Branded By a Warrior (26 page)

Oh yes, I am watching you Elisabeth. I hope you enjoyed your training today, fo
r soon I will be coming for you.

Maybe this time innocent people will not have to die because of you.

Your future husband,

Kincaid.

“Fuck!” L
etting the letter fall to the floor.

God he was such a fool, so quickly did he believe she was guilty of conspiracy, so quickly he had t
ossed aside his trust and love and accused her of such vile deeds erroneously.
Running out his door he saw the solar door was thrown wide, running over he saw her fur and weapons were gone,
she was gone
.

Swinging back into his room he
threw on a clean shirt and grabbed his fur and
sword
, his dogs were already following her scent as he ran down the stairs.
Running down the stairs he laced his braces as he watched his dogs seek her out.
Conn and Isla took a turn down the nearest
corridor and stopped directly before Iso
bel’s door, the door was
slightly
ajar. W
atching his
dogs
nudge the door open
,
he saw Elisabeth fully armed, his fur over her shoulders kneeling before Isobel’s be
d, weeping at the beside of the sleeping youngling.

Seeing his beautiful little niece
safe, his eyes ran over his wife whose heart he had just broke.
Walking in
,
he knelt beside Elisabeth and tilted her jaw so she would look at him, tears rolled down her face as she
hesitantly
looked into his eyes.

Shaking her head and whispering, “No more Bro
derick, no more will die for me
. I will not let him touch her, I will surrender myself before that ever happens!
”

“
You will never be his my love. I will die first. I am so sorry Elisabeth; I don’t understand my reactions myself. I am ashamed of my accusat
ions.” L
ifting her up gently in his arms, he walked out of Isobel’s room kicking the door shut softly behind him.

Sitting her on her feet he grabbed her hand and nodded for her to follow him. Walking through the candlelit corridors, Broderick
clasped
Elisabeth’s trembling hand
and led her to the
kitchens, their dogs at their heels.

Letting go of her hand he walked around the kitchen and selected a few items before grabbing a bottle of fresh mead out of the cabinet, looking back he saw her watching him as she rubbed the lingering tears off her
face.

“
What are you doing Broderick?” S
he asked as he walked back towards her.

“
You and I are going to have a picnic in one of my most favorite places, we are going to disappear for the night
…
and I am going to spend all night begging forgiveness,” he handed her the bottle of mead as he nodded for her to follow him.

***

Elisabeth was at her breaking point, the stress of vows of revenge,
vows of marriage and children, and the
chilling letter from Kincaid had her on edge. Having Broderick assume she was
conspiring against him broke her heart. She needed her husband to trust her, to have faith in her despite whatever may happen. She yearned for that.

Following
him down the darkened corridor her head spun with what to say. She knew she had to open up to him about her fears; she had to accept it would take time for him to trust her. Her mother had taught her well, she knew she couldn’t force
it;
she had to
show
Broderick how to trust.
No matter how many times he broke her heart, she
refused to give up on him. She would prove
it
to
him;
she would withstand the heartbreak for him.

Walking beside Broderick
she saw Conn and Isla jot out in
front of them, leading the way,
the wolfhounds trotted in the direction of the
north
tower. She had remembered Old Rhona
never gave her a tour of this
tower,
thinking back it was as if there as a line she wouldn’t cross. Looking up at her husband she gave him a questioning glance.
This was the one spot of the castle she had yet to venture, it was locked at all times.

“The north
tower is only assessable to m
yself, I have the lone key
. The tower is my sanctuary from the duties of being laird here
. My grandfather built
the
tower for this purpose only; it ha
s been this way for generations
.
”

Down the hall she could see the massive stone archway that connected the castle to the
north
tower, walking next to Broderick she chose to remain silent. He was allowing her in his most so
litary personal space he had, for
a man who had a hard time trusting her,
the significance was not lost on her.

“Did your fath
er bring your mother up here?” S
he asked quietly as they arrived to the stairs that curled up the large tower.

Nodding with a grin, “Yes, she was his rock. They were hardly
apart, theirs was a love match as well
.
”
Sliding the key into the solid oak door, he pushed
it
open, “Grab a candle off the wall
Lis
.” H
e requested as he held the door open for her.

Plucking the nearest large wax candle
off the wall
, she walked through the
threshold as
the hounds
dashed
upstairs without waiting for light.

With his arms full of food for them, he motioned for her to go ahead of him, “Go ahead
love, light the torches along the wa
y, they’ll be on your left side
.
”

Climbing the century old stone stairs, she lifted the candle high to illuminate her way, Broderick following closely behind her. She could feel his eyes
on
her;
desire ripped through her as she swayed her hips a little bit more at she climbed the stairs.

