The Highlander's Bride

by Donna Fletcher

  She was on her own, and if she gave it careful consideration, she might just find a way out of her predicament. Where she would go afterward was another matter, since returning home and possibly placing her family in danger was not an option.

  Of course, Cullen ached for revenge against Balford, but he had his son to consider. She knew they were both safely aboard his brother’s ship and could set sail for America without a problem. Why take the chance of leaving his son fatherless?

  The metal door of her cramped cell squeaked open and torchlight startled her eyes, now too familiar with the dark. She squinted against the glare until her eyes finally adjusted to the bright light. She didn’t move, her chains and metal cuffs tight and rubbing her skin raw with the slightest of movements.

  The soldiers roughly disengaged her chains from the wall. They didn’t wait for her to stand but dragged her out of the cell along the dirt floor. Try as she might she couldn’t grab hold of the chains to ease her skin from being rubbed raw by the metal cuffs. Her body twisted about like a fish too long out of water as the soldiers yanked her along, gleeful in their torment.

  She shut her eyes and mouth against the dust that was stirred up but could not shield her body from being battered as the soldiers moved her quickly through the narrow halls. She winced, though held her tongue as she was dragged up stone stairs, her ribs, hips, and legs taking a beating.

  Once outside the dungeon, the warm breath of spring burst across her face, and she realized that morning had claimed the land. Her dark cell had kept her oblivious of time, and she hadn’t known whether it were night or day. She had yet to meet with the Earl of Balford, but had a feeling that was about to change.

  She had heard the soldiers whispering that the earl was due back the next day following her capture. They were excited and pleased with their prize and were certain the earl would reward them.

  While they dragged her to the manor house, on-lookers gawked at her, no doubt reminded of the consequences of the earl’s wrath. She ignored the fearful and sympathetic stares and thought only of Cullen and Alexander.

  They were safe, and she hoped they would remain so. She would not betray them no matter what tortures the earl inflicted on her. He would only kill her in the end anyway, and what purpose would her death serve if she didn’t protect those she loved?

  She was pulled to her feet, forced up the steps and into a room in the manor house. She felt awkward amidst the fancy furnishings, so polished and proper, and she so grimy and bruised and in chains. But she stood tall, her head high, her chin thrust out and her pride intact.

  A man fancy in dress, with a cunning glare, entered the room and waved a laced-trimmed handkerchief in front of his turned-up nose as he passed by her.

  “I forget how offensive the dungeon can be to the senses,” he said with distaste.

  Sara shrugged. “It is what you make of it.”

  His brows arched, and she knew she’d surprised him. He expected her to cower and beg for mercy.

  She’d spit in his face first. She was the wife of a true warrior, after all, and would not sully his name. She would stand with pride and honor against this evil man and fight to the end.

  “I am surprised he chose you as a wife,” the earl said. “My daughter was much more beautiful and much more a lady.”

  “He didn’t choose me, I chose him, so you waste your time if you think he will come for me. Our marriage was nothing more than a bargain, which he fulfilled. He’s now free to do as he chooses.”

  The earl sat down in a yellow silk-covered chair and crossed his legs. He fit the room, pretentious and extravagant, not real or solid, like a truly strong man. This man, she thought, allowed others to fight his battles and had powerful alliances to protect him. He was false in appearance and manner and could never be trusted as friend or foe.

  “It doesn’t matter,” the earl said. “He will come for you.”

  Sara laughed. “You have a long wait if you believe that. I was nothing more than a thorn in his side, and he will not risk his life for me.”

  Her own words hurt to hear, but they were the truth. Cullen had no room in his heart for any woman but Alaina. She wished it were different, but it wasn’t, and she couldn’t change how he felt—or how she felt. She loved him, whether he loved her or not, and she would protect those she loved

  It wasn’t a matter of choice. It was a matter of the heart.

  “Cullen is an honorable man, though a fool. He will come for his wife,” the earl argued.

