Highland Warrior

by Connie Mason

  “I will see to it.” Niall hesitated a moment, then said, “I miss Seana. If she returned, I would forgive her.”

  “She tried to poison me.”

  “We have only Gizela’s word,” Niall protested. “How did she know the broth was poisoned? How could anyone know?”

  “Seana disappeared; that alone was an admission of guilt.”

  “I doona see it that way, Ross. Mayhap she chose to leave rather than be accused unjustly.”

  “McHamish told the MacKay that Seana and Sinclair plotted together to kill me.”

  “We have only MacKay’s word. You didna speak directly to McHamish. I canna believe Seana could betray me, betray us. Would you let her return if I promised to keep her out of trouble?”

  “The question is moot, for no one knows where Seana has gone. MacKay said she isna at her father’s keep.”

  “Seana abides with Angus Sinclair.”

  Both men spun around to see Gillian standing behind them. “Is that true?” Ross asked.

  “Aye, if you had listened to my explanation, you would have known. She fled there after she left Ravenscraig. She plans to wed Angus.”

  “What?” Niall spat. “You lie! Seana is wed to me.”

  “She is your handfast wife. After a year and a day she can wed whomever she pleases,” Gillian replied. “She kens the truth about what happened to me at Sinclair Keep, for she is the one who released me from the tower.”

  Ross stared at Gillian, trying to decide whether she lied or spoke true. He had naught but the word of a MacKay, a mortal enemy of Clan MacKenna until their marriage united the clans. And since Seana wasn’t here to corroborate her story, Ross felt disinclined to believe it.

  “Can you prove you were Sinclair’s prisoner and not his lover?” Ross demanded.

  “I wouldna lie to you.”

  “So you say,” Ross muttered, returning his attention to his porridge.

  Gillian plopped down in a chair. She took one look at the porridge in Ross’s bowl and turned as white as a new snowfall. She rose abruptly and rushed from the hall. Ross stared after her, wondering if she had finally realized he was never going to believe her lies.

  Gillian returned a quarter hour later looking perfectly normal, as if nothing had happened. She sank into a chair and asked a servant for dry toasted bread.

  Gillian had been feeling so well, shed been surprised when a sudden queasiness overwhelmed her and shed had to run from the hall. She no longer doubted that she carried Ross’s bairn—a bairn he didn’t deserve. The signs of her pregnancy were beginning to be evident. How long could she keep her condition a secret? More important, did she want to remain at Ravenscraig? The only place she would be truly welcome was Braeburn.

  Gillian chose not to invade Ross’s chamber again. The harsh Highland winter had settled over the land. The holy days of the Christmas season were hard upon them. But celebrations were at a minimum, for concern over the survival of their livestock during these harsh winter days was on everyone’s mind.

  On a morning that promised to be free of snow, Ross gathered his kinsmen for a foray into the valley to rescue cows mired in deep snow and to distribute feed. Gillian watched them leave with deep foreboding. Though she couldn’t name what bothered her, she knew intuitively that something would change when the men returned. She asked Alice to fetch Gizela and returned to the solar.

  “Are you ill?” Gizela asked when she entered Gillian’s chamber. “Is it the bairn?”

  Gillian touched her stomach, still flat beneath her gown.“Nay. I feel ... I canna explain it. Something bad is about to happen.”

  Gizela nodded wisely. “You are right, lass. Evil returns to Ravencraig.”

  Gillian’s breath caught in her throat. “What kind of evil?”

  Gizela muttered incoherently about wickedness invading the keep. “Watch your back, lass.”

  Gizela wove back and forth a moment, then turned and hobbled out the door.

  “Gizela, wait! You’ve told me naught.”

  “I’ve told you a great deal,” she said as she disappeared into the dark recesses of the corridor.

  At times like this, Gillian believed that although Gizela might have the ‘sight’; she spoke in riddles.

  As they sat down to the midday meal, it began snowing again, and still Ross hadn’t returned. Gillian tried to eat, but the smell of cooked food nauseated her. She asked for clear broth. Hanna brought it out herself, a worried look on her face.

