Highland Avenger

by Julie Johnstone

  Before Grant could snap at Ross to be quiet, the woman turned toward Ross. “How dare you,” she bellowed, much in the same fashion that Eve had. Suddenly, Grant understood how Eve had learned the art of being heard. This woman was Clara! And for such a small woman, she was incredibly loud. “Take that back.” She shoved her finger into Ross’s chest.

  A mutinous look came over his face, but Grant shook his head at his friend. They did not have time for such arguments. Grant cleared his throat and faced the woman. “Ye must be Clara.”

  Her jaw dropped slightly. “Y-yes. How did you—”

  “I told ye,” Grant cut in, forcing a smile to his face, “Eve is my wife. We went to the convent to rescue ye, but ye weren’t there.” Then awareness that Clara had escaped but Eve had not slammed into him. “Where is Eve?”

  Clara’s moonlit eyes welled with tears.

  “Ye best start from the beginning,” Grant said gently. “But I beg of ye, make it quick.”

  The woman nodded. “Eve’s uncle was the one who betrayed her family,” she said in a rush. “He promised coin to the MacDougalls if they would kill his brother and wife, and take Eve and her sister. He even led them into the castle himself! When the plan was completed, the MacDougalls were to be given Mary, as well as the coin, for their efforts, and Eve was to be ‘rescued’ by her uncle.” Clara snorted. “In truth, Frederick only wanted the Decres warriors to think he’d rescued Eve from savage Scots so they would not protest overly much when he wed her under the guise of keeping her safe.”

  She looked from Grant’s face to his hands as they instinctively curled into fists. Anger and repulsion pulsed within him. “Continue,” he urged. “Please.”

  She nodded. “Eve was propelled over the cliff by the horse we rode when we were trying to escape, and I jumped in after her. When they could not find our bodies, they assumed us dead. But, of course, we were not.”

  “And ye took Eve to the convent for safety,” Grant said.

  Clara nodded. “I was suspicious that her uncle had been behind the attack, and I knew Eve would never be safe until she reached eighteen summers. Her father was wise and persuaded Edward to let Eve wed a man of her own choosing at that time, and then that man would one day inherit Linlithian. It helped Eve’s father’s argument greatly that the queen was a romantic and by the king’s side the day Eve’s father made the request for Eve to choose her husband—a good, honorable husband,” she said, eyeing him.

  “I am honorable,” Grant replied, eyeing the woman back.

  “Are you?” Clara asked, tilting her head. “How, then, did Eve come to be wed to you? If she even is!” Her voice rose, her own protectiveness over Eve flaring in the dark night.

  “Eve is my wife,” he said, struggling to maintain his patience. He could literally feel time slipping away, yet he could not make decisions about how to proceed without knowing as much as he could about the enemies he would face. “She is my wife in every sense of the word.”

  He’d meant to ease the woman’s mind, to help her understand that he would die to protect Eve, but when Clara’s lips slipped open and she gasped, he knew his words had not been clear enough.

  “You ravaged her?” Clara hissed.

  He took a deep breath. “Madame, I assure ye, I did nae.” Despite the cool night air, irritation heated him.

  “You must have,” she accused. “Eve would never have wed you, let alone joined with you and sealed her fate.”

  “Well, she did,” Kade snapped. “And ye kinnae speak to my laird that way. Lady Eve wed him quick as a fox when she kenned he’d nae aid her in rescuing ye if she did nae.”

  Grant groaned.

  “You are a barbarian!” Clara screamed, and though he hated to do it, he grabbed the woman and clamped his hand over her mouth, lest she bring Decres and his men straight to them.

  Guilt over what he’d forced Eve to do niggled at him. He’d not felt any misgivings over the acts required of him since the day his mother had died, but since meeting Eve, doubt seemed to be his constant companion, and he did not care for it at all. Doubt was weakness, and he could not be weak and protect everyone who needed him.

  “I’m a Scot, and we do what we must,” he told her. “And much of what we must do has been forced upon us by yer king. Now, if ye continue to argue with me, Eve may well be ravaged this night, but it will nae be by me. If I remove my hand, ye must be quiet, do ye ken me?”

