The bite of the cold floor was getting icier but she stayed at the window as the skies began to lighten. Truly this was God’s palette. The dark sky began to glow a pale pink and orange, both hues streaking through the night’s dark grayish purple. Soon the golden rays from the sun would be banishing all other colors and fair blue skies would be above.
“Leith will be up to get me soon,” she murmured as she turned to dress again. No water had been sent up but she didn’t mind it. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she put on a dress from her sack and put on her shoes. Combing her hair out, she was in the middle of braiding it when the knock came at her door.
“Be-mphrrght- oot,” she said over the comb clenched in her teeth.
With her hair done, she shoved the rest of her particulars into the sack and hurried to the door. Tugging the door open with an apology on her lips, she was met with a tray of tea on the floor and three oatcakes. Taking the tray in, she sipped the warm milk and ate an oatcake as she was hungry but stuffed the others in her coat’s pocket.
Ready, she got to the lower level just as Leith came in. His hair looked freshly washed as it was curling at the ends just over his collar. His cheek was dusted with the stubble of a few days’ growth of beard, but it did not take away his handsomeness.
“All set, lass?” he asked, as his eyes dipped down and trailed back up unhurriedly. She could feel the look trail over her skin as much as the tactile touch of fingers would.
“I am,” she said. “You were able to wash?”
“Aye,” Leith said as he nodded to the innkeeper and guided her down the way to where the horses, both saddled and ready were, “There’s a small stream from here.”
Huffing, Mary grumbled something under her breath about men who were too lucky for their own good and that when she had a chance, she would sink into a pool of water and soak all this road grime away. Leith only chuckled.
“When are we going to get to your home?”
“With all being fair,” Leith said turning his horse to the road, “in a day-and-a-half. We’ll stop along the way to eat and rest just as the horses need to eat but we best not tarry. If we continue through the night, we can put many more miles between us and our destination, but if we run our mounts into the ground, it’d do us nay good.”
“What if we ride part of the night?” Mary asked. “Wouldn’t that get us there faster?”
Eyeing her with light surprise and suspicion, Leith asked, “Are ye up for that lass?”
Her smile was sly, “We’d have to see, now wouldn’t we?”
* * *
“God’s blood, lass,” Leith called over as they descended the last hill toward Clan Balloch in the Highlands of Lenichton territory. He slid his eyes over to Mary who had ridden with the aplomb of a man, taking the rugged Scotland mountainous terrain without a cry of protest. “We’re almost there.”
They had left the inn a day ago and though Leith had wanted to take her through the low-lying lands that were undeniably easier on her, Mary had asked him to take her to the quickest way. That way was over vertical mountainsides and rocky ridges. He’d known the lass could ride but damn, she was good.
He held out an arm to her, signaling for her to stop they came to a section on a ridge. “Look yonder…that’s me home.”
He traced her eyes as she looked over the wide valley below, with fields of wheat and corn were laid out like mismatched patches on a blanket. As the fields tapered off, the town began. Almost indistinguishable from the forest around it, the wooden homes gleamed golden under the early morning sunlight. He smiled as her eyes lifted to the castle, which was similar to how the town was made, was carved from the rocky mountainside behind it. The dark castle looked far too menacing for the light hearts that rested inside it.
“Or, perhaps not,” he mumbled under his breath, considering the troubles he was facing there with his father.
As the descended the incline to the valley below, he began to rehearse what he was going to say when he got to the clan’s home. They needed to make the ruse believable. As they got the flat, he caught Mary’s eyes and jerked his head to the right.
There was a trail through the forest that took them up to the castle that cut away from the town. There, he could pretend that he had found her unconscious. Mary looked at him with questioning eyes but she followed his lead still. The smell of spring moss and heather was heavy in the air, and Mary wrinkled her nose from the smell. As they traveled through the woodland, he began to explain his plan.
“We’ll have to get rid of the horse, lass, as I will be finding ye lying unconscious at the somewhere between here and the castle. There’s a nifty little rocky ridge that is over a river where I can say I found ye as I had found ye in a ravine. The next thing, ye will have to lay as dead in me arms as ye can and dinnae even move at all. Ye’ll have to become a performer lass. Ye ever played dead when ye were a child?”
“No,” Mary shook her head.
“Never?”
Mary eyed him, “Never.”
“Good lord, lass,” Leith snorted, “What did ye do a child? Dinnae ye play?”
“My childhood was a church. The only ‘death’ I’ve been privy to is the tale of the crucifixion,” Mary said dryly.
“I truly pity ye,” Leith commiserated. “But the past is the past. Now we need to ken about what’s ahead of us. The first part is the most important, getting them to believe ye are injured. It would help even more if ye pretended to forget who ye are and where ye came from. It would give them more cause to nae seek a place to send ye back to and lastly, keep mute.”
“I understand,” Mary replied as the urged her horse forward. “How soon will it be until we have to begin?”
