His Woman (Zebra Historical Romance)

by Diana J. Cosby

  Relief swept through Duncan. Why had he not thought of doing the same? With Alexander's marriage to Lord Monceaux's sister, Nichola, the English lord would surely help them. Not to mention the fact that although Griffin was King Edward's Scottish adviser, the English were unaware he was a spy for Scotland who worked under the code name of Wulfe. The information Lord Monceaux passed to Wallace ensured the Scottish rebels stayed one step ahead of the English king. God help Griffin should King Edward ever learn the truth of his secret identity.

  "Griffin will ensure Lord Caelin's life is spared," Duncan said.

  "He will try," Alexander said. "But furious at the embarrassment served to his troops by the rebels, King Edward will settle for no less than Wallace's head. Nay, Longshanks spares no one whom he believes knows the whereabouts of Wallace."

  "And with his rage of having Wallace slipped past his knights' searches several times now," Duncan agreed, "to vent his anger, the English king would cling to a lie."

  "A lie indeed," Seathan agreed. "One that Frasyer will no doubt ensure reaches Griffin."

  "Wanting to earn royal praise," Duncan added, understanding the self-serving bastard too well, "Frasyer will send a missive to King Edward as well, which negates Griffin ensuring Lord Caelin is unharmed."

  Seathan and Alexander nodded in unison.

  Pain throbbed in Duncan's head. "Frasyer would sell his mother if it earned him praise in the king's eyes."

  "We will do all that we can to save Lord Caelin," Alexander said solemnly, "but we must take care to preserve Lord Monceaux's identity. If we should lose Griffin's aid to the rebel cause, it is a blow I doubt from which the rebels could recover." He shot Duncan a serious look. "Nor would I wish to deal Nichola such news of her brother."

  Like the sputter of a windswept flame, Duncan's hope for Isabel's father wavered. "Wait!" He sat up straighter and winced as the movement pulled against the stretch of healing skin. "There is proof of Lord Caelin's innocence. Isabel explained to me that before her father was hauled away, he told her to look in her mother's Bible!"

  "Her mother's Bible?" Seathan asked.

  Alexander frowned. "She nay mentioned a Bible to us. Or the fact that any proof of his innocence exists."

  "Which makes no sense." Duncan shook his head. "Why would Isabel not tell you that we delayed our leaving Moncreiffe Castle because we tried to find her mother's Bible to save her father?"

  Fresh anger clouded his brothers' faces.

  "She said you were hurt while fighting guards, which delayed your escape," Seathan said, "but no more."

  A sword's wrath. What else had she omitted? "The only reason I can think of why she wouldn't tell you about the Bible is... because it is a lie." Frustration churned within Duncan like a cauldron boiling over. "No, it cannot be. When she told me about the Bible, she pleaded and begged me to leave without her. Isabel was determined to find it on her own. She acted as if she truly cared that I was safe. Though I found her actions confusing, I believed, and still do, that she was sincere."

  "God's steed! The two of you need a good shaking," Seathan muttered; Alexander grunted in agreement. "You both have given me enough of the truth to serve each of your purposes."

  Duncan bristled. "My original intent was to spare you from seeing Isabel again. One of us being afflicted with her presence was enough."

  Seathan raised his brow. "Afflicted?" He waved a hand when Duncan would have spoken. "Start at the beginning and tell me the truth about what happened between you and Isabel. The entire truth. I will tolerate no more deception."

  At thoughts of Isabel, a barrage of unwanted emotions stormed Duncan.

  Desire.

  Unanswered longing.

  The sting of old betrayal.

  But to avoid his brother's demand would only cause further chaos where too much lay at stake. "I will tell you, but first, explain why have you allowed Isabel to remain at Lochshire Castle."

  Alexander's mouth thinned into a hard line as he slanted Seathan a hard look. "A question I have asked him as well."

  "I have my reasons," Seathan stated.

  And Seathan believed Duncan was stubborn, Duncan mused. He couldn't keep pace with his oldest brother. "Since she saved my life, I would think they are reasons I would deserve to be knowing."

  "Since your thoughts have misguided you as of late," Seathan said, "I will determine when a reply to your question is necessary."

