Cadha's Rogue (The Highland Renegades Book 5) (13 page)

Auden helped Cadha over the edge, then went over himself. As she climbed down, she pinned Valc with a sharp gaze. There was so much longing in her eyes. So much desire. But was there love? He could not tell. She needed to resolve her thoughts. Set her heart on one man and stay that course. It would be best for them both if she learned to do this.

Cadha did not love him. Not in any meaningful way. It was best for her to see through the journey to find the man who had been promised her hand. Valc wouldn’t even go along.

The captain gestured for him to follow and Auden yelled up. “He says you must follow your… wife.”

Valc exhaled sharply. His wife. How that lie had come back to bite him securely in the arse. He never should have lied.

He climbed down into the boat. The captain leaned over the railing and yelled something down. He tossed a small purse into the boat and Brother Auden bowed his head in response.

“What is this?” Valc wondered.

“He said we did not eat as much as he thought, so he’s giving us part of our fare in return.” Auden put his hands together in a prayerful gesture and bowed one more time to the captain. He yelled something up to the ship and the crew pushed off the small boat.

A good portion of their money weighed heavily in Valc’s hand. They had paid handsomely for their spots, but the heft seemed nearly to match what Valc had given.

“Why would he do this?” Valc asked.

“I told him of Cadha’s capture, and of the trade room. He was disgusted and said he knows some of the men who brought girls to that vile place. He wishes they would all burn in hell.”

“He’s not alone in that,” Cadha’s voice was so small and so fragile, Valc wanted to scoop her up and hold her like a child. He did his best to tamp down that thought and scooted to the edge of his seat.

“Everyone wishes they could do more,” Auden said. “He is not the only one who tries to make the problem better.”

The waves lapped at the side of the boat and the air cooled dramatically the closer they rowed toward shore. The two crewmen took to the rowing, but Valc soon took over. They were a good piece out.

“They won’t be expecting us,” Cadha said. “Should we put up a white flag?”

Valc had a flash of memory. “It was a white flag that got us into this mess in the first place, I believe.”

There was an edge of laughter in her voice when she replied, “I wasn’t the one who surrendered, Valc.”

No. No, she wasn’t.

Cadha climbed up the road, leaving Valc and his monk behind. She had tried to speak with him the entire day, and been rebuffed and ignored for her troubles.

She would make him see. She would bring him to Maas and make him realize that she really did love her reluctant rogue. He could take his time to think—Lord knew, he’d taken all day—and she would show him in the end.

Valc and Brother Auden followed her as she wound her way up to the castle. Valcymer said something in Auden’s language and they conversed that way for several minutes, but Cadha didn’t care about translating. She only needed to find Maas.

When they reached a door, Cadha pounded. It was heavy and made of wood. They stood in the whipping wind for several minutes before they heard a commotion inside.

An old woman’s face appeared through the narrow opening. “What do you need?” she asked in lilting Gaelic. “We don’t have any table scraps, if you’re here to beg. They’ve all been distributed for the day.”

“I’m here to see Maas Maasen,” Cadha said. “I am the daughter of Brecht de Witt.”

The woman’s eyebrows raised. “We’ve had one of his daughters here already.”

“That would be Josephine, my sister.”

“And who are you?” The lady gestured to Auden and Valc.

“They’re my protectors. They brought me here to see Maas.” Cadha waved at them. Valc’s questioning look reminded her that he couldn’t understand Gaelic. She repeated their conversation in Dutch.

“Tell her we can leave if she would prefer not to admit strangers,” Valc said, his tone even and calm.

Cadha shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I meant Auden and myself.” Valc’s lips pressed into a rigid line.

“You’re not going anywhere either,” Cadha ordered. Her eyes flickered to the monk with some worry, but Valc must have revealed the true nature of their relationship to him. They had been through much together. Of course Valc would confide in him.

She turned back to the servant. “We can wait here if you’d prefer not to admit us.”

“Follow me.” The old woman hobbled into the castle. They wound their way up a set of stairs and into a hallway. Children’s voices echoed off the walls and the old woman disappeared through a big door.

At the front of the room, on what would have been the dais, was a collection of furs and blankets, spread across the raised platform. Several bodies rolled among the material and Cadha could see that some of them were children.

