After riding for a few hours, I called a halt to our ride as we approached another wood. We had travelled through this wood on our way south, and while I believed it to be safe, I decided to send some men to scout it just to be sure. I dismounted my horse and held up my hands for the Lady to dismount. I averted my eyes as she threw her leg over my horse’s head, not wanting her to think that I was trying to peer up her skirts, even though I really wanted to. I grabbed her by the waist, lifting her down to stand, and steadying her as she swayed on her feet a little. She lifted her little hands up to grab my arms and I looked down at them, wondering how a grown woman could be so tiny. An errant thought flashed through my head, imagining how easily I could cover that tiny body with my own large one, and I damped it down. I must just be randy because of the ride, I thought to myself, turning as her guard approached to check on her welfare. She whispered to him and then he turned to me as her face flamed red.
“I would ask for some privacy for the Lady” he started, staring at me in the eye without fear. I liked this man, even though he was outnumbered he was still not standing down.
“It has been a long ride, and the Lady would like to be alone in the bushes for a while, if you understand”, he said quietly, so that only I could hear, and not my men who were milling around, curiously.
Realisation dawned, and I nodded.
“If I have yer oath ye will not try to escape, ye may escort Lady Mary to a more private location. I would prefer that ye wait a few minutes first for my men to make sure there are no dangers lurking however”.
“You have my oath. I will return Lady Mary to you as soon as she is ready”.
After my men checked the area and indicated that all was clear, the guard – I really must learn his name – escorted his Lady off the road and out of sight, glaring at any man who dared look at her. Donald came up to me, standing beside me and looking at the direction that the pair had taken.
“Do ye think that’s wise, Liam? They might decide to run off, ye know”.
“Where would they go? Besides, he promised that they wouldn’t, and I think he is an honourable man. Just look at how he has tried to protect her from us. He is not like that other one at all. He would be a good man to have at yer side in a battle”.
Donald nodded and then wandered off to relieve himself. All of my men were doing the same, but I could not go until I was assured that the Lady would return.
When she did, she was leaning on her guard’s arm and it struck me that they had a closer relationship than was probably proper for two people in their stations. The guard was leaning his head down to hers to catch something that she was saying, and I wondered if maybe they were too close. Although he struck me to be a good man, he would not be the first to exercise poor judgement around a pretty woman, and she was far more than just pretty. I watched the two of them for a few moments, realising how good they looked together, and with a sudden growl I turned to disappear into the bushes as well. It was none of my business if the young widow was enjoying a dalliance with her guard, even if I had enjoyed the feel of her body against mine, she was only going to be at my home for a short while before leaving forever. As I spent my water against a tree, I tried to convince myself that it would probably be a good thing if the guard was enjoying the Lady’s favours, as he would be less likely to risk her wellbeing if he had a personal attachment.
However no amount of logical self talk could shake me out of my suddenly foul mood, and when it came time for the party to mount again, I let my hands linger on the Lady a little longer as I lifted her to my horse, and snuggled myself in tight against her after vaulting up behind her. The guard approached, again staring at me belligerently.
“Is that really necessary? Surely you know we cannot run, not with so many of you around. Do you think it is proper for you to ride right behind my Lady like that?”
I sneered at him as I gathered the reins in my hand.
“Do not question me in front of my men. I will do as I want, when I want, and ye would do well to remember that ye are only here under sufferance. Do not make me regret not sending ye back with the other one”.
I heard the Lady Mary gasp as I spoke so rudely to her guard, but did not care. If the man was so besotted with her that it cut him up inside with jealousy to see her body pressed against another man, then so be it. He would be with her again when they were returned to the Le Bruin family, for the time being, she was mine.
Mary.
I woke up the next morning sore and freezing. I had never ridden a horse all day before, and every muscle in my body was screaming in pain, and I was dreading having to get back on the horse again. The only thing that I had to look forward to, was that at least I would be warm. Last night, D’arcy had made sure that I was lying near the fire, and he sat up to watch over me as I slept. The giant – Liam – had lain down not far behind me, sniggering at D’arcy, reminding him that my virtue was not in danger, but D’arcy had not faltered in his resolve, and had sat the entire night, feeding the fire and keeping watch over the men around us, and in the cold light of morning I could see that he was struggling to stay awake. While I appreciated his concern, I could not help but feel a pang of guilt. I had slept, I thought that the men had slept, some taking turns to stay watch, but only forgoing a few hours sleep each, but D’arcy had been awake all night, and now the shadows under his eyes attested to his fatigue. After everyone readied for their ride, I turned back to watch D’arcy, fearful for his wellbeing as he mounted the huge horse.
The same as yesterday, Liam sat behind me on the horse. Although my pride insisted that I try to keep some distance between us, my cold flesh won the internal argument, and I leaned against him, closing my eyes in enjoyment at feeling his warmth at my back, and the warmth around my waist where his arm rested. I thought I heard a slight whisper of sound escape his mouth as I leaned back, and was certain that I felt his arm tighten around me. My eyes stayed closed as my mind wandered, wondering what it would be like to be in this man’s arms willingly. Even though he was my captor, he had so far shown no intent to harm me, and his touch was surprisingly gentle. In my imagination, I saw myself being held against him like this as we slept, with his arm thrown over me both protectively and possessively as we snuggled under the bedcovers for warmth. I imagined what it would be like in the morning, when we awoke, would I feel his manhood pressing against my behind as it was now?
