by Quinn, Paula
He never should have kissed her.
But he wasn’t sorry for any of it.
“Captain?”
He smiled at her and then blinked out of it. “Aye?”
“You have not heard a word I have said.”
It was true. He couldn’t deny it. “I was rememberin’…”
“Remembering what?” she pressed.
“When I first laid eyes on ye, and all the days after that. They were too pleasant to leave fer thoughts of John.”
She tossed him a wistful smile. “Aye, I think of those things often.”
He frowned and looked away at the castle looming closer.
“Speak plainly please,” she said.
Before he could stop himself, the words left his mouth, rolled off his tongue. “Fergive me, but if ye are goin’ to be a nun, I dinna think there should be any doubt—or any need of time to think aboot it.”
“There were no doubts before you!” she insisted.
He cast her a regretful side glance and opened the castle doors. “Bring Daffodil to my chambers,” he called to the children and then watched them race up the stairs.
He didn’t care who saw him with Silene. She’d soon be a nun and that would be the end of everything.
“I will be ootside yer door, ready to escort ye to the church.”
“Nay. I do not think ’tis a good idea. You know you are a temptation to me, yet you always insist on being at my side.”
“My desires…and yers dinna come before yer safety.”
“I will be safe going to church, Captain.”
Aha. He was back to being Captain.
“I do not want to see you.”
“Verra well,” he said, sounding like a hammer coming down on an anvil. “Ye willna see me.”
Silene stared at the purple gown folded neatly on her bed. She wanted to try it on. Just one more time before she gave it away. Perhaps it would fit Louise.
She only had a few moments left before she was expected at the church. She left the gown where it was and dressed in her habit. She looked at the door. Was he out there waiting to escort her? She wiped her eyes for the hundredth time. She wasn’t doing this for her uncle anymore. She was doing it to keep her and Galeren alive. And though that was a serious reason indeed, it wasn’t the right one.
She opened her chamber door. He wasn’t there or down any of the halls. She walked, alone, out of the castle and into the late afternoon sun. She looked around at the village and the surrounding structures and trees, all cast in a soft, summer glow. It calmed her racing heart.
When she stepped through the inner gate, someone took her wrist. She turned, expecting to see Galeren.
“Uncle,” she muttered and then pulled her wrist free. “Have you come to make certain I reach the church safely?”
“Of course,” he said with a grin. “I need ye.”
“Aye, ye do,” she agreed with a knot twisting in her belly. She meant nothing to him.
“Now that we have a moment, I would like to ask you if you have seen my parents.”
He regarded her with a wry gleam in his eyes. “I was with them last month. I have taken good care of them in yer name, gel. Ye are a blessin’ to them.”
She smiled. “How is Sherman, our Spaniel? He was just a pup when I left.”
Her uncle nodded. “The dog is well, accordin’ to yer sister. He still hunts and was oot when I arrived.”
Silene closed her eyes to keep from screaming at him. He was lying. Her family didn’t own a dog named Sherman. Her uncle was her enemy. She doubted that he had visited her parents at all.
“I wish you and I could have had more time to visit and get to know each other, my lord.”
She wanted to find something redeeming about him.
“Well, ye canna live yer life with regrets now,” he warned.
She couldn’t find anything.
“Uncle, I would like some time alone with God right now.” She knew he could not deny her and claim to be pious.
He nodded hesitantly. “Verra well.” He sounded insulted that she had just dismissed him. He walked away and entered the church, leaving her alone in the coming twilight.
It was time. She looked around. Was Galeren somewhere behind a tree or cottage, watching her?
She prayed for strength but when she tried to move her feet, she found she could not budge them. She knew that if she went inside the church, she would never see the captain again. The feeling washed over her like a wave, a certainty she could not deny. It made her feel ill. She clutched her belly and cried out softly.
“Silene!”
The captain’s voice in the indigo shadows made her blood rush through her veins and her breath pause.
“Are ye ill, lass?” He came to her as if from a dream, his eyes wide with concern.
She took a step to meet him and went straight into his arms. “Can we still get away?”
Without a word, he released her and slipped his hand to hers. He tugged and began to run.
She went with him. Holding his hand with one of her own and hoisting her robes over her ankles with the other. He led her to his horse and helped her mount. She would have to ride on her side, so she pulled her skits over her knees and waited for him.
He mounted and sat behind her, tucking her into his lap.
With a flick of his wrist, he snapped the reins and set the horse to flying through the outer gate. There was no time to go back to the castle and get her things. She was leaving Dundonald, her uncle, her vows, with nothing but the clothes on her back. Not that she had much in the first place. She didn’t care about the castle or her uncle. But leaving her vows frightened her.
They rode until the world went black and his horse needed to rest. He would get her a horse tomorrow, he promised. She didn’t mind riding with him.
They’d gone far, perhaps twenty miles. But was it far enough to rest? Was her uncle close?
