by Glenn, Laura
Galen mulled Geoffrey’s words over in his mind. It made sense that the Gowrie wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to kidnap Anna if his only reason was so he could kill her. John was right, much to Galen’s irritation. He should wait until his allies had arrived. He wasn’t thinking clearly enough to formulate a plan on his own at this moment.
But one thought haunted him and caused him to question such logic. “She is due to give birth to my child any day,” he whispered, unable to keep the anguish out of his voice. “He may not intend to kill Anna, but what of the babe? And what if she does not survive the birthing?”
Geoffrey nodded solemnly, the pained expression on his face indicating he thought of those possibilities as well. “I know. All we can do is pray.”
His younger brother seemed to age a decade before Galen’s eyes. Under normal circumstances, he would have chuckled at the unusually spiritual tone in Geoffrey’s voice, but he clenched his jaw and gave a clipped nod.
“I would die for you. You know that, right?” Geoffrey whispered, leaning toward him. “You saved me when no one else would. Your wife and child will not be harmed unless it is over my dead body. You have my word.”
Galen couldn’t hold his brother’s earnest stare for long. He swallowed the mixture of pain and gratitude toward Geoffrey threatening to close his throat and simply nodded his thanks as he cast his eyes down the path Anna had been dragged through the woods. During the past few months, Geoffrey had blossomed under his and Adam’s guidance into a talented, fierce warrior with a good head for strategy. If Galen were to be killed in this rescue, Geoffrey would not stop fighting until Anna and the baby were safe.
* * * * *
“My lady,” a young, feminine voice hummed above her as her shoulder was shaken. “My lady.”
Anna’s eyes fluttered open into the semi-darkness of the room and she wearily pushed herself to sitting. The gentle pinkish-orange light of dusk filtered around the furs covering the window. Her stomach growled. She must have slept for most of the day.
She turned to find the young woman who had escorted her up to this chamber looking down at her with a sweet, innocent smile.
The young woman stepped aside and waved in the young Gowrie warrior whom she had tended after he’d been captured by the MacAirths.
“Before you speak, my lady,” his voice low, he hurriedly stepped toward her, “I would ask that you use only English.”
Anna glanced toward the female servant who simply looked at her pleasantly as if nothing out of the ordinary had been said.
“I know you speak our language, but no one else here does,” the young man smiled as he extended his hand. “This girl does not speak English and probably assumes I am greeting you and conveying to you our laird’s wish for you to join him in the great hall.”
Anna forced a placid expression on her face and nodded as she took his hand. She had indeed not said a word to the young woman as she helped her to the chamber and brought her a little food earlier this morning.
The young warrior helped her to her feet and the woman fussed with Anna’s hair and clothing. Anna glanced from the woman to the floor, wincing as the woman’s hand brushed against the lump at the back of Anna’s head.
When the servant finally nodded to the young man, he nodded back and offered Anna his arm. She looked at him askance but took his arm, allowing him to guide her out of the room.
“My name is Conn, my lady,” he whispered, looking straight ahead. “I want you to know I realize just how much I am in your debt. It is the only reason I volunteered to help with your abduction.”
Anna snorted. “Gee, thanks,” she snipped, her tongue a bit ungainly after so many months speaking nothing but Gaelic.
“I had no intention of ever betraying you, my lady. I had no idea you were ever married to my laird. When I heard of his plan, I volunteered to go so I could ensure your safety.”
“Why didn’t you stop it?” She resisted the urge to push him down the staircase they were about to descend.
“I did not know how,” he admitted. “There is no way I could have overpowered the other warriors with me. And my cousin was set on his plan to take you. I knew I had to do something, but I was not sure of what.”
Voices, laughter and the screech of heavy furniture being shoved across the floor drifted up to them.
“I will make it up to you, my lady,” he earnestly whispered. “I promise to help you get back home.”
She tilted her head at him, unable to help the curiosity overwhelming her fear. “Why?”
“You saved my life.” He looked her in the eye before casting his gaze straight ahead. “Besides, I have no love for my cousin. I am the bastard son of the Gowrie laird who preceded James’ father, my uncle. My dear uncle wanted my father’s title and murdered him. If I hadn’t been born a bastard, I would be laird now. James and his father have never let me forget just what I am.”
Anna nodded, wanting to believe Conn wished to help her and was telling the truth. He seemed sincere, but she’d gotten into trouble trusting a Gowrie before.
Her belly tightened and she bit her lower lip in fear as she descended the stairs with her escort.
Servants and warriors swarmed in the great hall, the loud din ringing in her ears. Some were gathered in groups and laughed while others were engaged in shifting tables and benches into a new configuration or sweeping the floor.
She couldn’t help but scan the room for James and, when her eyes landed upon him, she nearly snorted out loud. Seated on a chair near the fireplace, he had a curvaceous young blonde draped against his chest. With a tankard of what Anna could only guess was ale in one hand and the woman’s breast in the other, he threw back his head with a loud chortle at something the woman whispered into his ear.
