Arsenic and Old Armor (14 page)

“
FREEDOM!” he shouted,
charging up the steps.

She had not been
asked
her feelings.
She’d simply been
told
the plans.

Early this afternoon, the travelers had
ridden down out of the Trossachs. The sun was still high when
they’d arrived at this inn. But they would not all be staying, she
was told.

Brother Luke and four of the men would be
riding on ahead with directions to continue on to the Borders. The
rest of the group, including Marion, would remain with Iain at the
inn, which was only an arrow shot from the shores of Loch Lomond.
She knew that to the south of the lake, the Lowlands stretched out
all the way to the rising hills surrounding Fleet Tower. How long
the party was to wait here, however, had not been discussed.

Glaring down at Iain, Marion was too
exhausted to care who witnessed their exchange. She refused to
dismount from the horse. She couldn’t understand his logic, and he
definitely wasn’t being very forthright in his explanations.

“
For four days,” she said,
“you’ve pushed us through long days in the saddle with practically
no rest and no time for eating anything hot. You’ve led us on like
a madman, as if the devil were on our heels. Now we are only two
days away from Fleet Tower, and
you
decide we should stop here in the middle of
nowhere and wait?”

“
I believe you have it
exactly right,” he replied. Then he had the nerve to smile and
reach up for her. “And did I tell you how wonderful and agreeable
you’ve been during these days of hard riding?”

“
Agreeable?” she snorted,
pushing his hand away. “My complaining has been lost in the wind.
And for the couple of hours we’ve camped now and again, I’ve been
too exhausted to do anything but sleep.”

He took her hand. “More reason for us to
stay at this inn, my love. Here you can rest, and I can fulfill the
husbandly duties I have been neglecting for most of this
journey.”

He knew how to fluster her. Marion had no
control over the blush that warmed her face. Their night together
at the hut had been beyond anything she’d imagined possible. She
had been agreeable for several of the following days, occasionally
reminiscing about all they had done to each other. All she had
learned. She’d spent many hours anticipating and daydreaming about
the next time they would be alone together.

The pain in her buttocks, caused by too many
hours in the saddle, had gradually drained her of any romantic
thoughts…for now. Marion also recognized that she was bone tired
and irritable. And Iain was responsible for it.

“
Why here? Why now? Why not
stop at a larger village? Or a real town? How far are we from
Glasgow?” she asked. “I know there must be some reason behind this
apparent madness. Explain it to me, and in return, I shall sit
here, docile as a wee lamb…for about the count of ten.”

He shook his head, obviously amused. “No
other woman in Scotland would think to be interrogating me. They
would be thrilled at my proposal.”

She leaned forward in the saddle and lowered
her voice. “You had your chance at other women, but you lost that
when you married me. Now kindly explain yourself.”

“
Wouldn’t you at least get
down from the horse? Never mind my men and everyone else in the
stable yard. I believe I’d be accurate in saying you’re
entertaining the innkeeper and his entire staff with your
scandalous behavior. You can see them all standing by the door and
windows, wondering what you’ll be doing next.”

Marion glanced at the inn and then at the
stables. The place wrapped around this central yard and definitely
looked familiar. She wondered if she’d passed by it with her father
as a child. From the moment they’d arrived, she was impressed by
the orderly way of the place and the many hands helping in the
yard. Of course, no one was working now. And they weren’t even
being discreet about their nosiness. She was definitely the
entertainment.

“
I’ll get down, but that’s
as compliant as I plan to be, Iain Armstrong,” she grumbled under
her breath, allowing him to lower her to the ground. “I am not
going inside until you explain yourself.”

Her knees buckled momentarily as her feet
touched the packed earth of the yard. Iain held on to her, making
sure she was strong enough to stand on her own feet. She did,
sooner than she should have, but she was not going to show any
weakness.

They’d certainly traveled quickly during the
last few days. The men they’d subdued at the stone cottage were
left late the following day at the town of Oban on the coast. Iain
told her they’d be well cared for in the responsible and just hands
of the Duke of Argyll, Colin Campbell, an ally and friend of the
Armstrongs. The three trunks Marion had insisted on bringing from
the Isle of Skye had been left behind at the cottage, along with
the cart.

Some of her “more useful possessions,” as
Iain called them, were tucked into two saddles of the McCall and
Armstrong riders. When they’d arrived here, Iain had ordered those
few items to be taken in. He also ordered his man Alan to see to
fresh horses for Brother Luke and the four men who were leaving
with him. Marion knew the clergyman was already inside the inn,
having a meal and taking a short rest before his cruel nephew had
the chance to shove him out onto the road south. Luckily for
Brother Luke, the weather looked clear.

Iain started for the door, but Marion dug
her heels in. Once she climbed down from the horse, their audience
appeared to have lost interest and were drifting back to work.

“
We are starting this
marriage on the wrong foot. You need to understand that your life
will be much easier and infinitely more pleasant once you accept
the fact that I deserve answers for my questions and my
concerns.”

“
I must say, the prioress
has taught you some curious things there in Skye.” He held up a
hand. “But I have every intention of answering all your
questions.”

“
Then do so,” she
encouraged.

“
What do you have against
continuing this conversation inside?”

“
You know perfectly.” She
felt the heat rising in her face. “You will only manage to distract
me…with other things…if we go in before I get my
answers.”

“
What kinds of other
things?” He caressed her cheek.

“
Stop it. You’re doing it
now.” Marion pushed his hand away half-heartedly.

“
Does everything have to be
your way?” he asked, amusement in his voice.