They made a small fire and ate little. Galeren sat against a tree and held her in his arms when she snuggled close to him. He covered them with a fur hide he had tied to his horse when he thought they were leaving earlier and forgot about it.
She smiled and pressed her cheek to his chest. “’Tis good,” she nearly purred.
She didn’t know why she felt so peaceful. It was because all the weight of having to make such life-changing decisions was lifted. Even for a little while.
“I feel like a devil fer takin’ ye from what ye have wanted fer so long now.”
“I wanted to leave,” she promised him.
“I tempted ye,” he answered.
She shook her head. “I do not feel temptations, Galeren. I feel love.”
He lifted her cheek on a deep breath. She could hear his heart pounding. He kissed the top of her head. “I didna know havin’ these feelin’s could be like this. ’Tis both thrillin’ and terrifyin’.”
She nodded in agreement. “I am afraid John will find us. Will Invergarry not be the first place he goes?”
“Aye. That is why I must go there. I must let my kin know what is comin’.”
She felt the sting behind her lids and did everything she could to stop her tears. He would feel them on his chest. In the end, she failed.
“I do not want to be the reason your family goes into battle.”
“Lass?” The deep, purring resonance of his voice fell around her like a favored blanket, coaxing her to let him stay under the blanket with her. “My kin dinna mind fightin’. ’Tis in our blood. We are put to the field at a tender age. Taught to fight and stay alive by our fathers and our mothers.”
Their mothers? “Aye,” she remembered out loud. “May and Rowley Hetherington are your mother’s parents. Your mother was a border reiver.”
“Aye.”
“She fought men.”
“Aye,” he agreed “She is small in stature, but her speed is still spoken aboot at the table. No man I know has ever beaten her to the final blow. She doesna waste a moment of time tryin’
to fight. She flies at her opponent in the first instant—or even before. Somehow attachin’ herself on his back and cuts his throat. If ’tis the practice field where he finds himself, she holds the dull edge of her knife to his neck and wins.”
Silene listened in both horror and awe. What kind of woman learned how to fight that way?
A woman who either conquered or was conquered. A warrior created in war, ready to fight to live or die trying.
“Tell me more about your family—the women in particular.” She wanted to hear about these courageous women, and she wanted to keep listening to his voice.
“My Aunt Aleysia taught us how to sweep a man clean off his feet and onto his arse. She was and remains the only warrior who ever took down the merciless Cainnech MacPherson, High Commander to Robert the Bruce, and lived. She also taught us to run through trees.”
Silene looked up at him. “What do you mean? How can you run through the trees?”
“The trees around the stronghold are all connected by boughs or planks. We run along those. There are traps everywhere, as well. Her idea.” He smiled. “An army will have a difficult time if they go through the forest.”
He told her about his Aunt Julianna, who taught them all about different poisons that could either kill their enemy, paralyze them, or put them to sleep. “She taught us how to remove the tiny stingers of wasps, hornets, or the fangs of spiders, and more. ’Tis fer close contact, should ye find yerself at the enemy’s mercy. Ye only need to touch yer enemy to kill him.”
“Oh, my!” she whispered, astounded and rested her cheek on his chest again.
“Her husband is the youngest of the three brothers,” he continued. “Uncle Nicholas was raised as a servant and became an earl. He is more of a diplomatic warrior. He can serve or slay with his tongue. He has lived in the huts along the Marañon River, verra far south of here.”
“They sound fascinating!” she breathed. “And what of your father?”
His tone grew warmer when he spoke. “My father singlehandedly took down Berwick Castle, Till Castle, and dozens of others. In between, he learned to read because he wanted to find a story his mother used to tell him aboot a king called Arthur and his isle called Avalon.”
“You love him very much.”
“Aye,” he agreed. “He and my uncles have built a stronghold that can withstand much. If John’s men go through the forest, they will die. If they make it to the shepherds, many will die before they reach the battlements. There are over one hundred warriors within the stronghold. They are always ready fer battle.”
She shivered in his arms. “I am a bit anxious about meeting them.”
“No,” he told her, “dinna be. They will love ye as I do.”
She lifted her head to look at him and smile, but she should have known better. He smiled and she was lost.
When he dipped his head to her, she closed her eyes and tried to prepare for the feel of his…
…lips. They were warm—like the rest of him, firm but yielding, molding to her, tasting her in swift, breathless kisses. She loved kissing him. His lips were so soft. She wanted him to take her deeper and reached her hands around his nape. His dark, golden hair fell over her fingers. His mouth covered hers. His tongue licked and danced over hers, flicked across her teeth while his lips caressed hers.
She’d chosen this man over speaking her vows, but she had in no way given up the first place in her heart to anyone but God and she still might say her vows in the spring if being with Galeren proved too difficult.
Her uncle wouldn’t care. His secured place on the council was gone. Not only gone but stained because of her.
“What about Mac and the others?”
He raised a brow. The corners of his teasing mouth rose. “D’ye think of my men while ye kiss me?”
“Not always,” she teased back.
His smile grew into a wide grin and then they both laughed.
