The Age of Knights and Highlanders: A Series Starter Collection

by Kathryn Le Veque

  “Why not?” Cainnech growled, staring at her from his saddle. He brought his mount closer until his leg brushed against hers.

  Aleysia found it difficult to keep a clear head, staring straight at him, their legs touching. It made her want to curse him for being so untouchable. “The abbess does not care for me that is why not,” she replied tersely. “Now, are we going to discuss my plan to get to Elizabeth, or remain here all day and ask questions?”

  William and Rauf remained quiet.

  Cainnech’s expression darkened. “Why did ye not tell me this before?”

  “I am telling you now. Also, I have been thinking.”

  He actually sighed.

  Truly, sometimes she believed she could happily kill him.

  “Elizabeth does not know you and your men were not defeated at Lismoor. I fear she will not return if she discovers the truth.”

  He stared at her for a moment then blew out a short laugh. “So I am to let ye go inside alone? Is that what ye have been thinkin’?”

  The poor man still had no idea who he was talking to. She narrowed her eyes on him. “I do not belong to you, Commander. You do not let me do anything. You should feel privileged that I even let you in on what I’m thinking!”

  “Och, look at them apples!” Rauf said, pointing to a vendor when her pitch grew to a shout.

  Will smiled and looked away.

  “Fergive me,” the commander said, giving her his attention with a hint of warmth in his gaze to go with it. “I do feel privileged. Go on.”

  She stumbled around a few words until she found the right ones. She wasn’t expecting his reaction to her outburst. Apparently, neither did William or Rauf, for they gaped at him as if he had appeared before them from thin air. She wasn’t sure how to respond.

  “Thank you,” she said first. She kept her voice low so that only he could hear and let herself smile. “I forgive you.”

  She thought he didn’t hear her at first, for he leaned closer. His smile began in his eyes and it was as if the shutters blew off a hundred windows. Was that a glimpse of his heart she saw in the deep blue fathoms?

  “Lead the way, lass,” he said hoarsely, quietly. “Fer ’tis clear I will follow anywhere ye go.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “There is a graveyard behind the small church,” Aleysia told them while they secured their horses to the trees. “’Tis gated, but I know how to get in. Once inside, I can get to Elizabeth’s rooms. I will go get her while the three of you wait for us in the cemetery. If you see any of the nuns, do not speak to them, do you understand?”

  “Nae.” Cainnech said, looking uneasy. “Tell me again why we canna enter through the front gate. Why are we sneakin’ aboot? ’Tis an abbey. There are nuns inside. They willna stop us from—”

  “You do not know the abbess,” Aleysia insisted. “She is frightening.”

  He smiled indulgently. “Lass, I have faced mighty warriors in battle. An abbess doesna frighten me.”

  She closed her eyes and prayed for patience. “Still, why face her if we do not have to? Aye?”

  Without waiting for him to respond, she hurried past quacking ducks to a wall behind the second tower. There, she found a small door curtained by vines.

  It looked as if no one had used the door in years. The vines sprang free when she pulled it open. She smiled, looking over her shoulder at Cainnech, and led the way into the cemetery.

  She saw the narrow, stone stairway that led inside the abbey and turned to tell the men that she was heading inside when William stopped and went deathly still.

  Aleysia followed his gaze to a young woman standing alone at one of the gravestones. Who was she? Probably another poor girl orphaned or abandoned by her family.

  “Will,” Aleysia said gently to get him moving. They shouldn’t stop and speak to anyone.

  “’Tis her,” he managed, not taking his eyes off her. “’Tis Julianna.”

  The girl heard her name spoken and turned to see them. She stepped back and pressed her slender hands to her chest.

  “William?” she asked with a stunned, hesitant breath.

  She wore a full white kirtle and a yellow silk overgown with a fur-lined mantle and a golden coronet over her brow and long, red tresses.

  “Hell,” Aleysia heard Cainnech groan next.

  “What are you doing here?” Will rushed to her like a man just given back his life.

  Julianna backed away and cast a nervous look around him at the commander standing close by and Rauf moving about.

