There Your Heart Will Be Also (23 page)

****

Sarra studied the stranger.

“Why are you shocked?”

“Wilt Ho
tham
?”

“Aye.
Do you know what you've done?”

Sarra
shook her
head
.

Wilt walked toward
her.
His
body
trembled
with rage.
Placing his hands on
her shoulders
,
he shook her
violently
.
“Of course you don't know!
Why would you care if you ruined someone's life?
As long as you are able to be
lady
of your
precious
keep, you don't care about anyone
or anything
.”

“That's not true,” Sarra said
,
lips trembling in fear.

“Aye.
But it is true.
Your
antics destroyed my brother.
We lost everything!”

“What?
I don't understand.”

“Must I tell you everything
?
Fine.
I will tell you.
When you told my brother
your aged friend
was the mistress, made him sick on your keep's foul food, and scared him witless until he ran back to England with his tail between his legs, my mother disowned him.
Not only did she disown him but myself as well!
Mother
held me responsible for his failure
to marry
you and gain Greenbriar land for the
Hotham
family.
After she took away what little hope we had of a future, my brother jump
ed
into the River Thames and drowned!”

“I'm sorry,” said Sarra, not looking Wilt in the eye.

“You're sorry?
You're sorry?
Of course you're sorry.
I'm holding you hostage!
Did you not realize your antics might cause a problem?”

“Nay,” Sarra whispered breathlessly.

“Well, it doesn't matter.
We are going to be married. And then I won't have to worry about mother's money or anything else.
Greenbriar
will be mine
and I can do as I please
.”

Eyes rose, seeking out Wilt's face. Desperation laced her tone, as Sarra said,
“But
it
won't work.
The King has already picked another
suitor for me
.”

“And since when has the King's pick meant anything to you?”

Sarra closed her mouth.
This was not the time to provoke Wilt.
He was distraught over his brother and his loss of funds.
If there was a way she could fix this without marrying him
,
perhaps he would leave her be.

“Wilt—
”

“Nay.
There is nothing you can do, save marry me.
Come
,
the church is just up ahead.”

Sarra followed along.
Her shoulders ached from
an
earlier experience and she didn't wish to
cause herself more pain
.
When they reached the
old stone church
nestled deep within the woods, Sarra saw a priest working in a garden.

Wilt approached him, already speaking, “I would like to get married in this chapel.”

The priest stood.
Stretching his back,
he
cast them a
friendly smile.
I
nside his robe
, he thrust his hands
w
ith a priestly air
.
“Very well, sir.
When?”

“Now.”

“Now, sir?”

“Aye, now.”

“Very well.
Now it is.
Where is the bride?”

Wilt pulled Sarra's by the hand until she stood between him and the priest.

“Here she is.”

“Very well.
I must
speak
with her before we commence with the ceremony.
A legally binding ceremony cannot be performed without consent from both parties.
Not to mention the other formalities that must occur before the ceremony, such as I must speak with the male in charge of the young maid's care, we must also allow ti
me for the reading of the bans.
”

Wilt was becoming more and more irritated by the moment.
Instead of allowing the priest to talk with her, he pulled a small dagger from its sheath and placed it directly under the father's neck at the place where his pulse could be seen beating wildly.

“Now let's try this again.
You will perform my wedding ceremony to Sarra of Greenbriar without speaking to her ahead of time.”

“Nay, I will not.”

Wilt pushed a little harder.
The dagger pierced the skin of the priest
,
causing a drop of blood to run down his neck and onto the collar of his garment.
Sarra's vision swam before her.

“You are trying my patience, Father,” Wilt said with disdain.
“I will be married and it doesn't matter if the lady agrees or not.”

The priest wasn't intimidated by
Wilt
in the least.
“Am I to take it the bride is not going into this union willingly?”

Sarra's
was froze
n
with fear and afraid to nod
.

Wilt answered, “You can take it however you wish.
I just thought for a respectable priest like yourself it might be easier to feign ignorance
of
the whole matter
.
D
on't you agree?”

“I take it you are trying to give me a way out
.
A way
to say I performed the ceremony under the illusion the bride was willing
ly entering
in the union.”