He dropped his lips to the woman’s tilted neck and kissed her while his hand dipped into the neckline of her leine. Drawing her breast out of her garment, he twirled her rosy nipple between his fingers as she playfully slapped his chest and giggled.
Seemingly sensing her presence, James lifted his eyes and caught Anna’s stare from where she and Conn stood at the bottom of the staircase. James released the woman’s breast and whispered something into her ear. The woman hopped from his lap and tucked her bulbous mound back into her leine, flashing an annoyed glare in Anna’s direction. James patted her backside and the blonde made her way into the shadows at the edge of the room.
“Come!” James ordered, motioning her and Conn forward.
Anna’s stomach churned in disgust when James reached for her hand as they approached. She released Conn’s arm and he bowed before walking away.
“Come sit, my love,” James said, patting the seat of the chair next to his.
Her aching lower back coaxed her into doing exactly as he instructed rather than argue with him. She sat, but ripped her hand from his in annoyance.
He chuckled, leaning toward her on the arm of the chair. “Feeling a wee bit jealous, eh? Not to worry, love. She is nothing more than plaything and a man has certain needs. As soon as that brat is out of you and the church has declared you clean, I will happily come to your bed.”
It took most of her willpower to ignore his statement. To distract herself, she concentrated on the people milling about the room for several minutes before speaking. “What is going on here?”
James tilted his head back and downed the rest of the ale from his cup. He waved it in the air and a servant emerged from the shadows with a pitcher to pour him more before disappearing.
“It is a celebration, of course. You have finally come home.” He lifted her fingers to his lips to kiss them.
Lord, how she wanted to punch him in his arrogant face, but how well she played along could mean life or death for her and her baby. She willed her hand to go limp and he allowed it to drop back to the arm rest.
“It is not the proper wedding celebration you deserve, I suppose, but I promise you a feast fit for a king when you deliver my first son to me,” he co
mmented, taking another swig of ale. “Oh yes, that reminds me. I have quite the surprise for you, darling.”
“Excuse me, laird.” A young man stopped several feet in front of them.
“What is it?” James snapped, a scowl covering his face.
The young man shifted nervously. “I beg your pardon, but there is a group of traveling monks asking for refuge for the night. They are on their way to the abbey on Iona.”
James waved him away in exasperation. “Yes, fine. Go.” He turned back to Anna. “It is important for a laird to at least appear to be a friend of the church, is it not?”
Sensing he expected her immediate agreement, she nodded. Chills ran down her spine as a sinister smile curved his lips.
“Now then, I was going to wait until we broke our fast in the morning to relay the good news to you, but I simply cannot wait any longer.” He laced his fingers through hers and squeezed, a light expectancy playing across his features. “Your father will be here on the morrow to meet you.”
Anna stiffened as she took in his expression and tried to guess what game he played now. “You know my father is not here.”
He shook his head and brought her hand up to his lips once again as he stifled a laugh. “Yes, love. He is here and always has been. Why do you think I went searching for you all those years ago?”
Startled, she froze, her eyes widening. “I-I don’t understand.” She barely noticed warmth of his thin lips on her fingers.
He smiled and shook his head as if she were a simpleton. “It was the amber stone, my love. The one you wore around your neck when my cousin was captured by the MacAirth. It obviously brought you here to me, though, unfortunately, you became entangled with the MacAirth instead. It was what brought me to you ten years ago and what brought your father to your mother.”
She stared at the ground, attempting to put the pieces of the puzzle together in her mind. How was all of this even possible?
James traced her index finger with his. “When I was a child, I was fostered for a time with the Grahams. Your father was a frequent guest there since he was a nephew of the laird. It was rumored that his mother—your grandmother—inherited the stone and brought it into her marriage with the Campbell. It was believed to have been enchanted by an old witch in Fannich centuries ago and would bring wealth and luck to whomever possessed it.
“As you can imagine, such tales fascinated me as a child and I took to watching your father very closely. He had announced he would be departing one afternoon and so I followed him, hoping to get a glimpse of the rumored stone as he packed his belongings. The last bit of sunlight filtered through the window at sundown and caused the stone to glow brilliantly as your father held it up before him. But then he did something very odd. He closed his eyes and moved his lips in a bare whisper I could not understand. And then, he vanished.”
James paused for dramatic effect, glancing at Anna for approval over his performance. She caught her breath in her throat but held her face expressionless. Was this why she never saw her father growing up? Because she literally couldn’t?
Obviously tiring of waiting for her reaction, James sighed. “I waited for him every night after that and in seven days, he reappeared. He retrieved his things and slipped out of the castle under the cover of night. One year later, he visited the Grahams again and the same thing happened. That time, however, I formulated a plan to take the stone for myself.”
Anna was not sure how long James had been drinking, but a slight slur infiltrated his speech. She slowed her breathing, determined not to allow her mind to spin out of control. She needed to keep a level head and keenly observe her surroundings for the slightest opportunity to escape. If she could keep James calm and drinking, she just might have a chance.
He briefly closed his eyes and laughed. “It was too easy, really. After he reappeared, he was distraught and slipped the stone into a satchel. I followed him to the chapel where he sought confession from the priest in residence, and swiped the stone from the bag while he made his confession. It was then I heard him speak about you.”