  “I was sent here after…Berwick.” Her large, dark eyes shimmered with tears and she dabbed them with her dangling sleeve. “It was terrible. Where were you?” Instead of waiting for an answer to her current question, she asked more. “Who are these people? Why have you come here?”

  “I…I am here for…”

  “We are looking for Elizabeth FitzSimmons.” Aleysia stepped forward and smiled, though wanting to stay and needing to go tore her heart in two. “I am Aleysia…d’Argentan.” She added her surname in a low voice.

  “Giles’ sister!” Julianna smiled and Aleysia was tempted to look over her shoulder at William or Rauf to see if they had heard.

  “Elizabeth has told me all about you and your brother. Did the Scots ever come for your castle? Did your traps kill them all?”

  Aleysia felt William go stiff beside her and step away. She wanted to turn her gaze to Cainnech. She needed his help. She also needed to say something to Julianna to shut her up.

  Aleysia turned to William first. “Please forgive me. I will be killed if ’tis found out.”

  When he flicked his diamond-hard gaze over her shoulder, she turned to see Cainnech coming toward them. Rauf was keeping watch at the stairway and was thankfully out of earshot. For now.

  “If what is found out?” Julianna asked her, her wide eyes moving from her to Will. “Killed by who?”

  “Aleysia?”

  She turned to see Elizabeth step outside from the side entrance to the abbey.

  When Elizabeth took off running toward her, Aleysia met her in a long embrace.

  “What are you doing here?” Elizabeth finally pulled back and asked her. “Is it safe to return to Lismoor? Did you kill all the—”

  Her gaze skidded to a halt on the commander and the two men around him. “Who are these men?”

  “Elizabeth,” Aleysia said, trying to keep her voice light. This wasn’t how she wanted to tell her friend about the Scots. “We’ve come to bring you home. These…” She closed her eyes, knowing the moment Elizabeth found out who they were could likely be the end of their friendship. She’d sent delicate Elizabeth away into the woods and back to the abbess for nothing. Not only did she not keep her promise to kill them all, she was losing her heart to one and had brought him here. “These are my friends.”

  “Where did they come from?” Elizabeth asked, leaning in so the men wouldn’t hear. “I’ve never seen them at Lismoor.”

  “Dearest, come now.” Aleysia tried to usher her toward the hidden exit. “We will discuss everything on the way. The abbess will be angry if she finds me here unannounced.”

  “Aye,” Elizabeth finally smiled. “But I do not have my things.”

  “Everything you need is awaiting you at Lismoor, and we can send for the rest later.”

  She was almost sure she heard Cainnech expel a long sigh when they finally began moving. Still, Aleysia thought thankfully as she led her friend to the door, this was easier than they thought it would be.

  “Julianna.” Elizabeth suddenly remembered her and broke free of Aleysia’s arm. “You must come with us! You will love it at Lismoor.”

  “Where is your father?” William asked turning to the striking redhead.

  She pointed to the gravestone close to where she stood. “He died at Berwick.”

  “Who is this?” Elizabeth smiled at him, tall and handsome, and not nearly as dangerous as Cainnech.

  “He is William Stone, my father’
s servant,” Julianna told her.

  “The one you told me about?” Elizabeth’s smile faded and her flesh paled. “The Scottish boy?” She turned to Aleysia with confusion and betrayal in her eyes. “What are you doing with a Scot, and who are these men?” She looked warily at Cainnech and Rauf when the latter made his way over.

  “I heard women’s voices,” Rauf informed them, reaching for his sword. “We need to hurry the hell oot of here.”

  Elizabeth staggered backward and cast Aleysia a horrified look. “You brought the Scots here?”

  Aleysia tried to tell her they were safe and Lismoor would soon again be hers, but Elizabeth hated the Scots for killing Giles and, like them all, she couldn’t see beyond it.

  “You betray your brother by befriending these murderous, treasonous outlaws!” she shouted.

  The voices from inside the abbey grew louder, closer.

  “Elizabeth, if you will please listen,” Aleysia tried to no avail.

  “Here!” her friend called out to the nuns now entering the cemetery.

  When the sisters saw the strange men in their yard, they scrambled back and made the sign of the cross.

