by Hazel Hunter
It opened, and a good-looking teenage boy with a pale, perspiring face stepped out and closed it behind him.
“Fair day to you, my lords, my lady,” he said and gulped a little air. “We have sickness in the house, so I cannae invite you in. Do you, ah, wish to buy some firewood?”
Cailean heaved a sigh. “Alick, lad, what have you done?”
“Actually, Alick, lad,” Diana said, “we’ve come for Lamont’s daughter.” A high-pitched shriek came from inside the cottage. “She’s going to bolt,” Diana told Raen. “You two should go around back now.”
“I dinnae ken anything about N– Lady Nathara,” Alick protested, and when Diana reached for the door he seized her hand. “Please, good, kind mistress. You mustnae do this.”
“Sorry, kid. Not that kind.”
She extricated her fingers before she pushed past him and went inside. The interior of the cottage looked much cleaner than the outside, although it was obvious the forester and his mother were poor. Beside a small fire in the hearth an old woman sat sewing on a beautifully embroidered piece of blue silk.
“Are you the mother?” Diana asked her.
“Aye,” Alick’s mother said. “Herself and the other one ran out the back.” She jerked her head toward the rear of the cottage. “Has the maid dressed in her gown, the wee schemer.”
The boy stepped in front of Diana. “Please, my lady.”
“I’m sorry,” she said and patted him on the shoulder. “Let’s just try to end this before anyone gets hurt.”
When she walked out the back of the cottage Diana found Raen and Cailean marching two red-faced, badly-scratched girls out of the thicket. The one dressed as the earl’s daughter hung limp and wailed piteously, but the other fought and screeched every step of the way.
“Let go of me,” Nathara demanded, the maid’s cap slipping down over her face. “I have naught to do with this. I am a maid, I tell you.”
“Sure,” Diana said. “And I’m a monkey’s uncle.”
She watched as Alick rushed out and tried to take Nathara from Raen, who easily held him off with one hand. That made the earl’s daughter scream and reach for him. Finally Diana put her fingers in her mouth and let out a loud, sharp whistle, silencing the three youngsters.
“Thank you,” she said. “Now, let’s go have a little chat.”
Once back inside the cottage, all three teenagers tried to speak at once, while the forester’s mother snorted and shook her head.
“Hey,” Diana began. “Hey. If you don’t shut up, I’m going to gag all of you.” That quieted them down enough for her to talk at a normal level. “Thanks. Alick, start talking.”
“I’ve ken Nathara since we were bairns, and my mother sewed for hers,” the forester said. “I wouldnae harm her. I love her.”
“And I him,” the earl’s daughter said, sounding sulky. “I want nothing but to be his wife.”
“More like she wanted to get away from the earl,” the old lady put in. “She’s the image of her mam, you ken. As long as he lives, he’ll never let her marry. She’ll go to her shroud an old maid.”
“Speaking of which,” Diana said and eyed the maid. “How did you get involved in this mess?”
“I didnae wish to take milady’s jewels and bring them to the woodsman,” the young maid said, sobbing the words. “She told me if I didnae she would tell her father I stole them.”
“She did that anyway after you left,” Diana assured her before she turned to Nathara. “You said good-bye to your father, went up to your room, and took off your gown. I’m guessing it was too big to let you fit in the basket.”
“Aye, but I hated that gown,” the girl said, lifting her chin. “’Twas my mother’s and made for her. I wore it only to please my sire. ’Twas too plain and matronly for me.”
“But you couldnae let your father find it,” Raen said. “Else he might realize how you got out of the stronghold. That ’twas why you hid it behind your trunk.”
“And then you climbed in the basket, covered yourself with the mending, and let the servants carry you out,” Cailean put in. “All Alick had to do was load the basket of mending onto his cart before he left.”
Nathara uttered a petulant sound. “Why do you meddle in my affairs? I dinnae wish to return to my sire’s household. I am a woman grown.”