  Alexander walked over to stand beside Seathan. He spread his feet shoulder width and crossed his arms. "Out with it, Duncan."

  Aware that his brothers wouldn't be budged and thankful that his dizziness had abated, for the next few minutes, Duncan relayed the facts—from Symon riding up to him mortally wounded, his vow, freeing Isabel, and their escape.

  Seathan curled his hand around the hilt of his sword until his knuckles grew white as he listened. "Had I known of what you were about—"

  "You would have stopped me," Duncan said.

  Alexander's nostrils flared with anger. "Which is why you did not wait for Seathan and me to return from Selkirk Forest after our meeting with Wallace."

  "I had not anticipated such trouble. Had Isabel but cooperated, she and I would have been long gone before the dungeon guards noticed her absence." His throat parched, Duncan reached over for a goblet of water. His arm began to shake, and sweat beaded his brow.

  Alexander stepped forward and handed him the pewter goblet filled with water.

  "My thanks." Duncan took a long drink. After a moment, some of the dizziness passed. He wished he could say as much for how his body ached.

  "What will you do about the Bible?" Seathan asked.

  "I will be going back for it," Duncan said.

  "Go back," Alexander scoffed. "With your wounds still healing, you will not be setting one foot inside—"

  Seathan raised his hand, silencing his brother. For a long moment he studied Duncan as if he weighed a decision of import. "Do you trust Isabel?"

  The question caught Duncan off guard, more so that it was a question he had asked himself many times over. A question that still gave him doubts. From Alexander's grimace, his brother was as surprised by Seathan's change of topic as well.

  "I am not sure," Duncan admitted.

  Seathan dropped his hand to his side and strode to the window. After a moment, he turned to face Duncan. "If indeed she is telling the truth, we must consider that Frasyer has taken the Bible with him, if not hidden it elsewhere."

  "Or destroyed it," Alexander added.

  Frustration collapsed atop Duncan's already mounting pile. "I am well aware those possibilities exist."

  Seathan's eyes sparked with fury. "Are you? As Alexander stated, you are unfit to travel, much less fight Frasyer or his knights if confronted."

  Duncan pushed himself into a sitting position, ignoring his body's protest. "It will take me a day, two at most to be up and about."

  Alexander grunted. "You are as weak as a babe. You need rest, not to be pushing yourself."

  "I will hand select two of my most trusted men to return with Isabel," Seathan said.

  "Nay." Duncan threw off the covers and ignored the black spots dancing before his eyes. Clenching his teeth, he slid his feet over the side of the bed. "I will go. It is my responsibility."

  Seathan shook his head. "Your vow to Symon to free Isabel is fulfilled. You owe her nothing more."

  Words Duncan had repeated to himself a hundred times over, but shamefully, they didn't ease the anxiety spreading through him at never seeing her again. Which, after she'd abandoned him but days before they were to wed, made absolutely no sense.

  "I have also given her my vow to help find the Bible." Duncan looked from one brother to the next. Anger flared in his brothers' eyes, but in Seathan's gaze, he also noted understanding.

  Unsettled, Duncan curled his hand into a fist, then slowly released it. What was there to understand? Or rather, after Iuliana, the woman Seathan loved had betrayed him, why would his older brother
hold nothing but contempt for Isabel? Yet, he had allowed Isabel to remain within their home.

  "Regardless of what either of us wishes," Duncan added, "with Frasyer's men in search of Isabel and her accomplice, for the next few days it would not be wise for anyone to try and reenter Moncreiffe Castle. If the knights I fought with within Frasyer's castle recognized me, Frasyer will have posted a watch upon Lochshire Castle to intercept me, or any of my kin, upon my return."

  "True," Seathan agreed. "But garbed as a priest, I doubt they recognized you. If so, Frasyer would have arrived at my gates with a contingent of men demanding you and Isabel."

  "Aye," Alexander grunted. "Still, with Frasyer's ire peaked, it would be foolhardy for any of us to ride upon his lands. Like it or not, we must wait a few days."

  Seathan tapped his finger on the hilt of his sword. "I will increase the guard around Lochshire's borders in case Frasyer's men grow bold."

