Medieval Ever After (126 page)

Rona dashed a shaky hand across each cheek, careful of her bruises.

“He was counting on you coming to Dunbraes ahead of any ransom negotiations,” she said, running her mind over all she had overheard. “I think he expected you to bring at least a small army, not just the four of you. He was hoping you’d leave Loch Doon more vulnerable. He sent every one of the English soldiers stationed at Dunbraes, plus his hired men-at-arms and castle guards.”

Garrick cursed quietly at that, and Burke let out a breath.

“Warren wanted to go himself,” Rona went on. “But his face… He wasn’t well enough. So he kept me with him as protection—a sort of guarantee against you killing him immediately. He must have known that he would die one way or another. He was buying his army as much time as he could by using me as a shield and keeping your attention here. His men left hours ago…”

“Loch Doon is as defensible as Dunbraes, if not more so,” Robert said, exchanging a dark look with Daniel.

“Aye, but theirs will be a surprise attack. There is no one within Loch Doon to lead the men in the castle’s defense against Warren’s army. Plus, they have several hours’ head start on us.”

“Meredith,” Burke breathed. “And Jossalyn and Alwin and little Jane. We have to get back to the castle and get inside somehow.”

“Can you ride?” Daniel asked quietly, turning to Rona.

She nodded, though in truth she wasn’t confident that she’d be able to keep herself upright in a saddle. Renewed terror for the fate of Loch Doon and its inhabitants mingled with her utter exhaustion, leaving her shaky and overwhelmed.

“We’ll return the way we came, around the south end of the loch and to the village on the western shore. Warren’s men are no doubt cutting due northwest and will reach the loch’s eastern shore before we get to the village, but they’ll have no way to cross the loch to the castle,” Daniel said, shifting into the familiar attitude of commanding authority. Normally that tone made Rona bristle, but instead she found it comforting. She trusted him.

“And if the siege on the castle has already begun by the time we reach the village?” Robert asked grimly. “What will we do if we can’t get into the castle?”

Daniel stood and gently helped her to her feet. Keeping one hand on the small of her back, he bent and retrieved his sword, which he must have dropped when she’d made her bold play to escape Warren’s clutches. He sheathed the sword and turned his hard gaze back to Robert.

“An army will be forced to move slower than we can. We must reach the castle before it becomes inaccessible under their siege. There is no other option.”

Robert nodded gravely, holding Daniel’s gaze for another moment before turning to the chamber door. One by one, they exited. She didn’t look back at the ruined, lifeless body of her captor on the bed.

HIGHLANDER’S RECKONING

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Daniel whistled sharply
, causing Rona to jump in his lap. He reined in his horse as Robert, Garrick, and Burke followed suit in response to his whistle.

The weak mid-morning sun struggled to break through a layer of gray clouds overhead. He dismounted stiffly and pulled Rona down with him. She’d been dozing against his chest as they’d ridden west toward the southern tip of Loch Doon. She was still limp and weak in his arms as he set her on her feet in front of him. His chest pinched painfully as she swayed slightly.

Her cloak had been nowhere to be found when they’d left Dunbraes just before dawn, so he’d wrapped an extra length of his plaid around her shoulders as they’d ridden west. He pulled it tighter around her now, trying to hold in what little heat she had.

“Have some more water and food, love,” he said soothingly to her. He reached for his waterskin and a piece of dried venison from his saddlebag.

It had taken nearly all of her remaining energy to eat and drink a little when they’d first reached the horses tethered in the woods outside Dunbraes. Luckily, they hadn’t needed to scale the castle’s curtain wall again like they had on their way in. Instead, they’d used the unguarded postern gate. Daniel doubted if Rona would have been able to make it over the wall if they’d needed to.

She took a swig from the waterskin and then gnawed on the dried meat, her bruised eyes heavy with exhaustion. She didn’t even seem to register where they’d stopped in the Galloway woods.

“We need to keep moving,” Robert said quietly as he dismounted next to Daniel. He looked pointedly at Rona, a question on his face for Daniel.

“Aye, but I need to get Rona someplace safe first,” Daniel replied.

Rona looked up at them, confusion slowly transforming her face.

“Aren’t I going with you to the castle?” she said.

“Nay, love, you’re not,” Daniel said, placing his hands on her shoulders. “It’s too dangerous.”

“But all the other women are there.”

It was actually a relief to hear the tinge of stubbornness and indignation coloring her voice. Despite everything that had happened, his spirited Rona was still inside somewhere.

“They are safe behind Loch Doon’s walls, with a loch separating them from Warren’s army,” Daniel said gently but firmly to her. “We still need to reach the village, cross open waters without being seen, and get inside the castle. I don’t want to put you in the middle of all that.”

“Then what are you going to do with me? What am I supposed to do while I wait to learn the fate of my husband, my family, and my home?” Unconsciously, Rona crossed her arms loosely over her chest, and Daniel couldn’t help but smile.

“What? What’s so amusing?” she said with a frown.

