There Your Heart Will Be Also (24 page)

Cedric took a breath
.
“There
,
of course
,
were repercussions for what
William
did.
First of all, it was thought
Elinor
had been taken against her will.
The driver had missed the hand-fasting and the proposal.
Letters
arrived immediately, requesting
Elinor
be returned to her home posthaste.
Elinor e
xplain
ed
she had married
William
willingly.
Then
she
r
eceive
d
letters telling her she would lose her inheritance if she didna return to England immediately.
M
ost of them
went
into the fireplace and
were
burn
ed
.

“Elinor
hadn't been
unhappy in England with her family
. Q
uite the contrary.
She
'd been
happy with her life and her family,
and
loved them all dearly.
On more than one occasion a letter had been written
to her da
,
ask
ing
him to come to Scotland to meet his one and only grandson but
Elinor's father
wouldn't give in.
He felt
Elinor had slighted him because she had married a
‘
detestable Scot
.
'
Elinor
tried to explain to her da it wasn't a slight to him.
She had seen
William
standing there on the other side of the muddy road, covered with grime from pulling her coach free, and love had been instantaneous.”

Cedric
paused briefly
.
Sarra snuggled in closer to him.
Taking a deep breath,
he started
again.

“
William
came home to the clan and was a revered leader.
He continued to keep his people safe.
But his people didna trust his wife.
No matter what
Elinor
did, she was despised by the people merely because she was English.

“
She died when
her son
was
on the verge of manhood.
William
never saw the disrespect sent
his son's way
.
He chose to believe upon his death
his son
would be the new laird of the clan, purely because
of his lin
e
age
.
William
died a few years after
Elinor
,
a
nd
the son
of course tried to assume
his
rightful place as leader.
The son
had proven
himself
in battle alongside
some of the older warriors
.
N
aturally
, he
believed
they
would label him
fit to rule the clan.”

Cedric sighed deeply
, “
He
was wrong.
There were
whispers behind closed doors.
A
plot
for
his
demise
was underway
.
His
uncle,
William's
brother, came to
him
in secret and told
him
he
had to leave or the clan would surely kill
hi
m.
This
was when
the son
decided to seek English favor.”

Cedric stopped there
, unable to continue
.
To do so would reveal too much.

As a soft snore filled the cave
,
he
relaxed.
Although he hadn't
spoken
the rest aloud,
memories of
his
true purpose filled his mind.
Though he tried
to edge away from Sarra
,
she
only
moved closer to him.

What was he doing here?
There had been only
a few
m
e
n to fight and he'd left it for
Duncan and the others
.
In his mind, Sarra
needed to be protected
.
But truthfully he
'd
wanted her alone, to himself.
He wanted to make sure she was all right.

Why was this happening?
Why when land was within his grasp?
Why when all his dreams were set to be fulfilled did the desire
to throw
it all way
for a woman have to happen
?
For Sarra?

Slowly Cedric attempted to maneuver away.
With a flailing arm, she rolled over to her other side and gave Cedric the opening he needed.
Sliding away, he leaned down and
tucked his plaid around her shoulders for warmth.

Cedric glanced around the entrance to make sure they were still alone.
An
overwhelming feeling
of
being watched
assailed him
.
S
lipp
ing
back into the cave
to
grab his sword,
he clutched it,
liking the way it fit in his hand.

Then
mov
ing
back to the entry way and st
an
d
ing
to the side
,
he tried
to get a glimpse of what he might have heard.
Scanning
the woods
,
Cedric
caught a sudden movement on his right.

Upon getting closer
, he saw a white
-
tailed deer stuck in a bramble bush.
It was struggling to free itself.
Cedric moved in and
pushed
some of the branches aside, allowing the animal to
go
free.

As he walked back to the cave, the sound of a shrill whistle
rent the air
.
Cedric recognized the signal and went out to meet Duncan.
They met a
small distance
in front of the cave.

“Aye
,
my friend.”

“Cedric, my brother, tell me ye have retrieved the maid Sarra.”

“Aye, I did.
And how did ye
fare
in y
er
part of the plan?”

Duncan rubbed his hand across his bearded chin.
“I don't think ye are going to like it.”

Cedric's eyebrow rose in question but he remained silent.

“He got away.”

Now Cedric's brows furrowed.
How could one man have escaped them all?

“
There were others at the chapel. They thought we were trying to raid the treasures. While we
were
busy, h
e ran away on foot.
H
e couldn't have gotten far.
But with all our prints in the mud next to the chapel we can't figure out which was his.
We searched, mind ye, but still
haven't yet
pick
ed
up his trail.”

Cedric
glanced
out at the woods around the cave.
The man
who
had taken the maid was still out there.
Would he try again?

Hiding his concern, Cedric said,
“Verra well.
Wait here a moment and the maid and I will come with you.”

Cedric reentered the cave.
He wasn't happy about telling the lass her captor was still at large.
Neither was he overly excited about sharing the news with the mistress of Greenbriar.

Coming upon the lass wrapped
in his
plaid, his reached out
his hand to touch
her face.
His knuckles ran across the expanse of her cheek
, the
smooth skin in sharp contrast to the rough calloused feel of his work
-
worn hands.

“Lass?”

Sarra woke, stretching and moaning in the same breath.
She choked out an, “Aye?”

“Lass, we need to return to ye
r
mistress.”

“But—“

Sarra
seemed about to speak, but then hesitated
.
Cedric assumed she was going to ask him about her captor,
and said, “Duncan and the others didn't find him.
But we won't give up.
Come.
They
are waiting on us.”

