Rowan's Lady (13 page)

“Aye,” Frederick added. “’Twere it no’ for Daniel
holdin’ me back, I’d have cut the bastard’s throat.”

Both men looked embarrassed as well as angry for
not coming to her aid back at Blackthorn keep. Arline rolled her eyes at them.
“And where would we be now if ye had?” she asked them. “As dead as dead can be,
that’s where. Ye did the right thing by no’ intervening on me behalf. I am
alive, and God willin’, I’ll remain that way for the foreseeable future. We’ll
speak of it no more.”

“But, me lady,” Frederick began. “We need ye to
ken that we would have stepped in and helped had--”

She cut him short with a wave of her hand. “I
said, we’ll speak of it no more. What’s done is done, lads. All is well
now.
”

Daniel was working his jaw back and forth as his
red face deepened to a near burgundy tint. “I promise ye this, me lady, that in
the future, we’ll no’ hold ourselves back and let ye take a beatin’ again. Next
time,”

Arline’s brow knitted. “There will be no next
time.”

Rowan placed an arm around her waist and guided
her toward the fire. “We’ll let ye rest a spell, warm yerself by the fire.”

Arline shook her head at him. “Thank ye, me laird,
but I be more concerned for Lily. Where is she?”

’Twas then that a very large, muscular man stepped
forward. He had long brown hair, not quite as dark as Rowan’s. Brown eyes with
just a hint of gold glinted in the morning light. A long scar ran along the
left side of his forehead, down the side of his face, disappearing under his
plaid. He was as massive and imposing a figure as Arline had ever seen. A chill
ran like fingertips down her spine.

“Rowan,” the man said as he extended his right arm
outward. Rowan took it, grasping his forearm, Rowan pulled him in for an
embrace. They patted each other heartily on their backs for a brief moment.

“Caelen, my friend.”

Arline stood back, watching the two men. They were
more than just friends, Rowan and this man. They were like brothers.

Rowan broke away. “Where be me daughter?’

“Yer daughter be asleep,” he answered with a nod
over his shoulder.

Both Arline and Rowan looked in the direction
Caelen had indicated. There, on the other side of the fire, was a large felled
tree trunk resting on the ground. A very large man sat with his back against
the tree, his legs spread out before him. On his lap, he held Lily, bundled in
a fur like a newborn babe. She was fast asleep with her little head resting against
the Highlander’s chest. The Highlander looked up at Rowan and smiled.

“She fell asleep not long ago, Rowan.” Caelen told
him.

Arline thought she detected a note of relief in
the man’s voice.

“Is she well?” Rowan asked quietly. He resisted
the urge to rush to his daughter and scoop her up into his arms. There was no
doubt that she was exhausted and mayhap more than a bit frightened. Wishing not
to disturb her slumber, he left her alone.

Caelen did not answer immediately. Rowan looked
away from his daughter and back to Caelen. The man had his eyes focused
intently on Lady Arline.

“Caelen McDunnah,” Rowan said. “This be Lady
Arline.”

Caelen smiled, at least as much as Caelen McDunnah
ever smiled. He was better known for fighting than he was for smiling.

“So
ye
be the Lady Arline that Lily speaks
so highly of.”

Arline gave as much a curtsy as her wobbly and
sore legs would allow.

“Lily tells us that ye took verra good care of
her,” Caelen said.

“As good as I could under the circumstances,”
Arline told him. Caelen seemed satisfied with Arline’s statement. “I am sure
Rowan is verra grateful and I ken his people will be grateful fer what ye’ve
done as well.”

Arline inclined her head toward him. “’Twas the
right thing to do.” She could not have turned Lily away anymore than she could
turn anyone in need away. It went against her nature.

“Ye must be tired, me lady,” Caelen said
thoughtfully. “We will leave ye to rest a while.”

Frederick and Daniel escorted Arline to the fire.
Seeing she was in good hands, Rowan and Caelen walked away from the group so
they might speak privately.

Once Caelen found a place where they could talk
and keep an eye on Lady Arline, he began to fill Rowan in on all that he had
learned from Lily.

“Ye’ve a good daughter, Rowan. She be a verra
bright child. She told us much as we travelled here.”

Rowan let out a heavy sigh. “Caelen, I did no’
want ye to interrogate me daughter! I did no’ want to push fer information.” He
did not want to injure her further by bombarding her with questions or making
her relive those terrifying moments when she was with Garrick Blackthorn.

