Highland Gladiator

by Kathryn Le Veque

  Niall was back to grinning, but Ewan wasn’t finished with him. While everyone else seemed happy, he was oddly serious.

  “Are ye certain?” he asked. “Ye want tae marry her?”

  Lor could see the concern in him, which was surprising, given Ewan’s usually flippant manner. Since leaving the Ludus Caledonia, Lor had come to see that Ewan was immature in some ways, but not in others. He had a genuine love for his family, which made his foolishness slightly more tolerable. Lor wasn’t hard-pressed to admit that he was coming to like Ewan. Ossian, too.

  Deep down, they were good men.

  “I am certain,” he said after a moment. “I’ll be good tae her, I swear it.”

  Ewan studied him for a moment before nodding and turning to look at Ossian to see what his reaction was to all of this. The tall, brown-haired brother seemed to be in agreement with everything he was hearing.

  “We told Issie we were going tae buy her a husband at the Cal,” he said. “It seems that we were right, after all.”

  Lor watched the pair snicker. “’Tis all well and good, but remember, from now on ye’ll have me tae deal with if ye harass her too much. She’s tae be my wife, lads. Ye’ll treat her with respect.”

  Ewan appeared genuinely distressed. “How can ye say that? She’s been our wee sister our whole lives!”

  “She’ll be my wife. I’ll say no more.”

  Ewan pursed his lips with frustration, but it was short-lived. “If ye say so,” he said. “But dunna say that we dinna warn ye.”

  “About what?”

  “Ye’ll find out.”

  The pair giggled wickedly, and Lor shook his head at them. He’d never had any brothers, and now he was to have two. He wondered if he was going to have to dole out a brotherly beating at some point.

  He was looking forward to it.

  As he stood there with Niall and the snickering brothers, Clova made an appearance. She was leaning heavily on a cane, and having heard the fuss in the village, she had come to see what it was about. When Niall caught sight of her, he called out.

  “Clova!” he said. “Come and join our happiness. Isabail and Lor are tae be married!”

  Clova’s shuffling walk seemed to slow. Her clouded gaze was fixed on Lor, and as she came closer, she was completely ignorant of Niall’s excitement. He bent down and kissed her on the cheek in celebration, but she didn’t react. She came up to Lor, gazing at him with an expression that suggested disappointment.

  “Is it true?” she asked Lor. “Are ye marrying Issie?”

  Lor nodded. “Niall has given me permission.”

  Clova’s expression shifted. Disappointment turned to resignation, and resignation to acceptance. “For Issie’s sake, I’m happy,” she said, reaching out to take his hand in her gnarled one. “But for my sake…strange how there’s a bit of envy. I suppose I was hoping tae keep ye all tae myself.”

  Lor squeezed her hand. “I canna replace what ye lost,” he whispered. “But I promise I’ll tend tae Isabail as carefully as Nikolaus would have attended tae ye.”

  Clova forced a smile. “Ye have so much of him in ye,” she said. “He must have been very proud of ye.”

  “And I of him.”

  “Then live the life with Issie that Nikolaus and I couldna share. For us…be happy.”

  Lor nodded and kissed her hand. Gently, she patted him on the cheek and shuffled away, finally accepting Niall’s hug when he came near her again. Lor watched the pair for a moment, feeling sorrow that Clova and his grandfather had never known what he and Isabail would. It was a sad little epitaph for a doomed Keith–Lindsay affair.

  “What did she mean?” Ewan was standing beside him. “Who is Nikolaus?”

  Lor hadn’t realized that Ewan was within earshot. His gaze lingered on the old woman. “If she doesna tell ye someday, then I will,” he said. “Leave it at that.”

  Nosy Ewan was having a difficult time with that directive and was about to say so when they could all hear some commotion on the northern end of the village. There were cries going up that turned into calls for help.

  Immediately, Lor, Niall, and about half of the crowd that had gathered around them began to move in that direction, only to see a hysterical young lass with dark hair being comforted by several villagers.

