Marti Talbott's Highlander Series 1 (Anna, Rachel & Charlet)

by Marti Talbott

  As he carried her up the stairs, she noticed some of the women had tears in their eyes. No one, except perhaps her imprisoned mother, had ever cared for her enough to cry and it puzzled her.

  Kevin carried her through the door, across the great hall, up a flight of stairs and turned down a long balcony. When he reached the last bedchamber, he took her inside, where his sister and two other women were waiting.

  He carefully lowered Anna to the bed; made sure she could sit up and then knelt down in front of her. “Katie is my sister and she will take good care of you.” Anna’s eyes were closed and he knew she had to be exhausted. “All that we have is yours for the asking. Do not hesitate.”

  She wasn‘t paying much attention to his words, but she nodded slightly anyway. All she wanted was to be left alone and it didn‘t look like that was going to happen any time soon. When she opened her good eye, he was gone.

  Kevin reached the bottom of the stairs before he began to run his fingers through his hair and take several deep breaths. When he looked down, his whole front was covered with blood. “She bled too much and she is very cold. Even my body did not warm her.”

  Thomas put a comforting hand on Kevin‘s shoulder. “It was right to bring her faster. Her bleeding will stop now.”

  “Should we give her wine?”

  “It will hurt her mouth and she will throw up again.”

  “‘Tis hard to see a lass suffer.”

  “It ’tis, at that. The people want to talk to you.”

  Kevin rubbed his brow. “I hardly know what to say.”

  “She is their mistress now and they have waited a long time for one. Just tell them she is not going to die.”

  “Do you believe it?”

  “I do. She wanted us to let her die when we found her, but she does not give in to it. She keeps herself alive.”

  Kevin ran his fingers through his hair one last time, opened the door and went out.

  “Who did this?” a man shouted.

  “We do not know, but she is strong, she will survive.”

  “Is she hurt inside?” a woman wanted to know.

  “She says nay. She needs rest and time to heal.”

  Another woman asked, “Where does she bleed?”

  Thomas answered, “You will know everything soon enough. Go home and let her rest.” They obeyed and as soon as they began to disperse, he and Kevin walked across the courtyard and headed to the loch to wash the blood off.

  They were grateful when a woman handed clean clothing to each. Keeping clean was something Kevin insisted on for all his people and for a very important reason. Should they need to hide or sneak up on an enemy, he wanted to make sure no one could smell them before they saw them.

  The loch was to the east of the keep and was normally a quiet, tranquil place. Neither man bothered to undress. They removed their shoes, walked into the loch and swam the width of it twice, not only to clean the blood, but to relieve their anger. It wasn’t helping that much and he wasn’t sure why, but Kevin found it uncomfortable being that far away from Anna. He got out, changed into the clean clothing and headed back.

  In the bedchamber, the next hour was a flurry of activity. Katie looked inside her mouth to see where the blood was coming from, saw the cut and told her not to talk. Anna was relieved to find Katie’s English was as good as her brother‘s.

  The three women cut off her clothing and bathed her. They looked as pained to do it as she felt, and soon she found herself trying to comfort them with a gentle touch and a nod. Katie applied a soothing salve to her rope burns, which helped, and Gretchen spoon fed her warm broth, so she wouldn‘t have to open her mouth much. It was all very kind of them and very, very unsettling for Anna.

  Finally, they let her lay down on her stomach. Katie was careful to cover her backside only up to her waist, and sent the others out so Anna could sleep.

  Kevin stood at the bottom of the stairs and watched as the two women came down, and then hurried off to tell the rest of the clan every detail of her condition. He waited until they closed the large front door behind them and then turned to Clymer. “Send riders to the nearest clans to tell them what has happened.” He watched Clymer leave and turned to walk up the stairs. Kevin knew once the first few were told, word would spread all across the Highlands and the message would be clear -- someone tried to kill Kevin MacGreagor’s bride and he wanted to know who.

  Katie pulled a chair up next to Anna’s bed and sat down. “It is all right to cry, you know. We are family now and I will not blame you.”

  When the door opened, Katie slipped out of the chair, and just before she left her brother alone with his wife, she touched his arm and whispered, “The bleeding has stopped; she will live.”

  He hardly knew what to say so he just watched her for a moment. Parts of her hair had been clipped so near her scalp, it was a wonder she wasn’t cut. Her eyes were closed and he thought she was asleep, so he quietly sat down in the chair and covered her hand with his. Her skin was much warmer now, but when she pulled away, he knew she was awake. “I am sorry we were not there in time to protect you.”

  She lifted her head a little. “You could not protect me.”

  “Who did this to you?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “Did you see their faces?”

  Again, she didn’t answer.

  “Tell me!” He hadn’t meant to raise his voice and when he saw her tense, he instantly regretted it. In a much softer tone, he said, “Anna, you are surrounded by lads who will give their lives to protect you. You are safe now and you need not fret.”

  “They can not protect me.”

  “Aye, but they can. You are new to the Highlands and you do not yet understand our strength. You will see; we can protect you.” He walked to the door and when he looked back, her eyes were closed.

