by Gwyn Brodie
She nodded. "I understand, but I'm most excited to see my people again. And I must confront Mungan for all the terrible things he's done. If he did indeed raise the portcullis for the Campbells, as we believe he did, he as good as killed my parents himself. Seeing him punished, and his hirelings banished from Teineaer is my duty."
"Spoken like a true lady."
She smiled up at him, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears, then raised herself onto her toes, and gently kissed him, before leaving his arms to fetch her cloak.
He raised a brow. "What was that for?"
"Simply for loving me."
Alex's throat tightened, as he opened the door, and led her out into the corridor. Confronting that bastard, Mungan, was the last thing he wanted Ceana to do, but he also knew it was something she had to do, as well as it being her duty to protect her people. But he had made protecting Ceana his duty, and he would do whatever it took to keep her safe—even if it meant putting his own life at risk.
Chapter Fifteen
At Teineaer Castle, in the laird's bedchamber, Mungan tossed back the covers and climbed out of bed. Only once, his first night sleeping there, had it occurred to him that it was in that same bed where he had ended the life of the previous laird, after which he had then rolled over, gone to sleep and thought no more about it.
It had taken three days for the missive to make its way from Blackstone to Teineaer, explaining how a servant had found Lady Ceana stabbed to death in her own bed. And how Laird MacPherson would not rest until the culprit was captured, and duly punished for her murder.
By the time it arrived, Mungan had been nigh to bursting with excitement when he had announced that upon her death, he had become laird. Though he had done his best to appear somber, he was certain he failed miserably—judging by the frowns and scowls on the people's faces. Not that what anyone there thought mattered a handful of oats. Now they answered to him, not the other way around.
The fire was burning bright, and the room warm, telling him a servant had been there and added peat. Having slept in his shirt and belted plaid, he pulled on his boots, and strapped on his weapons, before heading down to break his fast.
"Morn, laird," Alma, an elderly woman, greeted him, as he stepped off the stairs.
"Morn," he grunted, his focus on getting to the high table, and filling his belly.
He had just finished eating when one of his guards entered the great hall and hurried across the room toward him.
"The MacPhersons have arrived with the body, laird," Angus said when he reached him.
"Good. Allow them entrance into the bailey. I'll be out to greet them shortly." He took his time finishing his spiced wine, while the rest of the castle hurried out to mourn their dear departed lady.
He rose from the table and left the great hall.
ALEX WATCHED AS MUNGAN MacDougal made his way into the bailey, where he and eight of his clansmen waited, alongside a wagon covered with an oilcloth stretched tightly across. The castle residents stood around it, weeping and wiping their eyes.
"I fear my dear cousin's burial will have to wait, as the ground has been too frozen to dig her grave." Mungan cast his gaze across the wagon.
Alex nodded, as he struggled to keep down his anger at the man who wanted his future wife dead. "Aye, then we'll unhitch the wagon and leave her here with her people. Hugh has just informed me that you are now the Laird of Teineaer."
He puffed his chest out like a wee cock. "Aye, I am," he said, rubbing the brown stubble covering his chin.
"Then, might I have a word with you in private—laird?" Alex asked, raising a brow. He needed to get him alone if his plan was to succeed.
"Of course."
Alex, along with two of his guards, dismounted and followed the fraudulent laird and two of his own men into the castle, then to the library, making sure to leave the door open.
Mungan took a seat behind the large oak desk. "Now, what is it you wish to speak to me about?"
Keeping his hand near the hilt of his dirk, Alex took a seat close to the door. "I take full responsibility for what happened to Lady Ceana while she was in my care." Thankfully, Drostan was not present, or else he might have chuckled aloud.
Mungan nodded thoughtfully. "'Tis most noble of you, MacPherson."
Shouts and sounds of battle suddenly filled the air. Alex grinned, as he and his guards drew their dirks. "I thought so myself. Now rid yourselves of your weapons."
"What's the meaning of this? My men will make short work of the few clansmen you brought here with you."
