by Kara Griffin
“I thank you, your grace. Why did they leave?” She couldn’t help asking.
“They didn’t want to be here under another leader. Your father was beloved by all his clan.”
“I dearly hope they return. If not for Domhnall’s actions none would ever had to leave.”
“Let me view the parchment,” he said, and she handed it to him. The king quickly read the words and he scowled, and then he folded it neatly and the pinsel, and placed them inside his tunic.
“Come let us finish this business.”
Elisa didn’t dare look at Sean or Colm when they exited the cottage, for she knew they had been listening to their conversation. The men followed behind silently, but she could tell by their walk that they were angry.
When they reached the others they stood closer to the group, the men stood behind her silently awaiting the king’s orders. Except for the sounds the horses made and the wind, all was quiet. The tension of that moment stiffened her back and tensed her heart.
mac Raghnaill approached. His eyes black with anger. “Alexander, she’s my betrothed, I only want back what is mine. I will take her and leave.”
Alexander laughed. “I believe the McInnish laird might have a thing or two to say about that since you speak of his wife.”
Domhnall glanced at Kenneth and then at her. A bright red flushed his cheeks with anger. Elisa reached into the seam of her overdress where she’d stored the dagger. She held it tightly knowing she would use it should she need to.
Domhnall stared at her, his gaze hot with ire. Before anyone could react, Domhnall grabbed her and held her in front of him. His sword crossed over and against her chest.
“Don’t come any closer or she’ll be no more. I vow I will kill her.”
Everyone took a step back, except for Sean and Colm who stood behind her.
“You’re a dead man,” Kenneth said heatedly.
Alexander motioned for him to quiet. “I’ve proof of your treason against Haakon, Domhnall. You will die at his hands. Release the lass at once.”
“Nay! What proof?”
Alexander pulled the parchment from his tunic and waved it in the air. “Do you want me to read it aloud before all? Do you wish to hear your brother’s words involving you in his scheme to overthrow Haakon and take his crown?”
Domhnall backed a step, dragging Elisa with him. She held the dagger and waited for an opportune time to use it. She tried to think of something to avert his attention from them for a moment.
“He lies. I had no involvement in Rory’s scheme.”
“Nay, I believe it is you who lies,” the king said.
Elisa needed to draw his attention away from the king and she had to say something, “Domhnall, they took me. I had no choice. Pray don’t let them take me back. Why did you take me from my home?”
He loosed his hold slightly. “I thought you were Mauri. I was gladdened you weren’t, for she was a hellion. You were sweet and I wanted to keep you and so I did.” His words heated her neck.
Elisa tried to keep his attention focused on her. “Why did you not ever tell me?”
“I didn’t want to upset you. I suspected you knew about … It does not matter now, Elisa.” Domhnall turned his attention back to the others and gazed ahead. “Step back or I vow she’ll be gone.”
“Release my wife or by God, my sword will pierce your black heart.” Kenneth wasn’t about to stand down. That worried Elisa.
She gave a pleading look to him, but Kenneth shook his head.
Domhnall pushed her behind him.
“Aye, I should kill you for taking what is mine. You and Gunn are liars and should both meet death by my hand.” He sneered and kept his gaze on them, pointing his sword at them.
Elisa gripped her dagger and held it behind her, hoping either Sean or Colm would take it. It was pulled from her grasp.
Elisa spied Sean inching closer. He thrust the dagger at Domhnall’s back. It entered the left side easily tearing through his body with the force he applied. She heard Domhnall’s intake of breath and then a few seconds later he crumbled to the ground.
She was pushed back a couple of feet by the force of Sean’s shove and she scrunched her eyes closed and stood there, her blood rushing through her so fast that her ears rang. When she gained enough courage to open her eyes, she saw everyone staring silently at her, their mouths agape at Sean’s attack. Grey and Kenneth started to approach, but the king stopped them.
