To Brian’s relief Arianna lurched away from Lucette. Lucette started to go after her but then jerked to a halt when Sigimor’s cry tore through the air. The man stared at Brian and Sigimor in horror and then bolted for the horses his men were already scrambling to mount. Brian started after Lucette but knew he would never catch the man. He drew his knife and hurled it. A scream erupted from Lucette as the blade buried itself deep into the man’s shoulder, but fear gave the man the strength to still mount his horse and gallop away.
Brian turned away from the confusing melee and hurried toward Arianna. She had not gone far before collapsing on the ground. She was just struggling to get up again when he reached her side.
Arianna cursed her weakness as she fought to get back on her feet. All around her she could hear the sound of running feet and then the pounding of horses galloping away. There were only a few cries of pain and a brief moment of the ringing of steel upon steel. The sound of Brian’s voice telling her to run had been the sweetest sound she had ever heard, but that had not been enough to give her the strength to go very far. She could only hope that she had gotten herself far enough not to hinder what sounded like the rescue she had been praying for.
Out of the corner of her swollen eyes she saw hands reaching for her and tried to crawl away.
“Arianna, ’tis I. Brian.”
She stopped and clumsily sat down. “Brian?”
“Aye, love.”
“Are they gone? Did ye kill him?”
“Nay, I fear Lucette escaped but he rode away with my dagger buried deep in his shoulder. Unless he suffers a putrefaction of the wound, however, it wasnae a mortal blow.”
“Ah, weel, at least it will hurt him.”
Brian blinked away the tears that stung his eyes as he looked her over. Her eyes were nearly swollen shut, her lips also swollen and cut, and blood dripped slowly from a wound on her forehead. The way she swayed and trembled told him that she was very close to unconsciousness. He did not know where or how to touch her, afraid to add to the pain she was in.
“What was that terrifying bellow that came right after ye told me to run?” she asked, reaching out to him in the need to know that he was truly there. Since she could see very little, she needed to touch him.
“Sigimor.” He gently took her hand in his, careful not to touch the cuts and scrapes on her palm. “Ah, lass, he beat ye sorely. I should ne’er have left ye alone.”
“Ye needed to be certain the path to Scarglas was clear and safe. I should have hidden myself better and nay closed my eyes. Took a wee nap. Foolish.” She licked her lips and tasted blood. “Do ye have anything to drink? Cider? Water?”
Brian carefully put his arm around her shoulder and, seeing Fergus, signaled to the youth to bring him something to drink. There were two bodies before the little cottage, both of them Lucette’s men, and none of Sigimor’s men looked to be hurt. A quick count told Brian that Sigimor had sent a few of his men to follow Lucette even though they were all certain of where the man was going. Brian was not too furious over Lucette’s escape. Unless Lucette and his allies had the sense to see that there was no way to get the boys out of Scarglas, there would still be a battle to be fought, so there would be another chance to kill the man.
Sigimor crouched beside them. “I think we may need to wrap those ribs of hers tightly before we ride back to Dubheidland.”
The way Arianna had her arms wrapped around her ribs told Brian that Sigimor was probably right about that. “Do ye think anything is broken, lass?” he asked her.
“Nay, just verra badly bruised,” she replied, and attempted a smile although she was certain it was a ghastly sight. “Mayhap a wee bit rattled. He kicked me, hard, several times, but I kicked him, too. Once.”
“Good lass. I hoped ye kicked him hard.”
“I did. I am surprised he could ride a horse. I kicked him right between the legs. Suspicion he was a wee bit sore.”
Brian exchanged a grin with Sigimor and then began to unlace Arianna’s gown. Sigimor moved quickly to find something to use to wrap her ribs. It was hard to ignore her soft gasps of pain as he tugged her gown down to her waist and pulled her shift up to just under her breasts. Brian was pleased to see that all of Sigimor’s men kept their gazes averted, but it was all he could be pleased about. The massive bruises on Arianna’s rib cage made him wish he could get his hands on Lucette. Brian would make very certain that the man suffered in agony before he killed him.
