Highland Defender

by Kathryn Le Veque

  Laird Currie sighed heavily and shook his head. “My dear, Colly did what she had tae do in order to strike fear intae everyone around ye,” he said. “She raised ye, so I understand yer loyalty tae her, but she was a selfish hag who wanted nothing more than tae control everyone around ye. And she succeeded.”

  Seeing that the tide of judgment had turned against her, Lady Currie lashed out. “Lucia killed her,” she said. “I want justice for Colly and I shall have it!”

  “Not here,” Laird Currie said, surprisingly firm. “Lucia is gone from this place. Her freedom has been purchased so she has left Meadowbank for good, and ye’ll forget about any justice for Colly. It seems that Lucia is the one who delivered justice for everyone here at Meadowbank by doing away with the woman. Now bury the old cow and be done with it. I willna hear anything more about it.”

  Lady Currie could hardly believe her ears. “But what about Bane?” she demanded. “I paid sixty pounds for the man and—”

  “And I have the money back,” Laird Currie cut her off. “Clegg returned it tae me and Bane has his freedom. We’re old friends, Clegg and I. It seems that he doesna like ye very much. Ye go tae the Cal every night like a dog in heat and shame yer husband, and he’s had enough. So have I. From now on, ye’ll keep tae yer chambers. Ye’ll have an escort whenever ye leave the manse, and ye’ll never go tae the Cal again.”

  “But—!”

  “Ye’ll be a good and proper wife and stay home where ye belong,” he continued, to shut her up. “If ye dunna obey me, I’ll lock ye up and throw away the key. I’ve had enough of yer behavior, my dear. Yer days of doing as ye please are finished, and if we have a son, it’ll be from my loins, as it should be. Is this in any way unclear?”

  Lady Currie looked as if her husband had physically struck her. She stared at him, wide-eyed and pale, wanting very badly to respond but knowing she hadn’t the grounds to do it. Greer Currie had finally called her out for her horrific behavior, and there wasn’t a priest, bishop, magistrate, or king in the land that would side with her.

  And she knew it.

  The reign of Lady Currie was over.

  “You cannot cage me,” she finally hissed. “You cannot do that to me!”

  Laird Currie eyed her pointedly. “I am yer husband and I can do as I wish,” he said. “Now go back tae yer chamber and stay there. If I want ye, I’ll send for ye. Otherwise, stay there and behave yerself because if ye dunna, my wrath will be swift.”

  Sniffling, embarrassed, and horrified, Lady Currie glared at the man as she turned for the stairs that led to the upper floor. She didn’t dare argue with him, but Laird Currie knew it was only a matter of time before she tried.

  And she would try.

  Of that, he had little doubt.

  He watched her as she headed up the stairs, followed by her shocked servants. When he caught sight of Amy bringing up the rear, he called to her.

  “Amy,” he said quietly. “Come here.”

  Amy did, trotting over to him. He eyed her for a moment.

  “Do ye like working for my wife?” he asked.

  Amy hesitated before finally shaking her head. “If there was something else I could do here at Meadowbank, m’laird, I would do it.”

  “There is,” he said. “Ye can serve me. I’ve had no one since yer husband and Colm Symington left me. Would ye dust my solar and bring me hot wine when I ask?”

  Amy beamed. “I would, m’laird,” she said. “I have a son—Robert’s son—who would be very good in service tae ye, as well. He would be very happy tae.”

  “Good,” Laird Currie said, turning back for his solar. “Bring the little lad, too. Ye can both serve me. Does the lad play chess?”

  Amy shook her head. “Nay, but he’s very bright, m’laird,” she said. “Ye can teach him.”

  Laird Currie paused, a smile on his lips. “I’d like that.”

  “I think he would, too, m’laird.”

  As it turned out, Tynan beat Laird Currie with his very first game.

  The old man couldn’t have been happier.