  “You’re the fool if you believe that.”

  A deep flush started at the earl’s neck and crept up his face, and thinking that he might just burst into flames made her smile.

  “I will enjoy having your tongue cut from your mouth, though not before I hear you beg for mercy.”

  “You’ll have a long wait,” she quipped, refusing to let him think his threats frightened her.

  “Not really. If he doesn’t see fit to come for you, he will come for me. A warrior can be counted on to seek revenge. It is a matter of honor, and Cullen is an honorable man.”

  “From what I know of Alaina, she was an honorable woman. Why then,” she asked, “are you such a devious devil?”

  Balford sprang forward in the chair. “You’re nothing more than an ignorant peasant!”

  Sara held her head high. “This ignorant peasant managed to foil your attempt to have your grandson killed.”

  The earl sneered. “And all those involved will pay dearly for it.”

  “All?” Sara laughed. “It was I and only I. How does it feel to be defeated by a single woman?”

  He rushed out of the chair and backhanded her across the cheek, his heavy gold ring nicking the flesh near the corner of her eye. She stumbled but managed to remain on her feet, a trickle of blood dripping down her cheek.

  “I have never been defeated!” the earl shouted in fury.

  She challenged his claim. “Alaina defeated you. She loved freely and birthed the son of her lover, a Highland warrior.”

  “She was a whore who was defeated,” the earl spat.

  “Not so,” Sara argued. “Her son bears proof of her victory.”

  The earl’s guttural laugh shivered her skin cold.

  “He will meet his mother in Hell along with his father.”

  “The only one to go to hell will be you,” Sara said, near spitting her words in his face.

  The earl grinned with pleasure. “I will enjoy seeing you whipped and beaten, and perhaps I will lay between your legs to show you the power it takes to be victorious.”

  Sara sneered. “I imagine your prowess is as puny as those skinny legs of yours. You did, after all, produce only one child, and who knows if Alaina was even your true daughter? Perhaps you weren’t man enough for your wife and she found pleasure and satisfaction in another man’s bed.”

  She purposely wanted to make him angry, cause him to lose his temper, and thus lose sound reasoning, which could possibly alter his plans and provide her with more time. She quickly braced for the anticipated blow.

  His hand was drawn back in a flash, arcing high and wide, and Sara knew it would more than sting; it could possibly take her to her knees.

  “Touch my wife and you die!”

  Balford’s hand froze in midair, and Sara wished she could rub her eyes, for she was surely seeing a mirage. Cullen stood a few feet behind the earl, his handsome face awash with anger, though his dark eyes softened when they rested on her, and for a moment, though it was brief, barely detectable, she thought or perhaps imagined that she had seen love there.

  Had she seen it, or did she simply want to believe he had come to rescue her because he loved her? Or had he come not for her, but for revenge?

  The earl turned and rushed away from Cullen’s fast approach, stumbling to the side.

  “I’m going to make you pay, Balford, for what you’ve done to my wife,” Cullen said angrily, while gently wiping the blood from her cheek.

  “You shoul
dn’t have come,” Sara said softly. “You and your son were free.”

  “There is no freedom without you, Sara. Haven’t you realized by now how very much I love you? I haven’t been able to stop loving you. Wanting to love you. Needing to love you. Loving you like I never thought possible.”

  “How touching,” Balford mocked.

  Sara heard nothing but her husband’s profound declaration of love, and still she found it hard to believe. He loved her? Truly loved her? Was it possible? Could her dreams, her wishes, her prayers, have actually come true?

  “You look doubtful,” he said. “I guess I’ll have to spend the rest of our lives convincing you how much I love you.”

  “That will be about a week,” Balford said confidently, “since I intend to make the both of you suffer before I kill each one of you myself.”

  Tears slipped down Sara’s cheeks.

  “Don’t cry, my love,” Cullen cautioned. “I won’t let him hurt you.”

