Warrior's Lady (18 page)

"Esther had to have permission to see her husband?" Violet interrupted again.

"In some cultures, women have very few privileges. You are fortunate to have an uncle who will allow you many freedoms."

Violet straightened. "What happened when she approached her husband?"

"Esther risked everything in order to stop the killing of her people. As she approached, the king held out his scepter to her, showing her that he accepted her visit. She told the king of Haman's plan to massacre the Jews, and with much trepidation, revealed her own identity."

Violet frowned once more. "That is kind of like what happened to you, when Uncle Camden learned of your last name. He was angry at first, but he's not so angry now."

Camden stilled. Had he hidden his anger at Rhiannon from no one?

"Aye," Rhiannon replied. "But just like the king, your uncle had his reasons."

Her understanding knifed at his guilt. Would she be so forgiving if she knew he had sentenced her to death? He knew the rest of the Bible story. The king had accepted Esther for who she was. Had he truly accepted Rhiannon? He no longer wanted her dead, but did that mean he had forgiven her for her family's sins against his family?

"Tell me how the story ends?" Violet asked.

Rhiannon continued, "The king, enraged with Haman for using the privilege of his station to further his own goals, ordered him to be hanged. Then the king appointed Mordecai as his prime minister, and gave the Jews the right to defend themselves against any enemy."

Violet's lips flattened with uncertainty. "What does that story have to do with me being a leader of my people?"

"Just like Esther, you have been orphaned, but that does not mean you do not have everything inside of you to become a great woman someday. Your Uncle Camden will need your help to keep our people free from English persecution. Some of the English feel the same way about the Scots as Haman did about the Jews."

Violet released a heavy sigh as she picked up her embroidery frame and needle and started sewing once more. "I will be a great lady, and I will learn to lead my people." She paused in her work. "Mother Agnes was right. She told me before we left the abbey that you would be the one to guide me in everything I needed to know."

Rhiannon dipped her head, hiding her reaction.

Even so, Camden could imagine the flush that rose to her cheeks and the soft sentiment that would fill her eyes. He strode the short distance from where he stood to the two women he'd been spying on. "The abbess was correct to send you to care for Violet."

Rhiannon startled. Her wide-eyed gaze flew to his face. "How long have you been listening?"

"Long enough to hear a rather insightful story." He held his hand out to her, offering her assistance up from her seat on the floor.

She hesitated a moment before she slipped her fingers into his hand. "Thank you, milord."

"Camden." Awareness rippled across his flesh. He tightened his fingers around hers, unwilling to let her go for the moment.

"Camden," she repeated, her tone breathless.

The sensation had flowed through her as it did him. He released her fingers to brush her cheekbone with a motion that was almost but not quite a caress.

Instead of his fingers, he allowed his gaze to caress her skin. Warmth brought a touch of pink to her cheeks. She leaned toward him, as though drawn to him by the same irresistible force that flowed through him.

Camden held himself back because of Violet's presence, despite the overwhelming desire to kiss Rhiannon. His emotions veered crazily, crackling around him until he realized it was not his emotions, but a loud boom that shook the room.

Violet shrieked and catapulted into Rhiannon's legs. She might have knocked her down had Camden not pulled them both into his arms.

"Violet, what's wrong? " Camden said, stroking the top of her head.

"It's the same noise that came a few moments before the men took my daddy away," she cried.

A cannon? Before Camden could respond, the door to the chamber burst open. Five warriors dressed in full battle gear erupted into the solar — Orrin, Hamish, Travis, Garret, and Hugh. "Milord," Orrin said. "We are under attack."

"From whom?" Camden spun toward the door, leaving the women behind.

"We watched them approach, a small army of fifty men. They were flying the colors of the Lockhart clan so we assumed they were more of the men from Lockhart Castle come to join us here. That was, until we saw the cannon."

"They fired on us?" Camden asked, his thoughts now fully on the coming war.

"Aye, milord."

"Call the men to arms," Camden ordered. "Hamish, take Rhiannon and Lady Violet to the storeroom. No one will think to look for them there."

"You think this attack is targeted at them?" Hamish asked with a puzzled frown.

"I am certain of it."

Chapter Thirteen

An explosion rocked the castle. Rhiannon clutched Violet's arm as the ground shook beneath their feet. She could hear the shouts of the men as they raced through the passageway, preparing for battle. Shrill screams pierced the afternoon air in the great hall below.

Rhiannon's gaze flew to Camden, but he'd turned away, addressing the men.

A violent shiver wracked Violet's small body. "I'm scared." The young girl buried her face in the folds of Rhiannon's dress.

Pushing her own fear aside, Rhiannon gently stroked Violet's back. "I'll keep you safe," she soothed, hoping that she could do just that. 

Orrin burst again through the door of the solar. "They are firing cannon balls at the outer wall. We will be breached before we can stop them."

"Who is attacking?" Camden asked, his voice tight.

"We don't know exactly." Orrin's features became strained. "Although we know it's not the English."

Rhiannon fervently prayed that the attackers were not members of her own family.

"Meet me in the courtyard," Camden said to Orrin, then turned back to her. "Go with Hamish to the cellar. You'll be safe there."

Fierce intensity entered his bright blue eyes. Did he know who attacked? He seemed almost as protective of her as he was of Violet. Did he fear her family had come to take her away? Or was it something more? He had accused her of partnership with the bishop. Did he suspect the bishop was behind the attack?

Rhiannon frowned. How would she ever know the truth unless she saw the situation herself?

