Authors: Starla Kaye
“Are you coming, Lord Middleham?” Richard called out from the open doors. “The men are ready.”
“Aye, I
wi
ll be there in a moment.” Nicholas all but shot to his feet and nearly knocked over his chair in his hurry to get away from a discussion he wanted no part of. He hesitated and looked down at Maggie, concern creased his brow. “If you are still worried about Sir Gillam’s arrival tomorrow, don’t be. I received word yesterday he has decided not to come.”
Relief poured through her. She’d been trying not to think about the arrival of her newest potential husband. After the Earl of Dunston, she much dreaded further visits of men considering her hand in marriage. She had heard mumbled talk amongst the maids about Sir Gillam of Montrose. He was older than her father had been, recently widowed. He’d loved his wife dearly and had only considered offering for her hand in marriage out of friendship with Edward. All were certain he didn’t truly want another wife and they were certain she’d suffer many long years of loneliness instead of true marriage or happiness. Yes, she didn’t care at all that he’d changed his mind.
“Ye will just have to put up with me a wee bit longer.” She tried to control her urge to smile at the frustration pinching his face. “’Tis a hardship, I ken.”
He remained silent a moment longer and she wondered if he would deny what she’d said. But then he grew serious again and stated, “New messages have gone out this morn to other men on Edward’s list who are without wives or betrotheds. We will not give up on the task of finding you a suitable husband.” He shifted his gaze to include Mary. “I’ve sent messages on your behalf as well.”
Mary grimaced in disapproval, but her tone was all sweetness when she said, “I appreciate your efforts, Lord Middleham. Although I still think you and I
—”
“Nay. There will never be a ‘you and I.’” He turned to walk away and missed the flash of anger in Mary’s expression.
“He doesna want ye. Time and a’gin he’s told ye that.” Maggie rose to her feet, feeling lighter at the darkening scowl on her adversary’s face.
Mary stood, thrust her pointy chin out, and hissed, “If
you
weren’t around, I’m sure I could persuade him differently.”
Maggie knew that wouldn’t happen. Nicholas, as with most of the staff here, didn’t like Mary. The staff knew of her two faces: one for their lord and one for everyone else. Perhaps Nicholas knew of it, too, but he was too much of a gentleman to toss her out on her thin ass. He was determined to find her a husband. Unfortunately there had not been even one hint of interest in her as yet.
Tired of worrying about the situation, Maggie walked toward the doors. Mary could handle the running of the keep today, just as Nicholas had said. The sun had risen and the day promised to be beautiful. She’d been longing to take a ride, let the wind blow her hair back, let the freshness away from the castle brighten the doldrums she’d had of late. The frustration she’d endured from being too near Nicholas and unable to do anything about it. She ached to have him kiss her again, but knew it would be wrong. He would not come close to her to chance such a thing from happening once more. So what she needed was time and distance from the man who tempted her. He would not allow her to go riding by herself and he wouldn’t spare a man for such silliness. But she could thwart him in another way, though she didn’t intend for him to find out. She’d only be gone a short while.
“Where are you going?” Mary demanded when Maggie stepped into the doorway.
“Doona worry about me. I will be around.” She strode outside and ignored Mary’s attempt to demand an answer.
As soon as she stepped onto the steps of the keep, she heard Nicholas’s voice from around the west side. He was informing his men of the new training to be done today. She knew they would all be busy for most of the day. He would not be checking on her, nor would the others notice if she left for a while. She’d overheard Richard telling Gerald about the ‘secret’ passageway within the outer wall, starting in the corner paddock. It had been built for an escape route and unless the castle was under siege, which it wasn’t, only one man walked guard on the parapet above the route’s exit near the village of Middleham. And on the other side of the village was a large pond she’d seen when they’d ridden here. She fully intended to visit the pond today, even dip her feet in it.
*
*
*
Nicholas had worked long and hard with his men for several hours. There was still more to teach them, but he had left Gerald in charge while he made a flimsy excuse to go into the keep. He’d tried to ignore Gerald’s amused look when he’d briefly spoken to him. His first knew him far too well, knew he didn’t stop training easily. Gerald hadn’t teased him about going off to check in on Maggie, even if he knew that was exactly what Nicholas planned.
He muttered under his breath, berating himself for this foolishness. Maggie would be scurrying about the keep attending to her daily chores as always, in spite of how she’d acted so oddly earlier. Yet her attitude had bothered him so much he’d gotten distracted too many times. He’d endured sword thrusts he normally wouldn’t have suffered. Fortunately they fought with wooden swords. Still it had been embarrassing to be caught gathering wool in his head like that.
And he would be a bit bruised later.
He strode into the great hall and stopped a second to let his eyes adjust to the much dimmer lighting. He was impatient to find Maggie and have a word or two with her about…
. W
ell, he wasn’t sure about what yet. Then he would return to the training and not think about her until he sat down to sup with her later.
Mary looked up in surprise from where she sat at one of the long tables talking with several of the maids. It appeared she’d been taking them to task about something and they quickly got up to hurry away at
the
sight of him. He didn’t want to know what their talk had concerned. If Mary had ruffled their feathers, Maggie would soothe them in time. He’d observed her doing so on more than one occasion, although he didn’t think either Mary or Maggie knew he’d done so.
“Would you like some mead? A bite to eat?” Mary got up and smoothed down the sides of her gown and sent him a coquettish smile. As always, she was dressed in far too elegant a gown for everyday wear.