Sigimor returned with several long strips of blanket. Brian clenched his teeth to hold back a demand that Sigimor get his hands off Arianna when his cousin gently explored all along her ribs, searching for signs of a break. Her hiss of pain only added to that urge.
“Naught is broken, but, as ye said, lass, they are a wee bit rattled,” said Sigimor as he began to wrap the strips of blanket around her ribs. “This will help and give them some protection from the ride back to Dubheidland.”
“But we were going to Scarglas,” Arianna said, her voice a hoarse whisper rife with pain.
“Nay, not until ye heal,” said Brian. “Ye cannae ride that far as battered and bruised as ye are.”
“That is where Amiel is going. Where they are all going.”
“If they are fools enough to try and attack Scarglas they will need more men than they have and that will take time. I am hoping that land ye think the DeVeaux want from Lucette and their need to use ye for some old and should be forgotten vengeance on your clan willnae seem so verra important once they get a good look at Scarglas.”
“’Tis more than the land. Amiel will let them have his kin, too.”
“What do ye mean?”
“Amiel said he didnae like the idea of being but one of many landed and titled Lucettes. He intends to use the DeVeaux to help him thin out the crowd.”
“Jesu.” Sigimor sat back on his heels as Brian got Arianna fully dressed again. “He means to turn the Lucettes’ worst enemy on them? To kill off his own family?”
“Aye, little by little until he is heir to it all, or most of it,” Arianna replied. “And the DeVeaux cannae get the land they want until my laddies are dead. Claud held that land himself, nay as part of an inheritance or entailment. He could dispose of it as he wished and he left it to the boys in his will, something I wasnae invited to hear read so I didnae ken it all. My bonnie wee laddies now hold what the DeVeaux want.” She panted softly in a vain attempt to overcome the pain washing over her as Brian urged her up into a seated position. “Claud made me their guardian.”
“He hung a target on all your backs.”
“He did. Aye, the DeVeaux might want to use me to avenge themselves upon my family but they also need me dead. As guardian I nay only control the lads but the land.” After pushing the last few words out, Arianna gave in to the darkness flooding her mind and escaped the pain wracking her body.
Brian felt her go limp in his arms and panicked. He pressed his fingers against her throat and used the steady throb of her pulse to push the fear away. She was better off being unconscious. The ride back to Dubheidland would prove to be a long time in agony for her otherwise.
“She will heal,” Sigimor said as he stood up.
“Ye sound verra sure of that.” Brian got to his feet, holding Arianna in his arms and trying not to jostle her too much.
“Bones are nay broken, there isnae any bad bleeding from open wounds and, although verra colorful, the bruising didnae have the look of the ones caused by something bleeding inside her.” He started toward the others who had brought the horses to them. “Jolene and the women can give her a closer look but I think we reached her in time.”
“She shouldnae have fallen into the bastard’s hands at all,” said Brian, fury at himself a bitter taste on his tongue. “If I hadnae left her ...”
“Then they would have found ye, too, and there wouldnae have been anyone to come and get help for her. Aye, ye are a good fighter, but I think e’en ye would have had a wee bit of trouble fighting off so
many men. Ye had to be certain the path was clear, that ye wouldnae be riding into a trap. Ye are a clever lad. I suspicion ye will understand that soon enough if ye think on it a while.”
Brian doubted his guilt would ease much until he was certain that Arianna would heal. “What do ye think happened to the people who lived in this wee cottage?”
“They ran when they saw armed men coming,” replied Sigimor, holding his arms out for Arianna when they reached the horses.
“Ye are certain of that?” Brian asked as he mounted his horse and then took Arianna back into his arms.
“Aye. Brice found their trail. They will return as soon as they ken that the men are gone.”
