Lightly, she tip-toed out from behind the tapestry and retraced her steps back to the small door.
"No," she whispered. The door had closed. She pulled on it, hard. It didn't budge. Knocking on it would make too much noise. Edith tried again and again, but it wouldn't open. She now had no choice but to go down the corridor and find the re-enactment guards. But that was a risk because they could have fun with her by throwing her in the jail cell as well, then she would be locked up with Gabriel.
Edith turned back to the corridor and quietly walked down it, not knowing that everything was about to change.
Chapter 3
It was quiet and Edith's body was shaking. She didn't know if Gabriel had escaped his fake captors and was now looking for her again. However, she needed to risk it, she had no other choice. She wished that she had researched the castle a little more, not necessarily the history, but the modern tours and reenactments. Then she would be more prepared.
But when Edith set out on her honeymoon, she wasn't thinking about where they would go or what they would do, only that she was completely and utterly in love with this man who had charmed her and made her feel special. She didn't care where they went or what they did as long as she was with him. Now, she realized that she had made a big mistake.
Why didn't she see all the flags before? At only twenty, she didn't have a lot of relationship experience underneath her belt and she just thought that this man was her dream man and too good to be true therefore she didn't want to lose him and pass up the opportunity to be with him. Because of all of this, she didn't realize that he had slowly separated her from her family and friends over time, and now she was alone.
But she had to pull herself together, she needed to get back to those who made her feel safe. Dealing with Gabriel, her new husband who had suddenly turned into a monster, was completely new to her. Edith wasn't used to being on her own and having to figure things out. She avoided conflict at all cost, it made her uncomfortable. Her friend Michelle would say that she was too nice, but Edith considered herself too soft to fight back.
Now that she found herself on her own trying to figure out what was going on with these strange tourist groups, she really had to muster her courage. Her goal was to get away from Gabriel and she needed the help of these people and that meant she had to convince them.
A crackling sound caught her attention. She looked up at the gray stone walls and the torch leaning out from it. The fire crackled in the oil burning at the tip. This time she really looked around at her surroundings.
"This is all so very strange," she whispered.
There was something very different about this side of the castle. The castle ruins that they had entered were dilapidated, full of cobwebs and the walls were thick with black soot. But on this side, it was almost as if the stones underneath her feet and along the walls had been scrubbed fairly recently. There was a warmth to the corridor and a very fragrant smell. It did not smell good at all, very pungent. strange sounds echoed down off of the walls and she couldn't tell if they were footsteps or voices.
Looking up at the ceiling, it was arched over her head all the way down, with only torches lighting the way making it impossible for her to see the very end of the walkway. But all of this had to be some sort of trick, it just had to be. It was like being in Las Vegas. That must be it.
This must be like the restaurant and dinner entertainment theater called medieval times, for there was no other explanation for the actors who had taken Gabriel and the way this side of the castle looked. Again, if she would have researched the castle, she would know more about the opportunities available to the tourists. Now all she had to do was find them and figure out how to get on a bus back to town that would take her to the nearest airport so she could leave the country.
Voices echoed down the corridor. They were soft voices and she grew a little bit panicked and hid inside of a nook on the wall, an alcove. The voices grew louder, and she peeked getting a look at two women in full costume. They wore plaid colors, very full skirts that ballooned out around them and tunic shirts. Edith thought they did a very good job at making their costumes look very period accurate and worn. They even spoke in the thickest accent she had ever heard, and the language was not Scottish or English. She had never heard it in her life, but it was thick and hearty. German perhaps?
Seeing that the two women were alone, she watched as they passed and walk down another corridor disappearing. Edith's heart began to be rapidly. What was she doing? That was her chance to get help. They were women after all, and she had nothing to be scared of. If Gabriel were looking for her, he would be shouting for her. Edith stepped out of the nook and began to walk toward the corridor following the women, but as she turned the corner, she walked directly into something very hard and strong.
"What's this?" a deep voice with a thick Scottish accent said.
Edith looked up and into the eyes of a strong man who towered over her. A big man with blond hair and blue-gray eyes. He had a powerful build, lean and strong with broad shoulders. Looking at him took her breath away for a moment. She had never laid eyes on someone so attractive before.
"Uh… uh," she said trying to find her words.
"What is this? Who are you, lass?" he said.
Edith sucked in a sharp breath of air. His accent made her knees weak. His manly scent was drawing her to him and for a moment she forgot all about her predicament as she looked into those deep blue eyes with a hint of gray in them. It had been a long time since she truly looked at a man, but perhaps that was because she had not seen a man such as this before. He looked like a warrior.
"I said who are you?" he said sternly breaking her out of her lust daze.
She could not be thrown into the jail cell by this actor and directly into the hands of Gabriel. She turned to flee.
"Wait, right there, lass," the voice said. A strong hand wrapped around her wrist and turned her to face the handsome man again.
"Please don't. I can't be taken to the jail. He'll hurt me. I need to get away from him, don't you see?" she said.
The man looked at her up and down. Edith was confused. He looked at her with a hungry bedroom look. That was not appropriate for a re-enactor and she would have to have a word with his manager at some point, but now she needed to get away.
