Stolen Vows (10 page)

He was wondering if he could present the match in its most positive light, claiming that it had been a move on his part to try to strengthen the fragile peace that Graem, his Laird, was seeking between the two clans. 

Roan didn’t know if he could get away with it.  He was certain that the Camerons wouldn’t keep quiet about the precise terms of his marriage to Isla if any of them were ever asked about it - a problem that foiled every lie he wanted to concoct.

So now, as he made for the stables, Roan was wondering how far he could bend the truth.  He could tell Graem that Isla’s honor had been compromised, and that he had been the only one in a position to help her. 

He could go so far as to say that it had been his finding her out on the road that had caused the trouble. That was more or less the truth. Roan couldn’t have become entangled in Isla’s troubles if he had left her out in the rain.  Graem would ask why she’d been out without an escort, but Roan was confident they could think of some innocent reason.  Roan decided to work out the holes in the story as he rode the rest of the way to Erchlochy Castle.

“Roan?”

He turned Isla, surprised to find her standing amid the hay and stalls.

“Ye really do mean to ride today?” she asked.  Roan wondered if he was imagining the hint of wistfulness in her tone.

“Well I was planning to,” he said slowly.  “Just to stretch Fiad’s legs,” he added, giving the horse an affectionate slap on the rump.  “But if ye want me to ride with ye -” he began carefully.

“Oh, nae!” Isla said quickly,
too
quickly. 

Roan swallowed a smile.  His chest was once again infused with warmth.  “I was just going to give him his head for a couple of hours and then hop back into the cart with ye,” he said, turning to check the girth, although he could imagine the blush that would be coloring his wife’s pretty face.  “I dinna think ye want to arrive at Erchlochy Castle on yer own?” he said calmly.

“Nae, I -” Isla stammered.  “I dinna…” she took a deep breath.  “Thank ye, Roan,” she murmured.  He shot her a smile and nodded, still grinning to himself as she wandered out of the stable.

..ooOOoo..

Roan loved the feeling of freedom that came with riding a horse at full pelt down the empty highroad.  He was, guiltily perhaps, thinking about nothing other than the raw power he had at his command.  Fiadhiach gave an enthusiastic whinny and threw himself into the gallop, rounding the next corner only to pull up short.  If Roan had been less of a horseman he would have been unseated, as it was, he surveyed the scene before him and cursed. 

A large Scots Pine had fallen right across the road, completely blocking the way. 

It was lucky that he had been riding ahead of the carriage. The wagon would not have been able to stop after it rounded the corner.  Roan couldn’t quite account for the searing pain that sliced through his heart at the thought of Isla frightened or injured.

He gave his head a fierce shake and swung himself back up into the saddle, kicking the horse back in the direction of the approaching cart.  He only had to canter a little way before spotting them, calling to the driver to stop as he explained what had happened.  Before he could stop her, Isla had alighted from the bench and was standing on the roadside looking up at him expectantly.

“I thought ye said the roads would be clear!”

“I thought they would be.” Roan sighed. 

It would probably take hours of tedious work to get the tree moved.  He doubted they would reach Erchlochy Castle before nightfall, and they had travelled too far for him to send Isla back to the inn.

“Will ye be able to move it?” she asked, looking remarkably unperturbed. 

“Aye,” Roan said instantly, although he then glanced at the driver, who gave a silent nod before informing the MacRae warrior that they had rope and an axe, and between the two men it shouldn’t be too difficult a task.

Isla listened intently to their discussion.  “But it will slow us down?” she asked.  “Quite considerably?” 

Roan frowned as he listened to her, was it his imagination, or did she sound
hopeful
?  He supposed that he couldn’t blame her. 
He
certainty hadn’t enjoyed his time at Castle Cameron.

“Depends,” shrugged the driver, in answer to Isla’s question, and that was all he said on the matter.

Isla hopped back into the cart, feeling better than she had done since leaving the Three Oaks, at the thought of her reprieve.  It would
only
be a day, but surely that was something?  She had a little more time to think of a story to explain her marriage to Roan in a way that might save her from being hated.

Roan and the driver stood next to the fallen tree and planned their attack. “If we can hack off the branches, then we should be able to tie a rope around the trunk and have the horses pull it clear of the road,” Roan said and picked up the axe that was stowed in the back of the wagon.

There were two men, and only one axe, so they rotated chopping duty (although Roan seemed to be doing more than his fair share), while Isla sat on a nearby tree stump, close to the horses, and watched.  She was bored and cold.  She wished there was something she could do to help.

“Roan?” she said, standing up, only to be told to sit back down and keep out of the way.  Isla placed her hands on her hips and glared.  “I can help!” she shouted, finally capturing her husband’s attention.

Roan regarded her thoughtfully, he was breathing hard by now, and sweat was dripping off his face, he kept wiping it out of his eyes with his forearm.

“I suppose ye could pull the branches we’ve cut to the side of the road?  The
small
branches,” he amended quickly.  “And use the gloves I’ve got in the back of Fiad’s saddle.”

Isla tutted at him and set about getting to work. She eyed Fiadhiach and the gloves warily, but wasn’t quite feeling brave enough to approach the monster of a horse. 

