Medieval Highlands 01 - Highland Vengeance (22 page)

On silent feet, she entered the stables and released the breath she’d been holding in a slow stream. It seemed fortune remained with her, for the stablemen were still abed. That left only the gatekeeper for her to deal with.

As noiselessly as possible, she saddled and bridled her mare, then silently walked her out of the stables. Once she was several yards away, she mounted Fia and moved toward the gatehouse.

“Good morn to you, Gatekeeper,” she said with good cheer. “I’ve a hankering for mushrooms and the cook told me there were plenty to be had in the nearby forest.”

“Aye, and after the cloud burst we had this night past, they are sure to be easy to find. But, ‘tis a bit dark for the hunt; you should wait ‘til after sunrise.”

She’d anticipated the guard’s hesitation and had come up with a viable reason for leaving before daylight. “I’m first for the village to meet the widow and her son. They’ll be going with me as well. Will you open the gate?”

“Aye, m’lady,” he replied, doing as she requested.

“My thanks,” Maryn said, and quickly departed, fearing she’d be discovered any moment.

She’d gone quite a distance down the path leading to the village before she made a sharp turn in the direction of her father’s holding. Being very familiar with the route she would take between the two properties, having traveled it so often, she expected to arrive by mid-morn. Tho’ she’d not traveled the distance in the dark before. She scanned a nervous gaze into the black void all about her. Would the sun never rise? And the terrain was giving her some trouble. ‘Twas still wet and a bit slick from rain, which forced her to keep Fia at a slow gait.

The eery call of a hoot owl perched somewhere off in the distance made her jump. With shaky hands, she searched the secret lining of her cloak. Aye, her dirk was there. She sighed in disgust. And why would it not be? She’d only just placed it there less than an hour past. Tamping down on her nerves, she forced her thoughts back to navigating the terrain.

*

Daniel woke feeling a bit groggy from the restless night he’d spent. His mind had allowed him no rest, plaguing him these past dark hours with thoughts of Maryn and his inability to convince her of his innocence. The notion that something precious had been irreparably damaged filled him with dread. His only hope was that she had slept better than he, and would somehow be more amenable to hearing him out this morn.

He hurriedly dressed and headed down to the great hall in the hope that she would be breaking her fast. When he did not find her, he hailed a servant to ask if she’d been down yet. The servant had not seen her and Daniel assumed Maryn must still be abed. He decided to allow her her rest and to speak with her later, after he’d conducted his training lessons.

Daniel did not learn of Maryn’s mushroom hunting expedition until he went looking for her again a few hours later. When he could not find her in the main keep, he went to the stables thinking she might be visiting her mare, as she so often was wont to do. The animal was missing from its stall.

His heart leaping out of his chest, Daniel rushed to the gatehouse. “My bride’s mare is missing, has she left the keep?” he asked the guard on duty.

“Aye, Laird. She left before dawn. She said she was going to hunt mushrooms with the flaxen-haired widow and her lad.”

Knowing she’d lied about going with Jesslyn, Daniel assumed she’d gone to the wood by herself and grew even more alarmed. An image of Maryn being attacked by a wild boar entered his mind and his palms grew damp. Anxious to find her, he retrieved his mount and bolted through the open gate of the fortress. No matter the hurt feelings of this day past, he’d be giving her a blistering lecture on safety once he found her.

After an hour of searching the wooded area to no avail, he finally accepted that she had gone much further astray. She had forsaken him, and their marriage.

Daniel’s first reaction was one of fury. Maryn had not even given him a chance to prove his innocence. He should have forced another confrontation the night before when he had had the chance. It might not have solved their problems, but he was sure he would have discovered her plans.

And he knew where she had gone. Daniel could just imagine what Laird Donald would say when she told him her interpretation of the events leading up to her flight. Her father would come with his sword drawn, intending to castrate him. Or worse, send a petition for annulment without delay.

