The Highlander's Secret Vow

by Eliza Knight

  He grabbed his shirt, tossed it over his head and shoved it beneath his belt and plaid. With deft fingers, he pinned the swath of extra plaid in place and marched to the door.

  But before he could open it, someone else was banging it down. Liam wrenched the door open hard enough she feared he’d rip it off the hinges. On the other side of the threshold stood Tad, his face a mask of apprehension.

  “What is it?” Liam demanded.

  “There’s been an escape attempt by Ina and Ughtred.”

  Whatever fantasy Cora had entertained of them simply departing and starting their lives anew was obliterated in that one awful statement.

  Chapter 18

  Bloody hell! Not back an hour, and already all hell was breaking loose. Liam fixed Cora with a serious gaze. Her face, flushed only moments ago, had gone pale with worry.

  “Bar the door,” he instructed. The last thing Liam wanted to do was leave Cora alone. But at least he knew she would be safe with the door barred. “Dinna let anyone in.”

  “I won’t.” She was so beautiful his teeth ached for the sweetness of her.

  He wished he could pull her into his arms, to try and reassure her, but there was no time. “All will be well, my lady.”

  When he was done dealing with the attempted escape and Wuller, he could hold her. Bloody Wuller… He was going to skewer that bastard on his sword.

  Liam shut the door, waited to hear the bar scrape into place, then he and Tad jogged toward the spiral stair.

  “What happened?” Liam asked.

  “Someone snuck into the dungeon. They took out the guards by giving them poisoned ale.”

  Liam’s mind went right to Lord Wuller. He’d not heard the name before, but that didn’t mean anything. The English who wanted pieces of Scotland were always ingratiating themselves to the king. New ones came along as surely as flies would to spilled honey. And if the bastard was who Cora believed him to be, it made sense he would try to free the king’s prisoners.

  “And the king?”

  “In the great hall with Ina and Ughtred.”

  They took the spiral stairs two and three at time, practically sliding their way down the twisting steps in their haste. They reached the great hall, where on their knees before the king were the two traitors, hands tied behind their backs and ankles bound as well. Both of them looked like hell. Their clothes were torn and dirty, and Liam could smell them from the base of the stairs. If he didn’t know them for who they were, Liam wouldn’t have recognized them. Ina appeared to have aged twenty years. Her hair had gone grayer, and it lacked the shine it once had. Ragged. Yet despite that, her eyes still flashed fire and defiance, as did Ughtred’s.

  The hall was filled with the king’s courtiers and leaders of the clans. Magnus stood slightly off to the left of King Robert, and he nodded for Liam and Tad to join him.

  King Robert marched before the two, pacing with his hands held behind his back in a way Liam imagined a tutor would before two naughty pupils. “Who helped ye?”

  Neither of them answered, though their chins jutted forward in obstinance.

  “I’ll ask ye again.” The king paused between them, every line on his face oozing authority and daring them to ignore his demands. “Who helped ye?”

  And still they were silent. Bloody imbeciles.

  King Robert withdrew his sword from the scabbard at his hip and pressed the flat side of the blade onto his opposite palm. He studied the weapon for several heartbeats and then slowly raised his gaze to the two prisoners. “I shall sentence the both of ye to death. Ye deserve no less. And I shall exact the punishment now. If ye think me bluffing, I dare ye to remain silent.”

  At this threat, both Ina and Ughtred started to talk over one another, growing louder, trying to be overheard and butting against each other’s shoulders as if the movement would shut the other one up. Liam stared in disgust at their antics.

  King Robert cut his blade through the air and bellowed, “Silence, ye fools.”

  They were immediately silent. Though their struggle to knock one another over continued. It took every ounce of willpower inside Liam not to march over to the two villains and slice their heads from their necks. Bloody fools.

  He glanced away from them, studying the crowd, wondering which one of the Sassenach leeches in the great hall was Wuller. Oh, what he wouldn’t give right now to have that man standing before him.