Camden made his way to the door, but paused before Hamish. "Do not let either of them out of your sight," he said, his voice suddenly fierce.

At Hamish's nod, Camden was gone.

Rhiannon moved to the window. Great curling clouds of black smoke rose to the sky just outside the outer bailey. She could not see who attacked. Yet the brief glimpse left her with the feeling it was not members of her family come to raid. The Ruthvens would not have had enough resources to afford a cannon and shells. Nay, the threat came from someone else; she was certain.

She caught sight of a familiar figure striding through the wisps of black smoke in the courtyard. He still wore a tartan of the Lockhart colors, but his chest was now covered with a leather doublet. His hair was unbound, the thick ebony length curling above his shoulders.

He approached his horse, and checked the tension of the cinches while the animal's long and graceful head turned, nudging him with affection. Camden stroked the beast's neck before he mounted.

The animal swung about, and Camden's gaze strayed upwards toward the window. Rhiannon flinched, embarrassed to be caught spying on him. She backed away, her throat tight as she realized the danger that lay ahead for him at the gates of his own castle.

"Come, ladies," Hamish called. "We must hurry."

Rhiannon scooped Violet up into her arms and followed Hamish from the chamber. She paused, remembering the sound of men running through the hallway and the clang of metal that sounded as they did. "Hamish, is the armory near here?"

"Just down the hallway, milady."

"Then that is where we will go first." Rhiannon didn't wait for Hamish to agree. If they were at war, she wanted to be prepared. She could not protect Violet without some way to even the odds should they be discovered in the storeroom.

With a renewed sense of urgency, Rhiannon continued down the hall until she came to an open doorway. Inside she found armor in neat rows against the walls and weapons of every kind hanging on the walls, ready to be plucked down from their pegs and put into service.

Her heart racing in her chest, she scanned the room, looking for a familiar weapon. She breathed a sigh of relief when her gaze lit upon a bow hung alongside a quiver of arrows. She snatched them both down. Slinging the quiver over her shoulder, she turned to Hamish. "Now I'll go wherever you lead."

"Hurry," Hamish urged as he motioned for them to go back the way they had come.

Clinging to Violet and the bow with equal force, Rhiannon followed the big warrior through the great hall and into the hallway on the other side, down the long corridor she'd visited the other day on her quest for fabric, and down the stairs leading to the storeroom.

The pungent scent of fermenting grain assaulted her senses as they plunged into the semidarkness. It only took a moment for Rhiannon's eyes to adjust to the dimness. She recognized the chamber from her previous visit. The room was filled with barrels all stacked in neat rows.

She held onto Violet's hand as she searched the room for some place to hide the girl in case they were discovered. An explosion shook the walls, and the barrels groaned from their perches slightly above the floor. "More cannon fire?" she asked.

"Aye," Hamish replied. "I'll stay here and cover the doorway."

"There are two doorways."

"Two?" Hamish asked, clearly startled. "How do you know?"

"Experience," she replied.

Hamish shrugged. "Find a place to hide, and I'll do what I can to cover both entrances."

"May luck be with you," she said, picking up Violet and holding her against her chest.

"I'm scared," Violet whispered against her shoulder.

"Fear isn't always a bad thing, Violet. It keeps us alert," Rhiannon said as she turned into the darkness of the storeroom. It would be wise to hide Violet somewhere close to that doorway if it became necessary for the little girl to escape.

Rhiannon quickly moved through the hazy darkness until she came to the end of a row of barrels. She tried to tip each one, searching for one that was lighter than all the rest. "If only I can find an empty barrel."

"I know where one is," Violet said, lifting her head from Rhiannon's shoulder.

"You do?"

"I accidentally spilled the ale the other day when Uncle Camden and I were playing."

Rhiannon stifled a smile at the memory of Violet's stained dress. "Show me."

Violet wiggled out of Rhiannon's grip and headed down the row of barrels on the far side of the room. "This way," she cried, no longer afraid.

The container stood empty at the end of the last row at the back of the cellar's wall. Rhiannon had hoped for something closer to the doorway, but this would have to do.

"How do we get it open enough for you to slip inside?" Rhiannon pondered to herself.

"Allow me."

Rhiannon startled at the sound of Hamish's voice behind them.

"I will need to know where to lead the intruders away from." He moved around them and with a grunt, lifted the barrel from its shelf before positioning it against the wall. He took several steps back, then hurled himself forward, landing with both feet firmly planted against the wood that formed the bottom of the barrel. A sharp crack filled the air as the wood collapsed beneath his assault. Hamish hit the floor with the force of his blow, but rolled once, and in a fluid motion came up on his feet.

The new opening in the barrel gaped wide enough for Violet to slip inside. Once she was hidden, Hamish placed all the wood slivers inside the barrel as well, then lifted it back onto its shelf with the open side facing the wall.

"She'll have plenty of air to breathe, yet be fully concealed," Hamish said with a note of satisfaction. "Excellent idea."

"Thank you," Rhiannon said, deeply touched by the compliment.

"Now, where do we hide you?"

"There is no time," she said as a thunderous crash filled the air. The sound went on for what seemed like an eternity. Just as silence settled, the sounds of battle emerged as the roar of men's shouts mingled with the thunder of hoofbeats. 

"The wall has been breached." Hamish put into words her greatest fear.

Rhiannon clutched the bow in one hand and drew an arrow from her quiver with the other. "You take one doorway, and I will cover the other."