Highlander the Dark Dragon (21 page)

Heather warned herself to remain calm. The dark could intimidate now and then, but now was not the time to let it. All she had to do was make her way to the window and yank the tapestry off and she would have light.

She placed the extinguished torch on top of something in front of her and turned, reaching out in search of the wall. She found it easier than she expected and was pleased by her quick progress. She took hold of the corner of the tapestry and gave it a hard yank.

Nothing happened and after what seemed like endless yanking, she stopped, frustrated. The skies had grayed again, but the light from the window would be sufficient to see her way around if she could get the tapestry down. A few more tries and she gave up. She pulled it back and did not release it until she made a mental trail to the door. Once in the dark again, she followed the trail in her mind, bumping her leg now and then before reaching the door.

She felt along the frame until she came to the latch and gasped...it was gone. She felt around the whole door—nothing. There was no way for her to get out of the room.

Rhys stood near the edge of the woods with his arms crossed. Haidar waited somewhere out there for him and, knowing him as well as Rhys did, he knew there would be no avoiding a confrontation. But then the day he had agreed to help Anala, he knew this time would come. He could have been free, Haidar forever out of his life, but he had given his word to Anala.

He thought about the lie he told to his wife, but he had given his word and his word was something that he always kept. He had been with Anala when she gave birth. Sadly, she died, though the babe had survived, and he had given her his word that he would never tell anyone about the child and he would make certain the child was kept safe. She also left a message to be given to Haidar, if given the chance, and Rhys was eager to give it to him.

It took Haidar longer to find him than he had expected, but that had worked to his advantage. He had his ghost warriors and a massive army at his disposal, though he would not dismiss Haidar’s ability to defeat him. What he needed to remember was that Haidar did the unexpected, upsetting his enemies and proving victorious more times than not.

Rhys had known full well this day would come. He had waited for it, prepared for it, was eager for it. His one regret when he had won his freedom was that he would not see Haidar dead. Taking his wife gave Rhys the chance to satisfy that regret.

Rhys heard the footfalls behind him and waited for Pitt to reach his side. “Still no luck in finding the rest of Rab’s body?”

“No a sign of it,” Pitt confirmed.

“And not one of the warriors who were keeping watch on McDolan saw anything?”

“He was snatched right out from under everyone.” Pitt shook his head. “Perhaps the head was sufficient for his message and he disposed of the rest of the body.”

“No, the head was a message for me. Haidar lets me know that he will severe me from all I hold close. The body will surface elsewhere on purpose.” Rhys cast an eye up at the graying clouds. “Have you made any progress with Nessa?”

“She spares me barely a moment, while she gives freely of her time to Fife.”

Rhys turned his head and a slight grin surfaced. “She prefers Fife over you.”

“I cannot believe it myself, though I think I am making some small progress. She spoke with me a bit longer than she usually does the last two times I engaged with her.”

“So what you are telling me is that you have learned nothing as of yet.”

“Only that Fife brings her flowers far too often and I have heard him tell her just as often how beautiful she is—he is definitely right about that—and she is even more beautiful when she smiles.”

Rhys’s grin grew.

Pitt threw his hands up. “And he follows her around like a lovesick pup. I do not think there is a place she goes that he does not follow.”

Rhys’ smile vanished and Pitt’s eyes widened.

“It has been right there in front of me this whole time,” Pitt said with an angry snarl for not seeing it sooner.

“He also was the one who found the severed head,” Rhys reminded.

“I should have seen it,” Pitt said, growing angrier with himself.

“We both should have seen it, but Fife has been with us about a year, enough time for him to prove himself worthy of becoming a ghost warrior and for us to accept and trust him.”

“What do you want done with him?”

“Watch him. Put only our most trusted and skilled men on him and when the time is right...he will be mine to deal with.”

“What of Nessa?”

“You know you can say nothing to her.”

“I do not want to see her hurt. She has a generous heart.”

“Then set doubt in her mind as to how she feels about him,” Rhys said.

“I think her mind is firm on him.”

“Not if she lingered the last few times to speak with you.”

“You think?”

Rhys laughed. “I never thought I would see you doubt yourself with a woman.”

“And I never thought I would ever see you laugh.”

“The right woman can do that to a man...make him do what he did not think possible.”