James paused and lifted her fingers to his lips again.
“As soon as I was able,” he seemingly became mesmerized all over again by the sheer memory as he cast his gaze to the other side of the hall and his voice softened, “I attempted to use the stone as he did. It took me years to figure out it was the timing of the equinox that allowed a man to disappear from one world and into another. But when it finally worked it was amazing, Anna. I was transported to a place so much like where I had come from, yet so different at the same time. At first, I feared I was living a nightmare where the English crown had successfully rid Scotland of its people since no one spoke anything other than English, but there were so many other astonishing things around me I knew the place could not be from my imagination. Strange wagons without horses. Wooden boxes with moving and talking life-like paintings. Light without flames.”
Anna’s eyes shot to his, her throat dry. Her spine tingled in terror at the quick, almost imperceptible darkening of the spark in his hazel eyes.
“I knew you existed somewhere in that world and it took me years to find you. But when I did, I knew you were Alec Campbell’s daughter. All that red hair and those sea-blue eyes. You looked so much like him. You still do.” He squeezed her hand then gulped down the rest of his ale.
Dazed, she followed his hand as it seemingly moved in slow motion to rest the empty cup on the arm of the chair. Then a small thought snapped her back into the present moment. Here was her chance to play the dutiful wife he so obviously wished her to be. “Would you like more?” she demurely offered, forcing herself to lean toward him as the stench of unwashed skin met her nostrils. Lord, the man needed a bath.
His unfocused eyes widened in momentary surprise before his features softened. “You have read my mind, my love.”
She smiled and curled a finger toward the woman waiting in the shadows with the pitcher of ale.
The pale gold liquid fell from the pitcher into James’ cup. He did not drink this much when she knew him. But then again, she had probably never known the real James until the moment he hit her.
He waived the servant away and tipped his head back to allow more ale to slide down his throat. “I can hardly believe I let you slip away from me so easily,” he grumbled, throwing her an annoyed glare.
Anna’s whole abdomen suddenly contracted—hard—and she bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from uttering her surprise at the ferocity of the pain. She gripped the armrest, desperately attempting to convince herself she was only having an especially bad run of false labor.
James laced his fingers between hers and took another drink. “Even though I could not get that damned stone to work for awhile, it was not long before its charms worked in my family’s favor while the Campbells fell on hard times. They lost land, wealth and many warriors as rivals challenged them for their land and wealth. Your father’s elder brother and heir to the clan leadership was killed on the battlefield. And then the Gowries came to their rescue in return for their fealty and service to us.”
The contraction fell away as James spoke and, before thinking better of it, she murmured a thought out loud. “They became your henchmen.”
James simply clucked his tongue. “You say that as though it is a bad thing. You have spent far too much time in the company of the MacAirth.”
“If you had all the power you needed, then why come after me?” she asked, steering the subject away from Galen. The mere thought of him brought tears to her eyes and she could not risk James becoming suspicious she harbored any real feelings for Galen. James would use it against her for certain.
“The Campbell run of bad luck did not stay around forever, you know,” he replied in irritation. “Once your father took over as laird, things slowly turned around for them. Since I was my father’s heir, I wanted assurance the Campbells would remain under my power when I became laird. Once I figured out how to do it, I started traveling to that da
mnable excuse for a fair in the old Graham castle every year for eight years before I finally found you. In the beginning, I thought to simply hold you in my household as a hostage. But then I saw you. I saw what a beautiful woman you had turned into and realized if you were my wife, then I would have further control over your father and his clan. In fact, I figured I could have his sons killed in order to ensure only you would inherit his lands.”
Anna’s stomach filled with dread and she sank back against the chair, closing her eyes. James’ kidnapping of her had nothing at all to do with Galen and had everything to do with keeping her father in line—if this man he spoke of was indeed her father. She now knew with certainty James would never willingly let her go. Not when so much of his pride and power was at stake.
Silence fell between them as Anna stared at the feast’s preparations before her. James intermittently caressed her hand as he held it and commented on whatever popped into his head, whether it was what he had ordered to be cooked for the meal or future plans for his castle. She fought the urge to shake off his unwelcome touch, only half hearing his words, and glanced around the room, searching for some distraction.
Her entire abdomen buckled inward as another contraction bore down upon her. The contractions were becoming harder, but they were not painful or coming terribly fast yet. She prayed for more time as the light grew dim in the hall and food was piled on the tables before her.
Soon the feast was underway. A minstrel strolled through the increasingly drunk and rowdy crowd that paid little attention to him. Laughter and shouted conversations pounded in Anna’s ears as James guided her to a table on a dais near the fireplace.
Balancing cups in one hand and a large pitcher in the other, a serving woman stooped before them to place everything on the table. She curtsied shyly in front of Anna and James before pouring them both cups of blood-red wine.
James handed her one of the cups and then raised the other to her with a triumphant smile before throwing his head back and downing the contents. He laughed as she wrinkled her nose at the smell and swiftly leaned forward, planting a kiss at the corner of her mouth before she had the chance to move away.