“
No. But for twelve years
you’ve had everything
your
way. This is my chance to make up for that lost
time.” She appreciated the fact that, despite her complaining, he
was maintaining a good sense of humor about things. Marion tucked
her arm into his, leaned against him, and whispered in his ear.
“You realize you’re wasting precious time by not explaining things
to me. Just think of everything else that we could be doing with
our time.”

His blue gaze smoldered as he looked at her.
“You need to promise me that you will continue to be this
enthusiastic after hearing what I have to say.”

She tensed. “There’s something wrong with my
family.”

“
That
we all know. Everyone in the Borders knows there’s something
wrong with your family.” He smiled. “But that is not what I have to
tell you right now.”

She punched him in the arm. It was like
punching a rock. “You’ve married a McCall, Iain. McCall blood shall
run in the veins of any child we bring into this world. It’s time
you stopped ridiculing us.”

He brought her hand to his lips and brushed
a kiss over it. “I promise to try.”

It wasn’t exactly an apology. But he was so
charming that Marion thought it was good enough. She tucked her arm
into his again and nodded. “What you have to reveal has something
to do with the rogues that attacked us at that cottar’s hut in the
Highlands. Am I right?”

He glanced around them. “Too many people are
eavesdropping on our conversation.”

Marion saw he was correct. The stable yard
was crowded with workers and travelers. Although no one was gawking
like before, the two of them were still the object of everyone’s
interest.

“
Come for a walk with
me.”

She nodded. After so many hours of feeling
the bumps and bruises of riding, it felt like heaven to stretch her
legs. Iain led her toward a brook that ran by the inn. The land
began to slope downward to the lake, and with it, the brook tumbled
down a series of falls before flowing into the loch.

“
It must be that. You
refused to answer any of my questions about those villains the
night of the attack,” Marion reasoned. “And since then, you have
avoided the subject entirely.”

“
Would you like me to
explain, or do you plan to deduce the answers all on your
own?”

“
Would you like to jump in
that lake all on your own or would you prefer that I push you into
it?” she retorted.

He hugged her tightly. “I’ll jump in
willingly if you come with me.”

“
I don’t think I’m in the
mood to save you today,” she said sweetly.

“
No?” He kissed her on the
neck, his lips teasing her earlobe. He kissed her mouth.

She had to clutch at his shirt to keep her
balance when he ended the kiss.

“
Now will you save
me?”

“
Maybe.” Her gaze drifted
toward the top of the hill. She was dismayed to find people
standing and watching them again. “Don’t they have something better
to do than watch us?”

He looked up at them and smiled. “They are
not watching us. They’re watching you.”

“
And why is
that?”

“
Your reputation precedes
you. They know who you are, and they’re curious to see if you are
as wild as you were the last time you stopped here.”

Marion took a step up the hill, taking in
the scene of the buildings and the countryside around them. She
turned to face him. “The inn looks familiar. But when was the last
time I was--oh, no!”

He smiled. “Indeed. Twelve years ago. The
escort who took you to the priory on the Isle of Skye made the
mistake of staying the night at this inn.”

Marion turned to look up the hill at the
buildings again. She remembered all too well. Twelve years ago when
they’d arrived, it was already dark. And within a couple of hours,
the inn had erupted in total chaos. She and her entourage had left
before dawn.

“
I tried to run
away.”

“
You tried to burn the
place down.”

“
That was after getting
caught for wanting to run away,” Marion corrected him. “And only
after none of the people working here would listen to my pleas or
take my side.”

Of
course
she hadn’t initially
remembered the place, Marion thought. She was six years old at the
time, and the entire world she knew had been taken away from her in
a single afternoon. Accompanied by a group of strange, surly men
wearing Armstrong plaids, and a nun that she knew no better, Marion
had been sent on her way. But that wasn’t the end of it, and she
wasn’t about to give in so easily. She had been angry and
determined to get back to Fleet Tower, even if she had to go on
foot. Her first opportunity, though, had occurred when they’d
arrived at this place a couple of days into their
journey.

“
They say you tried to jump
out of the second-story window.”

“
I wasn’t going to jump. I
was climbing out very carefully. Your warriors made far more of it
than it was,” she said, waving it off nonchalantly.

“
And dumping a brazier of
hot coals on the floor and starting the fire. Did everyone make
more of it than it was, too?”

“
That started as an
accident. I tripped over it when I was running across the room to
get away from the nun and the tray of disgusting food she was
forcing on me. But to be truthful, I did try to take advantage of
the mayhem afterward.”

“
So you admit
that?”

“
Indeed I do. I stole one
of the horses. But they stopped me before I reached the stable
doors.” She looked into his face. “I speak the absolute truth about
not intentionally starting the fire.”

He nodded.

“
Do you believe
me?”

“
I do. When it comes to
creating disaster, you like to take credit for more and not
less.”

He understood her and that made Marion oddly
happy. She scrunched up her nose, looking back up toward the inn.
“How much damage was done to the place by the time I left?”

“
Well, the most important
thing was that no one was hurt. But the bedchamber you were staying
at on the second floor was pretty well scorched. In the end, it was
all definitely fixable…at some expense, though.”

Marion struggled to fight down a flush of
embarrassment. In a few moments, she would climb back up this hill.
She wondered if, after so many years, there was something she
should say to the innkeeper.

“
Considering my reputation,
Iain, how did you manage to convince them to allow me to stay here
again?”

“
I paid for the damages
twelve years ago, so he trusts I’ll look after you this
time.”