Within just a few minutes she had warmed up considerably.  The branches left scratches on her hands, but Isla hardly noticed them, nor did she notice the first time that she snagged her skirt, or the second, and when her painstakingly arranged hair started tumbling out of its pins she simply swept it aside - until she took a moment to pause, and then realized how frightful she looked.

She could
not
be seen at Erchlochy Castle until she’d bathed, and changed her clothes, and fixed her hair.

Isla took a little relief from the fact that it was late afternoon.  They had lost at least four hours trying to clear the road, and would therefore, be forced to stay the night somewhere.  She hoped that they could find another inn as comfortable as the Three Oaks had been. With a little time and some hot water, she could make herself presentable again.

“Will we make it to the castle tonight?” Isla asked Roan when he took a break from chopping.

Roan looked exhausted and not in the best of tempers.  “Nae,” he grunted, taking a seat on the tree stump.

Isla gave an audible sigh of relief.  “Well, we’re nae fit to be seen arriving anywhere today, now are we?” she said brightly, her mood lifting.

“We’ll be in an even worse state tomorrow,” Roan growled, staring blackly at the tree trunk as the driver coaxed his horses to pull it to the side of the road.

“What do ye mean?” Isla asked slowly.  Her lifted spirits came crashing back down.

“There’s nae place between here and Erchlochy Castle that I’d want to stop for the night with a woman in tow,” he explained bluntly.

Isla opened and closed her mouth several times before she was able to make a sound.  “What do ye mean by that?” she demanded hotly.

“I’d really rather nae say,” Roan snort, cracking his neck and then reaching to rub his right shoulder with his left hand.

“What are ye suggesting we do, Roan?” Isla demanded.  “Travel through the night?”

“Nae, twould be too dangerous to travel once the light fails, and the horses will nae go that long without a rest,” he sighed practically.  “We’ll have to find a spot to camp out.”

Isla just stared at him.  Camp?  Outside?  In the middle of November?  She hoped that he was kidding. They were unprepared to spend a night in the open. It was years since Isla had spent the night under the stars - and she had never attempted it so late in the year.  

“Twill be all right, Isla,” Roan said, finally softening his voice when he looked up and saw her horrified expression.  “I ken the land.  I can find us somewhere safe to spend the night.”

Oh dear
, Isla’s stomach twisted as she reached the horrifying conclusion that she was going to turn up on the doorstep of Roan’s home looking like something the cat dragged in - and that was only if they survived the night.

..ooOOoo..

Isla was freezing.  She hadn’t known it was possible to be so cold.  Her teeth were chattering so hard she feared they were about to be worn away, and the shivers wracking the rest of her body were no less severe!

The men were sitting around a roaring fire and talking, after skinning, cooking and eating the hares that the driver had managed to snare while Roan was starting the fire.  Isla had eaten her fill, warmed herself by the fire until she had felt roasted, and then begged her husband to let her retire to the cart.

She was firmly of the opinion that it would be safer off the ground.  No matter how cold she might be.  She was not going to sleep in the dirt and be eaten by the wolves she could hear howling nearby. Her muscles tensed each time their eerie cries pierced the night. She thought they sounded like they were moving closer. Her nerves were so on edge that she let out a tiny yelp when Roan appeared unexpectedly at the side of the wagon. 

“God, tis freezing over here!” he swore, rubbing his shoulders.  “Come back to the fire,” he commanded, reaching for her.  “Tis much warmer.”

“I’m f-fine where I am, thank y-ye,” Isla shivered, sinking back into the bed of the wagon and flinching when a warm hand touched her cheek.

“Like hell ye are,” Roan cursed, heedless of his manners.  “Isla, ye canna stay in here and freeze,” he sighed, concern more clearly evident in his voice now that he’d soften his tone.  “I will nae let ye.”

“I’m all right,” she whispered weakly, aware that she could see her own breath in a puff of icy air.

Roan grumbled something she didn’t hear, and then he sat down next to her, bundling her into his arms, swearing again when he felt just how cold she was all over.  He began rubbing her hands between his own, bringing them to his lips to warm them with his breath.

Very slowly Isla felt some of the feeling return to her limbs.  She stopped shivering quite so violently and cuddled close to her husband’s body.  They stayed wrapped up in each other’s arms for a while, until the cold began to seep into Roan’s blood too, chilling them both.

“We have to go out by the fire, Isla,” Roan grunted.

“Nae,” she squeaked, clutching at him tight.  “Tis nae safe!”

“Tis safer than staying in here and freezing to death,” he growled.  Isla whimpered miserably and clung to him harder.  “Look lass, I’m going to stay awake all night anyway,” he said soothingly.  “Naught will hurt ye while I’m there.”

Isla blinked up at him through the darkness.  The heat of the fire
was
growing more and more tempting.  “Ye promise?” she whispered.

“I promise,” he nodded, and she could hear the smile that was tugging at his lips.  “Now, do ye trust me to keep ye safe?” Roan asked, his voice suddenly serious.

“Aye,” Isla murmured, without hesitation.  “Yer the only one I trust to keep me safe.”

..ooOOoo..

True to his word, Roan forced himself to remain awake for the whole of the night.  The driver offered to take a shift on watch, but Roan declined.  He might find himself thawing when it came to Isla, but that didn’t mean he was in a merry rush to trust every single member of her clan.