Theodora squeezed Naomhan’s hand in hers. She had never truly seen him so shaken. Being there for his family and proving his innocence meant a lot to him and so it meant a lot to her.
“Let us go see your family and try to prove your innocence,” Theodora said to Naomhan. He had hugged her before his pains jerked him back.
“But how do we get into your castle? Do we send a letter for them to come to us?” she asked him.
“Nay, I was betrayed the last time. Someone intercepted my letter. I have to make my way into the castle. There is an old passage, built for the family of the Laird to escape, in the event of war or a coup,” Naomhan replied.
“Then we use the passageway,” she agreed.
“You know I love you, yeah?” he asked her.
“You know I love you more,” she replied.
“Then one of us must be lying because I love you more.”
She laughed as he tickled her. The decision was made. The next day, they would ride into the belly of the beast and hope that they both survived.
32
Isla Grant was moody all day long. She wanted to tell Logan what happened but there was never a chance. Logan was with Stephen all day, trying to hunt down the man he had no idea was his brother. To him, it was the perfect opportunity to prove himself to his people as the right man to inherit his father’s title.
A mother could only control a man to a particular age, when he then belonged to others besides her. She had thought she had more years with him but his father’s death had pushed him to grow faster than he was supposed to. She feared that she could not save him and her fear was warranted for Logan had taken Stephen as his role model, the model of the man that he wanted to be. That man should have been Naomhan.
There was not a minute that she did not worry for her first son. He was strong, as strong as his father had been in his youth. It would take more to kill him, she knew. She hoped.
When Logan returned, he spent a lot of time in the council chamber speaking to Stephen before Isla was able to see him. There was a frown on his face as he came to his mother’s room.
“News has reached me ears, Mother, that ye might know the identity of the man that slay Donald. Yet, ye did nae tell me. I am yer son and the Laird of the people. It is yer duty and—” Logan started before he was cut short by his mother.
“Daenae speak to me in such a manner. I am yer mother,” Isla raised her voice at him. She had not intended to but it could not be helped. She had been overwhelmed with anxiety since she had found Donald’s body and it wasn’t letting up on her.
“I am going to be the Laird, Mother. Once we put faither to rest, I shall be Laird and I need yer support, Mother. If ye are nae on me side, how dae I prove to the people that I can be their Laird, that I am nae too young?” he asked her.
“I am tryin’ to protect ye, Logan. I have always been tryin’ to protect ye from the moment I birth ye, since ye were but a little boy. Trust me now when I say this, that I am doing this to protect ye,” she told him.
“Nay, Mother. I daenae need yer protection. I am a man now. I should be the one protectin’ ye. So, tell me, Mother, who is the man that killed Donald?”
Isla was hesitant to speak. She did not know where the loyalty of her child lay anymore. She did not know the man he had grown to become. Would he protect his brother or would he serve hisQueen?
“Tell me, Mother,” he yelled at her again.
Isla closed her eyes and prayed that her next decision was the right one, that it did not doom her family. With a deep sigh of resolution, she turned to Logan and told him.
“The man who killed is yer brother, Naomhan.”
Logan was shocked. He stepped back away from his mother as though he had seen a ghost. But no, he had not seen a ghost, he had heard the name of a ghost.
“Impossible. Naomhan cannae be in Scotland. He would have come home to us,” Logan said. His mind tried to make a clear image of what his mother had just told him. When he had written to his brother to come home, he had been but a little boy, a youth who had sought the embrace of his elder brother. Now, he was a man. He was the next in line to become Laird.
Isla held her son’s hands and looked him in the eyes, searching for his truth, searching for his loyalty. What was he going to do? Was he still the little boy who ran after his brother into the woods to hunt? Was he still the boy that was mesmerized by his brother’s strength, courage, and love? Isla could not tell but Logan’s eyes were not that of a child anymore.
“Is he hurt?” Logan finally spoke.
“I daenae ken,” Isla said, as she sank back into her bed. “I fear yer brother might be hurt. I fear to think that he might be dead.”
“Then we must find him. He is my brother, my blood. I need to ken that he is alive,” Logan said, puffing out his chest like his father before him.
“We cannae go in search of him. If the men find out that Naomhan is in Scotland, they would hunt him down like a rabid dog. There is still a bounty on his head and even ye cannae save him. We need someone discreet to seek out yer brother,” Isla told her son.
“What about Stephen? He is loyal to the family and loved me brother as much as I did,” Logan asked her.
“Nay, nay, we cannae trust Stephen. This is a family matter. If Naomhan is alive, he will come to us,” she knew deep in her bones, as a mother would.
“But he would be given to the Queen if he comes through the gate,” Logan reasoned.
“There is a passageway that runs beneath the castle walls. Yer brother knows this,” Isla said in a whisper. Logan had not known of the secret passageway until that moment.
