Branded by a Warrior (31 page)

Broderick and his men bid farewell to King Richard and rode hard out of Inverness and into the frozen abyss towards Castle MacMillan. All were ready to be home, none more than Broderick.

Elisbeth had felt Broderick’s absence take a toll on her. She was lethargic and moody, something she had never experienced before. Her emotions had begun to run rampant as she worried about her husband.
The lack of sleep was apparent on her face. Everyone was worried about her, which irritated her even more. She had never felt so unlike a warrior in her life. Warriors’ dinnae cry this often.

Kendrix had continually assured her that the earliest he expected Broderick home would be within
the week
.
It seemed like forever to her.
No messenger had arrived to tell her Broderick had gotten to Inverness safely,
surely Broderick would have sent a messenger?
Kendrix once again assured her that Broderick had never had to send notice back to his castle, he was used to traveling with anyone he needed to converse with. He continually calmed her upset as
each day passed. She was sure Kendrix
was going quite annoyed with her daily hysterics, even though he did tend to laugh at her more than he ought.
Always in fun, he had begun to tease her like a normal older brother would.

Waking up early as usual from a restless night of sleep, Elisabeth prepared to take the hounds outside so they could relieve themselves and run before she trained with the warriors. She hadn’t felt well the past
week;
a wave of dizziness rocked her as she walked towards the door.
Clinging to the
doorframe
, the room spun as she blinked, shaking her head she
gave herself time to adjust. Sighing
,
she walked over to her wardrobe slowly and donned fresh tights, a warm gown and wrapped her fur securely around her shoulders. Stepping into her new boots that required no lacing, she called the hounds and unlocked the door before throwing it wide.

Walking out of her door, she
noticed a letter
lying
on the cold stone floor in the hallway outside her door. The hounds ran past her down the stairs as she bent down to pick up the letter, curious who left the letter there.
Tucking it in her belt, she followed after the hounds, shutting and locking her door behind her.

Since Broderick’s absence, she made a habit to lock their rooms when away.

The letter had no name upon the front; searching for Kendrix she opened the
front
doors and let the hounds run around the bailey.
The cold winter air greeted her as it did every morning. The courtyard glistened with a fresh lay
er of ice from the night storm.
Walking down the front stairs she made her way to the stables, it was where Kendrix could normally be found before early morning drills.

The castle bailey was still quiet, the sun had just risen and many were still asleep. Crossing the snow covered courtyard she gingerly made her way to the busy stable yard.
Her arms wrapped around her for warmth.
She watched as her burly hounds ran and played with each other, thoroughly enjoying their morning run.
Spying Kendrix talking to the patrol guards, she
waved to him as he spotted her as she drew near.

“Good morrow Sister, what pray tell brings you out so early this cold winter morning?” 

Pulling the letter from her belt, she held it up for Kendrix to see with a questioning glance,
“This letter was outside my door, do yo
u have any knowledge of this?” S
he asked.

“Nae Siste
r, shall we see what it says?” C
rossing his arms, his face turned serious as he realized someone had delivered her another missive.
She heard him sigh in discontent as she lowered her eyes to the letter.
Breaking
the seal, Elisabeth opened the missive
and
recognized
the familiar script once again. Kincaid struck again.

“Tis from Kincaid
.” S
he muttered as she read his vile words
.

“How and the h
ell does he get his communications through our defenses? What are we missing? What do
es the letter say Elisabeth?” Kendrix
asked, around them the stable hands continued to work.

“Another threat, he knows Broderick isn’t here. He’s trying to scare m
e. How did this happen again?” S
he a
sked, looking up at Kendrix,
the paper
shaking in her hand
.

“I know not Sister, but I will find out, never fear
.” S
natching the letter from her hands, Kendrix read the missive.

Elisabeth,

I am coming for you.

Kincaid

Watching Kendrix’s face distort in anger, she quickly proposed,
“Have the guards doubled, I will go speak with Rhona to see if she saw anyone traveling the tower stairs, I’ll go check on Isobel. I’ll see you in a while for drills
.
”
T
urning to go
,
she heard him ask a question that stopped her dead in her tracks.

“Are you okay Elisabeth? You do not look well
.
”

Turning, attempting a brave smile she nodded, “I miss your brother, I have not slept well since he’s been gone
.
”

Kendrix simply nodded at his little sister and
watched her walk back to the castle.
The past week she had greatly deteriorated, however it wasn’t all impart to his brother being gone.
He would bet his life that she was with child. She had the same signs his late wife had when pregnant with Isobel. He had yet to ask her, he wasn’t sure she was even aware.
Before Broderick left, he had divulged
to Kendrix
that he thought Elisabeth might be
with
child. He had asked Kendrix to keep watch for the signs, and if necessary, prevent her from getting hurt.
He knew s
he couldn’t have been very far along, as her stomach was still as flat as the day he first met her, but her fatigue was most apparent. True, she probably did have sleepless nights without Broderick, but he had noticed subtle changes in her through the past
weeks.
She was off, nothing substantial, but to the trained eye, he saw the difference in her.