“We meddle, honey, because your dad thinks that the undead abducted you.” Diana pointed at the maid. “And that you’re a thief who stole his daughter’s jewelry.” She turned to Alick. “But he has no idea you helped smuggle your girl out of the stronghold. I wonder how he’ll feel about that when I tell him. The guy has a lot of heavily-armed men working for him.”
The boy went white. “Please, my lady, dinnae betray us.”
Diana felt a pang of sympathy, and thought for a moment. “If we handle this the right way, we might be able to keep him from strangling the two of you before he locks up his daughter forever. Unless you want to die, or die a virgin, respectively.” She glanced at Alick’s mother. “She’s still a virgin, right?”
“Naught of that until they were proper married, I told Alick. Made the wee schemer sleep with me last night to be sure.” The old lady glanced at the maid. “And I told her she couldnae murder that one, no’ after all the wench did to help them. ’Twouldnae be fair.”
The maid let out a high-pitched shriek, and sagged against Cailean.
Nathara stamped her foot. “Now look what you’ve done,” she snapped. “’Tis none of your concern, druidess.” She gave Alick a pouty look. “And you. You said you would kill anyone who tried to take me from you.”
“I was being manly,” the boy protested. “You ken I’ve no weapons but my father’s ax.”
“Give it to me,” his mother suggested, “and I’ll fix this with one stroke.” When she saw the look Raen gave her she smiled. “’Tis the simplest way. The maid can stay with me and Alick. Even if she hasnae a spine, I like her. She’s a loyal little wench, and she cleans.”
Diana glanced at Raen, who was pointedly staring at the ceiling beams. Cailean flapped his sleeve over the unconscious maid, trying to revive her. Nathara was examining the bleeding scratches from the brambles on her hands with a look of disgust. Alick had unmanly tears in his eyes.
Diana went over to check the maid, who aside from the scratches was fine.
“She’s okay. She just fainted.”
Alick sniffed loudly and swiped at his nose. With a little smile, Diana went to him and patted him on the back.
“Sometimes love is worth anything, kid,” she said.
But as she said it, she realized how she could give everyone what they wanted and keep Lamont from discovering that his beloved daughter had tried to elope with her penniless beau.
“Okay, people,” she said, clapping her hands. “New plan. Alick, get the ax.”
Chapter Thirteen
LATE THAT AFTERNOON Raen and Diana slipped away from the celebration at Lamont’s stronghold and took the stream back to Skye. As they emerged from the spring pond at the edge of the glen, he saw Diana look around.
“Why did we come out here?” she asked. “The castle’s miles away.”
“I wished some time alone with you.” He held onto her hand. “I reckon you needed the walk, too. Unless you’d rather run?”
“Walking’s good,” she said and climbed up the rocky slope to the path the villagers used to fetch water from the spring. “Do you think the earl will really let Alick marry Nathara?”
Raen grinned. “He was so grateful to have his daughter returned to him I think he wished to wed Alick.” He glanced at her. “Telling him that the forester rescued Nathara from the undead before we could was very smart. So was smearing the edge of the ax with the blood from Nathara’s hands.”
“You were the one who persuaded Lamont to grant Alick any reward he desired for his bravery,” Diana countered. “I’m just glad that kid had the nerve to ask for Nathara’s hand in marriage. The maid was overjoyed to stay and
look after his mom, so everyone will live happily ever after, as it should be. You did good, Big Man.”
A blurry image of Bradana came into his thoughts. His mortal wife would have died eventually, but he’d expected to have a long and happy marriage with her.
“No’ everyone lives happily ever after, lass.”
She tucked her arm through his. “You want to tell me about her, your wife?”
Raen usually hated even thinking about her, but suddenly the words spilled out of him.
“Her name was Bradana, and her people were orcharders on the mainland. The first time I saw her, I knew she was no’ for me, but when she smiled it was as if the sunlight grew brighter, and the air warmer. I watched her from afar for a long time, wishing I could but hear her voice. Then I had to go closer, so I could hear it.” He smiled, remembering. “She had a wonderful voice, like soft little bells ringing.”
