Branded by a Warrior (32 page)

It didn’t take long for the bailey to become filled with h
undreds
upon hundreds of kilted clans people to watch the exile of Siobhan Murray. S
tanding next to Kendrix
on the castle stairs
,
Elisabeth’s stomach was rolling. T
he thought of sending an unprotected woman into the wintery abyss made her sick.
With
the winter still upon them, Siobhan
would have to ride for days upon days before she found another living soul to beg shelter.
Elisabeth reminded herself of the grievous assaults that Siobhan had taken on her, and Isobel. She knew in her heart that Siobhan was the one communicating with Kincaid.

Once again she had turmoil inside her heart, the lady her mother raised with compassion
,
battled with the warrior her brother had trained, no mercy.

In Bro
derick’s absence, both she
and Kendrix
would be in charge of the
formal exile of Siobhan.
She felt the clan’s eyes upon her as she stood next to Kendrix, god she missed Broderick. She missed the comfort of his arm, the nearness of his body and the security he wrapped her in. Kendrix was a mighty warrior indeed, but she wanted her husband home. She needed his strength right now, thinking of some of his last words to her, how he reminded her that she
was
The Warrior Queen, she stood a little taller and prepared herself for the exile.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Siobhan exit her hut
, wrapped in winter furs, carrying her belongings neatly in a bag. Keeping her eyes on the vile woman, she watched Siobhan like a hawk, she had no doubt the woman was capable of violence. With her weapons secur
ed in place, Elisabeth
watched the tall brunette slowly walk across the bailey in front of the entire clan
as they scorned her
.

With her head held high, Siobhan gracefully walked across the yard and made her way to the front of the castle stairs. Stopping directly in front of Kendrix and Elisabeth, Siobhan dropped her bag to the ground and looked up at them with hatred in her eyes.

Hundreds gathered
closer
to witness the event, in centuries no one had been exiled from the MacMillan lands. Today was a rare event
, one that everyone would talk about and remember for the rest of their lives.

As the guard began to read the official decree of exile to Siobhan,
the woman
did not cry or beg forgiveness; she simply stared at Elisabeth with contempt and hatred.
The cold winter breeze cut
through the bailey, bringing a bitter chill to all those it touched.

Refusing to back down to Siobhan’s intimidation attempt, Elisabeth refused to look away. She stood tall beside Kendrix and met Siobhan’s gaze with her own venomous delivery.
In her heart, Elisabeth knew that Siobhan was responsible for her poisoning, for the letters from Kincaid, and most assuredly abusing Isobel.

With the decree and banishment from these lands completed, Kendrix asked, “Have you anything to say Siobhan Murray?”

“Nae
.
” H
er voice chilly and crisp
.

“
It is time for you to leave MacMillan lands Siobhan, you are never to return.”
Kendrix ordered, p
ointing towards the ho
rse waiting by the lowered gate. T
he crowd parted to allow Siobhan passage to the drawbridge.

Elisabeth watched carefully as Siobhan bent down to retrieve her bag and slowly str
aighten her shoulders before the vile woman
spoke again. “I’ll be seeing you soon Elisabeth, very soon
.” T
he words floated on a whisper so that only the few standing close enough could hear.

Gracefully smiling as she moved her fur to reveal her large broadsword attached to her hip she replied in earnest,
“Until then, Siobhan…
until then
.
”

Siobhan
gave her a malicious look
as she turned on her booted foot and marched towards the gate. No one followed, only watched.
Words of shame and scorn followed the exiled woman as she walked through the angry crowd.
Soon enough the
wicked
woman was on her horse and over the lowered drawbridge, hundreds of eyes watched as she disappeared into the frozen forest.

Elisabeth jumped when Kendrix shouted for the drawbridge to be pulled up. Her nerves were shot.
With her hand over her heart, she looked up at her new brother and shook her head. He was so like Broderick, yet so different.

“I will not be at drills
today
Kendrix, and if you could, either step in for me with the wee one’s training or cancel my session today, I need to lay down. I do not feel well Brother
.” S
he spoke softly so only he could hear.

Beside her, she heard him sigh deeply, “You need to rest Elisabeth, don’t worry about drills or the archery lessons, I’ll see to them. Go upstairs old girl, today
has been most taxing.
I’ll send
Isobel
to
collect you for dinner
.
”

Nodding, “Thank you.
”
She murmured as she walked
back into the warm castle. Slowly she
walked up to her solar, her hounds following closely behind her. She had noticed they had begun to hover
closer to her side
recently, more than normal.
Maybe they too felt the stress she was feeling.

Patting their heads, she
walked up the stone stairs to her solar, with Broderick gone, their
bed
room seemed too empty without him.
She had found herself avoiding the bedroom until it was time to sleep at night. She had grown to prefer her solar during the day.
Arriving at her
solar
door, she swung it open and let the warmth of the room bring a smile to her face. Walking directly over to her chair
by the fire
,
she slumped down into the cozy leather chair with a sigh.  Her hounds settled in
at her feet
. Closing her eyes she sighed in pleasure as
the heat radiate
d
through her cold bones.

