Highlander Unbroken (Highland Adventure Book 8) (24 page)

Neacal shrugged. "If you must know… both."

His friend chuckled. "Aha. The storm, then the peace."

"She helps me forget the torture."

Colin sobered. "I'm glad for that, my friend. None of us can truly understand what you suffered, even if you tell us. 'Tis something only you know the full extent of."

"Anna has suffered, too—'haps more than I have—and I mean to protect her from that demon. He not only murdered her husband, he also caused her to have a miscarriage because of his abuse."

"Damnation," Colin hissed.

"He cut her younger sister's face."

"Why?"

"When he was forcing Anna to marry him, the only way she would agree was if he threatened her sister with a knife. He cut her face, then held the knife at her throat. After that he shoved her down and her head hit the stone wall. She is blind because of it."

"Hell," Colin growled, pure fury crossing his face. "I hope he arrives soon. I want to personally run him through."

"Not if I get to him first."

***

Late that night, Neacal turned over in bed and stared into the darkness. Thousands of thoughts and images chased through his head. Some good, like thoughts of Anna, and some bad, like the upcoming battle he would wage with Blackburn MacCromar. He did not fear the man or his garrison. He simply wanted to stop him from his evil rampage. He had already hurt and killed too many people.

Anna was Neacal's angel, and he was never letting her go. He would prove to her he would be a protective husband, and prove to the clan he would be a strong chief.

'Twas useless to try to sleep. He arose and added peat to the fire. Dunn awoke enough to peek at him once, then his eyelids drifted shut again. Neacal envied the dog his peaceful slumber.

The problem was Neacal needed Anna beside him. She helped him sleep like nothing else on earth. How terrible would it be if he went to find her and secretly brought her to his chamber? He knew which room she was using, for he'd visited her there a few days ago. Everyone else was abed. No one would see him. Excitement surging through him, he quickly belted his plaid about his waist over his long-tailed shirt.

Carrying a candle, he opened the door and was thankful to find Leith asleep, sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall. Smirking, Neacal closed his door back, stepped over the burly bodyguard and proceeded silently down the corridor.

Hearing footsteps further along, he paused. All became still and he saw no one. When he took another step, someone ran away, down the stairs. He caught only a blur of movement. Who the devil was that and why were they fleeing? More traitors? Someone slipping toward his chamber to assassinate him? Although some of the traitors were in the dungeon, no doubt several in the clan still opposed him.

Taking out his dirk, Neacal followed quietly down the steps to the bottom, but whoever it was had vanished. All was quiet and dark beyond the glow of his candle. After listening for several minutes, he climbed the steps again.

Up two more flights and he reached the room Anna shared with the other female singer. A loud snore came from behind the door. Not Anna… he hoped. Nay, she hadn't snored during the time they'd spent together. When he remembered those amazing nights, excitement raced through him. He tapped as lightly as possible on the door.

While he waited, he glanced back to make sure the mystery person hadn't followed him.

A moment later, the door opened a crack and Anna peered out at him. He held the candle so she could see who he was.

"What are you doing here?" she breathed.

"I had to see you. Come with me," he whispered. "Put on your
arisaid
first."

She nodded, returned to the room for a moment then came back wearing the thick plaid belted around her waist.

Harriet's snores continued.

After Anna exited, he closed the door. "How do you sleep with so much noise?"

"I've grown used to it." A smile was evident in her voice.

He took her hand, helped her descend the stairs and led her to his chamber. They stepped over the sleeping guard, entered and shut the door. Dunn merely lifted his head for a second, then turned to his side, and closed his eyes.

"Did you get any sleep?" He quietly barred the door.

"Aye. A few hours," she said.

"Good." He took in her sensual, bedraggled appearance in the dim glow of the candle and firelight. "I hope you can help me sleep."

"How? Are you in pain?" She pulled his hands into hers, her concerned gaze searching his face. "I didn't bring the salve."

He kissed the knuckles of each of her hands. "Nay. I just want to hold you."

"Oh." She grinned. "Very well. That will be most pleasant."