Pitt stepped back, a look of horror on his face. “Bite your tongue. I am not falling in love with Nessa.”

“I never said you were,” Rhys said and laughed again, “now come with me.

“It is a ridiculous thought,” Pitt said, keeping pace beside him and repeatedly refuting Rhys’ claim with each step he took.

~~~

Heather leaned her shoulder against the door. She had pounded on it and shouted for help until her throat was dry. It was just a matter of time before Rhys discovered her missing and searched for her. She simply had to be patient. As far as the dark, not knowing what was in it caused more fear than the darkness itself. But there was nothing in this room that could harm her and she very much doubted the secret passage was in here, allowing someone to sneak up on her. There was no telling when this door would be opened or closed. So if the culprit made his way in from outside, he could find himself unable to enter the keep.

At least she had eliminated one room where the secret passage could be hidden.

She turned her head suddenly, thinking she heard a sound and smiled when she heard footfalls and voices growing closer.

Pitt stepped off the top step after Rhys. “First Rab McLaud gets beaten to death by his father-in-law, Hew McDolan, then Haidar steals his body from McDolan, severs his head, and sends it to you. I wonder what is going to happen to the rest of him.”

Heather’s shout never reached her lips. She could not believe what she had just heard and she would hear more before she let them know of her presence.

Rhys stopped, realizing no torch flickered, though a modicum of light came from the open door of the one room. He spoke to Pitt as he went to see what happened with the torch. “Make no mistake he will make use of the rest of Rab’s body. He may leave it on Macinnes land to fuel the winds of war between McLaud and Macinnes, making sure my warriors are busy elsewhere or he may deliver it directly to Greer McLaud and tell him that he saw the Macinnes chop off his brother’s head and cast it to the animals. Whatever he chooses to do will benefit his plans.”

“Shall I have a message sent to the Macinnes alerting them of the situation?”

“Not yet,” Rhys said as he saw that there was no torch in the sconce.

His response had Heather pounding on the door and shouting. “Let me out! Let me out now!”

Rhys hurried to the door upon hearing his wife’s anxious pleas.

As soon as it opened, Heather stepped out and stepped right in front of her husband. All the things she intended to say died on her lips. They did not seem as important as the words that spilled out instead. “You do not trust me enough to tell me the truth.” Her hand went to her chest. “I thought, I truly thought...” She shook her head and went to rush past Pitt when she was grabbed. She was jerked to a stop and she turned to see and feel her husband’s fingers close strongly around her arm.

Pitt took his leave without being told to do so.

No tears came to her eyes, though her heart ached. Then like cold water being thrown in her face, sensibility returned to her. She berated herself silently. How could she have thought of herself before her family? Their safety was more important than her worrying that Rhys did not trust her.

“My family needs to know about this,” she said.

“They will know when I am ready to tell them.”

“They could be in danger,” she argued.

“They could be in more danger if I told them.”

She tried to pull away from him, but he held her much too tight.

“I do trust you, wife,” Rhys said.

Heather was too angry to hear the sincerity in his words and so she lashed out, “But not enough to confide the truth.”

“Some things are better left unspoken,” he said.

“Not between husband and wife.”

“You need to trust me on this,” he said sternly.

“And you need to trust me.”

~~~

Heather sat in the chair by the fire with her legs drawn up and her arms wrapped around them. She had not seen her husband since he had deposited her there a couple of hours ago and ordered her to stay put.

She had no want to go wandering about. She was too upset. He wanted her to trust him, yet he did not trust her, though he said he did and thinking on it he had sounded sincere. Could his reason for not telling her about Rab be a vital one?

All these years, she had the unwavering support of her family while Rhys had suffered as a slave to an evil man. How could she expect him to trust her as easily as she trusted him?

A flame jumped and shot a spark out, the tiny ember dying slowly on the hearth stone. Had it been like that for Quinn, a slow death until Rhys was forced to be born? And what was it he had said.

I know only hate not love.

She could not imagine living without love. The love of her father, her sisters, friends, the clan and even her mum’s love, though she had died those many years ago. So somewhere deep inside him, he must have remembered the love she had for him. Why else had he returned here and wed her?

She realized then that she was expecting him to be as he was before and that man was no more. She had to be patient like she often warned her sister to be. It would take time and trust, whether he gave the same to her or not.

