Medieval Ever After (121 page)

HIGHLANDER’S RECKONING

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Daniel paced along
the battlements that ran atop Loch Doon’s curtain wall. The moonless night gave him little light by which to see, but the stars reflected off the loch’s surface enough to show him the waters were calm—and empty.

Oh, they were going to get a piece of his mind when they returned. First, he would hide both Patrick and Harold for defying his direct order to see that they returned before dark. Patrick was still young enough that Rona could have overwhelmed him with demands to stay longer. He had no doubt that his wife would be able convince the green lad of just about anything. But Harold should have known better. The stoic, experienced warrior shouldn’t have taken any guff from Rona.

Then he would have to deal with his wife. How could he be expected to trust her when she refused to follow the most basic requests?

He nearly growled under his breath. He thought when they’d talked through their latest disagreement and come up with yet another compromise that they were actually making progress together. But now they were back to this—with her nowhere in sight long after sunset, and him here waiting, worrying, and stewing.

Just then he caught a ripple across the star-filled loch. A small boat was making its way from the village to the castle. He breathed a sigh of relief but hardened himself for the fight that was sure to ensue once the party reached the docks.

As he descended the stairs from the wall to the courtyard, he saw Burke emerge from the great hall. The rest of the castle’s residents were taking their evening meal in the hall, and light and noise spilled into the yard briefly as Burke slipped out and closed the door behind him.

Burke caught sight of Daniel and nodded.

“Still not back yet?”

“A boat is just arriving. I’m of a mind to meet them,” Daniel replied darkly.

Burke nodded and fell into step at Daniel’s side as they crossed out of the yard and toward the docks.

“I have a few questions for Meredith as well,” Burke said tightly. Daniel shot a glance at him and realized that his cousin was worried for his pregnant wife.

“Don’t be too hard on her,” Daniel said quietly as they reached the docks. “In all likelihood, my wife browbeat the entire group into overstaying. She has a knack for getting her way.”

Burke smiled wryly and turned his attention to the small boat as it drew toward the dock.

As the rowboat approached, however, Daniel’s stomach slowly started to twist. It wasn’t until the boat bumped into the dock that he was forced to admit the truth. There were only two people in the boat: the oarsman and a woman—Meredith.

“Burke!” Meredith screamed as she stumbled from the boat onto the dock.

Burke rushed forward and scooped her into his arms.

“Meredith, love, what has happened? Where are the others?”

Meredith burst into hysterical sobs. Daniel’s skin prickled in foreboding and he felt a stab of fear in his gut.

“Get her to the castle!” Daniel barked.

With Meredith in his arms, Burke strode quickly up the dock and toward the castle. Daniel kept pace with him, Meredith’s panic-stricken cries filling his ears. Something terrible had happened. His throat tightened and his pulse hitched.

They burst into the hall, and the merriment died around them as they crossed toward the spiral staircase. The men taking their evening meal gaped at them, falling silent and staring in confusion. Out of the corner of his eye, Daniel saw Robert and Garrick, who were seated at the high table on the raised dais, bolt to their feet and follow them toward the stairs.

Burke took the stairs two at a time, pausing only long enough to kick his and Meredith’s chamber door open. By the light of the fire burning in the chamber’s brazier, Daniel could see that Meredith was disheveled and panicked. Bloody hell, what had happened? And where was Rona?

As Burke set Meredith down gently on their bed, Robert and Garrick stepped into the chamber and closed the door behind them.

“What happened?” Robert demanded.

“We don’t know yet,” Daniel bit out.

Burke was trying to disentangle himself from Meredith, but she clung to him, her arms around his neck and her fingers digging into his shirt. Daniel noticed that her hands left dirty smudges on the white linen. There were twigs tangled into her dark hair, and several red scratches stood out on her pale face and neck.

Burke gave up trying to disengage her and instead scooted onto the bed next to her.

“You have to calm down, love,” he whispered to her. “Breathe. That’s it, nice and slow. Just breathe.”

Meredith took several shaky breaths, and her sobs began to quiet. Even though it was clear the lass had gone through something terrible, Daniel had to clench his fists at his sides to stop himself from harshly demanding to know what was going on.

“That’s better, love,” Burke said, smoothing Meredith’s hair. “Now, can you tell us what happened?”

Meredith forced herself to speak through trembling lips.

“We were walking in the woods…I don’t know where…”

Daniel turned to his brothers. “They were going to a cottage in the Galloway woods where Rona likes to visit some friends,” he said by way of explanation.

Meredith took another deep breath and went on.

“I got sick, so I stopped. They went on a little way ahead. Then…then I heard…I heard Rona scream, and the sound of horses…”

“Did you see how many there were? Were they wearing armor? Did they bear a particular coat of arms?” Daniel interjected, panic stabbing him.

Meredith shook her head and lowered her eyes.

“I hid. I hid like a coward.” She broke down as a bereft sob shook her.

“Nay, love, you’re not a coward,” Burke soothed, tilting her chin up so that she looked into his eyes. “You saved yourself and our babe, and you made it back here to tell us what happened. Go on.”

Meredith swallowed and gave a little nod.

“I hid in some bushes, but I could hear them not far off. There were shouts from many men, and the sound of metal on metal. I heard Rona scream again, but then things fell quiet for several moments. Then a man cried out, and I heard Rona again. Then all I could hear was the horses retreating, and the forest went silent.”