  "I do not like the waiting, but it is a wise decision." With a sigh, Alexander began to pace the room. When he reached the far wall, he turned and stopped. For a long moment, he studied Duncan, his face hard. "A question Seathan asked earlier will not let me be. You said you are not sure if you trust Isabel, Duncan, but do you believe she has changed?" He stepped toward him. "Do you believe yourself immune? That your continued involvement with the lass will not lead to another round of hurt?"

  Duncan didn't miss Seathan's watching him with interest at Alexander's question. He shoved to his feet. The room spun, but he braced himself. Out of sheer will, he remained standing.

  "Do either of you think I could forget that she betrayed me?" Duncan demanded. Neither could he deny that the familiar spark, the warmth that'd always existed between them, thrived. An awareness that until he'd held her in the dungeon, he'd deluded himself into believing had faded. Now, despite her treachery, he wanted her. If he allowed Isabel back into his life, she could hurt him once again.

  Except this time, he doubted he could recover.

  "Though you would deny it," Alexander said, cutting into his musings, "you still carry feelings for the lass, want them or not. Your actions say what you will not."

  "To Hades with you!" Duncan's legs began to tremble beneath the effort of standing. "I owe you no explanation other than the one that I have given."

  "Enough," Seathan stated. "Arguing will change nothing."

  Redness slashed across Alexander's cheeks, then his face softened with regret. "My words are driven from worry. Damn you, Duncan, you almost died."

  The concern in his brother's voice tempered Duncan's anger. Tiredness washed over him, and he rubbed the back of his neck. "I know." Still, he couldn't help but wonder what was going through Isabel's mind. Though she'd not spoken of her relationship with Frasyer, one would think with her imprisonment in Frasyer's dungeon, her father threatened with his life, and her brother killed, a woman would leave her lover. Except with Isabel, life had taught him not to expect the obvious.

  "Rest, brother," Alexander said, "before you collapse and reopen Isabel's careful binding."

  As Duncan slid back in bed, Seathan walked over to the table and poured himself a glass of wine. "Has the lass given you a reason why Frasyer imprisoned her?"

  Duncan stiffened at his own idiocy. So caught up in emodons for Isabel, he'd neglected what he should have explained from the first. "Frasyer did so because she refused to tell him where Wallace is hidden."

  "She knows?" Seathan and Alexander asked in stunned unison.

  The shock on his brothers' faces matched Duncan's when he'd learned the fact. "Aye. Symon must have told her. It is the why of it I am unsure of." He shrugged. "With her living with Frasyer, one would believe the last thing her brother would discuss with her was Wallace, especially his location."

  Seathan slammed the goblet upon the table. Red wine slopped over in angry puddles. "Or any rebel activity."

  "What other rebel information has she been privileged to?" Alexander demanded.

  "And why did she not mention this to us when we questioned her before? By God's steed, I will find out!" Seathan strode to the door. "I assure you, when I speak with her this time, she will leave nothing out."

  "Stop!" Duncan jumped up again to intercede, but his legs gave way and he collapsed to the floor. Biting back the pain, he accepted his brother's help. With his hands braced on the bed as he sat up, he met Seathan's gaze. "I will talk to her in the morning."

  "No," Seathan replied. "The luxury of time or tenderness is long past. With her ties to Frasyer, he may already be aware of other information dangerous to our rebel cause. Whatever she knows, we must learn posthaste and pass on to Wallace."

  Alexander stepped forward. "I will go with you."

  "Then we will all speak with her," Duncan said, aware the trio would be intimidating to Isabel, but also because he wanted to be there. "I want answers as well, but if Frasyer knows of Wallace's position, why has he not attacked the rebel base before now?"

  "Now you protect her?" Seathan challenged.

  "No. I but offer thoughts to consider." Duncan paused. "Tending to me, she has slept little since her arrival. Do you think in her exhausted state we will learn more than if she is allowed a bit of rest?"

  "Exhaustion will make the finding out easier," Alexander snapped.

  "She saved my life, I cannot forget that," Duncan replied. "Besides, do you think a few more hours truly matter?"

  Tension built in the air between them. Seathan hesitated a moment longer, then stated, "At first light, but no longer."