“I shall wait at the door for him tonight and till the morning. If he does nae come, then we might fear the worst,” Isla said the words, even though she did not want to believe. The only thing holding her back from crying was the resolve in Logan’s eyes.
“I ken me brother. It will take more to kill him,” Logan declared confidently.
Isla and Logan sat inside the abandoned room at the end of the secret passageway all night waiting for Naomhan to come through the door. He did not.
Theodora started the ride in the twilight of the morning. It pleased her greatly that Naomhan was angry at not being able to ride his horse himself with his arms and wounds still fresh.
“Hold on tight to me lest you fall and break more bones,” Theodora told him and he hissed.
“You should not be enjoying this so much,” he told her, knowing she would laugh. She did. She was a free spirit and his ego was a small price to pay to see her smile so much again.
Naomhan kept them off the major road paths. They did a tedious climb up a hill before they came within view of the estate. He had them leave the horse and go on foot around the walls until they came to the back. There was a secret wooden door in the ground, beneath a patch of grass. Together, they lifted it to reveal old stone steps that led under the ground.
“I do not like the look of this. Anything could be down there,” Theodora said, as she stared down the dark steps.
Naomhan pulled out his sword and handed it to her.
“You said you were going to protect me, so here is your chance to prove your words, milady,” Naomhan teased her. Theodora took the sword from his hand as he led the way down the stone steps. She followed in his wake and took a deep breath of confidence before she closed the door behind them, plunging them both into complete darkness.
“Just follow the walls,” he told her. Theodora followed with one hand firmly holding his sword while her other rested on Naomhan’s shoulder for navigation.
Time was a faint concept down there along the dark underground tunnel. There was no light to tell how much time had passed. They just kept walking, with Naomhan talking nonstop so Theodora could feel calm. He had purposely not mentioned anything about the passage beforehand lest she had built up a fear of the narrow tunnel.
“The first time I saw you, I did not know what to think. You were so beautiful. You were nex
t to Colt and he was my friend then. I tried to hide my face,” Naomhan talked.
“But I could see your face. It was a miracle that neither Father Damian nor Colt saw it,” she replied. Naomhan smiled. He could sense the smile on her face, also. How he wished he could turn around and feel her face but they had to get out of the tunnel fast.
“What did you think when you first saw me?” he asked her. Theodora hummed for a while before answering, as they made their way further down the tunnel.
“I thought you looked good but that was it,” she said nonchalantly.
“Oh,” Naomhan said, with obvious disappointment. He had no idea that she was teasing him. He spoke no further through the rest of their way before they started to head upwards.
“Naomhan,” she called his name but he gave her no answer. She tapped his shoulder but he did not respond before he suddenly moved out of her reach.
“Naomhan,” she called his name again before she started to search for him with her hands. “Naomhan,” she called again as she began to panic.
“I am here, I just need to—” he spoke and she almost leaped in glee.
“I am sorry about what I said. I fell in love with you the very first time I saw you at the church. I dreamt about you so frequently that it made me scared,” she spoke over his words, trying to get her apology across.
“I know,” he said, before she heard the door creak and light burst into the tunnel, blinding the both of them. There was a young man and a woman standing behind the door.
“Naomhan,” they both shouted as they leapt onto him. Theodora knew then that they were her in-laws, Naomhan’s family.
When the crying and muffled words were over, they let go of Naomhan. Naomhan was left feeling sore from his wounds.
“I am sorry, I didnae think of yer wounds. Let me see,” Isla said to Naomhan, who pulled up his shirt reluctantly. She regarded it a moment as her eyes welled with tears. She cupped Naomhan’s face in her hands and pulled his face down to her so she could kiss him on the forehead.
Logan seemed like the only one of the two to take notice of her presence, but his grey eyes soon went back to his brother. He hugged Naomhan again, despite the white cloth wound around his belly.
“I missed ye, Brother. I feared that ye might never return to us,” Logan said to his elder sibling. Isla could not contain her joy as she watched her sons together again. She cried. Theodora, who was still a stranger to the family, wanted to walk up and hold Isla, but she did not want to get ahead of herself.
“Well, I made it. Nay one will keep me from me home. I am sorry that it took me two years to understand this,” Naomhan told his brother. The brothers held each other a little more before they pulled away from one another.
Naomhan regarded his younger brother. He had grown taller since the last time that he had been around and he was almost as tall as Naomhan. However, the most different thing about his brother was his eyes. His eyes were more mature, with a darker hue that came with the responsibility of adulthood.
“Me Laird,” Naomhan called his brother. Logan laughed it off.
“Daenae kid me. Ye are back and are the rightful Laird,” Logan said. There was no malice between them and that gladdened Isla. She came to her two sons and urged them to go up into another room to speak more.