  “These men are Scots!” Elizabeth shouted. “Get the abbess!”

  “Please, Elizabeth,” Aleysia tried again. “Just come home with me. Give them a chance. They are not even staying.”

  “You called them your friends,” Elizabeth said with tears staining her eyes. “They killed Giles. How could you, Aleysia?”

  What did Aleysia dare say? That she might be falling in love with one of them? She turned to look at him, wishing Elizabeth would just give him a chance the way Mattie had.

  “Miss d’Argentan, I should have known.”

  Aleysia slid her gaze to the entrance and scowled when she saw the abbess. She hadn’t changed. In fact, she hadn’t aged in five years. “Reverend Mother,” Aleysia said impassively, “we were just leaving.”

  Swathed in stiff wool, the reverend mother’s face was a mask of utter composure, save for the rage in her stormy gray eyes.

  “Before you go, why do you not introduce me to your companions?” From within the long wide sleeves of her white robes, the abbess extended her hand toward Cainnech.

  He looked down at it, not sure what he was supposed to do, and then reached out to accept her offering.

  “No!” Aleysia shouted, but she was too late.

  Cainnech pulled back his hand after barely touching the abbess and looked at it. His eyes opened wide and then he turned to Aleysia. “She jabbed me with some—” He collapsed in a heap at Aleysia’s feet.

  Instantly, Rauf and William drew their swords, but Aleysia leaped in front of the abbess and held up her palms to hold back the men.

  “Stop! Do not touch her!”

  “She killed the commander!” Rauf shouted, but did not try to move past her.

  “He is asleep,” the abbess corrected him blandly.

  William fell to his knees to check. Rauf didn’t seem convinced and tried to move forward.

  “She did not kill him, Rauf!” Aleysia told him, making certain her heard her. “He only sleeps. Remember, I told you about this? The commander will awaken. What will you tell Father Timothy if you kill a nun, a woman?”

  Rauf finally nodded and stepped back, out of range of the abbess’ touch.

  “If I wanted him dead,” the abbess told them in a strict but serene voice, “he would be dead.” Her eyes sparked with fire when she met Aleysia’s gaze. “I do not know what you want, but Elizabeth will not be going with you this time. Now, take your men of war away from my abbey before I truly lose my temper.”

  She turned on her heel and swept away in her long robes, with her nuns behind her.

  Aleysia crouched and had a closer look at Cainnech. His breathing was strong, his skin, wonderfully warm.

  She followed him upward as Rauf scooped him up, thought better of it for a moment, and then agreed with his first decision and hefted his commander over his shoulder.

  “Let’s get the hell oot of here,” Rauf ordered and led the way, slowly, and huffing at Cainnech’s size as he went.

  “Come away with me, Julianna,” Aleysia heard William say.

  “Are you crazed?”

  Her heart broke at Julianna’s reply.

  “Come with you and live among the Scots? They ravaged our entire town—”

  “Not these men,” Aleysia told her. “They had no part in Berwick.”

  Julianna looked as if she might be reconsidering but then shook her head. “You are a servant, Will. We were never meant to be together.”

  “I am changing my life. Things will be better for me.”

  “No,” Julianna said and turned her alabaster face away. “No. I am here until the man to whom my father promised me—a man of means—arrives. I will be married and have no more time for childish fancies.”

  “Let’s go!” Rauf commanded.

  Aleysia met William’s tortured gaze and urged him to come. He didn’t move.

  “Julianna, I have loved you my whole life. I will never love anyone but you. Do not sentence me to such a lonely life.”

  “Go, William.” A whisper, but it boomed throughout the graveyard.

  Aleysia pulled his sleeve. “Come, we must go.”

  This time, he followed.

  They rested in the shade of an old oak until Cainnech opened his eyes. They didn’t have to wait long. Aleysia was relieved to see him well, even though she didn’t doubt he would be. She was also glad to have him to speak to because, with Rauf around, she couldn’t speak to William about him knowing the truth.

  “She has no powers given to her by God,” Cainnech groaned sitting up. “She stuck me with something.” He looked over his hand and wrist for any sign of a wound. There was none.