Caelen threw his head back and laughed. “Rowan,”
he said with a smile. “I did no’ interrogate yer daughter. I would have much
preferred her to remain quiet on our journey here, but yer daughter had other
ideas.”

Rowan quirked an eyebrow at his friend. “What do
ye mean?”

Caelen let out a quick breath and folded his arms
over his chest. “I mean, yer daughter talked non-stop. ’Twas to the point I
would have given me right eye fer a few moments of silence.”

Rowan chuckled at Caelen. Lily
was
a
talker. She was a very inquisitive child and very perceptive. She had no
problems with opening up to people, even strangers,
if
she felt she
could trust them. Once trust was earned? Lily could cause even the most
stalwart man to lose his mind with all her endless questions and never ending
chatter.

“I do apologize fer that, Caelen. Lily only opens
up to people she trusts.”

Caelen found that amusing. Not many trusted him.
“Trust me? Yer child is tetched.”

Rowan laughed at his friend. “What did ye learn?”

Caelen took a deep breath in and let it out
slowly. “She hates gruel but loves eggs. She thinks cows have funny tongues and
sheep are cuddly.”

Rowan shook his head. “Caelen,” he said firmly.

“She does not remember what happened at yer keep
the night she was taken. She only remembers wakin’ up on a horse, thrown over a
mean man’s
saddle like a sack of flour.”

That fit in with what Rowan was able to learn from
his people. Somehow, someone had managed to slip a sleeping draught into Lily’s
tea. They’d also managed to spike the keg of ale that had been served after the
evening meal. Once his men had fallen asleep, someone took Lily from her
bedchamber and away from the keep.

Rowan’s sole focus had been the retrieval of his
daughter. Now that he had her back, he could direct his focus on finding out
who had helped in her kidnapping

“There be more, Rowan.” Caelen was reluctant to
tell Rowan all he knew.

Rowan braced himself. From Caelen’s reticent
expression, Rowan knew he was not going to be happy. He nodded his head and
bade Caelen to continue.

“Garrick was no’ too kind in his treatment of
Lily. When Lily woke, she was afraid and had begun to cry. Apparently, Garrick
has no patience fer cryin’ babes.”

Rowan felt a hard jolt in the pit of his stomach.
“What did he do?”

“He took a strap to her backside. And when she
cried still, he put a gag in her mouth.”

Rowan could not remember ever feeling so angry.
Not even when he had learned Lily had been taken. Garrick was a large man, as
large as Rowan. Though Garrick Blackthorn oft behaved like a spoiled and
petulant child, he was still a man full grown.

“I’ll kill him,” Rowan muttered angrily. “As God
is me witness, I will kill that man.”

Rowan began to stomp away toward his horse. Caelen
stopped him by grabbing hold of his arm. “Rowan, wait!”

“Wait? Fer what? Fer the bastard to take another
child? Someone else’s child and beat her as well?” Rowan seethed. “Nay, I’ll
no’ give him that chance.”

Caelen tightened his hold on Rowan’s arm. “Aye,
ye’ll wait until the time is right. Ye canna go alone.” Caelen pleaded with him
to listen to reason.

“Let go of me arm, Caelen, or yer likely to lose
yer hand.”

Caelen was not fazed by Rowan’s threat. He knew it
was the threat of a very angry father, one who might also be feeling guilty for
not being there to protect his daughter in the first place. “Rowan, if ye wait,
wait until we get yer child safely back to
Áit na Síochána,
I promise, I
will help ye get yer revenge. But now, now Rowan, is
no’
the time.”

It was not easy for Rowan to listen to reason at
the moment. His mind raced with the various ways with which he could kill
Garrick Blackthorn. Incensed beyond comprehension, it was all he could do at
the moment not to kill Caelen just so he could get to Garrick.

Rowan took a deep breath before turning to look at
his daughter. She was still asleep, but she was no longer in Thomas’ lap. Lady
Arline was holding her.

The vision of the beautiful woman holding his
daughter bothered him. It should be Kate holding her at this moment, not a
stranger. And he should not be taking any enjoyment in watching the lovely
woman hold his child to her breast with her cheek pressed against the top of
his daughter’s head.