A light tap sounded at the door and Heather went and opened it to find Nessa standing there, looking upset.

“I am so sorry to bother you, my lady, but Fife is not feeling well. His wound is troubling him and though he told me I was not to bother you, it breaks my heart to see him suffer.”

“I will have a look at him,” Heather said, “though it does trouble me that his wound has not healed as it should.”

“It is because he does not follow what you tell him. He waits outside by the kitchen garden, thinking I am bringing him a special treat, which of course I will once you are done tending him.”

“And do I get a special treat for tending him?” Heather asked with a smile as they walked to the stairs.

“I am so sorry, my lady, I spoke out of turn, but there are times you seem more a friend than mistress of this keep.”

“I am glad of that. It reminds me more of home.”

“It was the same with your mum. I remember your mum visiting our cottage when I was very young. She sat and spoke with my mum as if they were great friends.” Nessa stopped when they reached the bottom of the stairs. “Word spreads about your dealing with the wolf. Some whisper that you are a witch, others who knew your mum say that you have a special touch with animals just as she once did.”

“It is nice to know I am like my mum.”

“You are in more ways than you know.”

Heather remarked on how delicious the kitchen smelled as she walked through it and outside to the garden along with Nessa.

Fife jumped up off the bench, an angry scowl on his face as she and Heather approached him. “You should not have disturbed Lady Heather.”

“You should have told me that your wound still troubles you,” Heather said as they drew closer.

The attack came fast, the warrior, his face smeared with dirt, lunging and barely catching Fife on the arm as he reached to draw a dagger from the attacker’s waist. It was a quick scuffle more than a fight, the two men falling to the ground one after the other.

Nessa screamed and ran to Fife.

Pitt seemed to come out of nowhere and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her away from Fife.

Nessa struggled to free herself. “No, no let me go to him.”

Heather, seeing Fife writhe in agony on the ground, went to help him when she was grabbed around the waist and flung away from him before her hands could touch him, her feet dangling above the ground as her husband held her against him.

Rhys moved a few feet away from the two writhing men and yelled out, “No one touch them.”

Fife never looked Nessa’s way. He kept his eyes on the Dragon and just before he took his last breath, he choked out, “Victory for Haidar.”

The other man said the same before he died.

Rhys called out again. “Do not touch their bodies; they have been poisoned and if you touch them you will die.”

Nessa looked up at Pitt, his arms still firm around her. “I do not understand.” She shook her head, growing more confused when she heard Rhys issue orders to his warriors that circled Fife’s body.

“Let no one, not even animals get near them. The poison will dissipate shortly, and then the bodies can be seen to.”

Pitt walked Nessa away from the scene as Rhys continued to talk with the guards.

“I do not understand,” Nessa said again when Pitt brought them to a stop away from the crowd that had gathered and was now being dispersed.

Pitt released her, though kept a supportive arm lightly around her. “Fife was a traitor. He was loyal to the man who is after the Dragon.”

All color drained from her face and her legs got so weak that she reached out to grab hold of Pitt, but he had already tightened his arm around her and she leaned against him. “He used me, cared nothing for me, and like a fool I believed him.”

“Why would you doubt him?” Pitt asked, tucking her closer to him. “None of us did. He played his role well.”

Nessa stared at Pitt a moment and as she did tears began to fall once again until she was sobbing uncontrollably. Pitt gathered her up against him and placed his hand to her head, gently resting it on his chest. Then he held her tight and let her cry, feeling her pain far more deeply than he ever felt for any woman.

~~~

“Did I hurt you?” Rhys asked as he distanced them from the crowd that was dispersing and set her feet on the ground, easing his arm from around her.

Heather stood staring at him a moment, then simply threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. His arms circled her and held her tight. Her heart thudded in her chest and her stomach roiled not only for what had just happened but for what was to come.

She finally lifted her head and looked at her husband. “I do not want to lose you.” She did not say
again
, though she thought it.

“Nor I you,” he said.

His words sent her heart beating faster and she looked in his eyes and felt her stomach catch, for just a brief moment she had thought she had seen Quinn in them. Good God, there was no way she could lose him again, never ever again. Fear gripped her as she said, “There is no stopping him. He will come for you.”