The old woman clapped her hands and called out, “Master Erlan.”

Maas’s face appeared over a tented piece of fabric. Cadha hadn’t prepared herself for the impact of seeing him again after so long. Her muscles tensed, her mouth dropped open, her breath urged her forward.

She ran up the dais and threw herself into his arms. The children continued to play around his feet, laughing and squealing.

“Cadha, what are you doing here?” he asked in halting Dutch.

Tears drenched her cheeks before she knew she’d even begun to cry. “Pien said you weren’t coming back.”

Maas gripped her in a tight hug. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I didn’t have time to prepare a letter, and I didn’t know if it would be opened, anyway. I can’t believe you are here.”

“I came as soon as Papa returned.”

Maas gestured to the children giggling on the ground. “These are the Sinclair children.”

“Malcolm’s?”

Maas laughed and tousled the orange hair of the oldest girl who came to stand beside him. “Not Malcolm’s. Not yet. But his brothers’ children. We were just playing before supper.”

“Let me take them out, sir,” the old woman said in Gaelic. She bustled four heads out into the hallway, saying something about washing up.

“I want you to meet someone.” Cadha turned to the room and pointed to Valc and Auden. “These men traveled with me. They saved me when we fell into peril. I have so much to tell you.”

Valc’s eyes dropped, but Cadha cut off whatever thought was forming in his head. “Valcymer Vanhorn. This is Maas Maasen.”

Maas offered his hand to Valc. “It’s actually Erlan Mason.”

Cadha cocked her head to one side. “Erlan? Is that… Master Erlan? Is that you?”

“It was my name when I was a boy.” Maas’s eyebrows drew together. “It is my given name.”

Valc finally came forward and took Maas’s hand. “My name is Valc. Your betrothed hired me to bring her to you, and I have done that.”

Maas shifted his gaze to Cadha. “You told him?”

“I had to.”

The monk stepped forward and bowed. He said something in English, to which Maas responded. Valc’s lips tightened.

“A monk?” Maas almost laughed, his bright eyes wide. “From Lindisfarne? How do you always find these people, Cadha?”

“We need to talk,” she said. “Alone.”

Valc bowed to Maas and Cadha smacked him. “You don’t have to bow to him, Valc. He’s not your lord.”

The dark anger in Valc’s eyes silenced her. Frustration whirled inside. Why was he still angry with her? She was trying to fix everything and he was mad.

“I’ll bow to whom I please, Miss.” Valc stepped back and turned to leave. Brother Auden followed.

“Don’t go,” Cadha called out. She left Maas and ran after Valc. “Please. Stop. You have to let me speak to him.”

“I don’t need your help, Cadha. Auden and I will retrieve the ship. I’ve done what you paid me to do. I brought you to Scotland.”

“And now you’re just going to leave?”

“It’s not safe for me to remain anywhere the English king has a reach.” Valc nodded to Auden. “Let me leave in peace, Cadha. We’ll part ways and the world will be better off for it.”

“Please,” Maas called from behind her. “You won’t make much progress tonight. Stay for supper. We’ll offer you a bed for the night, and you can make your way in the morning.”

He came down to stand beside her and Cadha’s shoulders flexed, expecting a touch that never came.

“Let me at least thank you in some way for ensuring Cadha’s safety all this way.” Maas ushered Valc over to one of the long tables. “If you wait here, Willa can bring you some bread. I’ll be back and show you to the guest quarters.”

Valc’s face lined with concern. “You needn’t treat us as guests. We should sleep on the road, and get as far as we can this night.”

Cadha took his hand and pulled him down into the chair. “Please. Stay. Just let me speak with Maas. Please.”

Something in his eyes told her there would be no happy ending for them. Only sadness lingered there. She longed to see it replaced with love, once more.

“Yes, please do stay. I’m sure my sister Lilian and her husband will want to meet you.” Maas put a hand on Valc’s shoulder and gestured to Brother Auden. “Both of you.”

“Very well,” Valc said. “But only until the morning. Then, we leave for Balfour.”

Cadha took a deep breath and allowed Maas to drag her from the room, promising privacy elsewhere. She watched Valc and hated the fact that she was responsible for the anguish on his face.

If she had told him about Maas from the beginning, would he hate her less? Or love her less?