"Your clothing… this is not of our time," he said.
"What? My clothes?"
"Where did you come from?" he said in a more stern voice. His grip tightened around her wrist.
"Stop you're hurting me," she said. "Let me go. I need to get away from my husband. I don't have time to play in your renaissance faire or whatever this is." She wiggled trying to get free.
"Renaissance what? Your clothes are not of this time. Not again. I will ask you one more time and you will answer me, lass. Where did you come from? How did you get down here?"
Edith watched as his thick brows furrowed together. She had enough of brawny men overpowering her. Edith did the only thing she could do, kicked the man right where she knew it would hurt.
"Argh!" he groaned.
It worked. He let his hold of her loosen and Edith turned and ran from him, but she did not get far.
In no time a large arm wrapped around her waist and she felt the man's strong body against her backside.
"Stop struggling. I'm trying to help you. You have obviously come through the time door into the past."
"Let me go!" she shouted.
"No. This is for your own good. I cannot have you causing havoc in the castle of my Laird. You have no idea where you are, do you?"
"I'm at the castle ruins and I need to get away from my husband," she wrestled and punched his arm.
"Did you come through the small door? You did, didn't you, lass?" he said.
Edith stopped kicking.
"Yes…"
"It's a time portal. You have travelled back in time," he said.
"What? That's enough of your games. Stop. I will speak to your manager about th
is," she said, but as she shouted and used all her breath and his arm tightened around her waist, everything went black.
Chapter 4
Bran MacLeod, the tanist to his cousin, Laird Cameron MacLeod, came around the corner in haste. He had received word that his guards had captured a strange intruder down in the dungeons near the catacombs. He took this very seriously of course as the clan was always at odds with other clans of the Highlands and any assassin could be sent to kill his cousin the Laird. It was his job to oversee and advise his cousin in all matters, and this matter warranted his attention immediately. If this strange intruder was indeed an assassin, then it could mean they were on the brink of war.
Therefore, he moved quickly through the halls, making his way toward the prison cells where the strange intruder was being kept under guard. But he was not expecting to turn the corner and have a wee lass run straight into his chest. She bounced off of him, and he wondered immediately why the guards had allowed a castle servant down in the dungeons when they were under such a threat. It was not unusual for female servants to be down in the lower parts, as those areas did need to be tended to and food needed to be brought to the guards to give to the prisoners. But when they were under threat, everything went into lockdown and no one was allowed except for guards.
He was ready to scold the woman, but as soon as she took a step backward, he looked down into the face of a woman that was not familiar at all. The petite redhead with a long braid going down her shoulder, looked at him with bright blue eyes filled with fear. Her pink lips trembled, and Bran immediately felt a stirring within him. It took him but a moment to get back to his normal state and look at the woman fully. She was wearing clothes that were not like anything that the women of his clan wore or any clan. In fact, it reminded him of the clothing that the wife of the Laird wore when she first arrived. She of course had come from someplace far away and wore the clothing of that time. This woman seemed to be wearing the same type of clothing and he immediately felt annoyed by the matter that there could be some sort of portal to allow intruders in that he had no control over. He needed to have control, for that was the only way he could truly protect his cousin the Laird.
But after explaining to the woman that she had traveled to a different time, she had over exerted herself struggling against his arm around her waist. He was only trying to calm her down and tell her what had transpired, but instead she exhausted herself to the point of fainting. Now the pretty, small woman was limp in his arms.
"Enough of this, I have too much to do to deal with feisty women coming from another time," Bran said annoyed as he picked her up, cradling her small, light body in his arms. As he did so he look down at the woman seeing just how beautiful she was. The torch light bounced off her porcelain skin. Her pink lips were parted slightly, and he suddenly had an urge to kiss her. No, he could not. He needed to take her to the wife of the Laird. She would know what to do. Lady MacLeod had endured something similar herself and in truth Bran had no time to deal with the fussiness of a woman from a modern time.
Bran made his way up the stairs of the castle, to the wing of bedrooms that were there to accommodate visiting guests. This way he could keep watch over this intruder. He opened the door to a vacant room and set her on the bed. Then he locked the door behind him, locking her in. He couldn't have her wandering the castle without knowing who she was and where she had come from. He made his way down to the grand hall where he had just been before the guards warned him about the intruder. The Laird and Lady MacLeod were receiving an audience with their rural country constituents, bringing them mild conflicts to be solved by the Laird. Such conflicts were minor and sometimes ridiculous, such as a farmer arguing that his ducks had wandered over to a neighboring farm and did not return and was owed the cost of those ducks.
Bran made his way to Cameron's side and whispered in his ear, "I believe another has come through, perhaps two just as Lady MacLeod did through the door. I need a word with you and the lady."
Cameron looked at him, and then looked at his wife Maria MacLeod. Cameron whispered in her ear, and she turned to face Bran with shock in her eyes. Cameron stood up and made an announcement.
"My people, please excuse me as a very urgent matter has come to my attention. I shall return in one hour's time, and in order to make your wait more enjoyable, I will have meat and bread entrees brought out for all."