As they walked he described his slow and often painful courtship of his mortal love, and how he had tried to compromise between his love for Bradana and his duty to the clan.
“I couldnae run away with her, and she couldnae come to Dun Aran. It seemed we would forever be parted, and then one night, in a beautiful meadow where she picked wild flowers, she gave herself to me.” He expected to feel the bitter resentment that came with those few, happy memories, but only a dull, sad ache entered his heart. “I couldnae keep taking from her and giving naught back.”
“So you married her,” Diana said, giving his arm a little squeeze.
“Aye. The very next day I brought her to a church, in a town far from her croft, and there we were wed. We still couldnae live together, but I saw her as often as I could.” Raen endured a wave of shame before he said, “’Twas our deception that was our undoing. She should have told her family, but she lied to them, as I did to the laird and the clan.”
“Someone found out?” Diana asked.
Raen nodded. “I used the pond in her croft when I went to see her. She would meet me there, and we would make love under the apple trees. One night a man who wanted to marry Bradana followed her, and saw me coming out of the pond. It takes a moment for my body to change, so he saw me as I am when I bond with the water. Then he watched me change back.”
She made a low, hurt sound. “Oh, no.”
“He told her people what he thought he saw,” Raen said as he looked out at the horizon, where the sea and the sky seemed to mirror each other. “They were simple, superstitious folk, and assumed that she was consorting with a kelpie, that I was an evil water spirit, and Bradana a witch. The next day they tied her hands and feet, and put her to a witch test. If she didnae sink in the pond, she would be judged a witch. But when they pushed her in the water, it soaked her clothes and dragged her down beneath the water lilies. I found her body the next night, still tangled in them.” Suddenly his throat was tight but he couldn’t stop now. “She fought to free herself, you see. I think she fought until the moment she drowned.”
Diana didn’t say anything, but she pressed up against him, and stayed with him like that until he found his voice again.
“I carried her to the meadow she loved, where we had been happy, and I buried her there.” Raen closed his eyes for a moment. “Then I went back, and made them tell me what they had done, and bring to me the man responsible. I put him in the pond, again and again, so he could ken her terror. As I did a storm came, and lightning struck the cottages and the orchards. That stopped me from drowning him, but half the croft burned to the ground that night.”
“Raen,” Diana whispered. Her arm came around him, and she cupped the back of his neck with her slim hand, rubbing it with a soothing motion. “I’m so sorry.”
“Aye. ’Tis a sorry story.” He held onto her for a long moment, and then released her. “Come. I need to walk now.”
As they made their way across the glen, Raen pointed out some of the land Lachlan had given the villagers for new gardens, and the new fences the clan had erected to discourage the island’s herds of wild red deer from raiding the crops. Diana stopped to admire the ancient stone bridge that arched over a melt water stream, and he refrained from telling her that he’d helped build it five hundred years in the past.
He wanted to tell her everything and decided to brace the laird about it as soon as Lachlan and Kinley returned from the mainland. Diana had proven time and again she could be trusted, and he was weary of withholding the full truth of what he was from her.
As they entered the sacred oak grove, she stopped and glanced around. “Hey, I know this place.”
“’Tis where you crossed over, lass.” He pointed at a wide circle formed of roots in the very center. “Just there.”
Rather than move closer, Diana took a step back. “That’s the spot.” Her expression sobered as she dragged her teeth over her lower lip. “Druid Boy told me that I can go back through there to my time. Is that true?”
Something in her voice told Raen she didn’t want that.
“I am not a druid, but Cailean doesnae lie about such things. We already ken you have the power to use the grove on your own. If you wished to, you might try now.” Though he looked at her, she stared at the grove. “Diana?”
“Sorry. I spaced out a little there.” She turned to face him. “I don’t want to go back yet. Truth is, I may never want to.” She ducked her head and ran her fingers along an edge of his tartan. “How would you feel if I stayed here? You being one of the reasons I would stay.”
