Liam watched the soldier peer into the hut, but there was little to see.
"My thanks," he said.
The door closed behind him, and Sara's heavenly eyes went flat.
Their flight from the village had been quick and silent.
The firelight seemed unearthly bright set against the night. The woods around them were quiet.
Sara sat very still, watching the flames. Thomas slept in the sling that remained about her neck but rested on her lap.
"How did you manage to get Tilly?" she inquired.
"The goat?" Liam asked. She could feel his gaze on her face. "Twas simple enough. After I hid you away, I went back to the village. It only made sense that the warlord would not be dragging the nanny about behind his charger."
She looked up quickly to find Liam's eyes. They were even brighter than usual by the firelight's glow. "I thank ye," she said.
"What happened to Caroline, Sara?''
"She died." Her words seemed far away.
"The warlord?" he asked, rising quickly.
"Nay!" The shock of his question nearly brought her to her feet. But Thomas had fallen asleep and she had no wish to wake him. "Nay. Twas not Boden. He saved both me and the babe. Were it not for him we would surely be dead."
"Boden?" Liam said the name stiffly.
"Sir Boden," she corrected softly. "Twas brigands that attacked us. But not for the first time."
She scowled into the dancing flames. Memories loomed, too dark to be borne alone. Where was Boden now? "Liam?"
"Aye?'' He still watched her.
"I think they are after Thomas."
"What?"
"Tis all I can figure. While we were yet in London, brigands broke into Holly House. They took nothing, but went straight away to the nursery." She squeezed the babe to her chest, remembering.
"And?"
"I screamed. One of them grabbed me." Her voice shook. "I got away. Caroline kept guards.
They were large and well armed. The brigands ran off."
"No one was harmed?"
"Nay. But we were badly frightened. Caroline wished to return to Haldane. But I..." She drew a steadying breath. "I didna think it wise."
"Why?"
"I have dreams, Liam," she murmured. "Ever since I left my homeland."
"Dreams?'' His tone was suddenly sharp, his gaze intense. "What kind of dreams?"
"All sorts," she said, feeling silly now that she'd said the words, as if her dreams might have some mystical significance. As if she were still the shy child who believed every fanciful tale Liam told her.
"Tell me about them," Liam said.
She turned away. "I canna remember them just now."
"Sara." He shook his head, causing his dark mane to brash the bright red fabric of his doublet.
"You've never been afraid to talk to me, lass."
"I fear my own mind," she whispered. "Mayhap I am going mad."
He stepped past the fire, and kneeling before her, took her hand in his own. "Madness is not so bad, my love." He grinned. "Trust me. I would know."
She smiled and turned back toward the fire. ' 'I fear tis not a joke, Liam. I have dreams that seem to—to tell me things. Or that try to tell me things, if I can but interpret them."
"And what are they trying to tell ya?"
She faced him suddenly, finally acknowledging her fear as she clasped Dragonheart in tight fingers. ' 'Not to trust... anyone."
"Anyone?"
She sighed. "The dreams, they're confusing. I see... things."
"What things?"
"Swords. Blood!" She closed her eyes and dropped her voice to a whisper.
"Who spills the blood? The warlord?"
"Nay." She paused. "Aye. Maybe. I dunna know. But I know... I feel that Lord Haldane is somehow involved."
"Haldane? The boy's sire?"
"I know it sounds mad. And yet... I no longer trust him."
"Why?"
"There are many reasons. The attacks. The snakes."
"Explain."
"Near Caroline I found a black metal snake."
Liam was silent for a moment, then, "Ya said swords."
"The black adder is in Haldane's coat of arms, as well as on the hilt of his sword. Boden's sword is the same."
"Are ya certain?"
"Aye."
"So ya think that Haldane may have sent whoever killed Caroline, as well as having sent the warlord I took ya from?" He paused a moment, thinking. "Tis not that I wish to trust the warlord, Sara, but if he planned to kill the babe, would he not have done so by now?"
"Unless Haldane told him to bring Thomas to him unharmed.''