“I’ll tell ye when,” he replied while brushing a frond of hanging moss from his face.
They rode until Leith gestured for her to stop, and when she did, he helped her off. Swiftly, he unsaddled the horse and flung the saddle over a clump of bushes. She spun but did not hear it fall. He must have thrown it into the river below. Daringly, she went to the bushes and parted them only to drawback. Not even two feet away was a swift breakaway and she felt mist rising up to her face.
“Hie ye!” a loud slap had her horse bolting as he’d just been struck with lightning.
She spun. “Wouldn’t it have been better if ye’d tied him and send someone to come for it later?”
“It would,” Leith said, “but then it’d give me more questions that I dinnae want to answer. Now, come, let’s get ye bedraggled.”
She began to crunch the tails of her dress while Leith worked on messing her hair. He even went so far as to grab some twigs to fix in her hair and then stepped back to eye her like a painter before his canvas. He grinned and came forward to tug the bodice of her dress to rip it slightly. Mary's mouth parted in shock and she stood affronted.
“Leith!”
“It’s for effect, lass,” he grinned. Then to enhance the look, slid a dagger out of his boot and sliced his thumb. Mary looked at him in disbelief while he squeezed the wound to make it bleed more before smearing his blood over her wounded temple.
She flinched at his touch and her nose flared at the coppery smell so close to her nose. “Is that necessary?”
“I dinnae do things halfway. It’s a bad trait of mine,” Leith said as he used some dirt to make the red darker. Smiling in satisfaction, he took her to his horse and lifted her up on it with ease. Once she was seated, he mounted behind her and shifted her to lie on his left shoulder. With her face on chest, she spoke, “Will they believe this? It looks a little scandalous don’t you think?”
“What they believe at first sight will amount to nothin’,” Leith said as he grasped the reins. “What I say goes. Dinnae worry yer little head about that.”
As the horse began to move and Mary shifted further on his lap, he bit back a groan. Had he thought this through? Truly considered it away from the fog of lust that possessed him every time he was within three feet of Mary?
> Given the way his body had reacted on this first kiss, having her bottom pressed against his aching groin was a blatant act of madness. The ride to the clan’s gate was short but this…this was going to be a long ride for his control. A sharp kick of his boot had his horse moving forward.
They traveled the short distance through the rest of the forest and after passing a copse of trees near the northern gate of the castle, Leith looked down at Mary to see if she was doing exactly what was asked of her. Her face was still and though her lashes fluttered a little, she could pass for an unconscious woman.
“Ye ready to put on the performance of yer life?” He asked.
She nuzzled closer into his chest, “I’ll do my best.”
God’s truth she looked lovely like this with her lashes down on her cheeks and her pink lips loose in a soft curve. He spurred his horse faster with one arm bracing her. He sped through the gates not even sparing a glance at the graceful stone arch at the entrance.
“Help!” he called loudly. “I need help!”
Mary did not shift in his arms and he silently praised her for her fortitude. “Help, I say!” he shouted even more as he saw men running toward them.
The first man who skidded to him was a guard named Rodham, who looked at the lass and grimaced. “We need a stretcher here!”
When the men coming heard Rodham’s shout, they doubled back to the mainstay for the stretcher while others came to ease Mary off him. “Gently! She’s injured!”
“Aye, Me Laird,” one said as he cradled Mary’s head. Another one had had her lower half. The stretcher came and she was laid on it. Leith had jumped off his horse to follow them, hoping and praying that she would keep to her part.
When Mary flopped a lax arm over the side while they whisked her away, he grinned to himself. That’s me tenacious lass.
12
It took every drop of strength and determination to not react when various hands, with strong and softer holds, grabbed at her lax body and hauled her from side to side. She had to stop herself from flinching when she was laid on a bed and a cold rag wiped Leith’s blood from her temple. She did not dare open her eyes but her ears worked perfectly fine.
“She’s a pretty one,” someone said kindly. “Noble features and all.”
“Me question, Rinalda, is where could the Laird had found her?” another added.
“I guess we’ll find out soon enough,” a third said before hurried footsteps rushed in. The jarring sound of scraping chairs nearly made her wince but she managed to keep her composure.
“Is she awake?” Leith asked, his words heavy with concern. “Has she said anythin’?”
“She nay awake yet, Me Laird,” the gentle voice said, “The injury looks old and is healed up. Wherever ye found her, she was there for a while.”
A heavy plop and the scrape of wood on stone had her imagining Leith sitting down with his heads in his hand and those large palms of his, rubbing over his face. She began debating on when to miraculously wake up when another pair of feet came running in.
“Leith!” a woman said. “Good gracious! I was told yer back and that ye found a lass somewhere?”
“Aye, Mother,” Leith said. “I came back from Clan Robasdan and decided to take the shortcut through the forest as I yearned to come home. I found her there, nearly falling into the ravine below and could only ken of taking her to get some help.” She heard his voice clip with remorse, and heard him rub his face again, “I hope to God I wasnae too late. Rinalda, how is she?”
