Branded By a Warrior (25 page)

Fiddling with the
long strip of wood
in his hands, he sighed deeply as he thought of his parents. He knew if his mother
were
alive she’d have plenty of wisdom to bestow upon him regarding his new wife, and how to handle every situation.
Without her here, he had to figure it out on his own.
He cared far too much for Elisabeth to allow her such distress. He would find a way to make it right.

In the far distant hallway he could hear
his niece talking to his dogs
,
leaning
back
in his stool he
looked
out
the door
. Seeing
Isobel
and his wolfhounds, his heart sank a little.
No Elisabeth.
Surely that was not a promising sign for his night to come.

His dogs noticed him well before the rambling five year old.
The two great wolfhounds trotted
over to
him;
sitting down at his feet they put their heads in his lap as he watched Isobel cross under the large stone archway into the armory.

“Hello l
ass, where is Aunt Elisabeth?” H
e asked
as he scratched behind both
dogs’
ears
.
Climbing up into the stool next to him,
Isobel replied, “In the solar room, crying.” S
he sighed as she picked up the piece of wood, “She said her
heart hurts, can you fix her?” S
he asked innocently, looking up at him.
It took everything he could to do hide his reaction to his niece’s words.
Isobel's innocent words told him so much about Elisabeth's current state.

Sighing heavily, “We have to remember Aunt Elisab
eth lost everyone she held dear over a month ago lass, the pain still hurts her.” H
e knew well enough that wasn’t exactly why she was crying, it was something more, but he didn’t need to explain that to a five year old.

Isobel looked up at him and blinked, letting out a sigh, “You’ll fix her Uncle, just like you did whe
n you saved her life.
I just kno
w it.” She sat smiling brightly up at him as if he could conquer any foe, her faith in him was endearing.

The two
of them sat alone in the large
armory
, their vo
ices echoing off the
stone
walls
,
handing the
raw
wood
piece
to Isobel he asked, “Ye ready to make your bow lass? We can carve it right now and let it dry for a
few days before we string it up
.
”
Clapping with delight, Isobel smiled brightly at him, “Aye Uncle Broderick
!
”

Broderick and Isobel worked on her bow for hours,
they talked about Elisabeth and then
Isobel’s
mother. T
hey talked about the wolfhound
s, and how she wanted her very own wolfhound pup. Broderick taught her the steps in creating and shaping a bow, how to measure for size and fit. His little niece sat next to him for hours and happily chatted away while they talked and made the bow.
Isobel kept Broderick
so
busy
, he had lost track of time,
Kendrix eventually
had to come searching for them.
Her bow had been intricately carved, and hung up to dry by the time Kendrix
came to collect his daughter.

Waving goodbye to the two, Broderick watched
Kendrix and Isobel head to dinner as they walked
out of the armory together. Cleaning up his workspace, he adjusted his tartan and locked the armory behind him as he left.
His thoughts were once again on his beautiful wife.

Night had
come
calling while he and Isobel worked away in the armory. A light winter snow
fell from the sky as he adjusted
his new fur over his shoulder
s before walking out into the courtyard towards the castle. The walk was a lengthy one that took him through the rows of huts that led up to the castle. Late in the evening, families were having dinner and warming
them
selves
by the fire, there was not a soul to be found as he walked up the
well-worn
path to the keep.

Hearing his name behind him he stopped in the darkening courtyard and turned to see Siobhan running to catch up with him.
His hounds stood be
side him and growled as
the woman approached, they never had liked her.
He agreed with their intuition.
Seeing his
one-time
betrothed waving him down, he stood perfectly still and waited for her to catch up with him. He was in no mood to argue with her.

“My L
aird, thank goodness I found you!
This letter just arrived,
‘tis
for your wife,
I assum
e you are heading up to see her.
”
L
ifting
the sealed envelope
from her tartan
she smiled at him.

Swiping it out of her hands
with a scowl,
Broderick turned to walk away when he heard her say, “Curious, I could have sworn the guards say
it was another Douglas courier
for her, not the first one that they’ve received. Curious your wife corresponds
with the same man Fiona did. I told ye should never have marri
ed her, you’ll be seen as a fool
yet again Broderick.
”

Turning around
,
his fist tightened as he looked at the
raven-haired
bea
uty
, “Watch your mouth Siobhan.” T
urning back towards the castle he seethed as he stomped through the winter courtyard.
He recognized the
writing on the missive, it
was from Kincaid. Since she had been here, he had never once received a letter directed to her, all communication had been sent to him. Did his wife
really
communicate behind his back? Was it possible she was another female spy like Fion
a had been all those years ago?

Behind him a
Siobhan stood perfectly still, crossing her arms a wicked smiled appeared on
lovely fac
e as she watched him walk away as she stood in the snowy courtyard of the castle. Everything was going as planned.