  Anger thundered within his chest. The only thing that seemed to calm him was thinking of Cora. Of remembering the way it felt for her to touch his back, to kiss his wounds. The lightness of her fingers could have been a feather, save for the way they seared him straight to the soul.

  He’d been in love with the idea of Cora since he’d first lifted her up on that field thirteen years ago. But when he’d seen her again, when he’d thought she’d betrayed him and his soul had felt as though it were being crushed, that was when he knew for certain that the idea of love was so very different than the real thing. The more he took care of her, talked to her and held her in his arms, the more he came to realize that he did indeed care deeply for her.

  As he’d lain dying on the battlefield, he’d pictured her and known that aye, he loved her. Deeply.

  And when she’d touched him less than an hour before… Bloody hell, he’d nearly come undone. The anger inside him turned to need. Potent and powerful. Perhaps he’d do the king the favor of shutting these two up so he could go back upstairs to his wife.

  “The gates are closed, and our guards are searching the castle. We will find your accomplice, and when we do, the lot of ye will suffer for it. I give ye one last chance to confess. And I shall show ye mercy if ye do.”

  The two of them did not converse, in complete contrast to how they’d spoken over each other only moments before. The king swept them a hateful look and scraped the tip of his sword on the floor in front of them. Robert the Bruce had much more patience than Liam did. And then an idea came to him.

  Liam stepped forward, signaled the king with his hand and bowed his head.

  “Sir Liam. What is it?”

  “My wife shared something with me, Your Majesty, that may be of use.”

  Ina and Ughtred swiveled their ugly heads toward him, confusion on their faces. Perhaps they did not know he was married to Cora. Well, he didn’t care what they did or didn’t know. He scanned the crowd, searching out Cora’s mother, but she was also absent. Good. She was likely still locked in her chamber, which meant she couldn’t cause a scene. Still, he wondered who this Wuller was. Would he recognize him? He’d seen him only from afar thirteen years before.

  “Are ye willing to share it with everyone?” the king asked.

  “Aye.” He nodded toward the great hall doors. “But perhaps we should close the doors.”

  The king raised his brows in understanding. “Seal the doors,” he ordered. “Bar the exits.”

  Guards moved into place, encircling the great hall and all those who stood inside it, causing those in attendance to squeeze a little closer forward.

  Assured that no one could escape, Liam raised his voice enough that all could hear. “My wife shared with me the name of the man I believe ye’re looking for. He is the same one who attacked her castle many years ago and is likely behind the most recent attack. A man who has pledged himself to ye at this court, partaken of your feast, and has been among ye.”

  The king stiffened, his own eyes scanning the crowd with suspicion and anger.

  “Lord Wuller.”

  A murmur went through the crowd, and King Robert marched toward them all, guards at his side. “Lord Wuller, show yourself, ye bastard.”

  Heads swiveled from side to side, searching out the man in question, but no one came forward, and as the seconds ticked by, it became clear he wasn’t among them.

  “He could not have escaped,” King Robert said. “We sealed the gates and all entryways have been barred.”

  Cora. Liam blanched, his blood growing cold and his stomach dropping to
ward his knees. “I think I ken where he is. God help him if I’m right.”

  “Apprehend him, Sir Liam,” the king ordered.

  But Liam was already barreling toward the barred doors. He would have crashed right through them if they’d not been opened.

  Cora paced her chamber, wearing her gloves to keep her from chewing on her nails. She glanced toward the window, looking out at the landscape and crowded bailey as if that would help. Guards lined the walls and circled the bailey. No one was going to escape. The entire air of the place seemed to have changed from reluctant gaiety to one of malice.

  A knock shuddered the wood of her door and had her jumping in place. Liam. He’d returned quickly. Perhaps Ina and Ughtred had already been captured and their accomplice, too. She rushed forward, started to lift the bar and then thought better of it. She let the wood rest back in its iron cradle.

  “Who is it?” she asked tentatively.

  “’Tis I.” Her mother’s voice floated through the wooden planks. “Let me in, won’t you? I don’t want to wait out this chaos alone.”