“Thank you, but no.” He glanced around the large room now that his eyes had fully adjusted. “I came to have a word with Maggie.”
Annoyance sparked in Mary’s eyes but she maintained a forced smile. “She isn’t here. She walked out the keep’s doors not long after you did. I have
no
t seen her since.”
“Mayhap she returned when you were elsewhere.” He remembered suggesting that Maggie rest in her chamber today. He hadn’t thought she would actually do so, but he started toward the stairway at the side of the space. “I
wi
ll check her
bed
chamber.”
“The maids just finished cleaning the bedchambers. She isn’t there,
M
y
L
ord.”
His gut
tightened. Somehow he knew she ha
d left the castle grounds. She’d been specifically warned against doing so, certainly not without one or two guards with her. And he knew all of the men were either in the bailey practicing or doing their turn up on the parapets. When he got his hands on her…
. Anger turned to worry. Anything could happen to her out there on her own.
He turned and
hurried
out of the keep, ignoring Mary calling after him. The instant he spotted Gerald, he
shouted
, “Maggie is missing.”
“Missing? Are you sure?”
The nearby men who had been practicing stopped. They looked at him warily, clearly having heard the displeasure
and worry
in his tone.
They would be worried about her as well.
“Six of you mount up and come with me. Gerald, saddle my horse. Yours, too. We hunt for the wayward Lady Urquhart.”
Gerald nodded grimly and he hurried to the paddocks with six of the closest men.
Nicholas ground his teeth
even as his heart pounded. He
strode off to search around the other sides of the bailey and the gardens. But he knew
in his gut that
he wouldn’t find her.
Restless
, she’d said. He’d seen the truth of it in her eyes. She was used to more freedom than he gave her, used to riding
—
with guards
—
around her beloved Loch Ness.
Loch Ness
.
Immediately he thought about the pond on the other side of the village
.
He knew without a doubt that was where she’d headed. How he knew her so well in this short
of
time, he couldn’t say. He just did. He also knew that once he found her
—
alone, which infuriated him
—
he would burn her bottom. She would be standing to eat her meals for a week, or squirming a lot in her chair.
He only prayed no other harm came to her with this rebellious act. He wasn’t sure he could take it if someone hurt her.
*
*
*
Maggie heard the pounding hooves and knew without even having to look up from her perch on the fallen log beside the pond that she’d been discovered. And she knew just who had come for her. Why had she stayed here so long? Because she’d dreaded going back so soon. The day was so beautiful; the pond so peaceful. At least it had been.
She sat still, her back to the riders, waiting for their arrival. She didn’t even bother trying to come up with an excuse for being here. Nicholas had sternly ordered her never to leave the castle’s walls without an escort. She’d done so; she’d disobeyed him. All she could do now was listen to his bluster and take whatever punishment he would deem out. And there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he would punish her.
The earth shuddered as his big warhorse rode up behind her and he jumped to the ground. The other horses stopped farther back, for which she was grateful, though the men he’d brought with him would still witness his immediate display of anger.
As she faced him, she saw the barely controlled fury in his dark blue eyes. His body looked tense, his chest muscles rigid beneath the light chainmail he’d been practicing in.
His square jaw was clenched and he drew in several steadying breaths. But she refused to cower, although she would rather have dealt with him in private.
Without saying a word, Nicholas reached down and tugged her to her feet. She grimaced at his rough handling, not surprised, annoyed. Before she could even attempt to resist, he placed a leg on the log he’d plucked her from, spun her around and bent her over his thigh. Her feet dangled in the air.
His hand connected with her skirt-covered bottom, hard enough that she felt it even through the thin layers of fabric.
“You
ha
ve disobeyed me, Maggie,” he said in grave deliberation. A series of sharp swats landed in a flurry. “You were not to leave the grounds.” More swats. “Certainly not without a guard.”
Maggie had sucked in a sharp breath at the firm swats. She didn’t like being spanked; she disliked being spanked in front of his men even more. She turned her head to hiss at him, “Doona shame me like this.”
A vein pulsed in his neck and he smacked her wiggling bottom one more time,
and then
released her. “That was only a small taste of what’s to come.”
She refused to reach back and rub at the sting, which really wasn’t too bad anyway. She thrust her chin out. “I didna mean any harm. I just needed some time alone, some time away from ye and Mary.”
For a second, understanding flashed in his eyes, but then he shook his head. “You risked much by such a rash decision. And now you’ve forced these men to take time away from their training.”
She glanced at them, her face heated from what they’d observed. Most of the men appeared more amused than anything, which disgusted her. But Gerald looked almost as upset as Nicholas, just as disapproving. She noted the size of his hands and knew they would wield a lot of pain. Poor Fia. Her friend had never complained, but she’d been spanked several times that she knew about but the big man. It had to have hurt mightily.
Pulling her from her uncomfortable musings, Nicholas tugged her with him to his horse. He mounted and then reached down to pull her up with him. She considered refusing, knew how stupid that would be, and managed to let him lift her until she sat in his lap sideways. The ride would be awkward, but that would be the least of her problems for a while.
*
*
*
Nicholas was so angry with what Maggie had done he’d been unable to speak the entire ride back to the castle. His men had ridden in silence as well. All were aware of the dangers she’d faced by going off alone. Small bands of outlaws roamed the land. They often heard tales of people being caught and stolen from or far worse. Women had been raped, killed. Maggie was a beautiful young woman. She would have been a prize among prizes to any villain who had come across her. He’d mulled over his fears the entire ride back. He’d felt almost sick with them.