“You two will leave now, both of you. Take your armies home before I change my mind and have you imprisoned for treason. You lied to me when you returned with her. And then you, Kenneth McInnish, went and married the lady without my permission.”
Grey held Kenneth back.
“I am not leaving without my wife.”
“You are and you will. She doesn’t want you punished for what you did, lying to your king and thwarting my efforts to handle this matter.”
“She will come with me.” Kenneth tore his arm from Grey’s grip.
“I won’t punish you, but the lady is staying here by her own choice. You will leave her be and return to your lands.” Then king spoke quietly to the dark-haired man next to him.
Elisa’s heart thumped madly. Grey took hold of his arm and forced Kenneth to move. She watched as Kenneth walked away without a word to her. She wanted to cry or at the very least shout at him. He didn’t care and didn’t even consider putting up a fight for her. She’d done the right thing in sending him away.
She wouldn’t allow her tears to fall. Kelsi finally reached her side and hugged her.
“Are you well, unharmed? That man didn’t hurt you, did he?”
“Nay, he didn’t. But I am not well.” Elisa looked down at Domhnall and saw the puddle of blood darkening the ground. She quickly turned away as a sickness twined in her stomach.
Sean and Colm were about to leave when the king bid them closer. “Have his head sent to Haakon with my compliments. Then you are to return here and guard Elisa until I can restore her family home.”
Elisa saw their expressions of disdain for they were angry with her. She would release them of their duties at the soonest or make them understand why she couldn’t stay with a man who didn’t love her.
As Elisa found her way back to the cottage, she asked to be alone. Kelsi left her and she finally let her tears fall. She cried for all the heartache she’d endured. As she lay upon the pallet her head spun and her stomach turned. She wretched and still didn’t feel better. She deemed her illness had to do with the fact that she had just witnessed a man being killed, a man she detested and who had stood only a few feet from her.
Yet that really hadn’t bothered her. Something else had her stomach aflutter. What she’d done sickened her and now she regretted her choice. Mayhap she was ill because she’d lost the only man she would ever love.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Kenneth sat at the table in the hall, numb from the days and months that had passed since he’d last seen Elisa. Winter had come and was nearly over with spring soon to appear. He couldn’t spend any time in his chamber, for the nights were the worst, when he missed her most. He tried to forget her, tried to put her out of his mind, but it was futile. Whenever he closed his eyes, he envisioned the last time they were together. Her bonny face and body held him entranced during the long night of the sweetest sex he’d ever experienced.
He couldn’t help thinking about what had happened at the MacQuarrie holding. The entire affair replayed itself in his mind over and over. He tried to reason he’d done everything to get the king to allow him to bring her home. Lest he end up in Edinburgh imprisoned, he had no choice but to leave. Now, with all the time that passed, he berated himself for not demanding she attend him. He should have insisted she listen to him.
In trying to keep himself busy, he searched for his sister. Helena believed Kelsi lived somewhere in the adjacent woodlands, but his hunts had come up nil. In the last months, he’d explored the woods surrounding their
fortification and found nothing. Kenneth didn’t deem she’d be able to survive alone and considered the notion she verily might be dead.
He didn’t want to upset his stepmother with his conviction and kept his opinion to himself. The rumors of the Red Lady had ceased and none of his clansmen or women had seen her for quite some time. Sadly, he realized that if Kelsi was the Red Lady, she wasn’t within the woods. They would have to face the fact that his sister was nowhere to be found.
A noise sounded at the entrance and Grey came strolling in. Kenneth wasn’t expecting a visit from him, but he was somewhat glad to see him. Grey went behind the buttery and took a jug, and poured himself a drink. He didn’t greet him as he took a seat, but looked at him woefully.
“Cosh, Kenneth, you look like hell.”
“Aye, and well I should. What are you doing here? You’re a long way from home.” He sat back in the chair and closed his eyes, not wishing to see the pity in his friend’s eyes.
“I’m on my way home from Donal’s and thought I’d stop by.”