An agreeable rumble of appeasement at the offer of Castle MacLeod's mead and fresh baked bread made the crowd placated, instead of being annoyed or angry at the longer wait to speak with the Laird.
Bran followed his cousin and his wife out of the main hall down the corridor to the private room of the Laird where he did his dealings. Bran close the door behind them.
"What is the meaning of it? Is what you say true?" Cameron asked.
"Could it really be? Does this mean that the door is open again?" Maria said.
Her husband gave her inquisitive look and Bran knew that his cousin was always nervous that his wife would return back to her Modern Times.
"I came straight to you and did not check the door. At first the guards warned me of an intruder downstairs, but as I was making my way I ran into another young female, wearing clothes the same as you wore when you arrived my Lady. The Fiasco was too much for her and she fainted. She is now locked in a bedroom in the East Wing. I came to you straight away so that we together can deal with this."
"There are two intruders?" Cameron asked.
"It seems so. Possibly more. My guards have a male intruder locked in the prison cells and is being guarded. Then there is this female, she mentioned something about getting away from her husband, so I assume that is who is in the prison cells. But we cannot be too careful. We should not go to either of them without a set of guards with us. Either of them could be an assassin," Bran said.
Cameron grinned and looked at Maria. "I doubt that either of them are if they are from the time of Maria, just very confused."
" Even in an act of confusion, they could be dangerous. If they feel that we are going to harm them, then they might harm us trying to escape. Therefore, we will not go unless we have guards with us, that is my advice to you, cousin. You did make me tanist after all in order to do such a thing."
"Fine cousin, as you say. Let us go and speak to the woman first," Cameron said as he held out his hand to his wife.
Maria took his hand and smiled at him. "I do wonder if the woman is from my time, or possibly another time. I am anxious to speak with her."
Together they all walked out of the room into the corridor where Bran shouted for two guards to join them. He was much more cautious than his cousin. As the cousin of the Laird and his Tanist, Bran was a seasoned warrior who took his responsibilities seriously. He was both brave and loyal to his clan, though he has some trouble wrapping his head around the doorway's power that Maria had come through. A part of him still did not believe that it was possible.
But Bran's wariness and experience balanced his cousin's adventurous spirit and occasional impulsiveness. That was why Cameron had made him Tanist to begin with. He needed someone to fill in the gaps he lacked, and Bran was his opposite in almost all things except loyalty. That was a quality they both possessed.
As far as physical features, the two cousins had the same coloring, but Bran was leaner than his cousin, with cropped short hair and usually wore a cap.
They made their way to the east wing where Bran unlocked the door. The small woman was sitting on the bed with eyes wide. She backed away into the corner immediately.
"I already told you I don't want to take part in your renaissance play reenactment. Why bring me to a bedroom? Is this some sort of orgy renaissance... thing? I don't want any part of it. Now I must speak with your manager or tour guide. I need to be on one of the buses back to town. I cannot let my husband find me," the redhead said standing up.
Bran noticed that her small hands clenched into fists at her side, she was angry and had some fierceness to her.
He liked that, he liked it a little too much.
Chapter 5
Edith ran down the dark corridors. She pulled on a door and a skeleton popped out at her causing her to scream. It was old and dusty with old cloth rags hanging from it. She continued running but wasn't able to get to where she was going. Then the scenery around her change from a dark stone corridor to the beach. But it was not just any beach, it was a rocky cliffside that had a sharp drop several feet down to the water. The white foam of the waves crashing on the rocks seemed very angry. As though they were coming for her, it grew louder and louder until a very large wave came and washed over her, pulling her out to sea. With that noise, Edith awoke from the nightmare she was having.
Edith opened her eyes, stirring awake. The sound of the ocean was still very loud, and she wondered if she was still in the dream, but the ocean was so clear. Even the sound of squawking seagulls could be heard. Where am I?
Quickly she sat up in bed, assuming that Gabriel was lying next to her or staring at her but he wasn't. She shook her head allowing her memory to come back to her. It only took a moment for her to remember her strange ordeal. She was at the castle ruins and involved in some sort of reenactment play, or a very extensive nightmare that she could not wake up from. The waves she heard were real waves crashing against the island cliffs.
She looked around the room, realizing how authentic it all looked. It didn't look like a cheesy reenactment decorations like you would see at Medieval Times or in Las Vegas. This looked very real, like stuff that should be in a museum. Even the blanket underneath her was finely woven in beautiful colors.
Edith suddenly remembered the man that had come across her in the corridor. She remembered blue gray eyes looking at her. Tufts of short blond hair had stuck out from underneath a plaid cap. He wore Scottish regalia unlike any she had ever seen. He wore the standard plaid kilt around his waist that moved up across his chest in a diagonal line all tied together with a belt that had various purses hanging from it. She remembered seeing stockings up to his knees, and not much else because she wanted to get away from him. But he seemed so regally dressed that it was confusing, the costume designer for this strange renaissance faire was quite good, she thought.
Kiss A Highlander: A Scottish Time Travel Romance (A Highlander Across Time Book 2) Page 2