"And then planned some evil?"
She nodded.
"Why would he do that?"
"I dunna know."
"And va dunna trust Haldane."
"Nay."
"But ya used to," he said softly. "Ya used to trust him and care for him."
She turned away.
"Don't." He squeezed her hand, drawing her gaze back. "Please, Sara. I've no wish to fail ya again."
"Ye've never failed me."
"Aye. I did not know about your husband's cruelty until too late." A muscle clenched in his jaw.
"Now that I do, there is not a day goes by that I don't regret not killing him."
"Liam—"
"He hurt you," he said, his tone flat. "And therefore he should have died by my hand."
"You are not my kinsman to avenge me."
"Nay," he said, "I am your friend, vowed to come to your aid when you are in need. Do ya not remember?"
"Ye never vowed."
"Nay!" he agreed. "I did not. Rachel did. Long ago when she invoked the spell on the dragon amulet."
She reared back in surprise. "How do you know about that?"
He grinned. ' 'Might you remember the noise made by the mice in the corner that night of the terrible storm?"
She stared at him.
"I was the mice."
"Ye were there?"
"Aye."
"But still..."
"Rachel said that everyone in that room must protect the others."
"But..." She laughed. "Twas just a silly game."
He smiled. "Tis good to hear you laugh. And aye, was a silly game, but what of the years since?
Do you forget how you defended me when Simon accused me of stealing his dagger?"
"Nay. I dunna forget. I knew ye were not capable of such a thing."
Liam let the silence lie for a moment. ' 'But I did steal the blade, lass. Only, when ya trusted me so, when I heard ya defend me, there was naught I could do but return it to him. There was naught I could do but try to live up to the good ya saw in me."
"Ye are good, Liam," she said. "Ye always were. And glad I was to see ye this day. Tis lucky I am that ye appeared when ye did."
"Aye," he said, but for a moment his gaze rested on the amulet that winked above the neckline of her gown. "Lucky."
"Why were ye there?"
He shifted his gaze back to hers. "It seems as likely a village as the next. But tell me about you, Sara. What are you doing here?''
She hesitated a moment. ' 'I told Caroline we would be safe in the Highlands." She drew a deep breath. It wasn't her fault Caroline had died. She'd not wished for such a thing to happen. She hadn't, though she'd loved Thomas from the first. Guilt twisted her gut. "Twas night when the brigands attacked. I was dreaming, and suddenly I awoke. The terror felt bitter in my mouth. Caroline was nowhere to be seen. So I grabbed the babe and fled the tent. I was going to find his mother. Truly I was, but..." She shook her head, not wanting to remember, yet having no choice. "The brigands, they came out of nowhere.
The screams! Like animal sounds, they were." She shuddered.
"Tis not your fault, Sara," Liam murmured, pulling her into his arms.
"Aye it is. I failed her."
"Ya couldna have known."
"I failed her," Sara repeated. "But I willna fail her chi
ld."
"Ya give too much, lass. Ya always have."
It wasn't true. She was far too selfish, and now she had what she had wanted—a babe of her own. But at what cost?
Liam squeezed her hand. "How did you get away?"
"I ran and I lived, but she died." Sara winced when she said the words. "She was so pretty, Liam. So young and full of life."
"Tis not your fault. It is not shameful that ya survived when she did not. Perhaps twas your concern for the child that made it possible."
"I wandered for days," she said, "hiding like a ferret in any hole I could find. Then Boden appeared." She shook her head, feeling weak from the expenditure of emotion. "He said Lord Haldane had sent him to see us safely to Cinderhall."
"But you dunna need to go, Sara. Why does he not simply take the babe?''
"Thomas?" She hugged the baby to her. "Twould not be right to take him from me."
"Sara, tis no proof that you cannot bear children of your own. Just because your husband the pig did not get you with child."
"He had other children."
"Were they human?"
"Liam," she said, but his levity lightened her own mood. She loosened her grip on the baby.
