Highland Knight of Rapture (Highland Dynasty Book 4) (28 page)

“He’s a traitor and a backstabber.”

“Yet you said yourself he knows where Lady Helen is.” Duncan shoved Aleck aside and kneeled beside the guard. “Are you in my sister’s confidence?”

His gasps becoming slower, the man held Duncan’s gaze and gave a single nod.

Shoving Duncan aside, Aleck jumped atop the guard. With a snarl, he again held his blade to Keith’s neck. “I’ll not ask you again. Where is Lady Helen?”

The guard’s eyes shifted east to the forest.

Aleck looked toward the trees, then smirked. “MacDougall’s hunting cottage? I should have known.” Growling, the chieftain took one last swing at Mr. Keith’s head, leaving a welt spreading under his eyes.

Duncan knew the cottage well. Worse, last summer a hunting party camped there with MacIain.
Ballocks
.

Aleck hastened to his horse and mounted. “This way, men.”

Duncan had no recourse but to follow. He pointed at Angus. “Ride to Dunollie and tell Sir Sean to meet us at the cottage straight away.”

Duncan spurred his mount ahead. If MacIain unleashed his violent temper on his sister, she’d not survive to reveal the truth.

Gyllis was ever so happy to have her husband at home. Yesterday, her brother, John, had come to celebrate the holiday feast with them, and now the family sat upon the dais for their nooning before John returned to Iona.

Sean MacDougall and John had been boyhood friends and they had served together with the Highland Enforcers. The retinue had originally been established by Gyllis’s father, Colin Campbell by order of King James III to maintain order in the Scottish Highlands. Now the enforcers had a new leader and Scotland had a new king. Such was the succession. As far as Gyllis knew, bringing peace to the Highlands was still their primary responsibility, though the king used them when necessary to help maintain order along the borders as well.

Half the time, Gyllis had no idea where her husband was, but today she didn’t want to think about that. Two of her favorite men were seated at the high table in Dunollie’s great hall. Sean, dressed in plaid with a black leather doublet, looked like a powerful land-owning chieftain and John appeared so incredibly official in his purple damask chasuble. Gyllis was proud of her brother’s achievements after he’d left the enforcers to join the priesthood. A second son, he had become a powerful man in his own right—
The Bishop of the Isles
.

“How was your visit to Rome?” Sean asked.

John dabbed the corners of his lips with his fingers—ever so proper of him. “The channel crossing was smooth, thank the good Lord. As usual, however, there was no time to venture outside the Vatican.”

“And what news have you from His Holiness?” Gyllis asked.

“A great concern consumed most of our time.” John glanced between them. “Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain commissioned a rather mysterious character, Christopher Columbus, to undertake a seafaring venture to discover worlds not following our Lord, Jesus Christ.”

“New worlds?” Sean’s eyes lit up. “I thought we’d discovered all the land our world has to offer.”

“As did all of Christendom, but the captain returned with the most disturbing information.”

“Truly?” Sean broke his bread and spread cream over one half. “Tell us.”

“The peoples he discovered were reported as going unclothed and the Christian religion is completely unknown to them.”

Gyllis reached for the remaining half of bread. “But is it not our duty to deliver the word of God to those who have not yet been saved?”

“Yes, and that is exactly what the Pope Alexander communicated to Spain in a rather pointed letter.”

Both Gyllis and Sean looked at the bishop expectantly.

Pursing his lips, John assumed the stern countenance one would associate with his position. “Under penalty of excommunication, all persons in Christendom are forbidden to trade with these uncharted worlds, lest they be struck down by the wrath of God. Only missionaries of the faith will be allowed entry with the sole purpose of bringing the Catholic religion to their inhabitants.”

Gyllis studied her brother and covered her smile with the tips of her fingers. “And clothing, I’d surmise.”

John gave her a sober nod. “Most definitely.”

Goodness, when did my brother become so inordinately serious?

Sean reached for the pitcher of ale. “What else can you tell us about these new lands? Run by naked savages? How will they know how to use their God-given resources?”

John held up a finger. “Let there be no question. His Holiness has decreed that any trade—including resource exploitation with heathen nations will be dealt with severely.”

“But why?” Sean asked. “Wouldn’t it be a way for good men, perhaps second sons like yourself, to gain lands and riches?”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear you utter such blasphemy. The souls of the savages you referred to are of paramount importance.” John turned to Gyllis and cleared his throat. “Now, we’ve more important things to discuss. You haven’t said a word about Helen. How is our sister faring?”