  Clara nodded, and Grant immediately released his hold on her. “Where was Eve when ye last saw her?” he asked.

  “In her bedchamber,” Clara replied. Her tone had gone from outraged to worried. “We were going to escape through a secret tunnel, but then the guard heard us and she said I must go, that we would never both make it out on time.”

  “Where does the tunnel lead?” If she’d used it to get out of the castle, it stood to reason that they could use it to get into it.

  “To the stables,” Clara said. “From there, you have to cross the outer courtyard to exit the keep. I stayed to the shadows, and I crawled from the keep to the woods. ’Tis the only way, as the area is open and the guards could more easily see you if you stood. I believe you could get to the stables, but there are guards everywhere. They’d kill you on sight. It would be folly for you to attempt it.” Her voice broke, and he knew she was trying not to cry.

  “As I said,” Ross spoke, “we must create a distraction.”

  “How?” Clara demanded. “Whoever does it would be sacrificing their lives, most likely.”

  Grant’s gaze locked with Ross’s, his mind turning over what he’d learned. Eve may have agreed to wed her uncle, but she knew well that her marriage to him was true now. She could not wed one man when wed to another. “She must have planned to wed Decres only if she had to. A marriage made true cannot be dissolved.”

  “She was ready to sacrifice herself for me.” Clara began to sob. “So…so I c-could escape. I will be the one to create the distraction, as it should be.”

  Pride in Eve and anger at Decres nearly choked Grant. He was glad Eve was brave, but he’d told her not to court trouble, and she’d gone and done exactly that. “Nae,” Grant said. “It will be me. Eve is my wife.”

  Clara’s mouth slipped open, but after a moment she said, “You would give your life for Eve?”

  “Aye,” he assured the woman.

  Clara nodded. “Eve has chosen wisely, then,” she said. “If Frederick believes he is wed to Eve, he will join with her. He may…” Clara swallowed loudly. “He may already have done so.” Tears leaked down the woman’s cheeks. “He would do that in his bedchamber.”

  The thought of another man touching Eve, of taking her against her will, made Grant shake all over and his blood rush through his veins. “I’ll rush the castle on my horse,” he bit out. “And when I do, ye must slip in, Ross. Kade, ye take Clara and make yer way to Dithorn.”

  “I’ll not leave Eve,” the woman protested.

  Grant’s patience snapped. He had not time to spare. “Kade—”

  “Aye, laird. Ye need nae say more,” Kade replied and scooped Clara off her feet and muffled her wails. “I’ll see ye at Dithorn.” He turned to march toward his horse.

  “Ye ken I will do what ye ask, Grant,” Ross said beside him, “but this is folly. Ye’ll be killed this night. Perhaps if we wait, someone will venture by that we can ambush, or we can leave to get aid and return for Eve.”

  Ross spoke wisely. Grant knew it, and yet… “I kinnae wait,” he said. “And I kinnae simply ride away and leave her.”

  “This foolhardiness is why I’ll nae ever wed,” Ross replied with a sigh. “Ye are heading toward death, but I will do all I can to ensure yer wife and I dunnae join ye there.”

  “Thank ye, Ross,” Grant said, turned, and started shoving through the bushes in the direction of the castle. “God, be on our side,” he said, and started to glance toward the sky, but a torch lit the darkness to illuminate a priest riding away from the castle and toward them o
n a horse. Grant stopped in his tracks and set a hand on Ross’s shoulder. “That is the quickest God has ever answered me,” he said with a grin.

  The knock at her uncle’s bedchamber door came much later than Eve had expected. She’d thought the priest would have rushed to return to the castle, but she’d been in the bedchamber quite a long time. She rose on trembling legs, the folds of the ornate gown her uncle had insisted she wear billowing to the ground to swish at her feet. Bile rose in her throat as the door opened, and then her eyes widened in shock at the sight of the two priests standing there. Their robes were drawn over their heads and low on their faces. Eve opened her mouth to demand to know who they were, but before she could get the question out, she noticed the man assigned to guard her lay crumpled on the ground behind the priests.

  “What in God’s name—”

  “I hear ye love the state of marriage so much that ye intend to take a second husband,” one of the men said, shoving his hood back to reveal his face.

