing down on her at once. She backed away slowly. “You told your husband a lie, wench.” He dismounted and reached out and grabbed her by the hair.
“Ow! Leave me be.” She struggled against his hold.
“No one is going to lie to me and get away with it.”
“I dinna ken what ye mean.”
“You told your husband the Stone of Destiny was where the River Annan and the Evan Waters meet. However, on my way there I met up with one of my brother’s men who knew the truth. That was the last hiding place of the stone, but it’s been moved. Now, tell me, where is it?” He gripped her hair tighter, causing her to bend over in pain.
“I dinna ken,” she shouted. “Only the MadMen MacKeefe ken where they hid the stone.”
“I don’t believe you. Now tell me where it is or I will get it out of you, however I have to.”
“Lance willna let ye get away with this,” shouted Coira.
Philip chuckled. “He’s not going to come to your rescue because I heard he’s out looking for a mutt.”
Coira felt sick to her stomach and now regretted ever making such a big fuss about the missing dog. If she hadn’t, Lance would be there now to protect her and to defend his castle.
“What’s going on down there?” shouted a sentry from the battlements.
“Men, take care of the guards before they alert everyone we’re here,” commanded Philip.
“Aye, my lord,” said his men, taking off at a run.
“Tell me the truth, wench, or you’re going back in there where you belong.” Philip dragged her over to the wagon and shoved her face in front of the bars of the cage that had, at one time, been her prison.
Rogues to Lovers: Legend of the Blue Rose Page 18