  Sara shook her head, her tears continuing to fall softly. “I don’t weep out of fear, I cry for joy. You love me. You truly love me.” She laughed. “You don’t think I’m going to let a vile man prevent us from sharing a life together, do you?”

  Cullen laughed loud and strong. “That’s my Sara, confident and courageous.”

  “And as much a fool as you,” Balford spat.

  “I’ll just see to the vile man and then we’ll be on our way,” Cullen said with a gentle kiss to her cheek.

  “Make certain he suffers,” Sara said firmly. “He deserves to suffer for all he’s done, especially for what he did to Alaina.”

  “You are both fools,” Balford shouted. “You will be the ones who suffer, and as for my daughter? She deserved what she got for giving herself to a commoner, a simple man—”

  “He is a warrior!” Sara shouted back. “Courage, integrity, loyalty, something you know nothing of!”

  “Power and influence bring far more rewards than what you speak of,” Balford said. “If my daughter had done her duty and obeyed me, she would not have died. Her death was of her own doing, sheer stupidity. As your deaths will be.”

  “And your death?” Sara asked calmly. “Will it not be out of your own doing?”

  “My dear, you are in chains, and while Cullen may have slipped past a guard or two, there are many more who will make certain that neither of you leave here.”

  “You said yourself that my husband is an honorable man. He tells me he will not let you hurt me, and I believe him.”

  “What makes you think he can do for you what he couldn’t do for Alaina?”

  Sara grinned. “He’s already done it.”

  “Such foolish confidence,” Balford said, shaking his head.

  “It is good that you finally realize that instead of continuing with this folly,” Sara said.

  Balford glared at her. “I am eager and impatient to see that tongue of yours cut out of your mouth.”

  “Not even an hour with him, and he wants to rid you of your tongue? That’s my Sara,” Cullen said, grinning proudly.

  “Enough!” Balford shouted.

  “My exact sentiments to her at times,” Cullen teased.

  “I’ve had enough. Guards!” Balford yelled.

  Cullen slipped his arm around her waist and she released her full weight against him. Exhaustion was fast claiming her, along with the burden of the heavy chains.

  “You’ll be free soon enough,” he whispered, and kissed her cheek.

  “Guards!” Balford bellowed again, and retreated several steps into the room.

  “You overestimate your guards’ abilities, or perhaps you underestimate mine. Your guards are presently occupied and will be for some time.”

  Sara smiled at the pint-sized woman who had entered the room and spoken. She wielded a sword and was garbed in men’s garments. She had heard tales of the infamous outlaw Storm.

  Balford sputtered and shook a fist and sputtered some more before finally spitting out one word: “You!”

  Storm gave a pretentious bow. “That it is. You didn’t think that I would slink away and not see you get your due, did you? And while I would so love to be the one to wreak retribution on you, I’ll leave that to one who deserves the privilege more.”

  “I’ll see you dead!” Balford screamed.

  “That is not going to happen.”

  Sara wasn’t surprised to see Cullen’s brother Burke enter the room. Though Cullen was taller and wider, both were handsome men, and she could see the resemblance there between them.

  “He really needs to die,” Burke said when his glance rested on Sara.

  “Cullen will see to it,” she said proudly.

  Burke nodded with a grin. “Good, you do love my brother. It’s there in your eyes for all to see.” He hugged Sara gently. “We will all make a fine family and live a good long life in America.”

  “Hear that, Balford?” Storm asked. “We’ll all live, and you will die.”

  “You know, Cullen, I was thinking,” Burke said. “With the earl’s death, your son will be sole inheritor of his grandfather’s estate and holdings.”

  “Never,” Balford warned. “Never will a bastard inherit my wealth.”

  Cullen grinned and drew his sword. “You won’t be around to object.”

  Chapter 36

  “I love you, husband,” Sara said as Storm helped her from the room.

