by Maya Banks
Despite the fact that she knew this day was coming, Rionna was disturbed by the news. She had no desire to send her husband or her clan to war, but she bit her lip and kept her misgivings to herself. She wouldn’t burden her husband when his mind was already looking ahead to the coming battle.
He was restless, and as the days wore on he became tense and silent. Finally, when they were distributing the last of the venison, Caelen rounded up his hunting party and declared that they’d hunt as much meat as possible in the short time before they rode off to war.
Caelen’s restlessness had carried over to the men, and a hunt was just the thing to quiet their minds before battle.
Caelen stood in the hall, Rionna on his right side and Gannon to his left. Rionna had twined her fingers with his and held on, drawing comfort from his touch.
“You’ll stay behind and watch over the keep,” Caelen said to Gannon. “I don’t expect word from Ewan for some days yet, but if you receive a message, send someone for me immediately. We won’t venture far on our hunt. Watch over Rionna well for me.”
Gannon nodded. “Of course I will, Laird. May your hunt be successful and you return with a full bounty.”
Gannon strode away, leaving Caelen alone with Rionna. She turned into his embrace before he could say anything else and she hugged him fiercely, uncaring of who looked on. ’Twas one time her husband would have to suffer displays of affection outside of their chamber.
To her surprise, he kissed her lingeringly and stroked his fingers over her cheeks as he pulled away.
“I can see the worry in your eyes, wife. ’Tis not good for you or our babe. All will be well. This day has been coming for many years. ’Tis the truth I am fair itching to get on with it.”
“Aye, I know it,” she said quietly. “Go on your hunt and clear your mind before you ride off to do battle with Cameron. I have every faith that you and your brothers will prove victorious.”
His eyes glinted with satisfaction at her words. He leaned down to kiss her again and then turned to walk from the hall to where the hunting party waited in the courtyard.
Rionna watched him go and sighed. The next weeks would be a test of her fortitude. She loathed the idea that Caelen and her clansmen would be miles away on a battlefield while she remained behind at the keep, ignorant of the goings-on. She wouldn’t even know the outcome until after it had already been decided.
A day later, Jamie rode back into the courtyard, bearing meat from the hunt. He dismounted and greeted Gannon while Rionna stood impatiently at the steps to the keep.
After speaking a moment with Gannon, Jamie strode toward Rionna.
“The laird bade me to bring this message to you, my lady. He says the hunt is successful and to expect him home by nightfall tomorrow.”
Rionna smiled. “ ’Tis good news you bear, Jamie. Come inside and get warm. Have something to eat while the others unpack your horse.”
With no word forthcoming from Ewan, Rionna could look forward to at least a few more days of her husband being at home before he was called away to war. The news gladdened her heart and lifted some of the headache that had plagued her since his departure.
The afternoon was spent preserving the venison, but Rionna quickly discovered one unpleasant aspect of her condition. She hadn’t been plagued with any sickness thus far. Indeed, other than fatigue at the beginning, she’d enjoyed an unremarkable pregnancy so far. But as soon as she got close to the carcass of the stag, the smell of blood and raw meat made her stomach heave violently.
She humiliated herself by retching into the snow, and try as she might she couldn’t rid herself of the odor that now seemed permanently implanted in her nostrils.
Gannon gently led her away from where the women were working and took her through the snow to the far side of the courtyard where she could look upon the loch in the distance and breathe crisp, clean-smelling air.
“ ’Tis humiliating,” Rionna muttered.
Gannon smiled. “Nay, ’tis not an uncommon event for a woman in your condition. I think Lady McCabe retched from the time she discovered her pregnancy to the time she delivered. Cormac and I were forever fetching things for her to be sick in.”
A shout from the gate distracted her from her still quivering stomach. She and Gannon both turned in time to see Simon ride into the courtyard, his face bloody, his horse lathered as though he’d ridden the animal relentlessly.
When the horse came to a stop, Simon slid from the saddle and landed in the snow.