“I love you,” he said without thinking.

Robert, along with Garrick and Burke, who had also dismounted nearby, suddenly became very interested in the forest a few yards away.

“What?” Rona whispered. “What did you say?”

Daniel sobered and held her with his gaze. Her blue eyes were bright and intent, all traces of weariness vanishing as she stared back at him.

“I said I love you, and I have for some time,” Daniel replied, brushing a tangled red lock of her hair back from her face. “I should have told you before…before all this, but—”

“I love you too,” she blurted out.

He blinked at her, struck by how powerful it was to hear the words from her.

“Say it again,” he said softly.

“I love you, Daniel,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck. “And I have for some time, too.”

He embraced her slowly, gently. What had he done to deserve such luck? He had the love of the bravest, strongest, most maddeningly, wonderfully willful woman he’d ever met. He loved his wife. What an amazing blessing.

Mindful of her lower lip, which was cut and sealed with dried blood, he leaned down and brushed a tender kiss against her mouth.

She pulled back suddenly, a frown on her face.

“You never answered me. What are you going to do with me if you won’t take me with you to the castle?”

“Look around you,” he said with a raised eyebrow.

She glanced up as if noticing their surroundings for the first time. Then realization dawned across her face.

“Ian and Mairi’s cottage?”

“Aye, you’ll be safe there,” he replied. “Warren’s men will be on the eastern shore of the loch. They won’t come around the southern tip and up into the forest on this side of the loch. But,” he said, pinning her with a serious look, “you must stay here until I come and get you. It could be days or even weeks, but I don’t want you coming to the castle until it is safe.”

Her brow furrowed slightly, likely at being told what to do in no uncertain terms.

“Very well. I won’t go to the castle,” she said reluctantly.

Daniel took his horse’s reins in one hand and clasped her hand in the other. Robert, Garrick, and Burke fell in behind them, guiding their horses on foot.

“…and what of the Bruce and his army?”

Daniel doubted if Burke intended for him to hear his low question to the others, but his ears picked it up. He’d been thinking about the Bruce and his men since the moment Rona told them Warren had sent his army to Loch Doon.

“They’re still at least two days north of us. Since they don’t know how urgently they’re needed, it could be three or four days before they reach the castle,” Garrick responded quietly, his voice tight with frustration. “All we can do is pray that they hurry, and that we can hold off Warren’s army until they arrive.”

Rona tilted her head slightly, unable to conceal the fact that she too had overheard the conversation behind them. She cast a look up at Daniel, but for once, he couldn’t read her face. He was about to ask what was forming in that willful head of hers when she turned forward abruptly and quickened her pace.

He followed the line of her gaze and saw Ian and Mairi’s small cottage through the trees ahead. Smoke curled from the chimney cheerily. He breathed a silent sigh of relief. Her friends were safe and apparently unaware of the gathering army on the other side of the loch, or the mounting battle that was about to ensue.

At Daniel’s knock, Ian opened the door.

“My lord! What a pleasant—”

Ian’s voice faltered and his face fell in shock as he absorbed the sight of those gathered outside his door. He took in Daniel’s ragged, exhausted appearance, and then flicked his gaze across Robert, Burke, and Garrick, who probably looked like enormous, rough, and deadly warriors to Ian. But it wasn’t until his warm brown eyes fell on Rona that he actually staggered backward.

“Rona! What has happened?”

“Ian, what’s wrong?” Mairi’s bright voice filtered through the door from farther back in the cottage. A second later, she joined her husband in the doorframe, and Daniel watched as she went through a similarly horrified survey of their visitors.

“We can’t explain everything right now,” Daniel cut in calmly, “but I need your help.”

“A-anything, my lord,” Mairi managed.

“I need you to look after Rona for a while. I don’t know how long, but you must keep her safe.”

Ian nodded slowly. “Of course, my lord. But wouldn’t she be safer with you at Loch Doon?”

Daniel swallowed the lump in his throat. Bloody hell, he hated leaving Rona here. Selfishly, he wanted to keep her by his side—forever. But he had to do what was best for her, no matter how much he longed never to be apart from her again.

“The castle will be under attack shortly, if it isn’t already. You all should be safe on this side of the loch. I’ll return as soon as I can,” Daniel gritted out.

He turned to Rona, the lump returning to his throat.

“I’ll come for you,” he said quietly, pulling his plaid tighter around her shoulders again.

She swallowed and nodded, her face pinched with worry and pain. She threw herself into his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck in a savage embrace. He hugged her in return, but all too soon, he forced himself to step back and set her away from him.

As he turned to go, out of the corner of his eye he saw Mairi approach and wrap her arms protectively around Rona. They would take good care of her until he could return, he told himself. But a voice whispered in the back of his head that he may never see her again. If they couldn’t reach the castle unseen before Warren’s army started their attack, or if their siege was successful and they captured Loch Doon, or if the Bruce’s men didn’t arrive in time, all would be lost.