  “Here, here!” Niall demanded. “What’s this about?”

  The young woman looked at Niall, tears and dirt smeared on her face. “She sent me back,” she wept. “The Lindsay—they came and took my mother, but Isabail sent me back. She sent me tae tell ye!”

  Fear stabbed Lor in the gut. “Where is Isabail?” he demanded.

  The girl was sobbing. “In the vale,” she said. “She was going tae fight them. She sent me back!”

  Niall dropped to his knees in front of the girl, grabbing her by the arms. “Where, Aggie?” he demanded. “Where did ye leave her?”

  Aggie was a trembling mess. “The chestnut trees,” she said. “She was going tae gather chestnuts. But the Lindsay came, and Isabail beat a man who grabbed me. She told me tae run!”

  Niall looked at Lor and his sons, his face pale with terror. “Ewie, Ossian,” he said, his voice thin and breathless. “Arm yerselves. Go help them.”

  Lor was beside himself, feeling panic like he’d never felt in his life. “There’s no time,” he said. “There are chestnut trees all through the vale. Which ones does she mean?”

  Niall staggered to his feet. “Down the trail tae the bottom,” he said, waving an arm. “Cross the stream and they’re off tae the north. Ye canna miss them.”

  Lor took off at a dead run.

  * * *

  They were gone.

  Lor realized that the moment he raced through the trees, calling Isabail’s name and then circling out and ending up in a clearing where there was evidence that the ground had been recently disturbed. He saw a hoe and a basket that contained some kind of wild vegetable. He also saw a large stick lying there. He looked around to see evidence of footprints mashing the frozen grass.

  But no one was there.

  Lor stood with his hands on his head, having no idea what to do. He shouted for Isabail again, but all he heard in response was the soft swish of the trees as an icy wind blew. Then he saw it, glistening on the ground—something shiny and copper. Rushing to it, he picked it up and his heart sank.

  It was the bracelet he’d given Isabail.

  Thu fhèin.

  Lor was beside himself with grief, but the sounds of hooves came up behind him quickly and he whirled around to see Ewan and Niall making an appearance along with several other men on horseback.

  They were armed with clubs and pikes, ready to do battle.

  “Where are they?” Niall shouted.

  Lor was struggling not to give in to panic. “There is no one,” he said, tucking the bracelet into a tunic pocket. “They were here. Ye can see the footprints. But they’ve gone and the women along with them.”

  Ewan and several other men began to circle the area, shouting the names of the women who had been in the group, but there were no answers. Lor was listening carefully for any responses as he made his way over to Niall.

  “Ye said this has happened before,” he said, fighting to stay on an even keel and not think about Isabail in the hands of the enemy. “Ye said they have abducted yer women before and taken them back to Kirkburn Castle.”

  Niall was very close to being despondent. He climbed off his pony, his movements slow, as if carrying the weight of an entire clan on his shoulders. Women had been abducted before, and it had always affected him, infuriated him, but now…now, it was different.

  Isabail was involved.

  “Aye,” he said. “They take them back tae Kirkburn and… Sweet Mary, they take them back and molest them.”

  Lor felt sick. “What does that mean?”

&nb
sp; Niall nodded, now blinking back the tears. “Deflower them and send them back tae us. They did it tae Tyrone’s daughter last year, and she still willna leave her cottage. The lass sits alone in her chamber, fearful of everything. It destroyed her.”

  Lor closed his eyes to the horror of it. My sweet and brave Isabail…

  He wasn’t used to something like this. He’d lived his life peacefully until that fateful day when Careston burned. Now, he felt like he had when he’d returned home to the death of his grandfather and all he held dear. He felt fear and grief. He couldn’t do anything for his grandfather; he’d been too late. But this time, he wasn’t going to be too late to prevent the worst from happening to Isabail.

  With every last drop of blood in his body, he was going to save her or die trying.

  “Tell me,” he said, his fear turning into something rage-driven. “When they take the lasses, have ye ever gone after them?”