"Thomas is... Well, it seems as if he is mine."
"And what about his sire?"
"I will not return him to his sire. I dare not."
"Tell me you jest."
"I do not."
"God's balls." He stood up quickly, dropping her hand. "What will Haldane do?"
"If he finds me?''
"When he finds you," Liam corrected.
She shrugged, feeling weak. "Kill me?"
"Is he capable of that?"
She let out an unsteady breath. "I would not have thought so. During my marriage to Stephen he was very kind to me. Always considerate. They were friends. But then they went hunting together and Stephen died."
"Are ya saying Haldane killed—"
"So, Liam," said a voice from the darkness.
Liam spun about. Sara rose with a start, searching the shadows, and then, suddenly, soundlessly, an old man stepped out of the night. His dark cloak swirled around him.
"We meet again." The voice was soft and came from the midst of the old man's shadowing cowl.
"Warwick." Panic welled up in Liam.
Why was the dark wizard after Sara? And how many men did he have with him? In the darkness it was impossible to tell.
"So we have come for the same thing." The old man's words were whispered, meant for Liam's ears alone.
Liam shrugged, his mind racing as he took a casual step forward onto a low, flat rock. "Have we?" he asked.
The old man laughed, but the sound was humorless. "There is little reason to act the fool with me, and less reason to lie. Do you have it on you?"
"Do I have what?"
The old man laughed. "So you have finally learned its worth, and have no wish to discuss it anymore. I knew you would eventually." He stepped forward. "Show it to me. We shall work together, and then all men beware."
Liam shook his head, stalling. Whatever Warwick was after, Liam didn't have it. But the ancient wizard had already made up his mind to the contrary. The best Liam could hope for was to escape and draw the brigands after him, leaving Sara unmolested. "I don't have it. The woman does."
For a moment the woods were silent, and then the old man laughed. "So you are more like me than I knew—ready to sacrifice another at any time. I feared you may have been ruined. But you lie well. Thus I know the woman is of no consequence to me now."
"But I am?"
"Oh yes. You are. Long I have wanted our talents to be united. Join me now."
"Is this a request?"
"You can consider it that if you like."
"Then I must decline."
For a moment Liam sensed Warwick's frustration. But finally the old man nodded toward him.
Dark shadows of men moved forward.
Liam remained relaxed even as the brigands closed in. He contained his panic as long as he could, and then he pulled the string that loosed the black powder.
He struck a spark with his shoe on the rock, and the powder exploded.
Men screamed. Smoke billowed up.
"Run!" Liam yelled.
Chapter 11
Sara bolted for the woods as terror fanned through her like wild flame.
"Get them!" shrieked Warwick.
Evil surrounded her, pursued her. She felt it like a tangible force.
Behind her, men yelled and steel clashed.
"Liam!" She screamed his name, but she dared not stop. Above the sound of Thomas wailing in his sling, she heard the crashing of brush as men followed her.
It was dark. She knew she must hide, but the terror was overwhelming. Even as she ran, she quaked. It was hopeless. She could not outrun them, could not hide. Death clawed at her back.
Her lungs ached and her legs shook. It was no use. They would kill her and the babe. She stumbled to a halt and turned, knowing she would die.
In her mind's eye, as clear as daybreak, she saw herself covered in blood, dead. No. Not dead, for she could see now that she was crawling, trying to crawl, to drag herself forward, her hands formed to bony, bloody claws. Someone laughed. She lifted her face, and she saw now that her eyes were gone!
A scream ripped up her throat. But suddenly a hand covered her mouth, muffling the sound as she was yanked backward. She screamed again, thrashing wildly as the horrible images burned through her mind. She was suffocating, dying. Her hands were caught. She ripped one free and swung wildly around to face her attacker.
Moonlight glistened in his cruel, dark eyes. She tried desperately to pull free as fear burned in her. She swung with her free hand, wildly aiming for the brigand's face. But again her blow was deflected and bumped off Thomas's head.
"Cease!"
She swung again, but this time her arm was captured.