“Aye,
exactly
what I am trying to do,”
Wilt
seemed
proud of himself.
He glance
d quickly
at Sarra.

“Bring the young lady into the sanctuary.”

“Nay.
You will perform the ceremony outside.
Now.”

The priest sighed
.
“This is most unusual.
But if you will remove the knife from my neck
,
then I will proceed.”

Cedric was close.
He'd followed
the tracks
all day
, a
t times
believing
he'd lost the trail only to find it once again.
The lone set of hoof prints led him away from the road and into the woods.
When the top of
a
building
came into focus
, he'd dismounted and tie
d
his horse to a tree
,
sneaking in for a closer look.

From his current vantage point, Cedric had a clear view of
the kidnapper
as he stood over Sarra.
It would be
easy
enough to
run out and face this man with a sword and come away the victor but he didn't know what the captor
was capable of doing
.

Would he hurt Sarra before Cedric reached their position?
Would a whole band of friends ride out to his assistance? Nay, t
he best thing
to do
was
to stick to the original plan and hope Sarra could hold out.
Surely Duncan would arrive soon.

Cedric watched the three people standing in the opening.
Sarra
turned
her back
on
the priest and the other man.
It appeared
as if she was trying to compose herself.

When she
twirled
around, Cedric watched her place a finger down her throat.
She spun just in time to
heave
onto
the priest's
brown
robe.
The priest glanced
down at himself in disgust.

“Pardon, sir, but I will have to change my robes before I can perform the ceremony.”

“Nay, you will not.”

“But I must, I have a weak constitution and the smell will be my undoing
.
”
The
priest finished his speech
,
turning to the one side and losing his own supper.

Wilt
peered
at Sarra suspiciously.

“Now why did you do that?
What are you trying to accomplish?”

Sarra said nothing.

“Don't think your horrid smell will drive me away.
In fact after the vows I will take an extra pleasure in throwing you in the lake and watching you bathe.”

“You will never watch me doing any such thing, you brute!”

Wilt laughed at her pitiful attempt to insult him.
His hand upon
her
loosened
hair
,
he slung
Sarra
around in a circle
and
knock
ed
her
into the chapel.
When her head slapped against the wall, Cedric
saw her
eyes roll
a
s
she slumped to the ground.

Wilt pulled
a
dagger from his waist and
st
alked toward Sarra.
With a hand,
he
pulled back her hair
,
exposing
a
long neck.
“I would hate to slit such a pretty throat.”

Cedric
could see Sarra was dazed. She
put a
hand to the
back of her head
and grimaced in obvious pain
.
Blood dribbled
down her face.
S
he touched
her
lip
and when she drew her hand back, blood coated her fingertips.
Her face relaxed
as she l
ean
ed
back against the building
and
closed
her
eyes.

Cedric
needed
to do something
and
soon.
Where
was
Duncan?
Just as the thought flew through his mind, there was a shriek from the surrounding wood.
Two m
en in kilts with war paint smeared on their faces and swords raised high jumped from behind the line of trees and ran screaming at the man and the priest.

Upon the noise, five men stepped from the shadows of the church. Swords were raised in defense.
In all the chaos, Sarra was
shoved
against the church wall
, where she fell to the ground and didn't get up
.

Duncan and the other
s
had jumped from the woods and enacted the distraction. Now Cedric just had to walk around them and retrieve Sarra
.

Cedric slipped around the edges of the fighting.
Upon r
eaching Sarra,
he picked
her up and
hauled
her back to his hiding spot nestled amongst the trees.
N
othing
appeared
broken and there were no obvious signs of bleeding
, other than
the split
lip
.

With his hands under her legs, he hoisted
her
up
against his chest
.
Carrying
the limp frame
to his waiting horse, Cedric deposited
the maid
on the saddle, careful to hold her in place
while
s
w
inging
himself up behind her.
He cradled
her
on his lap, laying her head under his chin.

He would have loved to have stayed
but
Sarra
was hurt.
Getting her to s
afety
was more important than his desire to see
one
man punished, at least for the moment.

Part of Cedric hoped Duncan would save
the man
for him.
He had plans for
this individual
which didn't include a quick or painless death.