They looked as though they belonged together, Lady
Arline and Lily. The resemblance between the two was uncanny. If a stranger
were to make his way into the camp, he would think that Lily belonged to Arline.

But she didn’t. She belonged to him and to Kate.
He should be the one holding his daughter now.

He had let lustful feelings get the better of him
earlier. He had enjoyed the way the woman felt sitting on his lap as they rode
across the country. He had enjoyed how her face burned red with embarrassment
when he called her beautiful. He had even enjoyed how she had grown angry with
him.

But something began to crumble when he saw her
holding his daughter, so sweetly, so tenderly. And he damned well didn’t like
it.

He knew Caelen was right, that they should wait to
launch a well-planned assault on Blackthorn. They needed to get Lily back to
the safe confines of
Áit na Síochána.
But most of all, he needed to get
Lady Arline out of his life and for good, for if he didn’t, he feared he and
Lily would both become too attached to her for their own good.

He turned back to face Caelen. “Verra well, then,
Caelen. We leave now for
Áit na Síochána.
I will seek me revenge once I
learn who amongst my clan betrayed me.”

Caelen breathed a sigh of relief and let go of
Rowan. “I promise ye Rowan, I’ll help ye get the bastard.”

Rowan said nothing. He simply nodded his head and
walked away. He was too angry with Garrick Blackthorn for taking his daughter
and his mistreatment of her. He was also angry with the vision of beauty
sitting on the ground next to the fire, fast asleep and cradling his daughter
in her arms.

Thomas came to stand next to Rowan. “I do no’
trust that woman,” Thomas whispered harshly.

Rowan turned to face him. Thomas was older than
Rowan by ten years. He was one of the few men left who had served under his
father. Rowan trusted Thomas’ good judgment and level headedness.

“May I ask why?”

Thomas ran his tongue across his lips and shook
his head. “She be Blackthorn’s wife, fer the sake of Christ.”

“I believe that marriage was annulled this day,
Thomas.”

Thomas shook his head in disgust again. “How do we
ken that, Rowan? Could all be a ruse to get close to ye, to us, to the clan.”

Rowan studied his ginger-haired friend for a
moment. Thomas was never one to jump to conclusions or to judge a person
harshly. “A ruse?”

“Aye, a ruse. How were ye able to get in and out
of the castle so easily? How were we able to get this far without seeing any of
Blackthorn’s men?”

The same questions had crossed Rowan’s mind more
than once over the past hours. “Ye think Blackthorn
allowed
us into his
keep? And allowed us to escape?”

“’Tis a possibility.”

“But why? Why no’ cut me throat the moment I
entered the keep? Why allow me in to take me daughter? And why did he beat
Arline?”

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “I didna say I had
all the answers, just me suspicions. There is something about the woman that I
do no’ trust or like.”

Daniel and Frederick had come to join the two men
and both took offense to Thomas’ words.

“I ken the woman, Thomas,” Daniel told him. “She be
the one that helped Angus and Duncan seven years past. She be a good woman.”

“Aye,” Frederick interjected. “I ken her as well.
She risked her life for two men she had not even met, because it was the right
thing to do.”

“And she took a beatin’ from Garrick because she
was tryin’ to protect Lily,” Daniel explained. “We heard Garrick tell her the
marriage was annulled and he was castin’ her out. Without escort or means of
travel. Lady Arline
begged
him to allow her to stay to take care of Lily
until the ransom was paid. Garrick beat her fer it.”

Thomas had been listening intently. “He beat her?”

“Aye, and we were about to intervene when one of
his men pulled him away. We also heard the man say his
bride
was waitin’
fer him.” Daniel glanced briefly at Lady Arline before turning back to Thomas.
“I think that be why we were able to enter and leave so easily. They were all
busy with Garrick marryin’ another.”

“He annulled his marriage to Lady Arline so that
he could marry another?” Rowan was disgusted with the notion.

“Aye, that is what we heard,” Frederick told him.
After a moment of contemplation, Frederick continued. “I think she be barren.”

Rowan’s brow knotted in confusion. “Who? Lady
Arline?”

Frederick gave a quick nod of his head. “Aye. She
was married to Carlich Lindsay fer three years and they had no bairns. And she
was married to Garrick fer a year and no bairns. Mayhap that is why he annulled
their marriage. Because she was barren.”