“My holding is nowhere near Donal’s.”
Grey took a small sip from the cup he held. “Aye, I know that. Haven’t you had enough torment? You want her. Why don’t you do something about it and soon?”
Kenneth groaned. “I want to, but she won’t listen now. I’ve lost her, Grey, it is over. There’s nothing I can do win her back.”
“Are ye still torn about Greer? You’re still not punishing yourself, are you? Is that why you’re not willing to fight for her? Why you’re giving up? Because if you are, I vow I’ll beat the cosh from you.”
He took the cup from Grey and finished off the drink and balked at the brew as it went down his throat. “I’ve come to closure about Greer. I no longer accept responsibility for his death. I know it wasn’t my fault that he died. He wouldn’t have wanted me to be despondent. So I will not be.”
“That is good to hear, Kenneth. I thought you would take the sorrow to your grave and Greer wouldn’t have wanted that. Will you not at least go and visit her? See if she is well and if she will speak to you? She should be over her anger by now. What have you to lose?”
“What will I say? I’ve thought about it every night since we parted… There is nothing I can say to get her to forgive me for leaving like that. I should’ve insisted I stay with her. I could have insisted she come home with me. I did try but not hard enough. I was angry that she had run off and put herself in danger. I thought it better to walk away then for I don’t know what I would’ve done or said …”
“You do realize what she said to Domhnall was false and that she was trying to get his attention off the king and us. She was a brave lass, Kenneth, to do what she did, giving Sean the dagger. I cannot believe Sean killed him with her standing so close. Still see it when I close my eyes at night.”
“That’s not what I see when I close my eyes.” Kenneth grinned, and handed the cup back to Grey. “Aye, she was brave. I should have known she can take care of herself. She lived with that devil long enough to fend him off all those years.”
“Mayhap she misses you.” Grey handed the cup to him.
“Why would she? I never gave her chance to be my wife. All she wanted was a place here and I couldn’t even give her that wish. I understand my error now.” He finished the drink and poured more.
“Kenneth, that is not true. You gave her a place in your heart, didn’t you?”
He shrugged his shoulder and handed the cup back to Grey.
“Do you love her?” Grey took a swig of the brew.
“I don’t know. Do I? Mayhap this is what love does to a man.”
Grey chuckled under his breath. “He who plunges headlong into love, perishes more irremediably than if he leapt from a rock.”
“What kind of cosh is that?”
Grey refilled the cup and handed it back to him. “A saying I read once by an ancient named Platus. It stuck with me. Ask yourself this then. Can you live without her?”
Kenneth took the drink and gulped the contents. His chest burned and the drink lulled his senses. The feeling was becoming a daily occurrence of late. “Nay, I cannot.”
“Then that is your answer.”
“I do love her,” he said, as if he’d known it all along.
“Aye you do. You have since you laid eyes upon her. Don’t think I didn’t notice. That’s why I did what I did. She was supposed to become Lady McInnish. You never looked at any woman the way ye looked at her and I knew you would be honorable and save her from Sean.” Grey drank the drink he’d poured and refilled it for him, and then handed the cup back to him.
Kenneth laughed. “Aye, she was adamant about not marrying him. I deem she might have fared better had she wedded him. At least Sean wouldn’t have walked away like I did.”
“I doubt that, Kenneth. Sean wouldn’t have handled the matter well at all. He’s too tolerant to have taken the difficulty seriously. He probably would’ve turned her over to the king when he came looking for her. Have they returned? He and Colm from her holding yet?”
He shook his head in answer. “I thought they would eventually leave her and return to you, Grey, but they haven’t?”
“Nay, for I thought they might come here first. I saw Alexander and he seemed appeased. He asked about you, wanted to know if I’d seen you and how you were. Appears things are turning around for him and he prospers.”
“I could give a damned cosh about Alexander.” Kenneth finished the drink and returned it to Grey who eyed the cup.