A quick glance around was proof enough that Sigimor had reason to be confident of that. The two bodies were gone, taken away from the little home and left for the carrion. Since Brian saw no sign of any livestock, he knew the family had undoubtedly had some warning of the men’s approach. Isolated as the little house was, it was no surprise that the people living in it would always be alert for any sign of danger.
They started back to Dubheidland, and Brian adjusted his hold on Arianna. He hoped to save her from as much movement as possible. Since galloping all the way back to Dubheidland was out of the question, he prayed she stayed unconscious for a very long time. She would face enough suffering when they reached Sigimor’s keep and her wounds would be tended to.
“I sincerely hope you intend to kill that man,” said Jolene when she stepped out of the bedchamber where Brian had placed the wounded Arianna. “Slowly.”
“I intend to,” answered Brian. He straightened up from where he had been leaning against the wall and staring at the door to that bedchamber for the last two hours. “How is she?”
“She will heal. I think many of the bruises look far worse than they truly are. Her skin is much akin to mine. I have occasionally noticed a very vivid bruise yet have no memory of any serious injury. Cool cloths and some of the salve I left by the bed will quickly bring those bruises down. She is sleeping now. She will also need a few days of rest.”
“She will have it.”
“You are dealing with a madman, you know. She told me of his plots. To unleash your family’s worst enemy upon them? To murder two innocent boys and an equally innocent woman? To kill your own brother? To plot the deaths of what might be every male Lucette who could possibly inherit something? Aye, he is definitely a madman.”
“I ken it. I also intend to make certain the Lucettes realize how fortunate they are that Amiel and his allies didnae leave this land alive.” He watched as Jolene rubbed her lower back. “Go rest, lass. I can care for Arianna now. Salve and cool cloths.” He winked at her. “Have something to eat and then go rest ere that large husband of yours comes stomping up here looking for you.”
He watched until she made it safely down the steps before he went into the room where Arianna slept. His first sight of Arianna since giving her over into Jolene’s care made his heart clench with sorrow. She looked so small in the large bed, the bruises on her face and her bandaged hands an abomination in his eyes. After changing the wet cloth draped over her eyes for a cooler one, Brian sat in the chair that had been pulled up to her bedside.
Brian knew he loved her. The emotions that had torn through him when he had thought her lost to him had made that clear, too clear for him to continue to try and deny it. It changed nothing, however, if only because he did not have any idea of how she felt about him. Worse, the fact that he had given her her first taste of passion could easily confuse her. He had thought himself in love with the first woman he had bedded down with. It was far too easy to think passion was born of something deeper, richer, and longer lasting, especially if it burned as hot as what he and Arianna shared.
Neither did his love for her change the fact that she was far above his reach. She deserved more than he could give her. He had seen enough mismatched marriages to know how discontent and bitterness could grow to turn the union into a living hell. Lady Arianna deserved a man equal to her in birth, wealth, and breeding, a man who could make her happy and content in all ways. Brian doubted she would stay unwed for long after he let her go and was sure that her family would be far more cautious in choosing her a husband this time. She would soon have all a lady like her deserved. It was only honorable to let her go, to not try to bind her to him with passion. Brian just wished he could be happier about doing the honorable thing.
Chapter 14
Arianna sat on the stone bench beneath a tree and smiled faintly as she watched the Cameron children playing in the garden. Her pleasure in the sight was mingled with sadness for she desperately missed Michel and Adelar. Although she had enjoyed, and badly needed, the four days of rest she had taken at Dubheidland, she was anxious to resume the journey to Scarglas. It was time to put an end to Amiel’s game.
“Are ye certain ye are healed enough to be out of bed?”
Startled out of her thoughts by Brian’s voice, Arianna turned to look up at him scowling down at her. “Aye, I am verra certain. As Jolene told you when she first viewed my injuries, naught was broken and naught was bleeding inside me. There remain a lot of bruises but they will continue to fade.” She had no intention of telling him that she still ached a little or how tender a few of those bruises still were in certain places.