  Niall shook his head. “How? Ye know we have half the men they have. ’Twould be futile tae attack Kirkburn. ’Twould mean the deaths of the few men we have.”

  “Then ye’ve never tried?”

  Niall closed his eyes and hung his head. “Nay.”

  Lor was trying very hard to think clearly, to concoct a plan. Not only did Isabail’s life depend on it, but so did his.

  “Listen tae me,” he said, laying a big hand on Niall’s shoulder. “I willna stand here and wait for them tae return an abused woman tae me. I must go after her. Do ye understand me? I’ve seen what the Lindsay can do, with the loss of Careston. I willna go through it again.”

  Niall looked at him with great concern. “What are ye going tae do?”

  Lor thought quickly, thinking back to Drostan Lindsay and what he knew of the man. He began to work his way through the situation. “As far as Drostan knows, I’m still at the Cal,” he said. “Or mayhap he thinks I’m dead. In any case, he doesna know I’m here with the Keith.”

  “And?”

  Lor was starting to think more clearly. “And if I go tae Kirkburn Castle, I could get in. It wouldna be strange because as far as he knows, we’re still allies. I’m still the smithy from Careston, and he is still my laird.”

  Niall was very interested now. “What will ye do?”

  Lor wished with all of his heart that Isabail was here with him, advising him, but this was something he was going to have to figure out on his own. For the first time, he didn’t have her telling him what tactics to take.

  It was up to him now.

  Instinct told him what to do.

  “I’ll demand he release the Keith women tae me,” he said. “I’ll tell him that I heard he has Keith hostages, and because the Keith destroyed Careston, I demand my right tae have the hostages turned over tae me, but Isabail in particular.”

  “And if he doesna?”

  “Then I’ll offer him money. How much coinage do ye have?”

  Niall sighed heavily. “We paid all we had for ye.”

  Lor waved him off. “I received money when I defeated the Beast, so I’ll offer him what I have,” he said. “’Tis not much, but it’s better than nothing.”

  “And if he willna sell her tae ye?”

  “Then I’ll fight him for her. One way or the other, I’ll not leave Kirkburn without her. Ye have my promise.”

  Niall didn’t know if he felt better or worse by that, but with very few options, he had no choice.

  He wanted his daughter back.

  “Dunna get yerself killed, lad,” he said. “I expect ye tae live a long life, Lion. I want my money’s worth.”

  Lor patted him on the shoulder before taking Niall’s pony and heading back for Auchnacree. Niall watched him go, praying it wasn’t the last time he ever saw the man alive.

  The Lion of Caledonia was about to head straight into the viper’s pit.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Kirkburn Castle

  Something was broken.

  Isabail knew that because she could hardly breathe. Somehow, in her fight against two Lindsay warriors and then the barbarian known as the Beast, she’d cracked something in her chest.

  Everything hurt.

  It had been a battle all the way back to Kirkburn Castle, and the only reason they’d managed to subdue her eventually was because they’d wrapped a rope around her entire body and tied both her wrists and her ankles until she couldn’t move. Someone put a gag in her mouth, some disgusting piece of cloth, but she’d spit it out and tried to bite the next man who attempted to gag her.

  After that, they had stayed away from her mouth.

  Now, exhausted and in pain, Isabail was lying on the floor of the vault in Kirkburn Castle where they’d dumped her when they’d returned. It smelled like rot and piss down here, and she knew there was someone in the vault with her because she could hear him breathing. It was so dark that she couldn’t see anyone, but she knew there was someone else there.

  Someone in the darkness.

  She didn’t know how long she lay there, silent and unmoving, before a man’s voice finally filled the void.

  “Can ye hear me, lass?” he asked softly.

  Isabail wasn’t going to respond but thought better of it. If he didn’t think she was awake, he might try to take advantage of that and touch her somehow. She wanted to make sure whoever it was knew she was conscious. Injured or not, she’d fight back.

  “Aye,” she said. “What do ye want?”

  She could hear movement in the darkness. “Can ye sit up? Ye dunna want tae lie on this floor if ye can help it because the rats will get ye.”