Each day, Kendrix waited for Elisabeth to realize she was with child, and as each day came, so it went
.
He could tell she was clueless of her condition, Rhona refused to say anything. Which left the task to him, within the
following
week
s
they would ride to Douglas land, with Elisabeth carrying the heir to Clan MacMillan, she would be forbidden to ride. The sooner she came to terms with it the better.

Days later
he saw
The Warrior Queen
reemerge from her docile state.

On his w
ay to Broderick’s study in the north t
ower he heard a commotion ensuing in the kitchens, screams could be heard echoing the cold halls.
Women yelling, and a blood-curdling scream penetrated the walls of the castle.

Running towards the screaming
,
he stopped dead in his tracks as he ran into the kitchen, Elisabeth had her lethally sharp dagger held to Siobhan’s neck as Isobel was holding her eye crying.
P
inning Siobhan against the
wall of the kitchen, Elisabeth’s voice rang with imminent danger.
Watching the scene before him, he took quick stock of the situation.

“You were warned you bloody bitch,
how dare you hit my niece!” Elisabeth’s voice was eerily calm as she held her dagger upon Siobhan’s throbbing neck.

“She’s not innocent, she’s a brat! Get
that damn knife away from me ye
whore!”
Siobhan shrieked, desperately trying to move from Elisabeth’s vice like grip
with little results
.

“YOU DID WHAT?” Kendrix’s voice boomed throughout the small kitchen, demanding everyone’s attention.

Turning her head to see Kendrix, Elisabeth offered bitterly, “I walked in to see her backhanding your daughter
!
”
She continued to keep her blade p
ressed against Siobhan’s throat as she watched the younger MacMillan brother approach.

Walking across the stone floor, Kendrix eyed the women as he came up flush with Elisabeth, “Gather your belongings Siobhan, you are officially
exiled
from this clan.
Go find a new home, you are no longer welcome here
!
”

Gasping at the harsh punishment, “You cannae do that Kendrix, this is my home!
Only the Laird can banish me!” S
he explained righteously
struggling against Elisabeth’s
tight grip.

Turning
around to eye his sniffling young daughter,
“Isobel, go find Rhona
and stay with her until I find you
,
now
!
” H
e barked,
watching her flee
at his order.
Elisabeth still held her dagger securely against Siobhan’s throat waiting for Kendrix’s next order.

“Slit her throat Elisabeth, if she willnae leave, she will die
.” H
is voice was ice cold as he made his point very clear.

“I will go, Jesu, I will go Kendrix! Dinnae ki
ll me!” S
he started to sob as Elisabeth pressed her sharp dagger closer to the pulsing vein in her neck.

Upon hearing Siobhan’s surrender, Elisabeth lowered her weapon, sheathing
it in
her belt and took a step back.
“You have less than an hour to vacate my lands, if you are ever seen here again
,
death will be swiftly deliv
ered, am I understood Siobhan?”
Elisabeth questioned
, her voice matched Kendrix tone perfectly
. In Broderick’s absence, she made the
punishment for returning to these lands
significant enough so there was no mistake.

Squinting her eyes in hatred, Siobhan
spat a bitter rebuttal, “These are not
your
lands you bitch. You will pay for what you have done
! You will pay!” S
he screame
d the last part as she ran off towards the exit.

Elisabeth was
certain
Siobhan had been behind the poisoning
,
and the deliver
y
of Kincaid’s letters, she just didn’t have solid proof. Her senses prickled every time that woman was around. Seeing her smack Isobel earlier had made her see red, before she knew it she had cross
ed
the room and
had Siobhan by the throat.
Siobhan was very lucky she wasn’t dead; she wanted nothing more than to end her life.

Beside her she heard Kendrix’s deep voice,
“I will see that she is gone within the hour Sister, thank you for protecting my daughter once again. I am happy to see that evil bitch leave these lands, our drills will be pushed back so that I can see her off these lands personally
.
” 

Elisabeth had never seen Kendrix so
riled before.
He gave no quarter to Siobhan; she h
ad been dealt with accordingly. Siobhan’s exile suited Elisabeth perfectly, the woman was a snake, and she was pleased with Kendrix’s decision.

Sighing deeply she turned to leave,
“
I will go find Rhona and Isobel. Please
make sure that Siobhan’s family understands why their daughter is being exiled. I want no problems with them, if they
take issue, they can leave along
with their wicked daughter
.” S
he locked eyes with Kendrix,
silently
wondering if he would challenge her decree.

“Agreed Sister, I will see it done
.” H
e nodded and turned in search of the newly exiled Siobhan.

The exile of Siobhan swept through the clan like wildfire, within the hour
the entire MacMillan clan had heard the story of Siobhan striking Kendrix’s daughter.
All were appalled.
Not one person, even Siobhan’s family spoke on her behalf, it was clear that Siobhan was barely tolerated on these lands for years.
Over the passing weeks, Siobhan’s treatment of anyone
in her path was abhorrent. The e
lders of the clan had scorned her time and time again, yet he snubbed her nose at them. She had cause chaos whenever she could, she was toxic, and the MacMillan clan was elated to see her finally be gone.