Truth be told, she wasn’t sure which she preferred.

Chapter Fifteen

Valc endured an awkward meal where most of the conversation was in a language he didn’t understand. He and Auden maintained regular conversation with Maas’s sister, Lilian.

They heard the story of Lilian and Maas’s parting. Twice, from Valc’s estimation. Once in Gaelic, which he couldn’t understand, and once translated into English, alternately by Lilian and Maas. No, Erlan.

He kept correcting Cadha when she would call him Maas, and Valc could see it bothered her. But it bothered Erlan’s pretty sister more to hear him called the Dutch name.

“That is an unbelievable story,” Auden said in English. “God must have a purpose over your lives to keep you both alive in such danger.”

Valc laughed and rolled his eyes. “You tend to the dramatic, brother.”

“Thank you, Brother Auden.” Lilian’s voice was even, melodic, and Valc immediately regretted his comment.

“I apologize for my words, my lady. I’m certain God does indeed have a purpose for your lives.”

Lilian offered a rueful smile. “You seem to have a wounded soul, Valcymer Vanhorn. Your bite is sharp as a wolf.”

“I’m afraid I suffer from a broken heart, Lady Sinclair.”

The pregnant lady and her husband exchanged looks with the other Sinclairs. Valc wanted to take back his statement. He’d meant it as a barb for Cadha. Instead, he seemed to have put himself on display.

“And who is this lady?” Malcolm Sinclair asked. “Perhaps Cadha could have a word with her, explain your virtues. I hear they are many.”

Cadha’s cheeks pinked. She did not look at her betrothed, or at Valc.

“Yes, Cadha has nothing but glowing praise for you,” Erlan added, taking a bite of his pheasant leg. “She regaled Malcolm and myself with tales of your bravery for quite some time. Both of you.”

Valc nearly swallowed his tongue. He hoped Cadha hadn’t passed along any of the specific details in front of Malcolm, formerly Captain Sinclair himself, currently brother to Lord Sinclair, Earl of Caithness, and as he had learned, friend of Brecht de Witt.

“She saved herself, really.” Valc chewed on the hard, dark bread and kept his eyes down. He couldn’t afford to give anything away, surrounded by these big Gaelic warriors who would cut him down as soon as look at him if they knew the content of his heart.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t ignore the tug toward Cadha, and that made him angry. He wanted to stand beside her, to have his hand on the small of her back, to touch her knee under the table with his own, to meet her eyes with the surreptitious hunger that ate away his insides. But another man’s claim had preceded his.

“You cannot change the subject.” Lilian smiled at him and winked at her husband. “We want to know of this girl who has broken your heart so we can secure her affections.”

“Her name is Thora, my lady. And her affections are not currently vacant.” Valc swallowed. “Would they were, and would I had my ship back. I think I could sail the world with her at my side.”

Cadha chewed at her lip and the table buzzed with a forlorn rise and fall. Lilian squeezed her husband’s hand.

“But never mind my broken heart. Congratulations on the betrothal of your brother. Cadha will make him a fine wife.”

Maas laughed. “You’ve only known her a few days, good sir. Don’t be so certain.”

Valc’s mouth hung open. He wanted to answer, but didn’t trust himself.
She would make the best of wives
, he wanted to say.

One of Malcolm’s brothers handed a cup to a child and encouraged them to drink it. The dinner conversation continued without Valc interjecting his thoughts on Cadha. Probably for the best.

“What’s this about you going to Balfour?” Malcolm asked in accented Dutch after several minutes of conversing in Gaelic with his brothers. “Cadha said you have some business with the pirate laird.”

“I prefer to think of him as the Bastard of Balfour,” Valc said.

“Acheson took Valc’s ship,” said Cadha. “We need to get it back.”

“We?” Erlan’s brows rounded and he glanced at Cadha. “Did you promise our help?”

“I knew you would want to help him.”

“Of course we want to help. But there are considerations, Cadha.”

Auden asked for a translation and Valc whispered the words. The monk inclined his head toward Erlan. “Do you plan to tell them?”

“Tell us what?” Erlan asked.

Valc took a long breath. “I hadn’t planned on it.”

“There is a treasure box on board,” the monk said loudly.

Erlan stopped chewing and looked around the room. “This treasure belongs to you?”