He savored her smile for a long moment, enjoying how it made him feel, as if he were lazing about in the warm summer sunshine, so soothing and comforting. He could not wait until she was his wife, so they wouldn't have to slip along dark corridors to be together. 'Twas not himself he was concerned about, but how the clan would perceive her.

"No one must ken you're sleeping here," he said.

"They won't hear it from me."

"I don't like for you to sleep in the room with Harriet. You're a lady. I must see that you have better lodgings."

"Nay. I want no special treatment," she rushed to say. "And I don't wish anyone else to know my status."

"Well, they will ken soon enough when Blackburn arrives."

She inhaled deeply and gave him a troubled look. "I must talk to you about that. I've decided… I have to leave."

Denial and dread slammed into his stomach. "What are you talking about?"

"I cannot put your clan in such danger. The last thing I wish is a battle fought because of me."

"Nonsense," he grumbled. "Where would you go? No place will be safe from Blackburn but behind castle walls."

Anna shook her head. "I don't want anyone to be killed because of me, certainly not you. Nor anyone in your clan. I but wish to live out my life in peace as an anonymous minstrel."

"But you're far more than that." Could she not see that she had become everything to him, his whole world? He now realized his life had been naught but barren wasteland before. "You must stay here and let me protect you," he urged. "'Tis the only logical thing for you to do. You cannot defend yourself out there alone, especially now that the whoreson kens your whereabouts. You could never outrun him, and even if you did, he would still arrive here at our gates. He would not believe us if we said you had gone. You'll not be sparing us anything by leaving, so you may as well remain here. Aside from that, winter is approaching and you cannot survive out in the elements. I wish to give you a warm place to stay."

She nodded, staring down at her broken nails. "You're right, of course, but…"

"But what?" He took her hands and rubbed his thumbs over her palms, trying to calm her. "You have no more sound arguments."

When her eyes finally met his, the glimmer of tears ripped at his heart. "How will I ever repay you and your clan?"

"No repayment is necessary,
mo ghraidh,"
he said softly.

"Aye. I must," she insisted.

He stroked his hand along her silken cheek, catching a tear and wiping it away. "Your song is a gift to everyone who hears it. Will you sing for us? 'Tis all we ask in repayment."

"Of course. You ken I will."

Needing to feel her body pressed to his, he pulled her into a close embrace and kissed the top of her head. He felt her shake with sobs and drew back to look into her troubled eyes as best as he could in the firelight. "What is it?" he whispered.

"I don't deserve you."

"Humph. I think 'tis the other way around. I'm unworthy of you."

She shook her head. "You are the most giving and heroic man I've ever met… and the one who has been through the most pain."

"You make me forget all that, whether you're singing or kissing me. You and evil thoughts cannot coexist in my head. You drive all the demons out."

She gave a rueful smile. "I can perform no such miracles."

"Aye, you have." He drew her tightly to him again, wrapping his arms around her.

Anna did not understand how she'd found a man like Neacal. A man who had suffered more physical abuse and pain than she had. More than anyone she knew. And yet, he was the most caring and compassionate man she had ever met. How was this possible? She would've expected torture to harden his heart and chill his soul, but the opposite had happened.

She relaxed and simply felt him, inhaled his clean, masculine scent that was only him. His soul's warmth filled her with joy.

"I feel the same way," she whispered. "When I'm with you, I forget the many losses of my past and I live in the here and now."

Had a higher power sent her to his castle? How else would she have found him?

But what if Blackburn took him away from her? A chill shook her. If she gave her heart to Neacal and Blackburn killed him, she could not survive the loss, added to what she'd already endured. She pressed her face to his chest, cherishing him, holding him tight.

Pulling back, she gazed up at him, giving him what she hoped was her most solemn look. "You must not fight Blackburn."

He frowned. "Why on earth not?"

"Because… I don't want to lose you."

He shook his head, his blue eyes reflecting her own emotions. "You won't be losing me. I intend to kill him honorably on the field of battle."