  “You look peaked, Gillian. Are you ill?”

  “I amna ill, Hanna.” She leaned close to one of the three women who had befriended her at Ravenscraig and said, “I am carrying Ross’s bairn, but you mustna tell him.”

  Hanna clapped her hands. “A bairn! It has been a long time since Ravenscraig has celebrated a birth.”

  “Promise you will keep my secret until I tell Ross,” Gillian pleaded. “And if he continues to ignore me, I may return to Braeburn and never tell him.”

  “Och, lass, the man is a ninny. Doona worry; I will say naught until you release me from my promise. Does Alice know?”

  “Nay but I will tell her. I canna hide my condition from her much longer. She has sharp eyes.”

  “Enjoy your broth, lass. I’ll send out some crackers. Mayhap they will aid your digestion.”

  The broth and crackers helped, and Gillian felt better for telling Hanna about her condition. Of course, Gizela knew, but talking to her was like talking to someone who was lost in her own world, one that few people understood.

  Gillian remained in her chamber the rest of the day. She didn’t leave until Alice arrived to tell her the evening meal was being served. Gillian stepped into the corridor, aware of a commotion taking place below in the hall. She hurried down the stairs, her heart pounding with dread. Something was amiss, and she feared what she would find. A bone-deep chill reached her first. Then she noticed that the doors had been thrown wide, admitting men, wind, and blowing snow.

  Niall emerged from their midst carrying a woman, her lashes white with snow and her lips blue. Memories overwhelmed Gillian as she recalled her own narrow escape from an icy grave. When she rushed forward to offer her help, a clawlike hand gripped her arm.

  “Stay, lass; she brings naught but trouble.”

  “Let me go, Gizela. Go fetch your medicinal chest. The woman has need of our help.”

  Gillian brushed off Gizela’s hand and rushed toward the woman being held so tenderly in Niall’s arms. She stopped abruptly, her mouth open in shock. She knew now what Gizela meant, for the woman being carried into the keep was Seana.

  “What is she doing here?” Gillian demanded.

  “We found her out on the moor,” Ross explained. “Her horse was about done-in, and she had become disoriented in the snowstorm.”

  “Why bring her here?”

  “Ravenscraig was the nearest shelter. What would you have us do, leave her to freeze to death?”

  Gillian’s eyes flashed with anger. “Have you forgotten that the woman tried to poison you?”

  Seana seemed to come alive in Niall’s arms. “Nay, you accuse me unjustly” At her direction, Niall set her on her feet. Though she wobbled a bit, she seemed none the worse for wear. “I wouldna harm Ross.”

  “Then why did you flee instead of staying and defending yourself?”

  “I heard Gizela accuse me of trying to poison Ross and feared for my life.”

  “Why did you nae return home instead of seeking succor from Angus Sinclair?” Gillian demanded.

  “My stepmother wouldna welcome me. You have no right to accuse me when you are the one who sought comfort in Sinclair’s bed.”

  Gillian knew she had to explain what had really happened, and she turned to Ross. “I never bedded Sinclair. On the contrary, I charged him with plotting your death and challenged him to defend himself.

  “I was so angry I didna consider the consequences. I would have skewered Angus with my sword had he not called upon his men to disarm and ca
pture me when he realized he wasna skilled enough to win. He imprisoned me in the tower. I would still be there is Seana hadna freed me. She had plans of her own for Angus, and my presence in his keep was hindering them.”

  Seana sent Gillian an incredulous look. “You are a diligent liar, Gillian. To my knowledge, you were never Angus Sinclair’s prisoner. You were his lover. I wasna aware of a challenge. You seemed happy enough with Angus once you became his leman.”

  “If I was so happy why did I leave?” Gillian shot back.

  Seana shrugged. “Mayhap you tired of Angus. May hap you found he isna a particularly gifted lover.”

  “Is that why you left?” Gillian shot back.

  Seana cuddled closer against Niall, smiling adoringly up at him. “Nay, I realized I was wrong to flee Ravenscraig and missed Niall.”

  “And you dare to call me a liar.” Gillian snorted.