Fear hit Rionna square in the chest and she was running before Gannon could stop her. She reached Simon first and dropped to her knees next to the older man. Gannon got there a second later and helped her turn him onto his back.
He was barely conscious, and blood seeped onto the snow, staining it scarlet. There was a deep gash in the side of his neck. His shoulder was cut so deep that it had nearly severed his arm from the socket.
He blinked through swollen eyes and his lips parted as he tried to speak.
“Nay,” Rionna whispered, tears biting at her eyelids. “Don’t speak, Simon. Remain still until we can stop the bleeding.”
“Nay, my lady,” he rasped out. “I must tell you this. ’Tis important. We were ambushed. An arrow struck the laird from behind. They waited until we passed and then attacked us from the rear.”
“Oh God,” Rionna choked out. “Caelen? Is he alive? Where is he? Where are the others?”
“Arlen is dead,” Simon whispered.
“Father!” Jamie cried as he ran up. He dropped to his knees and gathered his father’s head in his lap. “What has happened?”
“Shh, lad,” Gannon said grimly. “He’s telling us of it now.”
Simon licked his lips and moaned softly. “He fell from his horse but he was alive. They took him.”
“Who?” Rionna demanded. “Who did this to you?”
Simon fixed her with his stare, his eyes brighter for just a moment as anger flared in their depths. “Your father, lass. ’Twas your father and the men who sided with him. They take him to Duncan Cameron.”
CHAPTER 29
“If you think I’m going to allow you to leave this keep, you’re daft,” Gannon said bluntly as Rionna paced back and forth in the great hall.
Rionna gripped the scroll bearing the seal of Ewan McCabe and the king, the message that had arrived barely an hour after Simon rode in badly injured, bearing the news of Caelen’s capture.
She turned urgently to Gannon, knowing she must convince Caelen’s commander or all would be lost. “Think, Gannon. Think on this and you’ll know I’m right. We cannot wait. Cameron will kill Caelen. If he doesn’t, my father will. Caelen isn’t being used as a pawn against Ewan McCabe. ’Tis my father’s doing and his bargain with the devil, Duncan Cameron. He spoke of this before but I thought him daft. After my wedding, he approached me to entreat me to join with him in a way to rid our clan of Caelen. He was furious that he was being forced to give over his leadership. ’Tis the truth that now I don’t think he ever had any intention of handing over the title of laird to Alaric when he first suggested the alliance. His plan was to marry me to Alaric McCabe and make Alaric laird upon the birth of my first child. But why wait? ’Twas an agreement that never made sense to me, given my father’s reluctance to hand over leadership of the clan. I think he intended to make sure Alaric was never laird. I think he would have murdered him after I was with child. He could have made it look like an accident and then Ewan would never have broken the alliance if I was to bear Alaric’s child. He wouldn’t have been able to prove that my father was the cause of Alaric’s death.”
“ ’Tis a complicated plot you speak of,” Gannon said with a frown.
“I know it sounds hysterical, that I’ve made it all up because of my worry for Caelen, but it makes sense, Gannon. If you think on it, it makes sense.”
“Aye, it does,” Gannon admitted.
“We cannot wait until Ewan is ready to wage war with Cameron. I need you to t
ravel with all haste to Neamh Álainn and tell Ewan of my plan. I know not what this scroll contains. I cannot break the seal and have someone examine the contents, for it ruins my plan. But whatever instructions it contains, Ewan must do differently if we are to have the element of surprise.”
Gannon shook his head vehemently. “I will not leave you, my lady. Caelen would gut me and feed my innards to the wolves if I allowed you to go through with this plan of yours.”
A sound of rage blew past her lips. She was so furious and so unbelievably terrified that she could barely hold it together. She wanted to curl into a tight ball and pretend none of this had ever happened. But Caelen’s life depended on her being able to save him, and save him she would if she had to battle her way through every one of her clansmen to do it.