"What about the other fifty who were waiting in the wood?"
With his face red with rage, Mungan dropped his dirk and sword onto the floor, as did his men. "What the hell is it you want, MacPherson?" he shouted, slamming his fist down against the desk.
"You'll find out soon enough." What he truly wanted was revenge for what the whoreson had tried to do to Ceana, and for the grief, he had caused her. He kicked the weapons out of their reach, then leaned against the wall, and waited.
IT HAD NOT TAKEN MUCH effort for the MacPherson and MacKintosh guards to capture Mungan's men, for once they saw how much they were outnumbered, they quickly surrendered. Only then did Drostan allow Ceana to leave the safety of the wood.
On the ride down to the castle, she surveyed the damage to the place that had been her home for the last seven years of her life. The byre and other outbuildings, burned to the ground during the attack by the Campbells, had been rebuilt, but the scent of smoke still lingered in the air. She brought Cree to a halt outside the wall behind the castle.
Drostan dismounted and helped her to the ground. "Are you all right, Ceana?"
"'Tis hard to return, knowing my parents are no longer here to greet me." She swallowed hard, fighting back tears she could have shed for hours on end if she were but to allow herself.
"Of course. Are you ready to go inside?"
She nodded, then they entered the bailey through the postern gate, where Ewin was waiting. After her cousin made certain no one was about, the three of them hurried inside the castle.
"You two wait here," Drostan said, walking a short distance away.
Ceana's gaze traveled to the great hall, where her parents had lain dead upon the floor the last time she had seen them. Her throat tightened, but she blinked back her tears and readied herself to face the man who had been the cause.
"ALEX?" DROSTAN SHOUTED.
"Aye, I'm here," he answered. "Keep a close eye on them until I return," he ordered his guards, before leaving the library. "Is all well?"
Drostan nodded. "Everything went as planned."
"Good."
Ceana came toward him, with Ewin at her side.
"Are you ready?" Alex said quietly when she reached him, gently patting her shoulder.
She nodded.
Alex tugged the hood of her cloak down over her face, concealing her lovely features, then returned to the library, leaving her, Drostan and Ewin just outside the door. "There's someone here who very much wishes to see you," he said, motioning Ceana and Drostan inside.
Ceana walked into the library and shoved back her hood.
Mungan's eyes widened, and his face drained white. "Y-y-your dead!"
"Nay, but you wished me to be," she said, glaring at him.
Ewin entered the room. "I told you, I could never harm Ceana."
"Your family is dead!" he shrieked.
"My family is well hidden from the likes of you, and MacPherson's guards have captured all your hired men."
Alex stood near to Ceana and kept a close watch on Mungan, though he appeared to have no weapons left on him, he was still a dangerous man—especially where she was concerned.
Mungan turned back to Ceana. "I dinnae ken what Ewin had told you, cousin, but I can assure you, none of it's true."
Her cheeks pinked with anger. "I've a great many questions for you."
His eyes narrowed. "What questions?"
"Did you murder my gra
ndfather in his own bed?"
Mungan's gaze dropped to the floor.
"How could you have done such a thing? He was a good man, who only wanted what was best for his people."
He snorted. "Fate had finally decided to smile upon me, then that scheming old badger took my destiny in his hand, and crumbled it into dust."
Tears spilled down Ceana's cheeks, and Alex's heart ached for her, while the rest of him wanted to beat Mungan MacDougal to within an inch of his life.
She wiped away her tears and took a deep breath. "Was it you who murdered the guard, and raised the portcullis, allowing the Campbells to enter Teineaer and murder my parents, as well as many others?"
He looked away, refusing to answer.
"Answer me, damn you!" she screamed, taking a step toward Mungan.
Alex grabbed her arm, drawing her back a safe distance.
"There's no need to tell me," she said, "I already ken what you did. You're an evil man, and my grandfather knew it." She looked back at Drostan and nodded.
Drostan pulled a parchment from beneath his cloak and handed it to Ceana.