  “Of course.” Cora didn’t either. She lifted the bar the rest of the way and set it to the side of the door.

  She’d only opened the entrance a little to peek out at her mother when a hand slapped against the wood and she was violently shoved forward by Lord Wuller. As she fell backward, she saw with her shaky vision her mother being dragged by her arm into the chamber. Wuller slammed the door shut and barred it—all with one hand as he held tightly to her mother. With his task complete, he turned a menacing glare on Cora. He swung her mother around the front of him, a dagger at Lady Segrave’s neck.

  Her mother whimpered, and Cora shouted, “Stop!”

  He pressed the dagger against her mother’s skin, not enough to pierce the flesh, but enough that one wrong move would nick her throat. “Do not make a sound,” the man warned in a snarl, his teeth bared and spittle forming at the corners of his mouth.

  “They are looking for you,” Cora said, backing up slowly to put distance between them. “You won’t be able to escape them.”

  “I will,” he sneered, jerking her mother against him as if to pronounce his point. “And if I don’t, neither will the two of you.”

  The threat was unmistakable, and the way he was holding the knife at Lady Segrave’s throat left little doubt to his full intention. Cora continued to step backward and bumped against her bed. She scrambled to stand as Wuller watched her closely.

  “What do you want from us?” Cora asked.

  “Do whatever he says,” her mother advised, true fear in her eyes as she clutched on to Wuller’s arm for balance.

  Wuller was strong; Cora remembered that much from when he’d tossed her about thirteen years prior. Her mother was not going to be able to escape his hold, not without suffering some injury or, more likely, death.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Wuller was saying, disdain dripping from his words. “I wanted to leave with my brother Ughtred, but the idiot and his stupid wife got caught. We had a plan. If only they’d stuck to it, we would have had control of the border and a path all the way to your wretched Highlands! Now everything has gone to muck. So now I’m choosing to leave with the both of you. I’ll take my reward where I can find it.”

  Wait… his brother? The man who’d come to her castle, burned it down, killed her father, was brother to Wuller… Ughtred and Wuller were brothers? Had the world gone mad?

  How was it possible that no one knew they were related?

  Wuller started to laugh and shoved her mother to the ground. Lady Segrave landed hard on her hands and knees, crying out and slowly moving to sit with her knees pulled toward her chest, rocking softly in fear and pain. Cora flinched and tempered the urge to rush to her mother. The two of them cowering before Wuller wouldn’t get them out of this.

  “I can see the questions in your eyes, minx,” he hissed. “Why didn’t anyone know? Why is this happening?” He mocked her in a whining tone as though she were nothing more than a spoiled toddler complaining about a lost toy.

  No matter. He could mock her all he wanted. She was going to pay careful attention to every little thing he said. Memorize every detail.

  “I’ll tell you why. Because we kept it hidden. Ughtred and I are half-brothers. Our mother confessed the affair on her deathbed, and we swore each other to secrecy.”

  Cora dared not ask. Those secrets had best stay locked in their disturbed minds. The dagger at her calf burned to be taken out, but she knew that going hand-to-hand with this man with her mother here would not turn out the way she wanted. At least not yet. Besides, she wasn’t entirely certain her mother wouldn’t turn on her. Hadn’t she already proven the hold Wuller had on her was more potent than even her own daughter’s safety?

  “What has my mother got to do with this?” Cora tried to keep his attention on her and his plans. He thought he was clever, and he appeared ready to brag about it. This would give them more time. Either to escape or for Liam to return to her.

  Wuller glanced down at Lady Segrave and gave a careless shrug. “A commodity.”

  Her mother might not have been the best in her maternal duties, but she was still Cora’s mother, and she wasn’t a commodity. Cora grew frustrated. Her hands fisting at her sides, the skin beneath her gloves stretching uncomfortably. She yearned to lash out. But doing so would be foolish. She needed a better plan.

  “Stand up, Mother,” Cora said, keeping her eye on Wuller.