At the thought, Daniel slumped in his saddle, weary and defeated. If Maryn wanted an annulment, and Laird Donald wanted to obtain one for her, then Daniel would not stand in their way. He would fight her lack of faith in him no longer. His only wish now was that he’d more diligently guarded his heart.

*

“But Papa, you do not understand! They were
kissing
.
With their tongues
!” Maryn said, pacing the floor in agitation.

“Aye, daughter, I do understand,” her father replied, calmly watching her perambulations from his vantage point on a stool by the hearth. “I understand that you believe what you saw was one thing, whilst your husband insists ‘twas another. Do you not think you gave up too easily, lass?”

“Nay! I tried and tried. I gave him so many chances to prove his loyalty to me, but each time he failed!” Turning, she said resolutely, “I want an annulment. Daniel has an attachment to Jesslyn MacCreary; he should wed her as he originally planned.” Rushing over to her father’s stool, she sat down next to him and said, “Papa, will you go to Daniel and explain how things must be? I cannot face him again.”

Laird Donald sighed. His daughter was too distraught to reason with at this point, and he wanted to see how his son-in-law fared in any case. “Aye, I shall speak to him. Will tomorrow be soon enough?”

Maryn gave him a sad smile. “Aye, Papa, tomorrow will be fine.”

*

After a time, Daniel’s worry for Maryn’s safety overrode his feelings of rejection and it impelled him to follow the trail to her father’s holding. He needed to make certain she had arrived unharmed. Where the dangers in the Maclean wood were from wild boar or wolf attack, the dangers present in the open countryside of the Highlands were of the human strain. His mind reeled with the number and variety of horrors that a roving band might visit upon an unescorted lady. Flash memories of the sexual violence he’d come upon that day of the massacre all those years ago burned in his mind, making his stomach lurch and his heart beat a rapid tattoo. Willfully, he tamped those memories, those feelings, down deep once more. He hurriedly gathered a few soldiers together to accompany him on his journey, saying only that he had a message he wanted to deliver personally to Laird Donald.

Several hours later, he arrived outside the Donald gatehouse. He’d left his soldiers further down the rise leading to the keep.

Speaking to the guard, Daniel said, “I’m Laird Daniel MacLaurin. Is my bride in residence? Did she arrive safely?”

“Aye, Laird MacLaurin, the lady arrived safely. ‘Twas almost mid-morn.”

The muscles in Daniel’s neck and shoulders relaxed—he had not even been aware of the tension in them until that moment.

“I’ll open the gate,” the guard said.

“Nay, no need. And I wish for you not to tell Laird Donald or my bride that I was here.”

“I’ll not lie to them if they ask,” the guard replied with some caution.

“Then only promise that you will not speak of it unless they ask.”

“Aye. That I will promise to you.”

With lighter shoulders and a heavier heart, Daniel journeyed back to the Maclean holding.

*

“Where is Maryn? I have yet to see the lass this day,” his grandmother said to Daniel as he came through the doorway of the great hall late that eve.

He cleared his throat. “She’s gone for an extended stay at her father’s holding. Did I not tell you?”

Seeing the raised eyebrow and the eagle-eyed look bearing down on him, Daniel surmised that his grandmother was not believing his tale. She no doubt already knew of Maryn’s secret departure that morn and was only fishing for more information.

He sent a grateful prayer heavenward when, after a moment, she gave a brief nod and turned the subject. “Would you like something to eat?”

Daniel’s stomach rebelled at the thought of food. “Nay, I’m not hungry. But I am a bit tired. I believe I shall retire for the evening.”

After climbing the stairs, Daniel hesitated only briefly, and then purposefully turned in the direction of the bedchamber that he and Maryn had shared so fleetingly. He stopped in front of the door, turned the handle, and thrust the door open wide. Though he knew he was only torturing himself further, his feet moved with a will of their own across the portal.

He closed the door and leaned against it, looking around. Even though it would have been an unbelievable feat for her to accomplish on horseback, somehow Daniel had expected to see all of Maryn’s possessions gone from the room. Impossibly, his heart cracked a bit more when he saw how very few items she’d actually taken with her. Only her brush and comb were missing. ‘Twas further proof of her desire to get as far from him as she could, as quickly as she could.