This morning had been bitter
cold;
she had
begun
to allow the hounds to sleep on the bed next to her
in the evenings. S
he was so cold without
Broderick sleeping next to her t
he large wolfhounds radiated heat allowing her more warmth through the bitter cold nights.

Pondering over the coming days, she knew s
oon enough Broderick would
soon
return, and together they would ride south to deliver sweet justice to Kincaid and h
is evil army.
Over the weeks she worried ove
r Broderick’s meeting with the k
ing. She prayed the King blessed her
marriage, and that Broderick woul
d return home safely once again. She had not received any communication from her husband since he had left, that had worried her tremendously. In her heart she knew he was alive, praying that he had safe travels she shifted in her comfortable
chair and let the warm fire warm her bones.

The
warmth of the room
intensified her drowsiness
, pulling her
feet
under her dress, she tucked
into the chair
. Wrapping
her warm sable tighter around her
shoulders she
rested her head
on the side of the large chair and closed her eyes. She thought of Broderick, his face
and his devastating smile. His g
od like body, and piercing green eyes that looked right to her very soul. She let their moments together calm her as she snuggled before the fire.

Awaking to a knock on her door, she stretched her toes out straight and opened her eyes
quickly;
she w
as in her bed in the solar room, n
ot the chair she had curled up in earlier. Her sable fur was laid over her chair, and her boots had been removed off her feet. The fire was just a pile of orange coals,
how had she gotten to bed?

The handle turned on the door
as Elisabeth tried shaking the cobwebs from her head, looking over she saw Old Rhona waddling in with a welcoming smile.

“Morning lass, glad to see you awake, we was beginning to worry about ye
!
”

“Morning?”
Elisabeth asked groggily as she yawned and rubbed her sleepy eyes.

Chuckling, Rhona shuffled across
the room and tended to the fire as she continued, “When Isobel came t
o get you
for dinner last night, ye
was hard asleep my dear, Kendrix and I eventually moved you to the bed so you would be more comfortable
.
”

Rubbing her face Elisabeth
sighed, she did feel
better;
maybe all she needed was sleep after all. Swinging down off the bed, she noticed her hounds were gone, “Where are Conn and Isla?”

“I sent them off with Isobel to run
, are you hungry my dear?”
Rhona asked as she turned around and
walked over to Elisabeth’s
wardrobe, pulling
out a fresh gown.

With her stomach growling, she walked over to Rhona and let out a large yawn, “I am starving Rhona, I feel like I haven’t ate in days
.
”

“Lass, you didn’t eat at all yesterday, ye gunna waste
away to bones if ye dinnae eat. C
an’t have our Laird upset with us for letting you waste away. Let’s get ye changed and go fill that empty stomach up, eh?”

“Aye, yesterday was so draining, I lost my appetite. I feel much better after sleeping so long, maybe t’was what I needed after all
.
” Shucking off her gown, she let Rhona help her into a fresh gown of beautiful ivory, a color Rho
na always liked seeing her in.
While Rhona laced up the back, Elisabeth slipped on her leather bracers and laced them tight. Picking up her leather belt, she fastened it to her slim waist and secured her weapons in their rightful place upon her left s
ide as she did every morning.

“Sit down lass, I’ll fix your hair right quick
.” Rhona sweetly ordered, pointing back to the leather chair.

Elisabeth had grown so used to having Rhona fuss over
her;
she was like a grandmother to her now.
Sighing with pleasure, she sat up straight and let the old woman fuss over her. Plus, she always loved her hair being played
with;
it reminded her of her
own
mother. Some of her earliest memories of her mother
were
sitting at her feet getting her hair plaited or put up into a crown.

The memory of her mother brought along with it the bitter agony of losing her mother so horrifically. Soon enough her mood shifted as she thought about Kincaid and his merciless
massacre
of her family and people.
The horrific visions flooded her mind. Kincaid’s
taunting
letters and sadistic ramblings ran through her mind as
she closed her eyes and let her vow reverberate through her once more.
I will kill that bastard with my own
hands.

Seeing
Siobhan leave so easily
yesterday
morning
told her a great deal. The young widow was not afraid to leave in the midst of a
brutal winter, for a reason. Elisabeth
had a long-standing suspicion that Siobhan was the connection with Kincaid. Elisabeth presumed that after she had married Broderick, Siobhan
’s
failed attempt at killing her prompted her into consorting with the enemy.
One thing that was evident in Kincaid’s letters, he was given the information quickly. For a messenger to deliver a miss
ive to his castle, it
would
take
ten days to reach his outer most lands. Which meant, Kincaid was close. She knew he was not on MacMillan lands, they were patrolled daily.
So, where was the soulless bastard?

“Elisabeth dear?”

Shaking her head
she
felt Rhona’s hands resting upon her shoulders, turning to look at
the white haired elder
, “I’m sorry Rhona, I was woolgathering
.
”

“Ye were grinding yer teeth lass, some woolgathering ye must have been doing
.
”