She
nodded
and struggled
to push herself
to her feet
.
Cedric grabbed her hand and pulled her
up
, t
heir
bodies
mere inches apart.
His
hand came forward and cradled her cheek.
G
reen eyes stared back at him.
She leaned forward.
Moist breath hit his lips.
Cedric could almost hear
her
pulse racing.
If he bent just a hair their lips would touch.
Just a hair—

“Cedric?”

Jerking backwards, Cedric jumped away from the
shaky
maid.
What was he thinking?
He couldn't give up his land for a maid.

Clearing his throat,
he said,
“We need to go.”

“Aye.
I guess we do.”

Sarra picked up her skirts and edged around
him
.
Was he doing the right thing?
He wasn't sure.

When the
three
of them found the horses, Cedric
shifted and reached for
Sarra
to place her
on his mount in front of him, but she
refused
.
She would walk before
sharing
a horse with him
.

A
look of hurt
crossed his features and she almost
change
d
her mind.
Almost.
Instead of worrying about his feelings, Sarra walked over to
a Scot named
Boyd and
held up
a
hand.

Boyd
was a fair
-
haired man with blue eyes and an enigmatic smile.
At the dinner table a couple of nights before, she'd noticed he was a forthright man.
He'd flirted shameless
ly
with Ella and
Shelly
.
But now she couldn't seem to read his thoughts.

As Sarra wondered what his expression could mean, he r
each
ed
forward
and
assisted
her
into his saddle.
Her legs
lay on the side of
the beast as Boyd's
arms snaked around her
midsection
to grab the reins
.
As the animal lurched forward,
Sarra
settled against his chest in preparation for the ride.

From under her lashes,
she
chanced a glance at Cedric.
A
n angry
frown
darkened
his brow
. His hands were clenched into fists around the reins
and his knuckles were white with
the
strain.

Clicking his tongue
,
he forced his horse to move ahead of the group.

So,
he
apparently didn't
wish to see her in another's arms
. And yet he'd had no trouble telling her of his plan to wed the mistress of the castle. What was she to think of that?

With
Cedric's
back to her, Sarra noticed the rigidity of his muscles.
Before they reached the keep
,
Cedric
would be saddle sore for sure.
He needed to relax
and allow the horse to carry him
.
W
hat did he have to be tense
about,
anyway
?
She was the one in danger of being taken by a madman again.
Was it possible Cedric cared about what happened to her?
They had
shared
some tender moments o
ver
the past few weeks.
But he'd given all
those special moments
up to gain his land.
Hadn't he?

Thinking about the danger she could still be in brought her mind around to the man responsible for such worries.
Wilt
Hotham
.
Who would have believed he could have
changed
into such a desperate creature?
Out of all the men
who
had pursued her land, Wilt's brother had been one she had considered giving into.
At least by looks alone.

George
Hotham
had shown up at her keep under great distress, or so it had appeared.
Within walking distance of the keep, his wagon had
become
stuck
in
the
mire.
He'd sent a servant to request assistance and Sarra had sent a few men from the keep to help him.
Once the wagon was free,
George
had come to the keep to thank the mistress of Greenbriar.
Thinking it was nothing more than gratitude
being
sent her way, Sarra had been unprepared for the events that occurred.
Instead of pretending to be the maid, Sarra had actually allowed herself to be the mistress.

At first she'd been impressed by
George
.
His hair had
hung
down to his shoulders in blond curly locks.
His blue eyes twinkled like the bluest lake water.
Long lashes framed his eyes.
He wore frilly court clothing and pointed shoes, which Sarra found difficult not to laugh at.
The man was com
pletely out of place inside her walls.

No sooner had Sarra introduced
herself
than
George
had immediately whipped out a piece of parchment from the King.
He made his declaration
known
before Sarra could utter one word.
He
'd
informed her straight away he was there to claim Greenbriar.
His exact words had been, “Don't try
to get out of it
for
it
will not work.
This land is min
e
and I intend to claim it.”

The whole time he
'd
spoke
n
, Sarra
had
noticed how the blue of his eyes darkened with resentment.
Sarra
had been
aghast at his behavior.
Had her men not just helped him?
How dare he come into her home in such a manner?

With as much grace as Sarra
had been able to
muster, she
'd
ordered
George
Hotham
to leave her keep and never to return.
Naturally, he refused.
Stubborn lad that he was,
George
had some of his men stand before him with swords ready as if
to
fight his way to ownership.
But
George's
men were no match for Sarra's and eventually
the young man
had
left in disgrace.

Although
gone
, he didn't
stay
away for long
.
Remembering the day of
George's
return, Sarra shuddered.
George
had attempted to come back to the keep but this time Sarra was ready.
Charism appeared
and told him she was the true mistress and Sarra had been fooling him.
He'd taken one look at
Charism
and ran back to his horse, jumped astride and headed back to London.
Sarra hadn't been aware of what happened to
George after
his departure
.

Such a sorry state to be in when wealth was your treasure.
Somewhere in the book of Matthew, Sarra remembered reading,
Do not ye treasure to you treasures in earth, where rust and moth destroyeth, and where thieves delve out and steal…

If only she could have spoke
n
with
George
.
If only Wilt would have listened to reason. But it was too late now.
George
was gone.
And Wilt had made his choice.
All Sarra could do now was pray Wilt would give up on revenge and go back to London
before it was too late
.

With the slow
,
rhythmic movement of the horse, Sarra's eyes
began to
drift downward.
The sun would soon rise
again.
The call of
a tub full of hot water sitting
in front of a roaring fire was all Sarra could
think about
as they clopped along.
Boyd's heartbeat soothed Sarra and soon she was fast asleep.