Cedric and Sarra rode until the sun began to descend behind the mountain once again.
Sarra, even in her unconscious state, snuggled closer to Cedric to stay warm.

He
had seen a cave on a hillside on his way to retrieve Sarra and he headed there now.
They would have to shelter there for the
rest of the
night.

Cedric carried Sarra into the cave.
Inside was a circle of rocks
that
had previously been used for a fire.
He
laid her down in
the
corner and went back outside to gather wood.
He started a small fire in the fire pit.
Then he found some long branches with leaves on them to cover part of the cave's entrance, making sure to leave room for the smoke to exit.

With his
plaid
laid u
pon the ground
, Cedric t
r
ied
to wake Sarra
. All he received was a mumble as
he
gently
mov
ed
her
onto the
cloth
.
B
eside her
he lay
, placing his legs behind her own and covering them both.

Her body fit into his like
it was made to do so
.
She moved
against him
.
Every way h
e shift
ed
she
mimicked
his direction
,
bringing
their
bod
ies
closer.
He was in the process of throwing off the plaid and getting up when she
roused
.

“Cedric?” she said with a slur.

“Aye, lass
,
it's me.”

“Did we make it
?
O
r am I in heaven?”

“We made it lass.”

She sighed.
“I am so warm.”

Cedric couldn't help but laugh
.
“So am I.”

Sarra snuggle
d
deeper beneath the plaid.
Cedric tried not to move.
As Sarra found a comfortable spot,
he
breathed in.
H
er hair smelled of rose
s
.
A sound of contentment escaped
her
lips.
With his arms wrapped around her frame
, he
realized he never wanted to let
her
go.
This was as it should be.

The silence of the evening pervaded their small sanctuary and Sarra said, “Tell me a story.”

A
ye,
a
story might distract him from his raging pulse, or the sweat
which
covered his palms, or the myriad of other feelings he was experiencing due to Sarra's nearness.

This was an opportunity.
An opportunity to reveal things about himself to the woman he was falling in love with.
One time
she
had asked him about why he wanted land.
Maybe it was time he divulge his history to her.
He had been meaning to do so for some time but there always seemed to be something in the way.

So while the two of them huddled in a cave, wrapped in one another
'
s arms and Duncan and the others pursued Sarra's attacker, Cedric placed his lips to Sarra's ear and told her a story.
A true story of love and los
s
.

“
There once
was
an
only child
.
His parents were
William and Elinor.
William
was laird of a prestigious clan in the Highlands.
Before
William's
father passed
away
, he made
William
promise he would marry a
girl
worthy of him.
William
didna understand
why
,
but his father explained
.
He
felt a Scottish laird needed to marry a special type of woman to run his household.
And
she also
needed wide hips.”

Cedric
couldn't help but
smile
before continuing
.
“Anyway,
William's father
passed
away before a
wife
was found
that
fit these requirements.
William
had
searched all the surrounding clans for a wife and none of them were found worthy.

“
But one day, while he was on his way to the Lowland clans to expand his search, he happened upon a carriage stuck in sinking mud.
Without asking who might be aboard, he offered to assist the driver.
William
was extremely strong and tall of stature.
He grabbed the rope the driver had placed on the carriage, gave one swift pull,
and
free
d
the carriage from the mud.
After
it
was freed, a startling vision appeared.
For t
here on the other side of the
road
awaited a beautiful young lady.
William
described her beauty to
anyone
who
would listen many times over
.
He was proud to have found her.

“As they stood there, t
hey stared at one another
like long lost lovers.
Elinor loved to tell how William
crossed the muddy road and knelt in front of her and immediately proposed.
William
said
when Elinor answered
‘aye
,
' he almost toppled over.
Not because of her answer but because of her accent
.
F
or he had not realized he had proposed to an English woman.
William
claimed
right then
he
ripped
a piece of his plaid and wrapped it around their hands in a hand
-
fasting ceremony until
they
could reach a priest.
The driver of the carriage was distracted, trying to
tie
the horses back to the
carriage,
when
William
scooped
Elinor
up
and unceremoniously plopped her on his
waiting
horse, swung himself up behind her and took off down the dirt road.
By the time the driver noticed the lady's departure, he was too late to catch up with her.”