“She has a strong heartbeat, Me Laird,” Rinalda replied, “I ken she will wake up soon.”
“I know ye healing women are very territorial of yer space, but would ye mind if I stayed for a while?” Leith asked.
“I see nay objection—”
“But Leith,” his mother interrupted, “dinnae ye want to tell me about the trip to Robasdan’?”
“I can do that here, Mother,” Leith said. “There is some hope on the horizon. Tarrant is searching far and wide through his domain to find me a mind healer for Faither. I was hurrying back to make sure he wasnae abusing ye anymore.”
“Ye dinnae have to do that,” his mother said kindly. “Ye ken Dugald and Finlay keep an eye on me. Ye could have kept searching. To Edina even.”
“I could,” Leith said, “but I am sure Tarrant will hold to his word. Faither will get the help he needs, just like this lass.”
Another cold press was at her temple and Mary decided to wake up. She began shifting away from the touch little by little until the cold came again and she jerked her head away.
“Shhh, lass,” a calm voice, Rinalda’s said. “Nay one’s here to hurt ye.”
Mary shifted her head away and her eyes clenched tight. She could feel Leith coming near her. There was just something about his presence that had her skin tingling. “Lass, can ye open yer eyes for me?”
She shook her head and kept her eyes clenched until a soft hand, a female hand rested under her chin, “Please open yer eyes, Miss. Yer safe here, nay one is her to hurt ye.”
Swallowing, Mary eased back and slowly opened her eyes. She made sure to scoot back on the bed and look around her with wide eyes. She saw three women, two of them dark-haired but with lighter brown and calm-blue eyes. An older woman was sitting with the spidery hands resting on her lap.
“Lass?” Leith asked. “Can ye tell me yer name?”
She shook her head.
“Why nae?” he asked. “Are ye scared of me? Would ye prefer to talk to a woman like ye?”
Mary shook her head harder and pointed at her neck then shook her head with a deeply distressed look on her face. The woman with the calm blue eyes frowned, “Miss…can ye talk?”
Dropping her head, Mary let her hair cover her face as she shook her head. She even forced a tear from her eye to drop. A hand, Leith’s this time, lifted her head up. “Do ye remember where ye came from, lass?”
This time, Mary scrunched her forehead tighter and dropped her eyes before she slowly shook her head. Leith took his hand from her chin but not before he said, “Ye should rest. Rinalda, please get her some food, something easy on her stomach and have her rest.”
Looking up, Mary noted that the woman with the light-brown hair nodded, “Aye, Sir.”
“Mother, please come with me,” Leith said, “I’d like to speak with ye in private. Helen and Mira, I ken its best to leave Rinalda with the lass,” he added. “Too many people with her at one time might be a bit troubling for the lass.”
The other two stood, curtsied and said in almost unison, “Aye, Sir.”
As Leith ushered his mother and the two women out, she met his eyes briefly and felt proud at the pleased look in his eyes. She turned away before her own look would give her away. Rinalda came close to her. “Would ye like some water?”
Nodding, Mary offered her a thin smile and reached up to press her hand at her temple. She made sure to wince at an imaginary pain. The lady, Rinalda, softly tugged her hand away, “Dinnae touch it, Miss. It makes the pain worse.”
Nodding again, as it was the only thing she could do to make them know she understood, Mary sank back to the bed with a long breath escaping her nose. The first part of their deception had gone well, the question was, could she keep it up?
The walls in the room were whitewashed with potted plants in a corner. The wide windows were open and the thin curtains were flittering with the wind. A peaceful air rested in the room as with the Robasdans’ but this was not that clan, this was Leith’s. The pressure was heavy on her now more than ever. She had her eyelids half-mast as she rested on the pillow.
“Miss,” Rinalda said aside her, “are ye able to eat anything? Broth?”
Sitting up, Mary smiled tightly at her and nodded. She forced her hands to tremble as reaching for the bowl, acutely aware of Rinalda’s eyes on her. She took the bowl but made sure to slosh enough to have the woman take it away from her.
As she had hoped, the bowl was taken and the broth w
as spooned to her. “Ye still dinnae remember where ye’ve come from?”
With a puckered brow, Mary shook her head. She was given another spoon of broth. “Dinnae ye worry,” Rinalda smiled comfortingly. “Young Lenichton will find out where ye came from and if ye have family, I’m sure he will get ye back at them. Do ye have family?”
Tempted to lie, Mary considered if she truly did have any. With the way her parents had betrayed her, she felt she didn’t. She shook her head.
“Did they die or is it that ye dinnae remember?” Rinalda asked. “Hold up one of yer finger for if they died and two if ye dinnae remember.”
Mesmerized by a Roguish Highlander: A Historical Scottish Romance Novel Page 10