  CHAPTER III

  All through the night, women took turns sitting by her side. Anna threw up once more, but there was no blood -- a good sign she had no internal injuries. Her mouth began to bleed again, but not badly and it soon stopped. She woke every time she tried to move and remembered to thank the women for helping her. Finally, she decided the pain was not so severe when she turned on her right side. After that, she slept a full five hours.

  When she awoke, she couldn’t figure out where she was. A man, no a god, sat in the chair beside her and she had trouble focusing on his face. The sun shone through the window behind him, his hair was golden and he was far too big to be a mortal man.

  “Did I die?” she whispered.

  Kevin smiled. “Nay.”

  “Who are you?”

  “I am your husband, do you not remember?”

  “Oh.” It seemed easier and a lot less painful to speak than it had the day before and he spoke English as well as his sister.

  Anna slowly moved her legs over the side of the bed and started to sit up before she realized she had nothing on. She quickly covered herself, but not before he noticed the dark bruise on the side of her left knee, lighter ones on her legs and a large bruise on her shoulder. “Perhaps you should stay in bed.”

  “No, I need to walk the stiffness out.” She bowed her head then and closed her eyes. “I am ashamed of my appearance and I would not blame you for refusing me.” She hoped he would.

  He changed the subject. “Who is Rachel?”

  Her head shot up. “How do you know …?”

  “You talked in your sleep.”

  “What else did I say?”

  “Answer my question first.”

  She hesitated but saw no harm in telling him. “Rachel is my little sister.”

  “I see. To answer your question, nay, you said nothing else.” He lied. In fact, he thought he knew a great deal. Some of her muttering was impossible to understand, but Rachel was in danger and Anna had to help her. Danger from whom, he did not know, nor was he certain what Anna could do about it. He was sure of one thing; he doubted Anna would tell him who hurt her until Rachel was safe. Did o
ne of the clans have her? The thought made his rage begin to build again. “Is Rachel in danger?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “Should I notify your father?”

  Anna shook her head.

  Her father must be dead, he thought. Her attackers killed her father and her guard, then beat her and took her little sister, threatening to kill Rachel if Anna told. Was that what happened? His mind was racing. If that was it, his wife was suffering a lot more than he knew. He decided to ask her another question. “Do you think Rachel is in the Highlands somewhere?”

  She shook her head and that changed his every thought. It was the English then, and that meant …”

  “Please do not question me.” She touched her short, dark hair and sighed.

  “It will grow back and your face will heal. Are you quite certain no ribs are broken? Do you hurt inside?”

  “No.” She tried again to smile and this time when she looked, she recognized him. He was the giant on the hill she nearly shot with her arrow. She’d hidden in the trees, watched him search for her and remembered his face. It was a good face and up close, he was quite handsome.

  She suddenly remembered Threcher, her beautiful black stallion and her smile faded. Before she was forced to face her father, she whispered in the horse’s ear, told him to escape and find her. Yet he was just a horse and she knew it was impossible. Her Threcher was probably dead by now anyway.

  He noticed the change in her and instinctively reached for her hand, but she jumped and pulled away. “Give me your hand, Anna.” It wasn’t a request; it was an order.

  She watched the look in his eye and when she almost believed he did not mean to hurt her, she reluctantly obeyed.

  “I give you my pledge. You are my wife and I will never hurt you. If it is the wedding night that worries you, we will not consummate this marriage until you come to me. I will sleep in the next chamber until then.” He let go of her hand and stood up. “There are at least ten lasses outside this door who want to help you. Do not deny them. 'Tis an honor to help my wife and their feelings will be hurt if you do not allow it. Is there anything you wish me to do?”

  She thought about it for a moment. “My father said there would be a banquet. I do not believe …”

  “We call it a feast, but you need not worry. We have delayed it until you are healed.”

  “Thank you.”

  He was impressed by her courtesy. Just as his sister said, in all her discomfort, she still remembered to be courteous. She reminded him of his mother, but he believed his mother was an exception. The English were rarely thought of as courteous by the Highlanders. In fact, they had little regard for the English on any level. He nodded and walked out the door allowing the flood of skirts to enter.

  When Anna saw it, she was thrilled. Mary had made a scarf for her head to hide her missing hair. Anna nearly burst into tears of joy, which actually made some of the other women lose a tear or two. She wanted to wear it right away.

  Mary smoothed a small section of hair along the side of Anna’s face, wet her fingers and curled it in front of her ear. On the other side, she did the same thing. Then she tied the scarf in the back and all the women smiled their approval.

  “I told you she would like it,” Gretchen scoffed.

  Natty said, “Nay, I believe I am the one who said it.”

  Before long, they were all talking so fast in Gaelic Anna couldn’t understand a word. Not that she knew that many words in Gaelic, but she recognized her name. It didn’t sound quite the same as it did in English. It sounded more like Hanna with a long ‘A’ and when she burst out laughing they all stopped to stare at her.

  She was afraid she had insulted them and tried to explain. Anna…Anna…not Hanna, but her sore mouth made it nearly impossible to pronounce it correctly either, and this time when she started to laugh they all laughed with her.