Oh, if only such a thing could be true, but the risk was too great. "Nay, I don't wish you to put yourself in such extreme danger because of me. Blackburn is vile and evil. He kens naught of honor. He might have a mob of his soldiers attack you alone."

Neacal smirked. "Have you already forgotten what happened at the shieling and at the tavern? I bested several of his men."

"Aye, but what if they all come at you at once?" She could visualize the horrid scene.

"I am no fool, Anna. If I wanted to die I would be dead already. I've developed skills of battle and survival that most men do not even think of."

"I know you are a great warrior with amazing skills, but still… I worry."

"Well, I know not how to take away your worries, except by proving I'm right." After unbuckling his belt, he tossed his plaid on the chair. Keeping his long-tailed shirt on, he led her to the bed and lay down, leaving room for her in front. "Come sleep with me," he murmured, holding out his hand. In truth, he looked exhausted and she did want him to sleep.

After removing her
arisaid
, she crawled onto the bed and snuggled against him. He covered them with the woolen blanket and wrapped his arms around her. Pressing her nose to his chest, she inhaled his wondrous masculine scent mixed with lavender soap. In his arms, she felt safe and protected, for the first time in a very long time, but also cherished and excited. She loved how strong his arms felt around her.

Her arousal was at a slow simmer but she drifted toward sleep as she listened to his soft breaths.

A loud thump startled her fully awake. Something crashed just outside the door and a man yelled.

Hearing the loud noise outside the chamber door, Neacal sat bolt upright in bed, jarred from his blissful sleep with Anna in his arms.

Dunn barked and scratched at the door.

Neacal leapt off the bed and grabbed his dirk. "Stay, Dunn." He unbarred the door to peer outside through the crack.

Leith's loud shouts echoed from further down the corridor.

"What is happening?" Anna asked behind him.

Neacal closed the door and barred it again. "Someone was out there earlier, sneaking around," he said, keeping his voice low. "I heard their footsteps when I went to get you."

"Who could it be?" Anna was already out of bed, putting on her
arisaid
.

"I don't know." He hurriedly belted his plaid about his waist and grabbed his sword. "When I go out, bar the door and allow no one to enter except me."

She nodded, her eyes wide. "Very well. Have a care."

"Aye. Here." He handed her his foot long dirk in the scabbard. "I don't think anyone can get through the door, but if they do, use this to defend yourself. Of course, Dunn will protect you, too." He touched the dog's head. "Stay, Dunn."

The dog whined his displeasure.

"Please be safe and return soon," Anna said.

"I will." After Neacal exited the room and he heard the bar fall into place, he tried the door. Unable to open it, he was satisfied she would be safe. He sprinted after Leith to see if the prowler had been caught. As he descended the narrow tower steps, a hint of dawn light filtered in through the arrow-slit windows.

Once in the great hall, he paused, glancing about. Leith was doing the same. Several of their clansmen were sleeping or just waking up. Was the prowler only pretending? He stepped closer to those lying on the floor to see if anyone was breathing hard.

"What on earth is going on?" a female voice called from the doorway.

Neacal glanced over to see his cousin, Constance. "What are you doing up so early?" he asked. Her usual habit was to lie abed and until mid-morning.

"I missed supper last night and I was hungry." She took a bite from the chunk of bread in her hand.

He observed her as she chewed. Could she have been the one sneaking about outside his chamber? Why would she? She did not appear winded. Surely it would've been difficult for her to dash down the steps so quickly while also keeping her long skirts out of the way.

"Who are you looking for?" she asked between bites.

"Don't concern yourself with it." Although he trusted her about as much as he did an adder, he ignored her and ran his gaze over those rising from the floor. No man looked any more suspicious than the next. They had lost their opportunity to catch the prowler.

"Come," he said to Leith, then proceeded to the library. Once the two of them were inside, he closed the door. "What happened?"

"Well… m'laird… someone happened upon me. They slipped silently along the corridor in the near darkness like a ghost. They struck me and ran away. All I saw was a dark blur."

"You were sleeping," Neacal said, giving the man a direct stare. If he denied it, he was a liar.

"Aye, well, I might have dozed off, but I didn't mean to. I had naught to keep me awake."