“Christ,” Garrick breathed, raking a hand through his hair.

“That’s not all,” Meredith said, her face contorted in horror. “I stayed in the bushes for a long time—I don’t know how long. But it was growing dark by the time I came out. I went toward where the sounds had come from. I saw…” She struggled to choke out the words. “I saw…a pile of…bodies…”

She squeezed her eyes shut as if she were trying to get the image out of her head.

Daniel’s stomach plummeted even as his chest seized painfully.

“Did you see…was Rona…” He couldn’t even speak the words.

Blessedly, Meredith shook her head quickly. “I didn’t see her there. They must have taken her. But Patrick and Harold…”

She didn’t have to finish the sentence. Daniel’s intuition about the two men had been right when he’d selected them to accompany Rona and Meredith into the woods. They’d fought and died trying to protect the women.

“There were others, too,” Meredith went on, running a shaky hand over her eyes. “Men in chainmail.”

“Englishmen,” Garrick said darkly.

“And the ground was all churned up from the horses. There could have been as many as a dozen of them.”

“How do you know…” Robert began with a look of surprise at Meredith’s words.

“She’s very good at following animals by the tracks they leave,” Burke said quietly to him.

“But I’m apparently not good at following human trails,” Meredith said, bereft. “I got lost trying to get back to the village. I tried to get here as quickly as I could, and I went too fast…”

“Nay, love, nay. You’re here. You made it. You delivered the news.” Burke kissed her hair and wrapped her in his arms. Tears still streamed down her pale, scratched cheeks, but her sobs were quieter now.

Daniel’s whole body was taut with fear.

“We have to go after her. Now,” he said and began pacing the chamber.

Before anyone could respond to him, Jossalyn burst into the room.

“I went down to the hall for the evening meal after my bath, but it’s chaos down there. Someone told me—”

She caught sight of Meredith, bedraggled and sobbing on the bed, and bolted toward her. Jossalyn took one of Meredith’s hands in hers and looked around, shocked.

“What happened? The babe?”

In a low, calm voice, Burke repeated what Meredith had just told them. As the story unfolded, Jossalyn grew paler, her eyes wide.

“You think it’s…it’s my brother?” she asked when Burke concluded.

“We can’t know for sure until we see those bodies in the forest, but I’d stake my life on Warren being behind this,” Robert said darkly.

“Then why aren’t we out there now?” Daniel barked. “We’ll take all the castle’s men, plus the Highland warriors, and find the bodies. We can continue on from there to Dunbraes.”

His brothers and cousin exchanged a look, and he knew with a sinking sensation they wouldn’t follow his plan.

“They took Rona alive, Danny,” Robert said quietly, carefully eyeing him. “That means they probably want to ransom her.”

“Or they took her because they want to rape and torture her to death!” Daniel bellowed. His blood roared deafeningly in his ears, and he glared at the men one at a time.

“What would you do if it was one of your wives?”

“I wouldn’t be able to think straight,” Robert said levelly, “which is why I would turn to you to help me make a plan rather than charge off into the woods in the dead of night.”

Daniel inhaled sharply and was about to shout a response back at his elder brother when Robert cut him off.

“We can’t lead a half-formed attack on Dunbraes, either. The castle is nearly impenetrable. We need to wait for the Bruce and his army before we can launch a full-blown attack.”

“I’ll not wait a week or more for the Bruce to get here!” Daniel shouted. “We all know what Warren is capable of, if indeed he has her.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jossalyn shudder at his words. He rounded on her.

“What will he do to her?” he barked.

“Easy, brother,” Garrick said lowly, taking a step toward Jossalyn.

Jossalyn met Daniel’s eyes, and icy fear replaced the fiery urgency in his blood.

“Raef is…a violent man,” she breathed. “He has no qualms about hurting women.”

Daniel bellowed a string of expletives. Before he knew what he was doing, he found himself standing in front of the chamber door. He slammed his fist into the thick wood, barely registering the pain through the haze of fear and desperation hanging around him.

Suddenly Robert and Garrick spun him around and threw him against the door, pinning him. He struggled wildly against them like a rabid animal.

“Let me go! We must go after her!”

He writhed and pulled, thrashed and bucked against his brothers, but they held him fast to the door, restraining his arms and throwing their shoulders into his chest.

He wasn’t sure how long he struggled against them, but suddenly he felt drained. More than drained. He was empty, hollow, nothing.

He went slack, and his brothers released him and slowly stepped back. Both were panting with the exertion of subduing him. His back slid down the door and he slumped onto his heels, spent.

“We cannot wait for the Bruce, even if he is only a week away,” Garrick said quietly to Robert.

Daniel raised his head enough to look up at his brothers. Robert stared down at him for a long moment, contemplating Garrick’s words. Finally, he spoke.

“Aye, we cannot wait,” Robert said, his face dark. “If it were Alwin or Jane—” He didn’t finish, but squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head slightly.

Though his brother’s words should have heartened him, instead Daniel felt numb inside. No matter when they got to Rona, it wouldn’t be soon enough. She had been taken, probably by the most ruthless, vengeful Englishman in all of Scotland. Warren saw Scotland and its people as a scourge, a plague against order and control, and he had a personal vendetta against the Sinclairs. What would he do to Rona to exact revenge?