  “She gets her power from darker forces,” Rauf said while Aleysia took the commander’s hand to examine it.

  Almost immediately, she quit thinking about the abbess, the other men with her, or anything else, and became excruciatingly aware of Cainnech’s large hand in hers. She studied his long, broad fingers, moving each with a delicate, curious touch of her own. She ran her fingertips across his rough palm and trembled at the power he possessed when he rubbed his thumb over her flesh.

  “Or mayhap,” she said, noticing a tiny red spot on the inside of his wrist, “she cleverly coats a thin needle, or even an insect stinger with poison, and then stabs her victims.”

  She pointed out the tiny wound to the rest of them and then scowled at Rauf when he suggested going back and killing the abbess.

  Soon, they were back in the saddle and heading home. Rauf rode with William up ahead while Aleysia told Cainnech how the abbess had felled Giles when she and her brother had come for Elizabeth. “I could not carry him out of the abbey so I had to sit with him while he slept and the abbess kept watch. I never took my eyes off her, my sword always pointing at her. I had never killed anyone before and I certainly hadn’t wanted to kill an abbess, but he did awaken. And I knew you would as well.”

  “Ye saved Rauf from eternal damnation,” Cainnech said, smiling. “And worse, Father Timothy.” She laughed with him, forgetting for a moment all that was lost today.

  “I am sorry aboot Elizabeth,” Cainnech said, as if reading her thoughts.

  She shook her head. “She made her choice. ’Tis William who tears at my heart. Julianna cares for him. I know it.”

  “Dinna give the lad false hope,” he warned gently.

  She nodded and sighed, knowing he was right. “I would like some words with him.”

  Cainnech winked at her, and then rode ahead and sent William back to her.

  Aleysia was sad that Elizabeth wouldn’t come with them but her heart broke for William. She knew he was angry with her. He had every right to be. She was Giles d’Argentan’s sister. Lismoor was hers. The traps and the arrows that killed his friends were hers.

  “I was trying to protect my home,” she told William, riding up close t
o him.

  “Does the commander know?” he asked softly, averting his gaze from hers.

  She looked at Cainnech riding with Rauf ahead of them. “He knew the men would kill me if they knew. Father Timothy convinced him to speak to your king about it first.”

  “You attacked us on your own,” he said after a pensive moment. “The villagers were away.”

  She nodded.

  He finally looked at her from beneath his soft curls. “You are very courageous.”

  “Lismoor is my home. The villagers are my friends. As are you.”

  His smile was slow and quite heart wrenching. “I see why he likes you.”

  Her happiness faded, remembering what he’d left behind. “I’m sorry she didn’t come with us.”

  He nodded, but said nothing else. He didn’t want to speak of her. Aleysia wouldn’t push.

  “I did not know your family name is Stone,” she said with a lighter smile. “Do you know anything about them?”

  He shook his head. “Stone is not my family name. The governor called me Will Stone because he paid a stone for me when I was a babe.”

  “Oh.” She swallowed. What was she supposed to say to that? She wanted to weep, not speak.

  Thankfully, Cainnech came riding back to them. “Will, we should speak.”

  “I already spoke to Ale—Miss d’Argentan,” William told him.

  “Aleysia,” she corrected with a smile.

  “I understand why she did it, Commander. I will not tell the others.”

  Cainnech smiled at him and then at her. “All right, go ride with Rauf fer a wee bit.”

  William left without another word. Aleysia sniffled.

  “Ye have a good heart, lass,” he told her with a deep-throated purr. “And ye are faithful to yer friends.”

  She looked at him, no longer wondering how this Highland warrior had won her heart. She smiled, her spirits lifted. “Thank you. Those are good traits to have.”

  He nodded, looking as enchanted by her as she was by him.

  He pulled a pouch from his saddlebag and offered it to her. “Drink slowly,” he instructed when she accepted. “Take a wee sip.”

  The Scot’s deadly whisky. She could use a wee sip. She held the spout to her lips and drank. Her hand shook as she handed him back his pouch. She could feel him smiling at her. She could no longer see him through the fireballs that had once been her eyes.