Aidan (15 page)

“Her sister is deid,” he said.

“Nay, she isna. She jest told ye thet becooz she didna want ye goin’ after her and losin’ yer life fer her.”

“I
kennawhat ye say, wee sister. Ye make no sense.”

“Her sister
, Coira, was taken captive by the English. She told me all aboot it.”

He suddenly remembered Effie saying something about her sister right before she hit him over the head.

“I’m sure it was jest another lie,” he grunted, rubbing the bump on his head and feeling some sort of cloth around his wound. He pulled it off and saw part of a skirt encrusted with his blood. He knew instantly it was from Effie’s skirt and that no English guard would have put it on him. And he did find her brooch in his hand. Mayhap this all meant something after all. He was glad to be alive right now, and was surprised the English didn’t just kill him in the process. “Do ye ken where they’re supposedly keepin’ her sister? If she really is a captive and no’ deid, thet is.”

“Nay, she did
na say. But do ye think they promised te free her sister if she helped them get the stone?”

“
I dinna ken what te think anymore,” he said, touching a hand to his head. Hell, it hurt too much to try to think right now, let alone blink. “But even if it was the truth, she’s a fool fer what she did. I assure ye, Kyla, thet the English will ne’er hold up a promise like thet. Once they get what they want, they will no’ bat an eye at killin’ them both.”

“Then ye need
te go after them,” said Coira.

Aidan thought about it for a second, and knew that was his only choice in the matter. He had to do something, not just sit there and let them steal the stone.

“Thet’s exactly what I plan on doin’. Now give me yer dagger, Kyla, and any other weapons ye can find. Then go and hide yerself where the English canna find ye if they return. And be certain te take Reid with ye.”

“But how will ye get
te them without a horse?”

“I’ll walk all the way te England if I have to,” he said.

“If ye’d do thet te save Effie and her sister, then mayhap ye really do love her, brathair.”

“Who said anything aboot me savin’ them?” he asked. “I am goin’ after them bu
t it’s only te save the Stone o’ Destiny and te do me duty te Scotland. No’ te do anythin’ te help thet traitor, do ye understand me, Kyla? I want nothin’ te do with Effie MacDuff, e’er again.”

Chapter 15

Effie bounced up and down atop the w
agon as they travelled. The road they’d taken was not the main one, and it was very rough. Her body ached, and she wasn’t sure if it felt that way from travelling all day, or from making love several times to Aidan in the last day. Either way, neither mattered. She still felt disgusted that she’d just started having feelings for Aidan, and then she found out from his sister that he told every girl he bedded that he loved her. Why had she fallen for it? And why did he have to be so nice to her and bring her flowers and food and even give her MacKeefe clothes to wear? And why the hell did he have to be so alluring in bed and so good at his love making skills?

She longed for him, yet she hated him at the same time. She knew she’d never see him again, and she really shouldn’t care, but a part of her felt so lonely and empty without him.

“Why arena we takin’ the main road?” she asked Tasgall, having hoped they’d see the MacKeefes coming back from the fair. If so, they may have recognized her wearing their clothes, and she would hopefully be able to convince them to help her somehow. But now, with the side trails they were taking, they’d be lucky to come across anyone at all.

“We canna take the main road, ye fool,” said
Tasgall. “We need te stay hidden from the Highlanders or we’ll ne’er make it back te the border with the stone.”

“But we’re in the Highlands,”
she told him. “It isna a guid idea te veer off the main path. Besides, the wagon will no’ be able te handle this rough road fer long with the weight of the stone in the back.”

“It’s getting dark,” said one of the guards, riding back to talk to them. “We’re going to camp up ahead at that lake for the night and continue on at first light.”

“Guid idea,” she said, wanting nothing more than to stop and try to think what she was going to do to not only save her sister, but save the stone as well. A part of her wanted to just hand over the stone and not care that it stood for the kings of Scotland and their freedom from England. But another part of her kept saying that if she did this deed, all the pain and anguish her grandmother endured for crowning Robert the Bruce against her husband’s wishes would be for naught.

They stopped to make camp, and Effie knew that she’d never sleep, as all she could think about was her poor sister in that cage, as well as Aidan, and the look in his eyes when he realized what was happening.
It was something that was going to haunt her for the rest of her life.

* * *

Aidan traveled on foot the entire day, running most the way, making his way toward Glasgow. He had hoped he’d come across travelers returning from the fair, and at least obtain a horse for his travels. However, it was already late in the day, and he knew he’d not come across anyone traveling in the dark.

He was tired and hungry, and had only a
sheep’s bladder of mountain magic tied to his waist to get him through the night. He’d left in such a hurry, and was so angry, that he hadn’t cared about taking food. And he knew he’d have to travel all night long to have any hope of catching up with Effie and the entourage at all.

He stopped to catch his breath, and leaned against a rock. The sun had
just set and the sky was painted in beautiful colors of red and orange amongst the dark clouds moving in. He knew by the looks of the sky and the smell of the air that it would be raining soon.

“Damn,” he spat, leaning back on the rock and taking the bladder of whisky from his waist. If it rained and he still didn’t have a horse, he’d basically have no chance of ever catching them before they made it
back to England.

He took a swig of mountain magic and swallowed it down, closing his eyes and reveling at
the taste of fire as it made a path to his stomach, warming his insides and warding away his fatigue. Then, he heard a snap of a twig behind him, and his hand flew to his dagger, but not before he was met by the cold edge of a blade to his throat.

“Give me the ale,” a man said
in a hoarse whisper from behind him.