Lighting the torches that lined the stairs,
light slowly
spread through the tower
illuminating
her way to the grand room.

Entering the dark room she couldn’t see far, from behind her Broderick swiped the candle out of her hand as he leaned down and whispered into her ear, “Ye make it hard for a man to
want to
have a conversation with a fine arse like tha
t Elisabeth.” W
alking past her he systematically lit the various candelabras around the
two-story
room.

As each flame was lit, the room came alive before her eyes. Standing still she watched Brode
rick walk around the vast space, the room was at the top of the tower
, it was a completely open space. The high arched ceiling seemed to reach the sky; she had never seen anything like it. Windows lined the circular tower room, currently covered with skins to block out the bitter cold winter.

The high stonewalls were covered with beautiful tapestries, some centuries old. A large desk sat in the
corner with a high-backed chair. A
cross the
great
room Elisabeth saw Broderick kneel before the massive hearth to start a fire. The room was awfully cold, crossing her arms
and wrapping the sable fur snuggly around her shoulders
she continued to look around the private room in awe.

Watching Broderick something caught her eye. The light
reflect
ed
off the wall across the room
, gathering her full attention. Hanging in a beautiful display across the vast wall were hundreds of weapons.
Sitting the bottle of mead on the table she walked towards the wall in awe, maces and swords, dirks and daggers, ancient weapons collected
over hundreds of years were artfully hung on the wall.
She had never seen anything to interesting and intriguing in her life. There were some weapons that dated back to ancient times.

Standing before the giant wall she cast her eye
s over the selection before her
,
assorted on the wall in
an
inspiring arraignment, there were
weapons
she had
never
seen before
, nor had any idea how they were used. Before her she spied a magnificent
claymore with a jeweled hilt
, reaching up to touch the intricately detailed sword
she heard Broderick behind her.

“That was my great grandfather’s sword, all the weapons you see before you are a collection started hundreds of years ago by his gran
dfather, impressive isn’t it?” H
e asked as he stood up and joined
her
before the wall of deadly weapons.
Retracting her
hand from the claymore’s handle
she heard him encourage her curiosity,
“Go ahead Elisabeth, pick it up, tis a heavy beast an
d nearly as tall as you my love.” G
iving her permission he nudged her shoulder playfully as he turned and walked over to retrieve the bottle of mead.

Reaching out she placed her hand on the elegant claymore and lifted it off the wall; the weight of the long sword was indeed substantial. Grasping the heavy sword with both of her hands she lifted it into the air as she eyed the beautiful blade.
The quality of work was outstanding.
Wi
th the fire now roaring and
candles around the room
,
she was able to see the room in all its magnificence,
lowering the blade she turned around to see Broderick opening the bottle of mead and taking a drink righ
t from the bottle. Since she had been
poisoned he demanded to
taste everything before she did, shaking her head at his protectiveness, she couldn’t help but grin.

Watching him
,
her heart easily melted, catching his eye, she saw him wink at her. Bottle in hand he walked slowly over to her, his dark hair fell gloriously to his shoulders. The muscles in his arms flexed as he gripped the bottle and eyed her with desire in his green eyes.

Joining her at the wall, he handed her the bottle and held out his hand for his grandfather’s ceremonial claymore. Taking the bottle from Broderick she handed over t
he heavy sword in exchange.
Watching him twist the large claymore in his hand easily, she      took
a drink from the bottle she asked, “Why don’t you use this as your bedroom Broderick? This room is five times t
he size and suits you perfectly
.”

Setting the claymore back upon the notches on the wall
Broderick explained
, “This tower is the closest to the front gate, under attack it would be the first to take fire. My grandf
ather wanted his family in the farthest
tower
from the drawbridge
to give them more time
and a safer position if ever the walls were breeched,” reaching up he plucked a ruby hilted shortsword down and held it out for her to see, “This
belonged to my grandmother
, she too knew how to wield a sword. My grandfather made it for her,
just as I made yours
.
”

Snapping her head up to look back into his eyes, “You made my weapons?”

Nodding, he handed the ruby sword to her and took the bottle back out of her hands and took another bracing swig, “
Aye,
my queen will
only have the best.
”

Looking up at him in utter amazement, she asked, “Why did
n’t
you tell me that you had made them for me?”

Shrugging, he simply smiled, “
Come
to the center of the room Elisabeth, I want to show you a few things you didn’t learn today
during drills
.
”

Intrigued, she placed the ruby sword back in its resting place upon the wall and followed her brooding warrior into the center of the vast room. The room was large enough for them to practice swords, the center of the room was free of any supports,
and the
high arched ceilings towered above their heads.
There was room for many men to practice simultaneously the room was gigantic.