My eyes snapped open and I shook my head in confusion. Was that what I was feeling? I could feel something hot and hard pressing against me, and didn’t think I had felt it before. I tried to pull away, but Liam’s arm tightened, preventing any movement and I turned my head to look back at him, seeing his hazel eyes glittering at me. He leaned in and said quietly in my ear:
“What do ye expect when ye are wiggling against a man like that? Ye have nothing to fear from me. Just because I am aware of ye as a woman, does not mean that I cannot control myself from acting on it”.
Just as I opened my mouth to say something to him, a commotion behind us made Liam turn his horse sideways, instantly alert. The group of men parted, some of them laughing, only for me to see one of them trying to right D’arcy on his horse, he must have fallen asleep and nearly slipped off.
“D’arcy”, I exclaimed, and my hands went to Liam’s arm, trying to remove it from my waist so that I could slide off the horse and check that D’arcy was uninjured. The band of steel around my waist tightened, and I looked up at Liam with a thunderous expression as he straightened his horse and continued riding in the direction we had been travelling.
“Yer guard won’t appreciate ye making such a fuss of him. He will be embarrassed enough at having almost fallen off his horse, without you making an even bigger deal of it. Ye should pretend you didn’t see, leave the man some pride. He is trying to do his job, to protect ye from us, but he is only one man”.
“What can I do? You saw last night how resolved he was. He won’t listen to me, and he certainly won’t listen to you. H
ow many more nights until we are somewhere amongst other women, and he doesn’t need to be so fearful for me?”
Liam snorted, the hair on the back of my head blew forward at the force of his breath.
“Yer man will be dead from lack of sleep before we are safe at my keep. I will talk to him to see how I can convince him that he doesn’t need to watch me so closely”.
When we broke for the noon meal, I saw Liam take D’arcy aside. While I sat on the ground, crumbling the bread I had been given, the man who often rode next to Liam approached me and sat next to me. He began speaking rapidly, and when he realised that I couldn’t understand him, he started speaking more slowly. He told me his name was Donald, and that he was Liam’s brother. I looked at him closely, and realised that there was a family resemblance. Of course, all of the men seemed to be giants to me, but now that I looked at him closely, I could see great similarities around the eyes, particularly there was an unexpected kindness there. These men were proving to be very surprising to me – I had been captured by a band of raiders, yet none had harmed me, and I was beginning to relax a little more each time I had something to do with them.
Donald looked at me closely, having told me a little of himself, he obviously expected to learn something about me.
“So, I hear that ye recently lost yer husband. Pardon me, but you seem very young to be a widow, ye cannot have been married long”.
I answered without thinking, telling only the truth.
“Edmund and I were married for ten years. We were together for almost half my life, and I don’t know what to do without him. I feel like I have lost a part of myself”.
“Ten years ye say? I canna believe that. Ye must have been a baby”.
I laughed at this. He wasn’t far wrong.
“Ours was an arranged marriage, our families wanted to forge an alliance and did what families often do, they married their children to each other. I was twelve years old when I married Edmund, he was only three years older than I”.
Donald stood up at my words and looked at me in shock, then he sat again, and said quietly and in disbelief:
“Twelve? Ye English are barbaric! How could yer parents have sent you to a marriage bed at that tender age?”
Donald blushed as he said those words, obviously they had escaped his mouth before he realised how indelicate it was saying them to a lady, but he angered me and I retorted in kind, raising my voice as I responded.
“At least my father married me off to someone close to my own age, who treated me well. I have heard many a sad tale of girls my age or only a little older married to old men, who beat them because their wives are just their property. I was one of the lucky ones, my husband never raised a hand to me and never made me fear for my safety or my life. It’s a pity you aren’t as fine a man as my Edmund. I’ve felt nothing but fear since I met you and your brother. Don’t pretend you are any better than anyone else, you are just using me for what you can gain from me, without a thought to what will happen afterwards”.
I was so angry that I had stood without thinking, and stomped off into the bushes, pushing through the ring of gawking giants. No-one lifted a hand to stop me, I think for once the battle hardened warriors might have either been a little afraid of someone smaller and unarmed, or maybe they just felt a little guilty for their part in my kidnapping. I kept walking until I found a big rock that was warming in the sun, and sat on it, pulling my knees up under my chin and burying my face in my skirts. Finally, the emotions of the last day caught up with me, and great wracking sobs tore out of me. I pushed my face down into my skirts, trying to muffle the sound as much as I could. I would not let those men hear me cry.
After a while I stopped crying, and raised my head from my skirts. I couldn’t believe that no-one had followed me, I had been gone so long. I took a few deep breaths, wiped my face, and hoped that my eyes weren’t as red and swollen as they felt. I turned and started back to the clearing. I had thought of walking away in a different direction, but even if I had somewhere to go, D’arcy would then be a captive of those men, and I didn’t want to leave him alone with them when the news came that there would be no ransom.