Grey laughed. “Aye, me neither. But at least he’s forgotten his anger with us. Donal was wrath with me for months and only just forgave me for being dishonest with Alexander.”
Kenneth set the cup down with a bang. “He knew, Grey, I swear it. That night when Alexander came to your keep to question us, Donal gave me a look which indicated he knew we were lying. I thought he was taking our side.”
“That dog! Wait until I see him. For he made me give him two bucks and three hogs in payment for his acceptance of our deceit. I must get back home. Looks like a storm is coming and I want to make ground before it does. I promised Bree I would only stay long enough to get the news. Now that the bairns are growing, she gets upset whenever I leave for long periods.”
“How are Greer and Grace?”
“I am blessed, Kenneth, and you will be too, if you just get the courage to go and see her.”
“Are you sure you can ride?” Kenneth lifted the cup indicating the amount of drink they’d imbibed.
“Why? I am well enough. I barely drank any of the drink. You drinking more these days? For you drank most of it, Kenneth, and hardly left any for me.”
His head began swimming. “Damn you, Grey, you did that on purpose.”
Grey headed out the door with a laugh and a wave.
Kenneth leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He had to think on what he’d say and do when he went to fetch his wife. He spent the rest of the night sitting at the table considering the matter.
Morning came, and still he hadn’t slept or thought of anything useful for his pursuit. He didn’t feel like moving and when the door opened, he noticed snow whipping the wind behind the person entering. That wasn’t expected, a snowfall this late in winter, especially with the warmer days they’d incurred lately. It was the last thing he needed right now.
Then he noticed who had entered.
“Ah, sweet lad, there ye be. I came to say a few words to you.”
He raised a brow and rose, towing over the aged woman. Her hair was as white as the snow now falling outside. Though he’d heard about her often, he hadn’t ever spoken to her. His own mother adored Uma and when he was wee, she’d tell him stories of her insight and how she would tell them of fascinating tales. As a lad the tales entertained him, but now that he was grown, he was leery of her.
“Mistress, won’t you sit?” Kenneth helped her into a chair, as fragile as she seemed, he was afraid she’d break in half when she sat. He couldn�
��t even begin to guess her age for she was older than anyone within the clan.
“I saw her in my mind.”
“Elisa?” he guessed.
“She’s a bonny sweet lass. Aye, I saw her many a year ago, before you father passed. I told Helena of my forsooth, and all has come to be. Alas, I did not envision your bond ending with your torment, lad. Such sorrow for ye both.”
She reached out to touch him, but Kenneth wouldn’t allow her to. She spooked him, for her eyes seemed like glowing embers. Aye, she was a witch who could see into one’s soul.
“I will remedy that eventually.”
“Ye must for she is alone and always will be unless you retrieve her. She is very sad, lad, at your acceptance of her rejection. You didn’t protest to leaving or fight for her. She wished for a show of your affection and gallantry.”
Kenneth nodded, saying nothing.
“Now, ye shall go, and many blessings will come to you. Have faith all will be set to right.”
Helena entered the hall and stopped short upon seeing Uma. “What are you doing here? Are you unwell? You rarely leave your cottage, and in this weather?”
“I had to see the lad this day and now that I have I will return to my cottage.”
Helena stood beside the aged woman. “Kenneth, help her.”
He wasn’t about to say nay, for they both looked ready to fall to the floor as fragile as they both appeared. Kenneth took Uma’s arm and walked her to the door. When he opened it, he was greeted with a gust of snow-driven wind.
“You will need to stay here tonight, I’m afraid. The snow is too deep for you to trod home. Helena would be glad of the company and we have plenty of room.” Kenneth returned Uma to the table and he went to his chamber.
Once alone, he closed the door and looked longingly at the bed and wished he could sleep, but alas he could not. He looked at the window and noted the snow had deepened. Concern came to him for Grey because he had far to travel in such nasty weather. He should have forced him to stay too.