She held it up so Mungan could see it. "This legal document contains the identity of the next person to hold Teineaer Castle and its lands. Someone who is loyal, trustworthy, and fair. All the qualifications a good laird should have."
Mungan frowned, but his curiosity had definitely been peaked.
Ceana turned around and handed the document to Ewin. "To you, Ewin MacDougal, the new Laird of Teineaer."
Ewin looked shocked, then his mouth spread into a broad grin. "I dinnae ken what to say, Ceana."
"There's no need to say anything."
He nodded. "I promise to do my best to fill Angus MacDougal's boots."
She smiled. "You'll do that—and more."
With an animal-like growl, Mungan sprang across the desk and grabbed Ewin by the throat. "You lying whoreson if you'd but done as I'd asked, I'd be laird in your stead," he screeched. "I should've killed you!"
Ewin drew his dirk, but before he could use it, Mungan slammed his shoulder against the wall. The weapon fell from his hand, but his cousin's grip on his throat tightened. They fought their way outside the library.
Before Alex and Drostan could drag Mungan off him, Ewin managed to pry Mungan's hands from his throat, then doubled him over with a punch to the gut.
Mungan grunted, and when he straightened, he held Ceana's sgian dubh in his right hand. His eyes darted back and forth between Ewin and Ceana.
Alex shoved her behind him, readying his dirk, should Mungan be daft enough to come after her.
Ewin kept his gaze on the weapon in his cousin's hand while clutching his throat. "Have you not done enough harm, Mungan?"
"Da!" four-year-old Jenny squealed, as she raced toward her father.
"Nay, Jenny, go back to your Ma," Ewin begged the child who was his spitting image.
The young girl only smiled and kept coming toward him.
A wave of nausea swept over Ceana. Jenny was in danger, and in her innocence, did not even realize it.
Millie suddenly appeared a short distance behind her eldest daughter. "Jenny!" she screamed, her face twisted with fear.
The blade in Mungan's hand moved ever so slightly, as the child came closer and closer.
Ceana watched in horror, as Jenny was now almost within Mungan's reach. Then she realized Alex was no longer with her. She turned, and saw him at the back of the gathering crowd, keeping low, as he made his way to their outer edge.
He suddenly dashed across the floor, grabbed Jenny up in his arms, and carried her safely out of harm's reach.
"Thank the saints!" Ceana whispered as relief washed over her.
Without warning, Mungan raced forward and grabbed Millie, wrapping his left arm around her throat, and pressing the tip of the blade, in his right hand, against her neck, drawing a small drop of blood, dark against the paleness of her skin.
The color drained from Ewin's face. "Leave my wife be. 'Tis between the two of us."
Mungan laughed, as he pressed his lips against the corner of her mouth. "Another of my plans you spoilt by not following through with killing Ceana. Millie was to become my lady—once I did away with you. She just didnae ken it yet."
"You evil bastard," Ewin said, his fists clenched at his side. "Is there naught you willnae do to get what you want?"
"If I cannae have Teineaer, you cannae have your bonnie Millie." Mungan slowly worked his way toward the door leading out into the bailey.
Ceana looked back and forth between her cousins, wishing she knew what to do, then from the corner of her eye, she saw Alex hand Jenny over to Leith, and wondered what he was up to.
Alex blew out a long breath. This had gone on long enough, and he meant to end it—if he could just figure out how to do it without Millie getting hurt. For if she so much as stumbled, Mungan would ram the blade into her throat—whether he meant to or not. "Millie has done naught to you. Why not let her go?"
He snorted. "Do you think me a fool?"
"Dinnae take her," Ewin begged. "She's with child."
Mungan shrugged. "'Tis naught for me to fash about."
Millie's face reddened. "If you think I could ever have the least bit of affection for a man who would cause the death of a child of mine, you are sorely mistaken, Mungan MacDougal."
"Be quiet," Mungan told her, tightening his grip on her neck, as he took another step back.
Alex moved next to Drostan. "He's not about to let her go," he whispered. "We've got to get that blade away from him."