Naomhan reached out his hand to Theodora and she put her hand in his. Her free hand rubbed her arm in timidity as she came into their midst.
“Forgive me, I was overjoyed to see me son. Ye must forgive me. Who might ye be?” Isla asked her, as Theodora drew closer to them.
“Mother, Logan, I want ye both to meet Theodora. She is the woman who has me heart,” Naomhan introduced his lover to his family.
Theodora did not know how to feel. Her face hurt as she could not stop smiling. It seemed the safest expression and the only one that made sense at that moment. Though Naomhan had not thought much on it, she had wondered what would have happened if his family had not taken a liking to her.
Logan seemed to have already taken a liking to her. He extended his hand to her and shook her hand. He was never going to be a problem, Theodora knew. All her life, men had always taken a liking to her. They had always fallen for her quite easily. Naomhan’s mother was one she feared might be harder to make an impression on.
Isla smiled at her before turning back to her sons.
“We shall come to know one another better. For now, I wish to speak to me sons. Ye can make yerself comfortable. Ye are Naomhan’s guest, thus ye are our guest also. I shall have a maid show ye to yer room,” Isla said to Theodora as she led the way out of the room.
Theodora looked up to Naomhan as they followed his mother. She had expected him to suggest his room but she knew he was being respectful of his mother and their customs. She was not wedded to him yet. The rigidity of their situation made her long for the high roads when they simply rode, stopped at inns, and made love to one another.
She was handed over to one of the maids who took her to a separate room as she watched Naomhan leave her side with his family. She waited by the door into the chamber, waiting for him to look back at her, but he didn’t. Was she losing him?
33
No one was allowed in or out of the estate. Those outside could not tell the reason for the lockdown but it was Isla’s precautionary instructions to keep Naomhan’s presence a secret. Though her trusted servants knew about Naomhan’s arrival, they tried to isolate him from the rest.
Isla, Logan, and Naomhan all sat in the Council Chamber. Naomhan walked across the large room, tracing the runes in the wooden tables with his fingers.
“It is yers,” Logan said to Naomhan. Naomhan only smiled. He realized how much he had forgotten since he had left for England. The walls of the room felt different, as did the feel of the tables.
“I need to prove me innocence first. Nay one would allow a fugitive to lead them, nay one,” Naomhan told his brother.
“What did ye do in England, apart from finding a lass?” Isla asked him. Naomhan could not help the smile that lit up his face at the mention of Theodora.
“I became a deacon in a church in a small town. I became Naomhan McDonald to protect meself as I stayed there so nay one would ken who I was.” Isla’s face fell as Naomhan spoke of changing his name. “There I served for two years before I found her, Theodora,” Naomhan narrated his tale before he was interrupted by his mother.
“Ye didnae have to change yer name. I am sorry we failed ye. Yer faither and I should have thought of somethin’ else. We could have faced the Queen,” Isla said. Her eyes were red with pain and Logan put his hands on her shoulder to quell her sorrow.
“What matters is that ye are here now. We need to find a way to prove yer innocence to the people and the Queen. The question is, if we have a plan to go about this. We need to start gatherin’ support in the Queen’s council,” Logan tried to change the atmosphere of the room.
Both Naomhan and Isla agreed that plan was way too dangerous.
“Stephen is always the one with plans,” Naomhan thought out loud. Logan looked to his mother, knowing her great distrust of their cousin.
“Where is Stephen? I haven’ae seen him in years,” Naomhan finally turned the question to his family.
“I daenae understand this. Donald tried to kill ye and ye think Stephen has nothin’ to dae with it?” Isla asked Naomhan. She had expected an ignorant look on Naomhan’s face but his face only narrowed in thought.
“The thought had indeed crossed me mind but I daenae want to think that. We could be wrong,” Naomhan replied, looking to Logan for support. As he remembered, Logan kept to the fence between them; his loyalty shared between the both of them. Naomhan could not help scoffing.
“What is funny to ye?” Isla asked with a bit of anger.
“I am sorry, Mother. A lot of things haven’ae changed around here. It is good to be home,” he apologized. His mother’s expression softened at the words.
“We have to prove yer innocence if
ye want to stay home. Dae ye plan to stay home with yer family?” Isla asked him.
“I am a Grant, Mother,” Naomhan replied. It was the only answer needed.
“Then when the morrow comes, we ride out to the homes of the men who accused ye of treason. With some luck, we might be able to convince them to speak the truth,” Isla offered and both men agreed.
“We shall ride out tomorrow. For now, let’s go see yer room. I kept yer room the same as ye left it, though I stayed there a while before Mother forced me back to mine,” Logan jumped over to his brother’s side since all the heavy talk was done.
Under a Highlander's Spell: A Steamy Scottish Historical Romance Novel Page 21