  Part Four

  Hominibus Gloria

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Falkirk

  It was very late and Aethon, for all his spirit, had tired quickly. He was a hot and sweaty mess, snorting his exhaustion as Bane and Lucia rode into the small village of Falkirk. It had been a long ride and the horse was understandably spent.

  After her strenuous day, Lucia had fallen asleep against Bane’s back. He could feel her, limp and boneless, as they rode along. Both of her arms were around his waist and he held her hands at his belly to keep her from falling off, but when they stopped at a livery on the edge of town, he finally had to wake her. She groaned.

  “My arms,” she muttered. “They feel as if a thousand pins are sticking them.”

  He grinned as he dismounted the horse, pulling her off behind him. Her satchel fell to the earth because it had been on her lap, held between them as they’d ridden along, and she bent over to pick it up as she shook out her arms.

  “Did ye sleep well?” he asked as he handed the exhausted horse over to the livery owner. “The horse isna exactly smooth in its gait.”

  Lucia clutched her satchel to her, covering her mouth as she yawned. “I never felt it,” she said. “I suppose I was too weary tae care.”

  He reached out, taking her by the elbow. “Just a little while longer, and I’ll find ye a good bed for the night.”

  He took her out into the crisp night. There were torches lit throughout the town, and the smell of cooking fires was heavy in the air.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  He pointed straight ahead. “Tae the church,” he said. “That’s St. Andrew’s. When I came down from the Highlands, I passed through this very town, so I knew the church was here. I’m going tae marry ye.”

  She looked at him in surprise. “Now?”

  “Now. Unless ye have any objection.”

  Lucia shook her head, unable to keep the smile off her face. “Nay,” she said. “I…I suppose with everything that’s happened, I’d nearly forgotten.”

  “I havena.”

  She giggled. Taking her hand, Bane led her down the darkened street, heading for the small parish of St. Andrew’s. To their right, a broad but short avenue ended in a two-storied tavern. Beams of light emitted from the windows, and they could hear the soft hum of laughter and conversation. But they continued on until they came to the church, which was mostly dark at this hour. Only a few torches among the arches gave forth light into the night.

  Bane rapped on the church door.

  “Do ye suppose the priests will marry us at this hour?” Lucia whispered.

  “Why not?” Bane said. “I have money with me. I’ll pay them well.”

  “Ye do? Where did ye get it from?”

  “It’s the purse I earned at the Cal. That was the only money I dinna give tae Laird Currie because I knew we would need it.”

  The mention of Laird Currie brought back the horrors of the day at Meadowbank, something Lucia was trying desperately to forget. Her mood sank, no matter how hard she tried to fight it.

  “Do ye think Laird Currie will send his men after me?” she asked. “Bane, I wouldna have killed the woman if I’d had another choice, but she came at me and I knew she meant tae kill me.”

  He could see her distress and he pulled her into his strong embrace. “Ye did what ye had tae do. Ye mustna feel guilty for that.”

  “She attacked me!”

  “I know, my angel.”

  Lucia drew strength from his arms, feeling his power around her. Nothing in the world had ever made her feel so safe. “Do ye think we’ve been followed?”

  Bane released her, cupping her face in his big hands. “I dunna think Laird Currie would send anyone after us,” he said. “He
knows Colly beat ye. He knows what the woman was capable of. I’m sure he knows ye were only defending yerself.”

  “Do ye really think so?”

  “I do.”

  That comforted Lucia immensely but she was still sad, still fearful. She smiled weakly at him just as the door to the church lurched open and a man in rumpled woolen robes stood there, candle in hand as he looked at the pair curiously. Bane immediately dropped his hands from Lucia.

  “We’ve come tae see the priest about a marriage,” he said. “We wish tae be married.”

  The priest yawned. “Now?”

  “Now.”

  “Can ye not come back on the morrow?”

  “We canna. We must be married tonight, if ye please.”

  The man looked back and forth between them. He studied Lucia for a moment, frowning. “Why is the lady distressed?”