Drostan nodded. "What do you have in mind," he asked, his gaze still on Mungan.
"Remember how we saved that barmaid in Edinburgh?"
"Aye."
"We'll do the same thing here." Alex slowly moved to Mungan's left, while Drostan came up quickly on his right, surprising him, and drawing his attention.
Mungan jerked the blade away from Millie's throat and slashed at Drostan. "Get back, or I swear, I'll kill her."
Not allowing Mungan time to realize his own mistake, Alex raced up, grabbed his knife-wielding arm, and slammed him face down against the stone floor.
Freed from her captor, Millie fled into her husband's arms, sobbing.
Ceana took Jenny from Leith and carried her to her parents.
Ewin smiled. "Much thanks," he said, taking his daughter into his arms.
"I thank you, Ceana," Millie said through her tears.
She nodded.
"Here, see to Jenny," Ewin said, handing his daughter to his wife, before joining the other men.
Mungan now stood on his feet, his nose and lip bleeding, a MacPherson guard on either side. Ceana still could not understand how one person could care so very little about another. It seemed when it came to Mungan, 'twas only himself that mattered.
Alex came up to Ceana, and put his arms around her. "How are you holding up?"
She sighed against his chest. "As well as is to be expected, I suppose."
"What do you think should be done with him?"
"Ask Ewin. He's the laird here now."
"Aye, I'll do that. He's coming this way."
Ewin came over to where they stood. "What will you do with Mungan?" he asked Alex.
"'Tis up to you. You're the laird."
Ewin thought for a moment. "The kitchen pantry is empty. I suppose we could lock him in there until we figure something out."
Suddenly, Mungan's two men—who had been taken prisoner—attacked the MacPherson guards and tried to grab their weapons, allowing Mungan enough time to dart out the door into the bailey.
"Damnation!" Alex growled as he raced off after him.
Ceana lifted her skirts and hurried outside into the bailey, then through the postern gate. Heavens above, Cree was tethered there!
Mungan leapt into the saddle. The stallion squealed and danced about while Mungan held on, shouting curses at the panicked horse.
Ceana took a step toward the frightened animal, bu
t Alex stopped her.
"Cree's blind with rage. He'll hurt you, never even meaning to."
She nodded, knowing what he said was true.
Somehow, Mungan managed to get control of Cree, and rode off across the moor.
She was overcome with sadness as she watched the black stallion disappear from sight.
"Ewin, Drostan, Leith," Alex shouted as he ran toward Jet. All four men leapt onto their horses and tore out across the moor after Mungan.
MILLIE APPROACHED CEANA. "After he returned from Blackstone, Ewin told me Mungan tried to force him to kill you. For our sake, he was afraid to refuse him, but he cared too much for you to cause you harm. He's told me many times how much a sister you are to him."
Ceana smiled. "And he a brother to me." She slipped her arm around Millie's shoulders. "Come. We have much to discuss."
"We do?" she asked, taking Jenny by the hand.
"Aye, we do. Let's go up to the solar. That way we can see when the men return."
Once inside, Ceana closed the door and took a seat on a chair beside the fire.
Millie, looking ready to burst with curiosity, sat down on the settle across from her, then pulled Jenny onto her lap and waited.
Ceana smiled. "I'll keep you in suspense no longer. I've signed Teineaer Castle and its estate over to Ewin and you."
Millie gasped. "That means..."
"You're now the Lady of Teineaer Castle," Ceana finished for her.
She combed her fingers through her daughter's long fair curls. "What shall I wear? What shall I do? How shall I behave?"
Ceana got to her feet and caught the overwhelmed woman by the shoulders. "In answer to your first question, I brought a few of my own gowns for you to wear until you can have the dressmaker in the village make you some new ones. You'll obviously need many things as the bairn inside you grows larger. And in answer to what you'll do. You were a chief's daughter, and for many years, until your father's death, you were well accustomed to running a household."
She nodded. "'Tis true, I was, before my uncle turned me out of my own home."