Gyllis placed her hand atop her husband’s and gave him a clench-toothed grin. “Sean hasn’t been home long enough for me to tell him. Lady Helen has obtained an annulment from His Holiness.”

Sean looked surprised, though not cross. “Interesting. And Aleck MacIain went along with this news? He doesn’t seem like the type…”

John brushed his hands over the front of his chasuble. “
He
didn’t have a choice in the matter, once I discovered dear Helen had been battered, I agreed to represent her plea to the Pope.”

Sean clenched his fist around the handle of his tankard. “That bastard raised a hand against my sister-in-law? My God, the very thing knights fight against was happening in our own family?”

“Mind your vulgar tongue, my dear.” Gyllis rested a reassuring palm atop her husband’s arm. “Besides, we’ve spirited her away for now, until we’re certain ’tis safe.”

Sean pulled his arm away. “You’ve done all this without me?”

Gyllis planted her fists on her hips. “Forgive me if the world doesn’t come to a halt whilst you’re away enforcing the king’s orders.”

“I—”

“M’laird.” Angus hastened into the great hall. “Lord Duncan and the Chieftain of Ardnamurchan intercepted us on the trail from Glen Orchy. His lordship asked me to have you meet him at the hunting cottage at once.”

Behind Angus, two guards helped a battered Mr. Keith to a bench.

“Goodness gracious.” Gyllis gasped. “What did my brother do to Lady Helen’s guard?”

“It wasn’t Lord Duncan. His lordship tried to step in, but Sir Aleck grew enraged.”

Rising to his feet, Sean snatched his sword belt from the back of the chair. “Angus, summon the guard. We ride at once.”

The henchman pointed. “They’re already mounted and waiting, m’laird.”

Sean bounded toward the door with long strides. “Then we must make haste.”

Gyllis dashed to Mr. Keith. His face was bloodied with one eye swollen shut. “What on earth happened?”

“Sir Aleck saw me riding patrol with the men.” The elderly man coughed. “He knocked me off my horse, then pummeled my face. I swear I didn’t tell him where Lady Helen is—but he figured it out all the same.”

“My word.” Gyllis wrung her hands. “I fear that man is evil beyond saving.”

Mr. Keith grasped Gyllis’s wrist. “He’s the worst sort.”

“I must go to her.”

He struggled to stand. “Not without a guard, m’lady.”

***

Helen and Eoin sat on the rug before the hearth with Maggie. Eoin had made a ball out of a piece of leather and swung it from a thong while the wee one tried to catch it. Every time she stopped the ball between her palms, she let out a squeal.

Helen threw her head back and laughed. The bairn seemed much happier in the cabin with Eoin there as well. It was so incredibly warm and homey—even happier than her childhood had been. Though she knew he would have to return to Glen Strae on the morrow, Eoin would be back as soon as his spies reported Aleck’s whereabouts—and if the man had made threats against her life. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Now away from that horrid situation, her time at Mingary seemed like a passing nightmare.

All of a sudden, Eoin stopped laughing and froze. His eyes darted to the door.

“What—?”

He sliced his hand through the air and listened. Springing to his feet, he pointed to the door. “Take Maggie to the bedchamber.”

Helen gasped.

Eoin reached for his sword belt and swung it around his hips. “Now.”

Helen pulled the bairn into her arms. Before she reached the chamber, she heard the horse hooves thumping the ground outside the cottage.
How on earth did Eoin hear them so much sooner than I?

Trembling from her head to her toes, she dashed inside, wrapped Maggie in a blanket and hid her under the bed. But the babe launched into an earsplitting wail. Helen knelt down and smoothed a hand over Maggie’s crown. “Wheesht, darling.”

The door burst open and with it blew a gale that sapped the heat straight out of the bedchamber.

“MacGregor,” Aleck’s gravelly voice rumbled. “I should have known you’d be here, living in sin with my wife.”

“Lady Helen is no longer your concern or your wife,” Eoin growled.

“MacGregor?” Duncan’s voice rose in astonishment. “What in God’s name are you doing here?”

Duncan? Have mercy.

Helen moved so she could peer around the door. Behind her, Maggie started to wail.

Red in the face, Aleck looked as if he were about to kill Eoin. “He’s debauched Helen. Turned her against me.”