Neacal nodded. "I'm glad you're honest. I expect full and complete honesty from you. And loyalty."

"You have it, chief. There is no one I respect more than you."

"I thank you. You're a good man. Are you sure you didn't see the person?"

Leith shook his head. "It was dark. Truth is, they tripped over me and fell into the door. I tried to catch them but they hit me and ran away."

"Was it a man or woman? A heavy muscular person or a slim lightweight person?"

"Um, now that you mention it, I think it was a small person, a lad perhaps."

"Or a lass?"

He shrugged. "I suppose it could have been."

"Do you remember how they smelled?"

"Smelled, m'laird?" Leith frowned.

"Aye. Good scent, horrible odor?"

"Come to think of it… I do remember the scent of roses."

"Damnation." Constance often wore rosewater perfume, but he had not been close enough to her in the great hall to notice how she smelled. It actually could've been Constance. But why would she do such a thing? Spying on him to see if he and Anna were sharing a bed? Or did she intend to stab him in his sleep in revenge for Farquar's death?

"Stay here." Neacal headed out of the room in search of Tavia and the housekeeper. If Constance smelled of roses, someone was going to have to search her for a weapon and it wasn't going to be him. But he did have to protect his staff from her if she was armed.

He found Matthew and another of his guards, Dugan. "Quietly go find Constance, bind her hands and bring her to the library."

"Chief?" Matthew observed him as if he'd lost his mind.

"Someone was sneaking about outside my chamber door and tripped over my guard. A small person who smelled of roses. I need to find out if 'twas her and whether or not she's armed."

The two nodded and hastened away.

Of course, Constance could've already disposed of her weapon, if she had one. Then again, most women did carry small blades. Still, mayhap he could tell by her behavior whether she was the guilty party or not.

Once he found Tavia and the housekeeper, Mistress Gilbert, he brought them into the library with Leith and closed the door.

"I trust the two of you," he told the women.

They nodded, eyeing him curiously. "We're glad, m'laird," Tavia said. "Is there something we can help you with?"

"Aye. Someone was slipping around outside my chamber early this morn. My guard said the person smelled like roses. Matthew and Dugan will be bringing Constance into the room."

"Why would she do such a thing?" Mistress Gilbert asked.

"I have no inkling, but I intend to find out."

Tavia's face held intense concern.

"Have either of you noticed Constance acting odd?"

Mistress Gilbert shook her head. "Only that she's been slipping about, all over the castle, with one of the minstrels."

Neacal frowned. "Indeed? Which one?"

"That handsome piper."

He found it odd that Constance would take up so quickly with another man after she'd appeared devastated by the guard's death.

"Is she having a tryst with him?" Neacal asked.

Mistress Gilbert raised her brows. "'Tis what most of the servants think."

He turned to the other woman. "Tavia?"

"I have seen her with him a few times, but I thought nothing of it."

Something was going on. Was Constance trying to get information about Anna from her fellow minstrel? Did he know her true identity and that she was linked to Blackburn MacCromar? If so, that could be how Blackburn learned Anna's location.

Neacal muttered a curse.

The women's eyes widened.

"Begging your pardon, mistresses. If she's done what I think she has… damn her hide."

"What?" Tavia asked.

"I'd best not say until I ken for certain."

Loud screams echoed from down the corridor. Neacal opened the door. Matthew and Dugan carried a yelling, writhing Constance into the room and Neacal slammed the door shut.

"Constance!" he said. "They're going to put you down and you're going to sit on this chair."

"Go to hell!"

"Do you want a gag tied in your mouth?"

"You've already had your men tie me up, so why not?" she yelled, but she looked more furious than afraid. "How dare you treat your own cousin this way?"

She calmed and the men set her on the wooden chair.

"Got caught, aye?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm certain you know. And I know what you've been up to."

She narrowed her eyes, sending him a direct glare. "Indeed? What have I been up to then?"

Rage crawled through Neacal. He needed facts or a witness before he openly accused her.

"Smell her," he told Leith.

"What?" Constance squawked.