  Bane looked at Lucia, whose expression of sadness and fear hadn’t yet left her. Realizing that, she smiled brightly at the priest.

  “She’s not distressed,” Bane said, pointing to her smile and offering his own. “See? Neither one of us is distressed.”

  The priest was still looking at Lucia. “Is he forcing ye tae marry him, lass?”

  Lucia shook her head firmly. “Not at all. I want tae marry him, Father. I swear it.”

  “Where’s yer family?”

  “Dead.”

  As the priest debated about the odd situation, Bane took out his leather purse and planted two silver coins into the priest’s hand.

  “There,” he said. “Now will ye marry us?”

  The priest looked at the money, at Bane, and then motioned for them to wait at the door of the church. As Bane and Lucia stood there, looking at each other curiously, the priest returned with a pair of sleepy acolytes, and right there at the door of the church, Bane and Lucia were married by a priest who spoke the blessing quickly so he could return to his bed. It wasn’t much, but it was what they’d asked for.

  Lucia didn’t remember much of the blessing itself. All she remembered was the look in Bane’s eyes as he gazed at her. It was full of joy and warmth and love. All of those things flowed in and around her, filling her veins with something more than she could have ever imagined. But the one thing she felt more than anything else was hope—

  Ye give me hope, Lucia. Hope that life can be good again.

  For them, it finally was.

  * * *

  The busy, noisy tavern on the dead-end avenue was called the Copper Kelpie, and it was filled to the rafters with people on this cold night.

  Bane wouldn’t have cared so much if it was only him. He could have found a warm corner to sleep in. But he had his wife with him, and he would do everything in his power to secure a bed for her for the night.

  He wasn’t beyond playing on sympathy for it.

  The tavernkeep was a big man with an eye missing who listened to Bane tell a story of his rushed wedding and how all his wife wanted in the entire world was a bed and a fire for the night. Fortunately for Bane, the man’s wife overheard him and she offered them the only chamber they had left, which was a small attic room where the servants slept.

  Bane took it, and happily so.

  He and Lucia retreated to the chamber, which was up a tiny flight of stairs. It amounted to nothing more than a dusty little room with a small window, a brazier of hot coals to stave off the chill, and two beds that were hardly big enough for children to sleep in. While Bane went downstairs to commandeer a meal, Lucia dragged the mattresses from both beds onto the floor next to the brazier so they could sleep next to the heat. By the time he returned with a full tray, she was sitting on the mattresses, waiting for him.

  “What’s this?” he asked. “Why are we on the floor?”

  Lucia pointed to the timber-and-rope bed frames shoved up against the wall. “Because ye canna fit in those,” she said. “Besides…I want tae sleep next tae ye. ’Tis my right now, after all.”

  He grinned as he sat down on the floor, putting the tray on the mattresses. “Good thinking, Lady Morgan,” he said. Then he paused, looking at her with an expression that relayed a heart that was full to bursting. “God, that sounds like music tae my ears. Lady Morgan. I never thought words could sound so sweet.”

  Lucia flushed, smiling bashfully. “Ye must say it every day, several times a day. I want tae hear it as much as possible.”

  He laughed softly, taking her hand and lifting it for a tender kiss. “I promise I will,” he said. Then he lowered her hand and focused on the tray, handing her a full cup of warm wine. “I’ve paid for a good deal of food. I hope ye’re hungry.”

  Lucia was. She sat in front of the tray, cross-legged, inspecting the contents. “It looks like some kind of pies?”

  Bane pointed. “An eel tart, stuffed eggs, bread, butter, and stewed apples.”

  Lucia jumped in. The tart was delicious, as were the eggs, and she and Bane ate heartily as he spoke about the friends he’d left behind at the Ludus Caledonia and how he planned to return as soon as he could.

  All the while, Lucia listened with a smile on her lips.

  “For a place ye’d never heard of before, it has certainly become important tae ye,” she said. “Ye speak about it as if ye’ve been there most of yer life.”