Bursting into the keep he marched straight for their rooms, his dogs ran ahead of him towards their mistress. Taking the stairs two at a time he was seething by the time he reached h
er solar door, opening her door with force he looked around to see the room devoid of her presence.
Turning around he walked across
the hall and kicked his door open
, sending it bouncing against the stone.

***

Whirling
around
at the sound of the large wooden door
bounce off the wall.
Elisabeth turned quickly to see Broderick in the doorway
,
taking her hand off
the handle of her sword
.

Standing before the fireplace, Elisabeth cast her gaze over her husband.
After a long nap and good
cry, she had changed and came into Broderick’s room awaiting his return. She had much to talk about with him, she knew she had to open up and share her worries with her husband. Able to see only his shadow she starting walking closer, as the light hit his face, her heart sank, “What is wrong Broderick?”

She watched as he
walked into the room, slamming the door behind him.
Unchaining his new black sable fur he tossed it on their bed. His eyes were cold, his jaw was clenched, and his posture told her something was seriously wrong. He had not addressed her, or even acknowledged her presence.

She
observed
him with worried eyes as he w
alked over to his wardrobe unlacing
his bracers and tossed them on the table. With his back to her, she stood utterly confused. She watched him pull off his linen shirt and toss it on the ground, reminding herself she had yelled at him on their ride this afternoon, and she also had coolly dismissed him afterward in the stable.

Unaccustomed to this type of reaction from him, she assumed it was punishment for
the way she treated him today
.
Silently walking across the room, she ran her hands around his
waist and squeezed him from be
hind, placing her cheek against
his muscular back.
Accepting she had hurt his feelings today, she felt guilty as she hugged him from behind. Almost immediately she felt him
tense
at her touch
,
she removed her hands like she had touched
hot
irons and took a step back, “What is wrong with you Broderick?”
This time, her question was asked with more authority.

Before her Broderick slowly turned and pulled a letter from his waist, handing it to her his eyes were cold and barren, devoid of any emotion. “Getting love letters so soon Elisabeth? Is that why you do not want
to carry
my children? This came for you today,
shall we read it together and see what your lover has to say?” The anger and resentment were clear in his voice, his entire body radiated danger as he s
poke. She had never heard him be so cruel
. T
he hair on the back of her neck stood up as she scanned his eyes.
What had happened?

“
Lover? Are you serious right now? Do you realize what you are accusing me of?
”
P
lucking the letter from his hands, she flipped it over to see the seal had not be
en broken yet. Addressed to her in a
script she was familiar with
,
she
stood befo
re Broderick and broke the seal.
She quick looked
up at his angered face one last time before she read the missive.
He appeared to already believe her guilty.

Clenching her jaw she lowered her eyes and re
a
d
the familiar handwriting, her heart sank as she read line after line from Kincaid. Her skin prickled as she attempted to contain her emotions.
With each line, it had gotten worse.

***

Broderick watched
Elisabeth
read the letter before him, he hadn’t opened it yet, he wanted to watch her read it in front of him and try to deny it. He watched as tear
s pooled in her green eyes as she read
line after line, her face lost all color as she looked up at him
.
The letter fell from her trembling hands as she looked into his
eyes
and then bolted
from the room, slamming the door behind her.
Was she so guilty she wouldn’t even try to deny it? Was she fleeing this very moment into Kincaid’s arms?

Closing his eyes he attempted t
o regain control of his temper
, his blood was boiling.
His fists clenched at his sides
he heard
her solar door slam moments later
as he stood there. Opening his eyes quickly
he looked down at the letter she had dropped on the ground.
So many things had gone wrong today, he had never felt such volatile feelings in his life. The possibility that Elisabeth was playing him for a fool, just like Fiona had done turned his world upside down.
His head and heart were battling a familiar war once again.

Bending down he picked up the letter; taking a deep
breath he mentally prepared himself to read a letter that could incriminate
the woman he loved
.
Standing up he opened the parchment and began to read.

Elisabeth,

So quickly you forget your family’s blood still stains the grounds of your home while you whore away with MacMillan swine. You will soon learn you should have heeded my warnings; I do not deal lightly with disobedience. Hundreds died because of you, you Elisabeth…
. You
murdered your family. You murdered your clan by your selfish actions. So easil
y they could have been saved if
you had only become my wife.

You ran to the arms of a man who has been waiting years to claim Drummond land, so easily you give away what should have been mine. You will pay Elisabeth. How many more lives have to perish before your pride falls? Perhaps I’ll make an example out of that sweet little blonde girl you have befriended?
Isobel, isn’t that her name? I wonder if she would scream as loudly as your mother did when I murdered her.