  “And I love you, wife,” Cullen said echoing her sentiments, his heart in pain for what she had suffered to see him and his son safe.

  “We’ll be waiting,” Burke said, and was gone.

  Cullen knew they remained close by, along with a score of hired men, if he should require assistance, but this was a chore he had chosen for himself. He did this for Alaina. But first he had something to tell the Earl of Balford.

  “I am unarmed. I thought you an honorable man,” Balford said.

  Cullen grabbed a second sword from the sheath strapped to his back and rested the weapon against a chair, stepping away from it.

  Balford went for it, and once it was in his grip, he laughed. “You truly are foolish. Don’t you know I’m an expert with a sword?”

  “I’ll take my chances,” Cullen said, keeping a distance until he delivered his news.

  The earl had other plans, and charged Cullen before he could speak.

  Cullen deflected his sword, though stunned by the strength of the earl’s thrust.

  The earl proved a worthy opponent, and it wasn’t long before they were locked in a raging battle that left them both with minor wounds, sweating profusely.

  The battle stimulated Balford, and Cullen realized the danger in that. The earl’s strength grew with every thrust and slice and smashed piece of furniture, as the two of them wreaked carnage. He was in his glory, believing himself more powerful, therefore believing he could deliver the final blow and defeat Cullen.

  Cullen, however, had a different plan, and began to position himself for the final blow.

  “Did I tell you of a man I met who was rescued along with me from Weighton?” Cullen asked as he and Balford unlocked swords and pushed off each other.

  “It is of no importance to me,” Balford said with a lunge.

  Cullen sidestepped his thrust. “It should be.”

  “Why is that?” Balford said, annoyed as he attacked with a strong blow.

  They engaged swords until once again they pushed away from each other.

  “He told me a story of a woman he fell in love with. A woman whose husband was harsh and vile and demanded she bear him children.”

  “A woman’s duty,” Balford snapped, and lunged again.

  Their bodies slammed into each other, hitting the ground, rolling off, and then, on their feet again, they stood a distance from each other.

  “Yes, but this husband was cruel and could not impregnate his wife.”

  “It isn’t a man’s fault; it’s the woman’s, and she should be punished for it,” Balford spat.

 
“Like you punished Alaina’s mother, beating her every night until she got pregnant?” Cullen asked, and lunged with fury at Balford. The sound of clashing steel echoed in the high-ceilinged room.

  Balford suddenly withdrew and stood, his face bathed in sweat. “The punishment worked, she gave me a child.”

  Cullen laughed. “Not really. Her lover gave her a child.”

  Balford’s face turned a fiery red. “What lies do you tell?”

  “Alaina wasn’t your daughter. Your wife had a lover.”

  “Lies!” Balford bellowed.

  “They had plans to leave with their child, but you put Alaina’s mother in an institution before they could make their escape.”

  “The woman was crazy.”

  “You wanted rid of her, and when a stranger began to question and delve into your wife’s whereabouts, you had him imprisoned.”

  Balford stood still, his face flaming red, sweat pouring off him soaking his disheveled clothes.

  “You remember the man,” Cullen said. “Remember him well for he is Alaina’s father and he waits on a ship to set sail for America, where he will watch his grandson grow, and when the time is right, he will help him claim your land and all your holdings.”

  “No bastard shall claim my land,” Balford shouted, and charged at Cullen, enraged.

  Cullen smiled, for at that moment, he knew he’d be victorious and have his revenge for Alaina and her mother and his son.

  Cullen welcomed him head on, and with two swift clashes of swords, it was done. The earl kneeled on the floor grasping the handle of the sword Cullen had run through his stomach.

  “This can’t be,” Balford said, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

  “You’ve been defeated,” Cullen said, ripping his sword out of the man. “Alaina is the victor here.”

  The Earl of Balford fell over, eyes wide in shock, his mouth hanging open, his life slipping away, with the knowledge that in the end his power and influence failed to serve him.