The bodyguard cautiously drew closer to her and bent over, sniffing loudly. Constance tried to draw away, but Matthew held her in place.

"Get a good whiff," Neacal said.

Leith sniffed a few more times, near her neck and hair. "Aye, that's the scent. Roses."

Constance glared icy daggers at each of them. "Are the lot of you mad?"

"What were you doing outside my bedchamber door a quarter hour ago?"

"I wasn't outside your door. 'Tis absurd."

Neacal lifted a brow. "I knew you would deny it." He turned to the other women. "Tavia, Mistress, search her for weapons."

"What!" Constance struggled to push herself from the chair.

"Guards, hold her arms and legs so she doesn't hurt the women."

Matthew and Dugan restrained her.

"I'm sorry, miss, but I must do as the chief bids," Tavia said.

"You would, you old crone!"

Neacal shook his head. Tavia did not look old at all. "Pay her no heed and see if she has a dagger strapped to her leg."

Tavia searched beneath her skirts and a moment later pulled out a foot-long dirk.

Just as he suspected. Rarely did women carry such large weapons, especially while inside the castle. And he had never known Constance to have a fondness for knives.

"What! Another one?" Mistress Gilbert drew out another long, sheathed dagger from her other leg.

She must have intended to stab him. "Keep searching. We must disarm her."

The women located a small blade in her bodice, too.

"Why are you carrying so many weapons?" he demanded.

"I never know when you'll go berserk and try to kill me," Constance said.

He snorted, then turned to the housekeeper. "Have two maids you trust search her room for more weapons. Watch them to make sure they look in every nook and cranny. Then, bring the weapons here. Tie her to the chair," he told the guards. "All of you, except for Mistress Gilbert, stay right here with her until I return. If she says anything at all, tie a gag in her mouth."

Annoyance twisting through him, Neacal slammed the door on the way out.

In the great hall, he paused and called out, "Vardon Clemmens."

"M'laird?" The piper meekly shuffled from the corner, his wide gaze only darting to Neacal once.

"Come with me." Neacal led the way up the steps to the solar. Once the man entered, Neacal closed the door. "What have you told my cousin, Constance Gordon?"

"What… what do you mean, m'laird?" he stammered.

"What did you tell her about Anna Douglas?"

"Oh… um…"

The man's hesitation and silence irked Neacal to no end. "You ken who she really is, do you not? You ken who her clan is."

"Eh… aye."

"So what did you tell Constance?" Neacal prompted.

"That she… is the wife of Chief MacCromar."

"Damnation." Neacal hated that his hunch was correct. "Do you realize what you've done?"

Warily meeting his gaze, Vardon hesitated, then shook his head.

Neacal forced himself to remain calm when all he wanted to do was shake some sense into the man. "You've put Anna's life in danger."

"How?"

"Don't be a dimwit, man! Constance has sent a missive to Blackburn MacCromar and he will be here forthwith to try to reclaim Anna. Do you know anything about the man?"

He shook his head even harder, his eyes growing wider by the second.

"He's a murderer. If he were to get his hands on her, he would beat, abuse and possibly kill her."

"Nay. His wife?"

"Indeed. Why on earth do you think she would leave her fine home and become a traveling minstrel? For the fun of it?" he demanded. "Nay, she's trying to survive."

"Pray pardon. I did not think Constance knew the man."

"That matters not. Never underestimate her. She is brilliant… and soulless."

"But why would she go to all the trouble?"

"Revenge against me. Do you not remember when I killed Farquar, the guard, in a fair fight? Constance professed to love him, and now she intends to destroy… Anna." The woman he loved. Neacal shoved his fingers through his hair.

Damnation. His own cousin was the biggest traitor of all. And this daft piper was just the pawn she needed.

"You have been played, man," Neacal told him. "She used you to get the information she wanted."

Vardon shook his head, looking pained. "I never meant to hurt Anna or anyone. I just thought…"

"Aye, well, a lot of men fall for Constance's false charms. She kens how to get what she wants. You would be wise to stay away from her from now on." Neacal opened the door and waited.