He turned his head slightly, and noticed dried blood caking the man’s tunic. He could also see that this was an Englishman and not a S
cot, and that he was wounded. It seemed as if the man was alone, and Aidan figured he must have a horse to have made it this far into the Highlands without being killed.

“It’s no’ ale,” he said, slowly, “
it’s mountain magic.”

“I don’t care what it is, as long as it’s potent. Now hand it over.”

“Och, I wouldna use potent te describe it, but ye are welcome te have it if ye want.”

“Give it to me!” The man grabbed the bladder from him, and Aidan just smiled, knowing exactly what was going to happen.

He heard the Englishman take a big swig, and then gasp for breath. Aidan reached up and grabbed his arm, twisting it and disarming him, taking his sword. He turned and pushed the man to the ground, and held the blade to his throat now. He could see it was the same English guard who had tried to accost Effie in the woods.

“As I was sayin’,” said Aidan, reaching down with one hand and taking back the whiskey before it spilled, “I’d call auld Callum’s mountain mag
ic the fires o’ hell, no’ jest a simple potent.”

“I’m wounded,” said the man, “don’t hurt me.”
The sound of a horse whinnying in the thicket brought a sense of relief to Aidan. He’d have a way to catch up with Effie after all.

He
noticed the man’s bloody shoulder and could see that an arrow had pierced him and part of it was still embedded. He knew the man would never make it back to England alive, so he didn’t feel bad that he was about to steal his horse. He also knew that no English guard would ever be traveling in the Highlands alone. That told him that this bastard had most likely just come from MacKeefe territory, and was involved in stealing the Stone of Destiny. Now he wondered if he should have saved Effie from him in the first place, or if the whole thing had been staged for his benefit. Effie had most likely been working with him all along. This made him feel even more miserable than he already had.

“Ye did
na think twice aboot tryin’ te kill me, yet ye want me te spare yer life?”

“I wasn’t going to kill you. I only wanted your whisky.”

“Really? And how did ye get thet wound?”

“I was tr
avelling alone, when I was accidentally shot by a poacher.”

“I’d be willin’
te bet thet ye were involved in stealin’ the stone, and they left ye becooz ye were wounded. Now why dinna ye tell me where they’re takin’ it?”

“What stone? I have no
idea what you’re talking about.”

“Well, mayhap this will help ye remember.” He reached out and punched the ma
n in the face. “Now dinna lie te me again, or next time ye’ll no’ meet with me fist, but with the blade itself. Now tell me, where are they takin’ the stone and what path are they travelin’ by?”

When the man didn’t seem to want to talk, Aidan r
eached out and grazed his arm with the sword, drawing blood.

“
Ahhhh!” the man yelled. “Fine, they’re taking the stone to Liddel Castle on the border. But you’ll never catch them, as they’ve taken a trail that the gypsy told them about that no one uses anymore. You’ll never find them.”

“The gypsy?” He figured the man was talking about Effie and this made him even angrier that she would tell
them how to get to the border unseen.

“Ye bluidy bastard
, I should kill ye right now fer what ye’ve done.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“Becooz I want ye te suffer. Ye’ll ne’er make it with a wound and no horse and all alone in the Highlands, and I think ye deserve it. Now dinna try te come after me or I swear I’ll kill ye.”

He punched the man again,
then headed for his horse. He was just about to mount when he heard the man running up behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see the man with dagger raised and eyes wide, lunging himself at his back.

“I warned ye
,” Aidan mumbled, turning quickly and raising his sword. With the man’s movement forward, the sword was impaled in his chest. His eyes bugged out and he fell to the ground. “If ye woulda jest stayed where ye were, ye may have had a chance o’ livin’.”

He retrieved his sword,
and wiped the blood on the dead man’s clothes before unfastening the belt from the man, and taking the scabbard. When his sword was in place, he took the man’s dagger as well as the pouch of coins at his waist.

“Thanks fer the information.” He got atop the horse and headed away. He knew the exact path the English had t
aken now. It was an old road that he and Onyx and Ian had often traveled on when they were younger. And he knew it went right along the east side of Loch Lomond, and that they were probably stopping there for the night. With any luck, he could be there before sunup. He dug his heels into the side of the horse and sped through the darkness, wondering how surprised Effie would be to see him show up and take back the stone that she’d worked so hard to steal.

* * *

Effie tossed and turned inside the wagon, not able to sleep a wink all night. She felt awful for what she’d done to Aidan. She knew how much the Stone of Destiny meant to him, and also that he considered himself the guardian of it.

The guards were sleeping around the fire and
Tasgall was lying atop the wagon seat. She was in back with the rock. The sides of the wagon were high and the English had draped a covering across it, to hide the contents of the wagon. They’d also covered the stone with a blanket.

Effie scooted out of the wagon, and her feet had just touched the ground when someone p
ulled her backward and held a dagger to her throat, covering her mouth with their other hand.

“Dinna scream or say a word, do ye understand, m
e blackhearted traitorous angel?

Her eyes opened wi
de when she heard the voice in her ear, knowing Aidan had found them. She nodded, and slowly his hand came away from her mouth.

“Aidan!”
she whispered, turning toward him, but he put his hand back over her mouth and scowled. There was light from the moon, and she could see the anger in his eyes and also the disappointment on his face.

“I said te haud yer wheesht,
” he ground out, and she heard malice in his words. It was a side of him she’d never seen before. He dragged her quickly out of earshot of the guards and into the thicket. He moved so fast that she tripped. His arm shot out and yanked her upward.

She looked up to him, facing him now, and wanted more than anything to fall into his arms
and hug him. But he released her quickly, and when she reached out to touch his arm, she could feel the tightness of his muscles beneath her fingers. She dropped her hand to her side, knowing he had a right to be angry with her.