  Isabail grunted. “I’m bound,” she said. “I canna sit up. Where are the women I was brought here with?”

  “We’re here, Isabail.” Off in a corner of the darkness, a woman spoke with a quavering voice. “We’re in the cell next tae ye. Are ye badly hurt, lass?”

  Isabail recognized Aggie’s mother. “I dunna think so,” she said as she tried to roll onto her back. “Nothing that time willna cure.”

  Beside her, she heard movement again, and suddenly, big hands were lifting her into an upright position. Isabail grunted in pain as the man propped her against the side of the cell. She was sitting at such an angle that she could now see around her a bit, as the light from the vault doorway was filtering in.

  Next to her, a man with long, white hair and a dirty white beard was looking at her with concern.

  “What happened to ye?” he asked.

  Isabail shifted her body around a little, trying to get comfortable. “We were foraging and the Lindsay captured us,” she said. Then she eyed the man. “Why are ye here?”

  He looked at her in the darkness for quite some time before answering. “I knew I’d seen ye before, but I wasna certain,” he said, ignoring her question. “Yer hair.”

  “What about my hair?”

  “Ye’re Lor’s lass.”

  That brought a measure of shock to Isabail. “How would ye…?” She stopped herself, peering at him closely in the darkness. “Who are ye?”

  “My name is Nikolaus.”

  It took Isabail a moment to process the name. Then her eyes widened as she realized that she recognized the features beneath the beard. It was the old man she’d seen in the vale on that morning so long ago, the one her brothers had captured. He looked markedly different, but there was no mistaking that face.

  He and his grandson shared similar features.

  “Lor’s grandfather!”

  He nodded faintly. “Aye,” he said. “And ye’re the lass from the vale.”

  Isabail nodded eagerly. “I am,” she said. “Sweet Jesus…ye’re alive?”

  Nikolaus looked at her imploringly. “Do ye know anything of my lad?” he asked. “The last I saw of him, I sent him off tae Brechin. I did it so he couldna meet ye again. That’s where he was going, ye know. Tae
meet ye. But I sent him tae Brechin.”

  Isabail could see the pain in his face as he spoke, but she realized he knew nothing about Lor after the burning of Careston, and she hastened to reassure him.

  “I know of him,” she said quickly. “He’s well. Ye needn’t worry. But he couldna find ye after Careston burned and he thinks ye’re dead!”

  Nikolaus leaned back against the dirt wall behind him, staggered with her words. “He’s well?” he repeated, dazed. “My lad is well?”

  Isabail nodded. “He’s very well,” she said. “But did ye hear me? He thinks ye’re dead. He thinks…”

  She couldn’t even finish. There was so much more to tell the old man, about Lor and his vengeance for Nikolaus’s death, and how he’d spent months at the Ludus Caledonia learning to fight because of it. So very much to tell him. But from the look on his face, she was fairly certain now was not the time. He didn’t look as if he could take much more news than what he’d already been told. Therefore, she changed the focus.

  “How did ye come here?” she asked. “Lor thought ye were dead, but ye’re here? In Kirkburn’s vaults?”

  Nikolaus nodded before closing his eyes tightly. A single tear trickled from his left eye. “He’s alive,” he whispered, ignoring her questions. “I dinna dare tae hope. I thought they would surely kill him.”

  “Who would kill him?”

  He looked at her then. “Drostan Lindsay,” he said. “After they put me in the vault, I was certain they might do the same to him, or worse.”

  He wasn’t making much sense, but Isabail wasn’t surprised. If the man had been caged up in Kirkburn’s vaults for all these months, his mind probably wasn’t what it should be. Darkness and no hope would have broken down even the strongest man. She tried to be gentle.

  “Tell me what happened to ye,” she said. “Did the Lindsay capture ye somehow? Why would they do such a thing?”

  “Because I saw them,” Nikolaus said quietly. “I saw them burn Careston. I was a witness. Drostan ordered me killed, but Ternan dinna obey him.”