Raen gathered her in his arms, and tipped up her chin as he told her the truth. “Glad.” He kissed her brow. “So glad.” He touched his lips to the curve of her cheekbone. “Very, very glad,” he murmured against her lips.
Diana’s fingernails curled against his chest as she parted her lips for him, and moaned into his mouth. Raen took his time, giving her his tongue and tempting hers into his mouth. She tasted faintly of the celebratory whiskey Lamont had insisted they drink with him, and her own sweetness, which was far more intoxicating.
“I would have you again,” he murmured against her lips. “’Tis all I can think anymore when I look upon you. I see you naked, under me, on me, and ’twould be so good. I grow hard every time I think of being inside you.”
“And I go wet when I imagine you in me.” She pressed herself against him, her long body trembling. “So I stay, and we do something about it.”
“We could slip away tonight,” he suggested, caressing her bottom. “The laird has a lodge in the ridges. ’Tis very private, and there is a bed.”
“Make love in the laird’s bed?” She looked wide-eyed at him. “You could get in trouble for that.”
“We willnae tell him,” Raen assured her, and kissed her again.
Dimly he heard someone clear their throat, and lifted his head to see Cailean standing on the other side of the circle.
The druid held up his long, pale hands. “I didnae mean to intrude, but I must speak with you. Diana, might I have a word with the seneschal alone?”
“Sure,” she said, her face guarded. She stepped back from Raen. “I’ll keep walking. Catch up when you can.” Turning her head so Cailean couldn’t see, she wiggled her eyebrows at him. “Think lodge.”
He hated watching her go, and as soon as she was out of earshot he scowled at the druid.
“You saw for yourself how good and fair she was today. She saved that lad’s life, and placated Lamont, all without violence. She is druid kind, and yet you still treat her as if she were one of the undead.”
“As it happens, Master Aber, I like the lieutenant very much,” Cailean told him. “She is everything you say, and I think more than that. But before I came here, I went to the settlement to see my master. He convinced the conclave to send Diana back to her time.”
A dull fury rose into Raen’s head. “No. She doesnae wish to go. She just said thus to me. With her talent she could help us so much.”
The druid made a calming gesture. “Bhaltair is determined to be rid of her, or he wouldnae have per
suaded the others to rule so. There is more you should ken. Your laird openly disagreed with the ruling. He told the conclave that he would think on it, but it was clear to all that he willnae force her to go.”
That news gave Raen some relief. “Then ’tis decided. Lachlan’s word is law here.”
“At the stronghold, aye.” Cailean fell silent as he looked at the sacred circle. “Master Aber, the McDonnels have never flouted the conclave once in my memory. By doing so over this female, the laird challenges more than a ruling, do you understand that?”
He nodded slowly. “There will be trouble between us now.”
“My master is a kind man, and a very wise one,” the druid said. “He has accepted that the lieutenant didnae intend to harm him. ’Tis something else about her. In all of my incarnations, I have never seen him like this.”
Raen thought of how Bhaltair had stared at Diana just before the gun fired, as if he couldnae believe his eyes. At the time he had assumed that her modern garments had astonished him, but now he was not so sure.
“Can you persuade him to change his thinking?” Raen asked.
“I will try, if I can.” Cailean’s expression grew bleak. “Bhaltair has great influence over our people, Master Aber. If the lieutenant doesnae return to her time, I fear he may take matters into his own hands. If it comes to that, ’twill cause a rift between the druids and the clan.”
Chapter Fourteen
DIANA HAD ALMOST reached the path through the ridge to the stronghold when Raen and Cailean finally caught up with her.
“There you are,” she said. “I thought you might have gone back to Lamont’s for another drink.”
“The clan is likely still celebrating,” Cailean said. “You did very good work there, Lieutenant.”
While the druid went on praising her ingenuity in peacefully reuniting the earl with his daughter, the big man remained silent. Diana guessed their private chat had been about her, or whatever the laird didn’t want Raen to tell her. As impatient as she felt over being left out, she couldn’t fault the big man for keeping secrets. She was still hanging on to a rather large one of her own.