“Will you just let him die while you wait for his brothers to gather their warriors and attack Cameron? Think you that Caelen will even still be alive? Think, Gannon. My father and his men bear an injured man with them. Caelen will slow their travel back to Cameron’s lands. If I leave now and ride straight through, I can arrive on their heels, before they’ve had time to determine Caelen’s fate.”
Gannon thrust his hand into his hair and turned away. “What you ask me to do, my lady, is impossible. How can I abandon you while I run to Ewan for help? How can I face Caelen if something happens to you and his bairn? You underestimate Caelen’s strength. It matters not if he took an arrow to the back. He will survive. He has much to live for.”
Rionna tugged at Gannon’s arm until he faced her again. “My clansmen will follow but only I will gain entrance to Cameron’s domain. ’Tis important he thinks I came alone. Everything rides upon my ability to make him think what it is I want him to think. I must buy time for Ewan to arrive. I’ll not ask your permission to do this, Gannon. What I ask for is your help. I need you to go to Ewan. If I send one of my men, after what has occurred, Ewan will think it a trick. He’ll believe you. You were his most trusted man, a man he sent into service to his brother so that Caelen would have someone he trusted close by. Don’t betray that trust, Gannon. I and my babe are counting on you to help us save my husband.”
“You don’t play fair, my lady,” Gannon said in disgust.
“ ’Tis nothing fair when it comes to the life of my husband,” she said fiercely. “I love him and I won’t let him go to his death if there is anything I can do to prevent it. I’ll take on my father and Duncan Cameron and his entire army if ’tis what it will take.”
Gannon’s expression softened and he touched her arm in a gesture of comfort. “Caelen is a fortunate man, my lady. ’Tis not often a man has a wife so fierce that she would risk her life to save his.”
“Then you’ll do it? You’ll leave at once for Neamh Álainn?”
Gannon sighed. “Aye, I’ll do it.”
Rionna threw her arms around him and hugged him, much to his dismay. He disentangled himself from her grasp and scowled.
“ ’Tis my hope you’ll defend me as fiercely as you do Caelen, because when he discovers what I’ve allowed you to do, he’ll take off my head.”
“Go now,” she said. “I’ll gather the men in the courtyard to tell them what must be done.”
Rionna stared nervously at the assembled warriors, their grim faces outlined by the blaze of torches. Gannon had already ridden out and Sarah was preparing Rionna’s bag so that she would be ready to depart as soon as the men were apprised of the situation.
“Will Simon live?”
She didn’t register who called out the question. She was still numb and her thoughts were occupied with the task before her.
“I know not,” she said honestly. “He is being cared for. If God wills it, he’ll live this day and long into the future.”
“Who did this thing, my lady?”
She drew in a deep breath. “ ’Twas my father, your former laird. He has allied himself with Duncan Cameron and seeks to destroy my husband so that he may regain leadership of this clan.”
She held her breath as she waited their response. It was entirely possible that they’d embrace the idea of her father returning as laird. Caelen had gained their respect, aye, but Rionna couldn’t be assured that given the opportunity, they wouldn’t turn away.
“What is to be done?” Seamus demanded as he stepped forward, his beefy arms crossing his chest as he glared his displeasure. “Surely we aren’t going to let such an insult to our laird pass.”
It took all of Rionna’s restraint not to throw her arms around the huge warrior and pepper his face with teary kisses.
“We ride to Duncan Cameron’s land,” she said when she could speak without her throat knotting up. “Gannon has ridden to Neamh Álainn to apprise Ewan McCabe of the situation. When we near Cameron land, you will all fall back and await my command to attack.”
Murmurs rose from the men and Seamus stepped forward. “What then will you be doing, my lady?”
“I’m going in to save my husband,” she said in a tone that brooked no argument. She may not be laird of this clan, but in this moment, she’d take down any man who tried to prevent her from going after Caelen.
“It’s going to require the biggest deception of my life. ’Tis possible my husband may despise me before it’s over, but if I’m successful, he’ll be alive and ’tis all that matters. The question I pose to you, is whether you’ll stand with me and risk your lives to save our laird.”