“I have done nothing of the sort.” Eoin lowered his sword and looked to Duncan. “Lady Helen was abused by—”

Aleck drew his dirk. With a deep bellow, he launched himself at Eoin.

Taking in a sharp gasp, Helen’s heartbeat raced.

With a flick of his wrist, Eoin deflected the attack and sent the blackguard stumbling toward the hearth. Then Eoin faced him and raised his weapon. Aleck reached for his sword. It hissed from its scabbard as the two men circled.

Helen rushed forward and grabbed Duncan’s arm. “Stop them!”

“How could you degrade yourself, keeping company alone in the forest with a
man
?” He drew his arm away. “You are ruined. Your daughter is ruined. I cannot believe your behavior—something I would never expect from
you
, above all.”

Helen backed away in horror whilst Maggie’s cries grew louder. Duncan’s bitter words were far more painful than any blow delivered by Aleck’s slap.

Clutching her fists beneath her chin, she watched in horror as Eoin and Aleck crashed into the table as it screeched across the floorboards. Each man’s eyes filled with hate, they brandished their swords like wild men. Behind her, Maggie’s wails pierced through the mayhem.

Duncan stood with his fists on his hips and watched with a scowl, doing nothing to stop the fight.

Eoin moved like lightning—so fast, Helen didn’t see exactly how it happened, but Aleck was disarmed of his sword, and Eoin had her estranged husband flat on his back in a stranglehold.

Duncan stepped forward. “I’ll have words—”

Helen dashed in front of her brother and cut him off. “With me!” She jabbed her finger into his sternum. “How could you marry me off to a tyrant—a man who thinks nothing of beating me—a man who refuses to see his own daughter because he wanted a lad—a vile braggart who locks his wife in the dungeon for sennights because I asked his leman to tend the pigs and chickens when the villagers sought refuge in Mingary Castle?” She stamped her foot. “Whilst said tyrant rode off to secure his lands in Sunart, leaving me
alone
to defend to the keep against a MacDonald sea attack.” She took in a deep breath, hardly able to believe she’d uttered the entire repugnant affair in one outpouring.

Duncan’s mouth dropped open.

But Helen was only starting. She threw a finger Aleck’s direction. “If I am ruined because I allowed Sir Eoin to assist me and carry my missive to Iona so that I could seek safety, not only for me, but for my daughter, then I choose complete and utter ruination.”

Duncan threw a heated glare toward Aleck. “Are these accusations true?”

The scoundrel’s feet squirmed while Eoin maintained his grip. “Get this mule-brained boar off me,” Aleck garbled.

Eoin’s knuckles grew white and he flashed Duncan a quick look. “I saw the bruises on Lady Helen’s face, and witnessed MacIain’s untoward hostility toward his wife—when she
was
married to the slobbering weasel.”

Sir Sean pushed through the door. Behind him Gyllis marched inside, dragging a battered looking Mr. Keith in her wake. “This man can testify on Helen’s behalf.”

The old guard cringed, giving Helen a hesitant grimace.

“Go on,” Gyllis urged.

“M’lord.” Mr. Keith bowed to Duncan. “I released Lady Helen from the dungeon at Mingary where she’d been incarcerated for two sennights with orders that no one see her. At her request, I rowed a skiff all the way to Dunollie where Lady Gyllis graciously gave her refuge.”

“You
rowed
from Mingary?” Duncan asked.

“Someone had to do something. Sooner or later she would have succumbed to the violent hand of the chieftain.”

“You lie!” Aleck garbled from the floor, kicking his feet while Maggie continued to howl in the back room.

Gyllis disappeared into the bedchamber.

“Silence, you whoreson.” Eoin’s grip strengthened. “I witnessed your tyranny myself.”

“But you have been caught, MacGregor. Your word bears no witness here. Regardless, I intend to uncover the truth.” Duncan turned to Mr. Keith. “Were you aware of any scandalous action by Eoin MacGregor before the annulment was granted?”

Mr. Keith scratched his beard and looked to Helen.

Please say no
. She slowly shook her head as Gyllis stepped beside her, cradling the bairn. Goodness, Helen hadn’t even realized the crying had stopped.

“I can testify to your question.” Thank the heavens, His Worship stepped into the cottage. John marched straight to Duncan. “I asked Sir Eoin the very same when he came to me with Helen’s missive requesting help.”