Brian grunted and sat down beside her. “Ye are nay completely healed, lass, and ye dinnae fool me. That mongrel was intent upon beating ye to death from what little I saw.”
She shivered as the memory of Amiel’s brutality flooded her mind. “I wasnae doing as he wanted me to, wasnae telling him exactly where the lads were, and I refused very crudely to help him use me to get them. His temper rose beyond reasoning, beyond even recalling that the DeVeaux wanted me alive. The fact that I kenned his plans, kenned that he was already certain of where the boys were, only made him angrier. The odd thing is, when the men reminded him of what Lord Ignace wanted, Amiel should have been terrified. Any sane person would be. But he wasnae deterred from beating me at all.” Arianna took a deep breath and let it out slowly, pushing away the fear and the helplessness of that time when it threatened to return. “I was just thinking that ’tis past time we continued our journey to Scarglas.”
“I dinnae think ye are healed enough for that.”
“How long a journey is it?”
“It depends upon how fast a pace we can keep. Three days. Mayhap more. Mayhap less.”
“As long as we are nay taking the whole journey at a full gallop, I will be fine.” When his scowl did not lighten at all at her assurances, she said, “We ken that Lucette and his men are joining the others. We need to be inside Scarglas when they come to its walls.”
“They will have little chance of breeching those walls.”
“And I would prefer to be inside those walls when they try, nay outside trying to find a way in without being killed.”
As would he, Brian decided. The number of men Lucette and the DeVeaux had brought had been reduced but they could hire more. Word was drifting their way that they were doing just that. There was no telling if they would give up and flee back to France when finally faced with the high, impregnable walls of Scarglas, or if, with an army of hirelings at their backs, they would risk attacking. They could easily decide that what they would gain if they won was worth the risk.
“We will leave on the morrow,” he said, and sighed when she hugged him. “I dinnae think ye will be so verra pleased to have resumed the journey after ye have been in the saddle for a wee while.”
“I suspicion ye are right about my nay liking to be back on a horse, but I will be verra pleased to be traveling to where my boys are. I need to see them, Brian. They are all I have and I need to be with them if there is to be a battle for their lives.” She rubbed her cheek against the linen of his shirt, a little surprised at how openly affectionate she had become, and added softly, “They are all I might ever have.”
Brian leaned back and, placing his hands on her
cheeks, turned her face up to his. He could tell she was realizing what she had just said and wanting him to ignore it. That was not something he could do.
“What do ye mean?” he asked.
“Naught. ’Twas naught,” she muttered, but knew she was blushing, signaling the lie she had just told him.
“Arianna, what did ye mean? Aside from having a verra large army of kinsmen, ye are still young. Ye can wed again and have a few bairns of your own.”
The mere thought of her with another man made Brian’s insides clench with jealousy and denial. He knew that was unreasonable. He could not have her, was not good enough for her, but he obviously wanted to deny her all chance of making a home and a family with some other man. It was hard to accept that he could be so selfish, but he was.
“Nay, I cannae.” Arianna hated to reveal her fear yet was compelled to let Brian know just how poor a choice of wife she would be for a man, even if he had never once indicated that he wanted her in that way.
“I am certain there are many weel-born lads with fat, full purses who will rush to woo you once ’tis kenned that ye are free.”
She was not sure what a man’s birth or the weight of his purse had to do with it all, but she shrugged aside the urge to question his words. It would be too easy to use such questions to turn him away from the truth she had been hiding. He was owed the truth.
“A mon wants children, Brian. I failed to give Claud one despite five years of marriage. The one time I conceived a child, I lost the bairn verra quickly.”
There was such sorrow weighting her words and darkening her eyes that Brian pulled her back into his arms. He stroked her back, resting his chin upon her head, as he struggled to think of what to say to ease that sorrow. Unfortunately, he knew very little about women’s ills, childbirth, or the how and why of losing a baby before it was even born.
“The trouble could have been with Claud,” he said, and inwardly grimaced at the weakness of that assurance.
Highland Avenger Page 18