Seamus cleared his throat and then turned to stare over the assembled men. Then he slowly looked back at Rionna. “I’m with you, my lady.”
One by one, the men stepped forward and declared their willingness to back Rionna in her plan.
“Then we must go now and ride hard,” Rionna said. “I must arrive before ’tis too late.”
CHAPTER 30
Caelen barely held back the curse as he hit the ground. Pain speared through his shoulder, spreading agonizing flame until he had to close his eyes and grit his teeth to remain silent.
His hands were tied behind his back, making the wound in his shoulder all the more painful. Gregor McDonald had torn the arrow from Caelen’s shoulder without care and Caelen had steadily bled on the rough journey to Duncan Cameron’s keep.
“I’ve brought you Caelen McCabe, Laird Cameron,” Gregor called.
Caelen opened his eyes to see Cameron standing a short distance away. Hatred was bitter in Caelen’s mouth. That the man was so close and yet Caelen was helpless to do anything but lie there made bile rise in his throat. If he could manage the feat, he’d spit in Cameron’s eye.
“So you have,” Cameron said.
He walked over to where Caelen lay on the ground and kicked at his wounded shoulder. Caelen grimaced but stared up at Cameron, allowing the full breadth of his hatred to show.
“You’d like to kill me, wouldn’t you, Caelen?” Cameron taunted in a low voice. “You hate me more than even your brothers do. ’Twas your foolishness that brought low your clan. My cousin is bonny, is she not? I haven’t seen her in some time. She’s likely spreading her legs for some other poor besotted fool.”
Caelen continued to stare at Cameron until Cameron fidgeted uncomfortably and then booted Caelen in the shoulder again.
“I wonder if given a choice between saving his brother’s life or protecting his lovely wife and daughter, which would Ewan choose? Surely not the brother who once cost him everything. Tell me, Caelen, how would it make you feel to know you destroyed all your brother holds dear a second time?”
Cameron knelt beside Caelen’s head, wrapped his hand in Caelen’s hair, and yanked upward so their faces were just inches apart.
“He won’t have to choose, because I plan to have both. You’re of no consequence to me. I’ll not blink an eye over your death, and then I’ll destroy your clan and the king you’re so loyal to.”
As he stared into Cameron’s eyes, the question that Rionna had posed floated back into his mind.
“Why?” he asked. “Why did you do it? If you’re go
ing to kill me anyway, then tell me why you destroyed my clan eight years ago. We were no threat to you.”
Cameron rose and took a step back, a hatred that mirrored Caelen’s own reflected in his gaze.
“You’d never heard of me until that day, had you?” He shook his head. “How like your father to have never mentioned me or my father. You aren’t the only one with reason to hate, Caelen. Your father took what was mine. I returned the favor.”
“You’re daft,” Caelen said hoarsely. “My father was a peaceful man. He wouldn’t wage war against anyone. Not unless provoked.”
Cameron pressed his boot to Caelen’s throat, pinning him to the ground. “Oh aye, he was a peaceful man. Do you want to know why? He made a vow after my father’s death. His guilt was too much for him to bear. He swore on my father’s grave never to pick up arms again. I know. I was there. I heard his vow. I heard his apology to my mother. He patted me on the head as he walked away. Patted me on the head as if that would bring me a measure of comfort when my father was in the ground. If I’d had a sword, your father would have died that day and bled to death atop my father’s grave. I would have seen to it.”
“You lie,” Caelen ground out. “My father never spoke of you or your father.”
“Your father was a coward. He fought alongside my father and when my father was felled from his horse, he left him to die there. He turned his back on the man he called friend, and he ran from the battlefield. And do you know, just before your father drew his last breath, I reminded him of that boy he patted on the head at my father’s grave. Do you know what his last words were, Caelen?”
Caelen swallowed against the rage knotting his throat. His blood pumped so furiously through his veins that he feared exploding.
Cameron leaned down again so that he was close to Caelen’s ear. “He said he was sorry again. And then he begged me to spare his grandson’s life.”