  On a slow exhale, Alexander relaxed. "As much as I want answers, on this I will respect your decision, but only because the lass reached us in time to save Duncan."

  Thankful, Duncan nodded, aware this was far from a reprieve, neither should it be. Isabel's poor decisions in not confiding to him had created this muddle. She would bear the resultant burden. Still, that didn't mean he would allow his brothers to browbeat her unchecked.

  If for no other reason than the vow he'd made to Symon, he would see to her safely.

  "Rest now," Seathan said. "You woke but a short while ago and are still fevered."

  "And your moving about has reopened the wound," Alexander chided.

  Duncan looked down. A line of blood stained the wrap. He would be more careful, but he had a greater concern that had haunted him since he had released Isabel from her cell in Moncreiffe Castle.

  "Do you think Isabel is a spy?" Duncan asked. "That Frasyer's tossing her into the dungeon was a trap?" Before either brother could reply, he continued. "I want to believe it is my mind concocting such doubts, that she would not betray us. As I explained, since I approached her in Frasyer's dungeon, she has acted and spoken as if her worry for me is sincere. But with her past actions, I am unsure."

  "Something is amiss no doubt," Seathan agreed. "Exactly what, is the question."

  Alexander nodded. "My thought as well."

  A light knock sounded on the door.

  Seathan stepped to the side. "Enter."

  The door opened and a very pregnant woman, her ivory face embraced by a cascade of auburn tresses, walked into the chamber. Eyes serious, she nodded toward Seathan, then turned to Alexander in silent question.

  Alexander's face softened as his gaze fell upon his wife, Nichola, the love in his eyes making the empty void within Duncan's heart deepen. The depths of his feelings were those he'd once felt for Isabel. Feelings he'd cast aside when she'd abandoned him for Frasyer.

  Surprise cascaded across Nichola's face as her gaze rested on Duncan. She shoved her hands on her hips. "You are sitting up when you should be asleep."

  "From the look of you," Duncan said with tenderness, always amused by her English accent, "it is you who should be off your feet."

  A warm glow shone on her face as she laid a hand atop her stomach, round with her and Alexander's first child. "I will be soon enough. First I wanted to help Isabel get settled in the chamber above. She was so tired, she was asleep before I left." Nichol
a frowned. "I told Seathan after she'd stayed within your chamber for two days that he should order her rest in another room. Since your arrival, she has refused to leave your side."

  From the tiredness he'd noticed on Isabel's face, it was as Duncan had suspected. "My thanks for taking care of her." Then Duncan realized what Nichola had said. His gut churned. "What

  did you mean you helped Isabel settle in the chamber above? There is naught above us but—"

  "The tower room," Nichola finished.

  Silence floundered in the room. The brothers eyed each other.

  Nichola scanned their faces, her own growing wary. "What is wrong?"

  "Naught," Seathan replied.

  Stunned, Duncan glared at his brother. After Isabel had broken their wedding vows, her staying in their grandmother's room seemed sacrilegious—at odds with his grandmother who had offered him naught but warmth, love, and a generous heart.

  Since her death, neither he nor his brothers had changed or removed anything from her room—including the bowl of halved gems. Within the bowl, their grandmother had kept the other half of the gems she'd had made into pendants for himself and each of his brothers upon their being knighted.

  Two halved gems still remained, the other half of Duncan's sapphire, and that of Seathan's moss agate.

  And what of their grandmother's spirit? The residents within Lochshire Castle knew of her presence within the tower room, a chamber Duncan and his brothers also believed held magic.

  In his mind, too many reasons existed as to why Isabel should never have been allowed entry there. The fact that only one other person had stayed within the room since his grandmother's death scraped at his mind. Imprisoned, he corrected. After Alexander had abducted Nichola, an English maiden, for ransom, he'd locked her in the tower room. Through a twist of fate, Alexander's captive had become his wife.

  Not that Duncan was foolish enough to believe Isabel staying in the room meant anything, Duncan silently scoffed. But a man who believed in magic and was of a suspicious nature, he wasn't taking a risk.

  Duncan turned to Seathan. "She will not remain there."