  “Grant!” she cried out, shock and relief rendering her immobile for one moment, before joy sent her flying into the protective embrace of his arms. “Did you encounter Father George? Are these his and Father Michael’s robes? However did you—”

  A savage kiss stopped her question for a brief moment. Then he broke the contact and motioned her to step out of the way.

  “Aye, and aye. But ’tis a tale for when we escape this castle,” he said as he bent and grabbed the unconscious guard by the arms. Grant looked up at Ross, who had been disguised as the second priest. “Are ye just going to stand there, or are ye going to aid me?”

  Ross glowered at Grant. “I was waiting for ye to snap another order, as ye’ve been doing since this ill-advised foray into the castle,” he growled, even as he grasped the guard’s legs. He and Grant carried the guard past Eve and into the bedchamber. They deposited him onto the floor with a thud.

  Grant stood, swept his gaze around the bedchamber, and then looked at Eve and frowned. “What are ye wearing?”

  Eve gave a nervous laugh. “The wedding finery my uncle demanded.”

  A tender look came over his face. “I’m sorry to have been right about him, Wife.”

  Her throat suddenly tightened with the need to slump into Grant’s arms and cry. She felt she’d suffered another great loss today. She had loved her uncle and trusted him, and he’d proven treacherous. Grant took her hand and squeezed it, seeming to understand what she was feeling without saying it. Gratefulness filled her.

  “We have to flee,” he said. “Luck was on our side on the way in, but it will nae be long now before the guards we knocked unconscious are discovered. Then—”

  Horns began to ring all at once. A chill swept Eve’s body, and she moved closer to Grant. “That horn signals an intruder in the castle.”

  “What’s the best route of escape?” Grant asked.

  Eve hesitated for a brief moment, thinking back to her life here, which seemed so very long ago. The only way out was through the keep and down the valley; they’d never make it. Her uncle’s men would overcome them. Unless… “We’ll go straight out the front entrance in plain sight, but you will need to knock out two more guards.”

  Grant smiled, as did Ross. “I like how quick ye think, Wife. It so happens we left two guards down the passage. We’ll return in a moment.”

  She nodded, moving toward the unconscious guard. “I’ll take his clothes,” she said, motioning to the man on the floor.

  “I’ll agree to that this time, but ye should ken, I dunnae share what is mine,” he said with the hint of teasing, “and ye are mine.”

  She knew he was making light, likely so she would not be as scared. She winked at him. “’Tis good to hear, Husband, for I don’t share what is mine, either, and you are mine.”

  By the time Eve had gotten the guard’s clothing off and had disrobed herself, Grant and Ross returned with two more uniforms. Embarrassment heated her cheeks when Ross’s eyes widened upon her as she stood dressed in only her léine. Grant elbowed his friend, even though Ross immediately averted his eyes.

  “Wipe that picture of Eve from yer mind,” Grant ordered as he began to strip off his plaid and braies to don the clothes he held in his hands.

  “I assure ye, it’s already gone,” Ross said, moving to the window behind them and facing it as he dressed, as well.

  Eve and Grant locked eyes as they hurriedly dressed, and for the brief moment her husband’s chest was bare, all she could think upon was how he’d felt under her touch. Her neck and chest heated with the thoughts of her husband, and he gave her a knowing look, as if he too was recalling their night together. Suddenly, he pulled her to him and pressed his lips to her ear.

  “Stay behind me,” he said, putting his helmet on and then brushing his thumb over her lips before picking up his sword, which had been hidden under the priest’s frock, and sheathing it.

  She frowned and snatched up one of the guard’s daggers that Grant had not yet picked up from where he’d placed the weapons on the ground. “I’ll stay beside you, or I may even lead,” she said, determined to take her bravery back. She shoved past Grant, but he grabbed her hand.

  “Eve—”

  “Nae a one of us will be alive to stay anywhere if we dunnae flee now,” Ross growled, donning his helmet.

  As if he’d called the hounds of Hell down upon them, the door burst open, and a guard, brandishing a sword, barreled into the room.