  “Enough!” Ross growled, putting an end to the heated debate. “Did you or did you not put poison in my broth, Seana?”

  “Nay, I didna, Ross. Why would I want you dead? At one time we meant a great deal to each other.”

  “Did you and Sinclair goad your father into trying to kill me?”

  “Who told you such a thing?”

  “Your own father told the MacKay.”

  “And you believed the MacKay? Och, he is as devious as his daughter. MacKay proposed the truce to lull you into a false belief that peace would prevail. I believe you will find that Tearlach MacKay is behind the attack upon your life, and that his daughter was aware of his deceit.”

  “My father is an honorable man,” Gillian said with quiet dignity. “He is the one who wanted peace in the beginning. Besides, he wasna in the keep when Gizela discovered the poisoned broth.”

  “You were here,” Seana maintained. “Besides, Gizela could have been mistaken. She has never liked me. How did she know the broth was poisoned? Did she taste it? Did anyone die?”

  “Take Seana to your chamber, Niall. I have heard more than enough about this matter,” Ross ordered.

  “Can Seana stay, Ross?” Niall asked. “She is in no condition right now to travel to her father’s keep.”

  “She can stay until I sort this through.”

  So saying, Ross strode off. Seana sent Gillian a smug look as Niall escorted her to his chamber.

  Gillian sank down into a chair. Did Ross actually believe Seana? Obviously he was more willing to believe his former leman than he was his own wife. Things between her and Ross had deteriorated to the point that Gillian reconsidered her determination to remain with her husband. Seana was a dangerous woman, one too treacherous to trust.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The snow continued, the wind howled, and travel was still hazardous. Gillian realized that even if Ross planned to question McHamish about his daughter, the harsh weather prevented him from doing so. Furthermore, she seriously doubted that Niall could keep Seana from causing trouble at Ravenscraig.

  As people began drifting off to bed, Gillian rose and climbed the stairs to her chamber. She seemed to be more tired than usual these days. She found Alice waiting for her when she arrived.

  “You look out of sorts, my lady,” Alice said as she helped Gillian undress. “I canna blame you. Gizela says that Seana brings naught but trouble to the household.”

  “Aye, the woman is a menace. wonder why she left Angus Sinclair,” she mused as Alice slid a night rail over her head and helped her into a warm bed robe.

  “Mama and I will try to keep an eye on her, but it isna possible to ken her every move.”

  “Thank you, Alice. You and your mother have been good friends to me. I doona know what I would do without you. Go seek your own bed now. I am tired and intend to retire.”

  “Shall I brush out your hair first?”

  “Nay, I will do it myself.”

  “Sleep well, my lady” Alice said as she slipped out of the chamber and shut the door behind her.

  Gillian picked up the brush, sat before the hearth, and began the soothing strokes that always helped her to relax her. She yawned and looked longingly at the bed. It was time. She had just finished the last stroke of the brush when the door opened and a woman stepped through. At first Gillian thought Alice had returned, and smiled, thinking her maid had come to see if she needed anything before she retired for the night. The smile slipped from her face when Seana stepped from the shadows into the circle of light.

  Gillian leaped to her feet, wishing she had her claymore handy. “What do you want? You should be with your husband.”

  “Niall returned to the hall to drink with some of the lads. I told him I was exhausted and needed to recover from my ordeal.”

  “If you are ailing, what are you doing here?”

  Seana stalked forward. She didn’t stop until she was scant steps away from Gillian. “I should have let you rot in that tower chamber,” Seana charged. “Naught turned out as I planned. Angus was furious with me. He believed I forced you to jump from the tower and sent me away”

  “I am sorry your plans didna work out, but you canna blame me for that.”

  “Who am I to blame if not you? Releasing you from the tower was a mistake I will regret the rest of my life. You have Ross, while I have no one.”

  “You have Niall. He cares for you even though you care naught for him.”

  “Niall is a fool. He could be laird if he were man enough to wrest the reins of leadership from Ross. It would have been so easy when Ross lay near death.”

  “Niall is loyal to Ross; he would never betray his cousin. Not everyone is conniving and evil-minded like you.”