  “No, stay down, bitch,” Wuller sneered, but he took his eyes off Cora for a few seconds as he stared her mother down. With the two of them distracted, it was just long enough that Cora was able to slip the dagger from her calf and hide it behind her back. By acting as though she were using the bed to brace herself with her hands, he’d never suspect.

  “Come here,” Wuller demanded of Cora, flipping his dagger along his fingers.

  Oh Saints, had he seen her?

  Cora straightened her shoulders. “No.” She prayed he’d drop the dagger, that it would stab into his foot, and she could lash out then, kick him in the head when he bent to see to his injury.

  “Come here, or I’m going to cut your mother.” He slashed the dagger through the air above her mother’s still body, and Lady Segrave let out a piercing scream.

  “Do not fight him, Cora,” her mother pleaded, and Cora tried as hard as she could not to be exasperated.

  Not fight him? Wasn’t that what one was supposed to do when faced with an enemy bent on killing them? As a woman, as a mother, shouldn’t her mother be telling her to stand up for herself instead of back down and allowing this vile, lying abuser to have his way with them?

  “He won’t hurt you, Mother. He needs us in order to escape.” Cora tested him with this, but she was fairly certain it was the truth. At least, mostly the truth.

  “Oh, you think I won’t?” Wuller dropped to his knees beside Lady Segrave and yanked her hair back hard enough that Cora heard a crack and her mother’s pain-filled gasp. Wuller held the knife to her throat once more. “What game are you playing, chit?”

  Cora could have choked on her fear. She was trying to empower her mother, but it wasn’t working. If the two of them could have worked together, they might have been able to overpower Wuller, but as it was, her mother seemed not inclined to do anything at all. Paralyzed by fear, she was a slave to his every whim, every command, every move.

  A shuddering breath left Cora, and she resorted to pleading, if only to bring attention away from her mother. “Please, my lord, leave her alone.”

  Wuller eased the knife, turning a lascivious grin toward her, comparable to a dog on a juicy bone. “I like the way you beg. Just as you did all those years ago. I have thought about the moment I fell on you, the softness of your thighs, the lushness of your breasts. I’ve yet to have the chance to finish it off. It’ll be good for me…but not so good for you.”

  Cora’s skin crawled at the memories he evoked, the images he planted. Liam had no idea h
ow close she’d been to being raped by this vile whoreson, for he’d fallen on her in the castle before deciding to grab her by the hair and drag her out to his men. His depravity, ironically, was what had saved her.

  Lady Segrave cried out, covering her eyes with her hands. Cora wanted to cry too. Because for all her bluster with Liam, her mother was powerless when in the face of a true assailant.

  Cora sat upon the bed, still refusing to move forward when he beckoned her with his nefarious fingers. The sharp edges of the dagger pressed against her buttocks, and she still held the hilt as tightly as she could in her hand. “There is a bed here. Better than the dirt, my lord.” Her voice trembled as she lured him closer, her stomach revolting. She swallowed down the meager bits of her dinner that were trying to wind their way up her throat.

  Wuller’s gaze shifted from surprise to suspicion. This wasn’t going to work. She wanted to get him away from her mother and closer to her where she could thrust her dagger into his back. Over and over.

  Though he looked skeptical, he was also clearly intrigued, because he did just that. He stood up and took a step toward her.

  “Nay!” her mother cried, desperately grabbing for his legs, the first move she’d made, which warmed Cora’s heart.

  Perhaps there was strength in her after all.

  Wuller kicked Lady Segrave’s hands away, the sound of at least one bone cracking rending the air. He took deliberate, menacing steps toward Cora.

  As much as Cora wanted to make sure her mother was all right, she kept her eyes steady on the beast.

  “Be careful what you wish for, Cora Segrave, for I’ll not be nice,” he hissed, his lips peeling back from his teeth. “But then again, you’ve been entertaining a savage between your legs, and I’ll bet he’s not nice either.”

  Somehow, Cora managed not to gag at his vile words and maintained her strained posture. She wasn’t about to correct him, either. Let him think she’d lain with her husband. It made little difference.