  Even as Grant drew his sword to save Eve, she lunged at the guard and plunged her dagger into his gut. The guard’s eyes grew wide, and wider still, as Grant finished him with a clean blow to the chest. Before the man fully fell to the floor, sword clattering, Grant grabbed his wife, tugged her around the falling warrior, grasped the helmet she had yet to put on, and shoved it onto her head.

  “Ye need a lesson in obedience,” he growled, seeing his mother’s face and then an image of Eve dead.

  “Well, you will have to save it for later,” she said as a dozen guards appeared at the top of the stairs.

  “Do you have Lady Decres?” the guard at the front of the line demanded.

  “No,” Eve spoke before Grant could. She’d pitched her voice low, but was it enough to fool the guards?

  “Search the courtyard, then,” the guard said. “We’ll continue to search the castle. Whoever’s in here has surely come for her.”

  Eve nodded, and the guards turned and ran down the passage. The moment they were out of sight, Grant, Eve, and Ross made for the stairs. Grant had to pull Eve back to get ahead of her and position her between himself and Ross. When they reached the main floor, the door to the castle had opened wide, and knights flooded the courtyard and the valley beyond as far as Grant could see.

  “If anyone stops us let me speak,” Eve whispered. “They will know you two are Scots the minute you open your mouths.”

  Grant nodded, knowing she was likely correct. His English accent was passable, but Eve could pitch her voice better than he could mimic the English brogue. Sweat dampened his back and brow as they walked into the courtyard and began to wind through the men going in various directions. The noise all around him did not compare to the rushing in his ears. Never had he been afraid in battle. He’d always been able to detach himself, to think only of the moment, but with Eve beside him, all he could think was that a single blow could kill her. Worry gnawed at him, and he did not care for it at all. The urge to take her hand or put his arm around her was near overwhelming, but that would draw attention to them. Knights were deployed in various directions, and Grant committed their paths to memory for when he returned to take the castle for his wife. And this time, it would be as much for her as for Scotland.

  They made their way through the courtyard without incident. When they reached the gates manned by four guards, one of the guards raised his hand for them to stop. “Lord Decres said no one leaves the castle grounds without seeing him first.”

  Grant curled his hand around the hilt of his s
word, prepared to kill if necessary. “He just ordered us to search the woods,” Eve said, doing a surprisingly good impression of a man’s voice. “You can stop us, but I’d not if I were you. Lord Decres is in a foul mood since Eve went missing.”

  “Go, then,” the guard said, waving at the one manning the gates. Grant hesitated, not wanting him and Ross to move through the gate without Eve, but he forced himself to move when the guard barked, “I said you can go! Do your legs no longer work?”

  He came through the gate, as did Ross. When Eve passed the guard manning the gate, however, the man said, “Halt!”

  Grant’s heart exploded as he turned to see Eve stop and the guard rush toward her. The man raised his sword to the sliver of exposed skin at Eve’s neck. “You called Lady Decres by her given name.”

  “Yes,” Eve responded, and Grant winced. He could hear the change in her tone, but could the guard here it?

  “Last night Lord Decres ordered us all to never become familiar with Lady Decres,” the man said. “We were to keep our distance, and always remember that she has lived a long time in Scotland. She is not to be trusted. Yet, you called her Eve…”

  Perspiration rolled down Grant’s back, and he took a step toward Eve, judging the distance between them. There would be no way to reach her in time if the guard made a move. Yet, he could not stop himself. He took a step toward them, and the guard’s gaze flicked to Grant before returning to Eve. “What do you say for yourself?”

  “It was—” Her voice had pitched yet higher, and this time it sounded distinctly like a woman’s.

  Grant and the guard lunged for Eve simultaneously. Another guard came at Grant from the right, and Grant sliced the man across the stomach. Behind him, swords clanked once, twice, and then Ross cried out, “Die, English swine!” A body thudded to the ground. “Good riddance.”

  Grant strode toward Eve who was swinging her dagger at the guard, whose back was now to Grant. He drew his sword back when he was within striking distance, and as he did, the man lunged forward again. As Grant sliced his opponent’s back, the man yelped and staggered forward, tripping and coming to his knees. Relief poured over Grant. Eve had not been hurt.