He walked over to her chest and, kneeling down on one knee in front of it, gingerly opened the lid. He felt guilty for prying into her personal belongings, but could not keep himself from it. The girdle he’d given her lay in a serpentine coil on top of the whisper-thin chemise she’d worn the night they were wed. Pushing the girdle aside, he lifted the silky garment and the scent of honeysuckle wafted up to him. He held the delicate material up to his face and caught the unique and intoxicating essence of his bride mingling exotically with the floral fragrance. His heart constricted painfully in his chest. With hands that trembled slightly, he placed the garment back in its nest.

As he was closing the lid, he caught sight of an odd leather strap resting between the side of the wooden chest and her folded clothing. He reached for it and pulled. In spite of himself, he laughed out loud when he saw what was dangling in his hands: A very well-made slingshot. Memories of his first encounters with the wild bairn Maryn had been tumbled through his mind and landed like shards of glass in his heart. He inspected the weapon that included the addition of the wrist guard and tested it, impressed with the design and the added advantage it gave the user.

It suddenly struck him that Maryn had not even taken this paltry weapon as defense against attack. He threw the thing back in the chest and slammed the lid shut. “Aaahhh!” he growled and thrust his fingers through his hair. She was driving him mad. She would not live past twenty summers, he was convinced, she showed so little regard for her own safety. He paced the chamber twice before forcefully reminding himself that she was no longer his concern. Then, letting out a forlorn sigh and, unable to sleep in the place that contained all the reminders of her, he banished himself to the tower chamber once more.

*

The next morn, Daniel was interrupted from his training lessons by the arrival of Laird Donald. He escorted his father-in-law into the great hall and demanded privacy. After all the servants had departed, he walked behind the screen hiding the buttery and poured two tankards of ale. Handing one to the grateful laird, they both moved towards the stools by the hearth. Daniel sat down and indicated that his father-in-law should take the one opposite.

Daniel could hold his tongue no longer. “I know why you’ve come and I’ll offer no objections. Maryn may have the annulment, with my blessings.”

Laird Donald’s eyes bugged. “So, ‘tis true then. You are in love with someone else.” He rubbed a finger over his brow and said bemusedly, “This changes things considerably. I had been sure that Maryn was mistaken in her beliefs and that I would find a husband in need of counsel when I came here today.” He gave a loud sigh. “Instead, it seems I must find a way to appease the clans and nullify this marriage.”

“You misconstrue my words, I only meant that I shall not stand in Maryn’s way if she is set on attaining an annulment.” There was irritation in his tone when Daniel said, “I am not in love with another woman, of which I’ve tried repeatedly to convince your daughter.”

A pleased spark lit the older man’s eye. “Well, it seems to me that all that has taken place is an unfortunate misunderstanding which can be cleared up easily enough.” He chuckled. “I must say, you had me worried for a moment.” Clearing his throat, he said, “Now, let me offer you some advice regarding my daughter. Wait a few sennights, mayhap even a moon and then come and retrieve her. That will give her plenty of time for her crushed feelings to heal so that she will be better able to hear the truth. ‘Twill also give her time to regret her abrupt departure without fighting for her right to stay by your side—a lesson, I trow, she’s in some need of learning.”

Daniel got to his feet and strode to the hearth, stoking the fire so he would not have to face his guest. “I’m afraid ‘tis too late for reconciliation. I’m unwilling to continue to beg your daughter for her trust now that she has proven her own faithlessness by deserting our marriage with not even a fare-thee-well.”

“Do not give up on Maryn so quickly. I have a feeling you will regret your rash decision for many years to come if you do.” Laird Donald rose and walked over to stand at Daniel’s side. “This marriage is a good match and is worth the heartache you are dealing with now to save it,” he said, giving Daniel’s shoulder a squeeze.