“They know where I wanted to take ye. I had hoped ye would change yer mind and gave them orders to collect anythin’ we left behind and meet us at the stronghold.”
Aye. She thought of her purple gown and nodded.
“They will also have a bit more information as to what actions John is takin’.”
“You are clever, Galeren,” she told him, staring into his eyes. “I love being held in your arms. I love your face and the things you talk about. I love how you feel in my hands.” She ran her palms over his chest.
His smile warmed on her. She inhaled a deep breath and prepared to be kissed by him again.
“Ye are mine,” he whispered, breaking their kiss for just an instant. “I will never let ye go.”
Chapter Sixteen
Galeren held her in his arms while she slept. He kept his horse close by and his knife in his hand, ready to run and cut anyone down. He hoped no one came. He wanted to keep holding her. They had kissed and spoke until she could no longer keep sleep from overtaking her.
He tried to work out in his mind, while he counted the stars, how quickly things had gone bad in Dundonald. He had always known that John was ambitious, but he never knew what lengths the high steward would go to be king.
Silene was the steward’s kin, a novice of the Almighty, and an innocent, genuine soul unsullied by the deeds of men.
How could John or any other man even think of hurting her? He wouldn’t let them near her.
He rubbed his thumb over her back while his hand relaxed on her. She’d let him hold her. He was certain he was the only man who ever had.
What would he do if she chose to wed herself to God when she was finally safe? He prayed again that she would be released from her vows. That she would give herself to him.
And I will give what Ye ask of me, he prayed and closed his eyes.
He woke just before dawn to the sound of Silene’s soft voice. She was deep in prayer, whispering things about him.
He didn’t feel right about listening to something so private.
“Lass?”
She stopped and opened her eyes and inclined her ear to his lips to hear him.
An arrow whooshed above her. It would have gone straight through her if she hadn’t bent to him.
Galeren moved in a blur of speed, pulling her down and covering her body with his. There was no time to think. Only to react. Galeren had decades of practice. He rolled over her and grabbed his bow and quiver in the leaves. He took a half a breath’s time to pause and look down into her big, beautiful eyes. He didn’t smile or speak. He just looked and then he looked away. He rose up from behind her with his arrow nocked and ready to fly. He saw a man kneeling behind the stump of a tree. He released the arrow. Without taking the time to aim, he’d sent his arrow into the man’s head.
His eyes caught another movement. His second arrow flew and met its mark into the guts of another.
“Stay behind me, love,” he commanded and moved slowly to the right.
His arrow was ready when he saw a third man behind a small cottage. Galeren made his way toward it.
“Do not shoot me, Captain!” the man called out and left the shadows with his hands up.
What? It couldn’t be.
It was Silene who spoke his name softly into the dawn. “Morgann.”
Galeren held the shaft of his arrow against his cheek. His fingers pulled back the bowstring.
“Captain, please.”
“Ye dare plead mercy from me after ye betray me? Who? Who told ye to do this?”
“John,” Morgann answered.
“Morgann, why?” Silene asked behind him.
“I dinna care why,” Galeren said through his clenched teeth. “I’m goin’ to kill ye.”
Morgann closed his eyes waiting for death. But Galeren didn’t want to kill him in front of Silene. Letting him live was punishment enough. His name would be known to every senior officer as a traitor.
“On yer knees,” Galeren ordered.
Morgann quickly did as he was told.
“How many of ye are
there, Morgann?”
“Three in the nearest vicinity. Ye killed two of them. There are three more headin’ northeast. There will be more comin’.”
Galeren scanned the surroundings carefully. Nothing moved. He deemed it safe to do so. He took Silene’s arm and then took off for cover, grabbing hold of Morgann as he went.
Morgann, he thought, letting the truth pound into his head. Young Morgann had betrayed him.
“Which one of ye shot the arrow at her while she prayed?” Galeren asked him as they rounded up their horses and left the small clearing.
“’Twas Jack MacKinny,” Morgann told him somberly.
Jack MacKinny, Galeren thought as he rode away. Bastard. He was glad he killed him. He wanted to ask Morgann if Mac and the others betrayed him as well. But he didn’t want to know. Right now, Morgann’s betrayal was enough.
He didn’t allow his former friend near Silene. The only words Morgann could utter without losing his head were, “I’m sorry.”
“Will ye ever fergive me, Captain?”
“Since when d’ye seek my absolution?” Galeren put to him.
“I have always looked up to ye, Sir.”
Galeren laughed but the sound was void of any mirth. “And what did John offer ye to make ye look the other way?”
“Land in Ayr,” Morgann answered with shame in his eyes.
“Well, lad,” Galeren said to him. “Now ye know ye have a price.”
He turned away from Morgann and rode closer to Silene.
“What aboot ye, Captain?” the traitor boldly called out. “Ye are runnin’ off with the woman yer steward and friend charged ye to protect. A novice who was goin’ to become a nun before God and the church today. D’ye think ye are so different from me?”