Liam.
I had talked with D’arcy and we had reached an agreement that he seemed to be satisfied with. I had reminded him that his Lady had now been in my arms for the second day in a row, and that I had kept my hands to myself. I also took pains to remind him that if I had intended to have my way with his Lady, he would not have been able to stop me as he was only one man, and I had many at my disposal. I told him that if I had been able to control my baser instincts for such a long time after being in close contact with his Lady, then surely he could trust me to continue to do so. Sensing that he was seeing the sense of my arguments, I then reminded him that I intended to ransom his Lady, and that I knew that a young, beautiful widow such as his Lady would surely be courted by many suitors, and that her value would diminish if her virtue was compromised. So as I reminded him, for reasons of greed alone, I could be trusted to leave the Lady’s virtue intact. Finally he saw reason, and conceded that I could be trusted around his Lady, although he did not necessarily extend that trust to my men. So I reached a compromise with him. If he allowed my brother and I to join him in his nightwatch over his Lady, then he would sleep for some of the night. D’arcy had the good sense to know that sooner or later he would fall asleep anyway, so he agreed on this arrangement with me.
So I was feeling quite good when we were returning to where we had left the rest of the party. I was secretly relieved to have found a way to negotiate with D’arcy as I also had a secret fear that he would break his neck falling from the horse, and I did not want Lady Mary to lose someone who had proved to be such a loyal friend to her. When we were within earshot of the group, I heard Lady Mary’s voice raised in anger, and then D’arcy bolted towards the clearing, with me following close on his heels. We arrived just in time to see Lady Mary pushing through the crowd of my men, with not a one of them raising a hand to stop her. I made to follow her, but D’arcy held me back.
“I think we should leave her alone for a while. Lady Mary does not get so angry very often, and she will need time to cool off, perhaps to cry, or perhaps to throw rocks at trees. She will return when she has calmed down sufficiently”.
We waited for a long time, and I started to worry. I crept off in the direction that the Lady had taken, and was mortified to hear her sobbing. Donald had filled me in on what the Lady had been yelling about, and D’arcy’s expression had confirmed the truth of it. The poor lassie had been married as a child, but at least appeared to have loved her husband. I crept backwards just as quietly as I had approached, careful not to disturb her. When I arrived back at the clearing, I strode to my horse, not answering anyone’s questions, then pulled D’arcy’s sword from where it was fastened to my saddle, presenting it to him. He took it with a questioning look on his face, then I turned and addressed my men. I had decided that when the Lady returned, she would be mortified if so many people witnessed the evidence of tears on her face, as she struck me as a very proud woman, who had not cried or complained the whole time she had been our captive. So I sent my men on ahead with instructions to ride slowly so that they did not get too far ahead, to scout the road as they went, and to find a safe place to camp that night. We would catch up with them later.
I told Donald and D’arcy to stay, and we watched as my men left. Some of them seemed very happy to go, the same men who could easily kill on the battlefield were often intimidated by emotional women, and obviously wanted to be far distant when the Lady reappeared.
When they were out of earshot, I turned to face D’arcy, raising an eyebrow to invite him to ask the question that I could see he was burning to ask.
“Why did you give me back my sword? Is it too much to hope that you are going to let us go?”
“Yer right. It is too much to hope. The both of ye will still be travelling with us. However, if there is trouble while we are separa
ted from my men, ye will need to be armed in order to defend her if we cannot. Now, explain a few things to me. Is it true what the Lady said to Donald about being married at such a young age, and that her husband was barely older?”
At his nod, I continued.
“So, how do ye fit into this picture. Ye seem around the same age yerself, maybe a bit older than the Lady. How is it that she is allowed by her family to travel around the countryside without a female companion, in the company of a man of her own age, but not of her family?”
“I was fostered to the Le Bruin family as a young child. I was of an age with Edmund, the son of the house. We became close friends, and when Lady Mary was married to Edmund, I became her friend also. We were all very young, and Edmund was the only surviving child of the house, so he was a little spoiled and his parents probably gave him and his young wife more freedom than they should. When Edmund was lying abed, waiting to die, he made me promise to protect Lady Mary, with my life if necessary. Her family probably should insist on her having a female companion with her, but know that I would do nothing to dishonour her, so I have been allowed to remain as her guard, unless her new husband will not allow it”.
At the thought of a new husband, I felt a growing anger inside, and was not surprised to see a spark of something similar in D’arcy’s eyes. I urged him to continue.
“The Le Bruin family are already searching for a suitable match for Lady Mary. As their son is now dead, they have no further use for the Lady and wish someone else to take on the responsibility of her care. I despair that they will not take care to honour their son’s love for his wife and find her a good husband, but will take the first suitor who offers for her”.
I narrowed my eyes, deep in thought. This certainly accorded with what I knew of Lord Le Bruin. The heartless scoundrel would not hesitate to dispose of a woman that he had no further use for. If he kept Lady Mary in his household he would have to feed her, and clothe her, and for what purpose? If he managed to secure favours in exchange for her, he would get rid of her as quickly as he could. I thought a bit more and then realised what had been nagging at me.
Taken by a Highland Raider Page 2