"Cease!" growled the man. "Sara, tis me."
She fought him with desperation, terror overriding all her senses.
"Sara! Quit, before you harm the child." The words were husky, growled from between clenched teeth.
Her thrashing slowed. "Boden?" Her voice quivered as she said the name.
"Tis me, lass."
"My eyes!" she whispered, her mind still blurred by the evil that had invaded the woods. "My eyes are gone."
"Sara!" Boden shook her with some force. "The babe's life is at risk! Cease this!"
Reality streamed back in white waves. She was neither blind nor doomed. Boden was with her.
She drew Thomas to her shoulder. Her hands shook as she crooned to him.
But regardless of her own panic, Thomas calmed.
"What happened?" Boden asked, his voice deep as the night that surrounded them.
"Evil." Twas the only word that seemed right. But she could not dwell on her own fear, she had to concentrate on surviving. Readjusting the sling, she settled Thomas against her back. ' 'The old man brought evil. I felt it in my soul."
She knew she made no sense, and yet he didn't question it, as if he felt it too.
"You were followed?" He turned, peering through the darkness, his legs apart, braced, ready.
"I thought they were right behind me. It was as if..."
"What?" he whispered.
"It was as if they controlled my mind. Liam knew. Liam!" His memory returned with a jolt.
Guilt washed over her. She had left him to die! She bolted suddenly back toward the campsite.
Boden caught her by the hand, but she fought him, trying to break free. He wrapped his arms about her, stifling her struggling, quieting her words.
"Sara." He crooned her name against her hair. "You can't go back."
"I must. Else he will surely die. They will kill him."
"How many were there?"
"Many. An army."
"How many did you see?"
Her mind was foggy, uncertain. She fought to clear it. "I dunna. Tis all unc
lear. They were coming. We must find Liam."
It seemed as if Boden's whistle came from a great distance away. But suddenly Mettle was there, nosing them.
"Get on my horse."
"Nay."
"Sara." He held her face between his hands, forcing her to look at him. "I will save the juggler.
But only if you vow to flee at the first sign of trouble."
She shook her head.
"You must promise to ride away if trouble approaches."
"Nay."
"Sara." He shook her again. "If you are caught, they will take the baby. They will hurt him. They will kill him if you don't escape."
"Tis not fair to sacrifice Liam for Thomas. Tis not fair that you ask me to."
"But I ask it nevertheless. Only if I know you are safe will I save your friend. Do you agree?''
She nodded, and in a moment she was astride. For an instant his hand rested on her thigh, and then, like a phantom, he was gone, blended into the night shadows.
Minutes ticked by. Silence surrounded her. A twig snapped. Sara jerked Mettle about, but it was only a small animal, scurrying for cover. Her heart raced in her chest as frayed images of death and torture gnawed at her. She shoved them back.
She was safe now that Boden was near. Mettle fidgeted, mouthing his bit, his ears pricked forward. But still no sound more evil than the night woods disturbed the silence.
Where was; Boden and what had happened to Liam? Perhaps even now they were lying wounded. She must find them, but what of Thomas?
Minutes slipped into the darkness. Mind-numbing fear grated on her nerves, severing her confidence.
But finally she could wait no longer. Her first loyalty was to the babe, true, but she could not teach him loyalty and courage if she had none herself.
Her hands shook as she nudged Mettle into motion. His huge body was taut with tension as he lifted his legs in mincing steps high above the bracken. Remembering the sword Boden had claimed for her, Sara drew the blade from its scabbard near the cantle. It tinged quietly as she pulled it out.
Nearby, an owl called. The sound paralyzed her, and for a moment she was tempted almost beyond control to turn back. But she squeezed her legs, urging Mettle on.
He pranced cautiously forward.
Suddenly, a monster loomed over her. It was huge and horned like a giant Minotaur. Sara swung the sword with desperate strength, but the ogre caught her hand in a deadly grip. She jerked away and swung again.
The Lady and the Knight (Highland Brides) Page 14