  He conceded the point. “I went there tae earn money tae pay for yer freedom, but I found much more than that.”

  “Friends?”

  He nodded. “Mostly,” he said. “Even the one they call the Eagle. His real name is Magnus, and even he has become something of a friendly acquaintance. But it’s more than that… When I went there, I told Lor that I was hoping tae find myself again.”

  “What do ye mean?”

  “I mean the man I lost when I killed those lads near Jedburgh,” he said quietly. “That man was confident and courageous and reckless. Afterward, he was crippled with guilt for what he’d done, and he lost everything he thought he was.”

  “And did he find himself again?”

  He nodded. “I think so,” he said pensively. “I feel as if I’m on the right path. This journey north is part of it.”

  “Oh?”

  He nodded, slowing his movements as he thought on what the future would hold. “We’re going home tae the village of Ledmore, where my family has lived for generations. I’m going home tae face my father, which is something I should have done in the beginning. I know that now.”

  Lucia was listening intently. “But ye did face him after that terrible event,” she said. “Ye said that he sent ye home.”

  Bane grunted softly. “He sent me home because I refused tae admit that I’d been wrong, Lucia,” he said frankly. “I was convinced I’d been right, and given that I couldna see my own faults, my da had no choice but tae send me home so I wouldna get myself killed. He did right. I want tae tell him that.”

  He was more at ease speaking on his father than Lucia had ever seen him. She leaned forward, eyes glimmering.

  “Tell me about yer da,” she asked softly.

  Bane smiled as memories came flooding back to him about a man he’d not remembered in some time. “Arch Morgan is his name,” he said. “Arch is short for Archer, my grandmother’s family name. He’s a big man, like me. In fact, people say we look just alike, but the way we behave—that’s where the lines are drawn.”

  “What do ye mean?”

  “My da is much more deliberate in his decisions,” he said. “He thinks things through. I dunna. I charge in, and by the grace of God, I’ve not gotten myself killed. My da never understood that in me, although I know he told others that I would grow out of that impulsive behavior.”

  “Have ye?”

  He looked at her, chuckling. “A little,” he said. “I still charge in. I’m a man of action and I always will be.”

  “Will ye tell yer da that when ye see h
im?”

  Bane’s smile faded. “Not at first,” he said. “At first, I’ll tell him I love him. Then I’ll tell him the rest.”

  “When will ye tell him about me?”

  He reached out, pulling her over onto his lap with one hand and pushing the food tray out of the way with the other.

  “Right away,” he said, wrapping his muscular arms around her. “I never had any brothers or sisters, so I’m sure my da will be very happy tae know I’ve married well.”

  “Well?” she repeated. “Dunna tell him that. I havena a cent tae my name.”

  He hugged her, kissing her cheek. “I dinna mean money,” he said. “I meant everything else. Ye’re what my heart has been waiting for. I thought that when I first met ye, and that hasna changed. My love for ye has grown deeper every day.”

  Lucia wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him sweetly. But when he moved in for something more lusty, she stopped him. Rising from his lap, she went to bolt the door. Stirring the brazier, she moved to douse the spirit candles, two by the bed frames and another on a small table by the door. The chamber was warm and dim, shadows from the glowing coals dancing on the walls as she stood beside the two mattresses where he sat and removed her blood-speckled dress.

  It fell in a heap on the floor. In only her shift, she sat down beside him again and kissed him tenderly on the cheek. She gazed at his masculine beauty, memorizing every line of his face, and her eyes glimmered warmly as he studied her in return.

  No words passed between them. They weren’t required. When Lucia reached out to touch his neck, he closed his eyes, relishing the sensation of her warm hand. Her fingers moved upward, feeling the stubble of his face and tracing the cleft in his chin. When he reached out to touch her in return, she pushed his hands down. This was her moment. She wanted him to feel her emotions based solely on her touch.

  She wanted him to know how much she loved him.

  Bane groaned softly.

  “Ye’re going tae be the death of me, lass.”