  Seana growled and took a menacing step closer to Gillian. Gillian reached back and grasped the handle of the water pitcher behind her.

  “Doona even think about it, Seana. Your problems are of your own making. I suggest you return to Niall’s chamber and consider your sins. Niall willna let you harm Ross; that I can promise. ’Twould be to your advantage to be a good wife to your husband.”

  “Doona tell me what to do, Gillian MacKay. It seems to me you have more to worry about than I do. No one wants you here. I heard you and Ross doona even share a bed. You should return to Braeburn, where you will be safe.”

  Gillian narrowed her eyes. “Safe from whom?”

  Seana turned and strolled toward the door. “I’ll let you figure that out for yourself,” she threw over her shoulder.

  An icy chill traveled down Gillian’s spine as Seana disappeared through the door. Gizela had been right: A viper slithered among them. A viper named Seana. Gillian knew she had to watch her back if she hoped to live to deliver her bairn. Mayhap Seana’s suggestion was a good one. Mayhap she should return to Braeburn.

  His nerves frayed, Ross paced his chamber. He had a strange feeling that something unanticipated was going to happen. He recalled Gizela’s warning and wondered if bringing Seana to Ravenscraig was inviting disaster to the clan. Gillian had leveled serious charges against Seana. Should he believe them?

  Ross paced to the window and gazed out. Had he made a mistake in allowing Seana to remain at Ravenscraig? He didn’t know what to think. He couldn’t have let Seana freeze to death in the raging storm, any more than he could have allowed Gillian to die in the same manner.

  Despite everything he knew or suspected about Seana, he had no proof of any wrongdoing. Nevertheless, he was uneasy about the situation at hand. If Seana had tried to poison him, he needed to be on his guard. He also needed to put aside some of his anger and listen to what Gillian had to say.

  His mind made up, Ross picked up a candlestick, left his dreary chamber, and strode briskly down the stairs to the solar. He stopped before Gillian’s chamber and rapped lightly on the door. When no answer was forthcoming, he pushed the door open and entered. Apparently Gillian had already retired, for the curtains had been drawn around the bed. He set the candlestick down, parted the curtains, and poked his head inside.

  “Gillian, are you awake?”

  Gil
lian stirred beneath the covers and opened her eyes. When she saw Ross standing over her, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. “I am now. What do you want, Ross?”

  Ross sat down on the edge of the bed. “I wish to speak to you.”

  “About what?”

  Ross gazed into her sleep-flushed face and nearly lost the ability to breathe. Her disheveled red hair surrounded her face in living fire, and he drank in the vision like a man who badly needed to quench his thirst. His gaze shifted lower. Were her breasts fuller? Were her nipples, clearly visible beneath the fine lawn of her night rail, larger than normal?

  As if recognizing his sudden interest in her body, Gillian pulled the blanket up to her chin. “Tell me what you want, Ross.”

  Ross shifted his gaze away from her tempting body and cleared his throat. “I came in search of the truth.”

  “I told you the truth, but you refused to believe me.”

  “Tell me again. You and Seana gave me verra different versions of the same story.”

  Shrugging, Gillian said, “What’s the use, Ross? You have believed naught I’ve said thus far.”

  “Can you provide proof that Seana and Sinclair plotted against me?”

  “Nay, I canna. I have naught but McHamish’s word to back me up.”

  “I intend to question McHamish as soon as the weather breaks. Meanwhile, I doona know what to expect from Seana. If she is guilty, she may attempt treachery again.”

  “I kenned it before you did,” Gillian replied. “Watch your back, Ross. Now, if that’s all you came to say, I bid you good night.”

  Ross reached out to sweep a lock of Gillian’s hair from her forehead. The shock that traveled through his arm at that contact stunned him. She must have felt it too, for her eyes widened and she jerked away from his touch. Though Ross knew he should leave, his body refused to obey. His body wanted—demanded—more than a simple touch.

  Cupping her face, he lowered his head and kissed her. He meant for it to be a fleeting taste, a simple touching of lips to indulge his craving. He should have known he wouldn’t be satisfied with a mere taste, and that his craving would intensify until there was no turning back.