  Downstairs, Kevin smiled at Thomas. “If marriage means laughter, perhaps I will not mind so much.”

  The great hall was a large room that served as a gathering place with a long, narrow table in the middle. Several tall-backed chairs were around it and smaller tables along the walls held bowls of flowers, water pitchers and goblets. Weapons, captured or passed from one laird to the next, hung on one wall while a colorful tapestry hung on the one opposite. At the far end of the room, a large hearth kept the place warm.

  Thomas pulled a chair away from the table and sat down next to Kevin, “So you think it was the English?”

  Kevin shook his head. “Why would the king allow his lads beat a lass? If he wished to start a war, he would simply attack.”

  “Perhaps they were only dressed as English soldiers.”

  “That is possible.”

  The two men continued to eat their morning meal in silence until Kevin finally said, “I can not rid myself of the feeling this is my fault somehow, and now I am responsible for whatever is happening to Rachel. If I could remember doing or saying something, we would know who did this.”

  “Kevin, you know how the clans likes to gossip. You need not do anything for people to be misled. Besides, there is more than that to consider.”

  “What?”

  Thomas looked deadly serious. “Kevin, did they force her?”

  Laird MacGreagor hung his head for a moment. “Katie saw no evidence of it when she undressed her and Anna did not say.”

  “Anna was surprised to learn it was Sunday. If she passed out, it could have happened without her knowing. What will you do if she is with child?”

  “I have already done it. I have married her and no one will ever know whose child it is.”

  “Save you.”

  “Aye.”

  “And you will always wonder.”

  “Thomas, I have done something and that helpless lass upstairs is paying for it. The child will be mine, even if it does not carry my blood and I will love it, perhaps more than any others to make amends. 'Tis the least I can do.”

  Thomas broke off a bite of bread, chewed and swallowed. “Anna has courage and she does not complain.”

  “I am well pleased with that. I would not enjoy a weak wife who cries constantly and demands too much of my attention. How many of our lasses would say nothing of the pain? “

  “Not many; Katie perhaps.”

  Kevin smiled finally. “Why do you not tell my sister you prefer her?”

  “That kind of courage I do not have.”

  Kevin slapped him on the back and grinned. “Perhaps if another lad prefers her, your courage will increase.”

  “Perhaps it will at that.”

  The men paused to listen when the women upstairs laughed again. “I wonder what makes them laugh,” Thomas muttered.

  “Whatever it is, the lasses will soon love my wife. 'Tis far more than I could have hoped for.”

  “Aye, she will make them laugh -- until she hears about the other lass.”

  “She will not hear.”

  “Aye, she will. You must be the one to tell Anna about the other lass, Kevin. 'Tis not kind to keep it from her. Everyone knows and it will not be long before she learns the language and one of the lasses let it slip. She is their mistress now and she will demand to know.”

  “Then tell the lasses not to slip. I have enough on my mind without that.”

  She was dressed in a soft English gown someone managed to find for her. The sleeves were off and a square had been cut out of the back to keep it from rubbing against her wounds. Anna’s new shoes, compliments of the cobbler who worked all night to make them, fit amazingly well. Her hair was neatly tucked under the scarf, except for the two curls, and she closed her eyes when she tasted the wonderful stew one of the women brought for her noon meal. The woman even made sure the chunks were cut small enough to swallow without chewing. It seemed like a lifetime since she’d eaten a full meal and she couldn‘t hide her enjoyment, which she could see, pleased the woman immensely.

  Katie had been in and out all morning, putting more salve on her woun
ds and fussing over her like a mother hen. Anna couldn’t remember a time when anyone, except her father’s servants when they were allowed to, ever cared about her so much. She felt content and warm and yes, even loved -- which worried her. This was an altogether different world than the one she grew up in. Her world offered only harshness, pain and sorrow. How long before this world fell apart?

  When Anna finished her meal and the woman took it away, she was alone for the first time. She tried not to think about her troubles and looked around at her surroundings instead. It was a large room, much larger than she realized. The furnishings were made of dark wood, colorful drawings hung on the walls and the bed was near enough to the hearth to keep her warm at night. Fresh flowers floated in a bowl of water on the table. She took her time standing up and found she wasn’t nearly as sore as she thought.

  There was the hard lump on the top of one of her shoulders and of course, one on the side of her knee. So long as no one touched them, she decided she could bear that pain. If only her back and her face would stop hurting. She walked to the window and looked out.

  Then she remembered she was actually married to the man she had dreamed about for the better part of two years. How was that possible? All that time she knew he was a Highlander and probably dangerous, but he didn’t seem to be now. She knew by the way he demanded to know who had hurt her, that he could be dangerous when he needed to be. Yet she also felt his regret for raising his voice. She thought about how tender he was with her and how he cared about her pain. It was very strange behavior for a man, let alone a Highlander.

  Anna was contemplating the idea that he may someday love her when she heard a shout downstairs and froze. It took all her courage, but she gathered her wits, peeked out the door and then eased out on the balcony until she could look down into the great hall below. Kevin was flanked by three of his warriors and he didn’t look happy. A commoner, dressed in English attire, had his back to her but it was clear the man was trembling.