Medieval Highlands 01 - Highland Vengeance (42 page)

But then he’d seen her, his dream-vision, crossing the glen and entering the wood this morn. He’d been up in a tall pine tree, scouting the surrounding land from that side of the forest. When he’d first seen her, he’d thought for a moment he was not awake, hardly believing the beauteous vision was real. When she’d entered the forest, he’d watched her closely, curious at her obvious disappointment and wondering what she’d come to the forest in search of. When she’d made her way to the bolder where he and Alleck had been leaving their gifts and begun her exploration, the realization of her identity pierced his mind like a bright ray of light. In that instant, impelled by a stronger force than his will to remain hidden, he used the greeting he and his sister, Branwenn, used to signal each other and beckoned Jesslyn to him.

Just inside the opening of the cave, Bao cupped his hands on either side of his mouth and made the whistling sound of wind through his teeth, accompanying the sound with a low moan in his throat—a trick he’d learned years ago as a lad. The sound echoed through the cavern. After a moment, he received his reply and continued on through the first chamber.

This was one of two entrances to this particular cave, and it connected through a long, winding passageway to another cave out on the side of the glen where he’d seen Daniel’s wife and Callum riding that day. This was the cave where Callum hid his leather pouch. The coins Jamison Maclean had given him all those years ago and the piece of embroidered silk cloth were from the homeland of Bao’s mother.

Moving the brush and debris away that hid a side passageway, he went through the opening, replacing the blind before making his way down the corridor leading to the hidden alcove where he and his sister resided. Seeing the blankets they used to sleep on still littering the floor around the makeshift hearth they’d built in the center of the room, Bao searched the shadows for his sister. “Why have you not folded these blankets and put them away? If anyone had decided to search this cave, there would not have been time to hide these things before our lair was breached. We’d have been discovered not long after, I trow.” Tho’ the hearth would be a question, Bao knew it would be easily disregarded as a hunter’s doing.

A black-headed nymph jumped down from her seat on the limestone slab in the shadows of the chamber. He yelled without thinking,
“What the hell have you done to your hair?”
His sister’s ebon locks, that only this morn had hung down past her knees, were now shorter than his own. ‘Twas truth, she must have put the wooden bowl they held their food in on her head and used its rim to guide the knife. The ends hung in jagged chunks, framing her elfin face with its small nose; its wide, fleshy, pink mouth; and its slightly pointed chin. Spiky bangs obscured the dark brows, straight as raven’s wings, that vee’d over her purple eyes. The lengths in the back fell against her long, narrow neck, making his own neck itch in reaction. Bao scratched a place just below his ear.

“Well?” he demanded after a moment when she still had not answered him.

Turning her nose in the air, she placed her hands on her hips and sauntered toward him. “The hair was becoming a nuisance. It got in my way when I climbed the pines and I was constantly stepping on it when I made my way across the limestone to our dwelling.” She sighed as she began folding the blankets, speaking in the tone of one much older and wiser. “‘Twas time.”

Bao snorted, shaking his head and rolling his eyes to the ceiling.
Give me strength.
The lass was barely fifteen summers. “So you sought to annihilate your hair?”

Lifting her hands to her head, she fingered the ragged locks. “‘Tis ugly then?” she said in a pitiful voice.

Hell. Now he’d hurt her feelings. Walking over to her, Bao put his arm around her dainty shoulders as he pretended a closer scrutiny. “Nay. It looks just fine. I only needed to get a better view—‘tis rather dark in here. You are lovely and your hair is lovely as well. I was a bit surprised at the change, that’s all.” Bending down, he placed a kiss on her cheek. “Now, pick up this mess. I must prepare our meal.” As he turned away, he scrubbed his fingers through the slaughtered tresses on top of her head and then crouched down next to the hearth. The chamber was quite large and the small hole in the tall ceiling above allowed the smoke to dissipate without collecting so much that they had a hard time breathing. And he’d scouted the area thoroughly the first day of their arrival, making sure that the smoke was not so dense that it would be noticed by any of the castle guards. It was one of the reasons they’d chosen this particular area of the cave when they’d first arrived.

*

Branwenn combed her fingers through her mussed hair and studied her brother, wondering if he would tell her of his meeting with the flaxen-haired beauty. She’d come upon them as they made their way into the secluded seating area she and Bao had put together. Curious of his scheme, she’d remained hidden from view, deciding to question him about the meeting later. She’d stayed quite a while, watching for intruders and sneaking peeks at the bright vision in blue that had clearly captivated Bao as well. Eventually, she’d grown cramped from her position and had decided to leave.

That’s when she’d made her final decision about her hair, she wryly thought. It had caught in the branches of one of the Juniper trees as she had made her way back to their cave and she’d ended up having to yank it out, breaking off a large portion of the ends. She’d grabbed the wooden bowl and knife and had begun chopping the moment she arrived back, before she could change her mind. A smile tipped the corners of her mouth as she placed the blankets in the dark recess between two stone slabs. ‘Twas ugly, she knew, but her brother was sweet to give her the lie.

Returning back to the hearth, she sat down next to Bao. Growing impatient to hear his story, she decided not to wait for his confession. “Who was the lady you spent so much time with this morn, brother?”

*

Hell.
Stalling, Bao stoked the fire in the hearth. “The lady?” What to tell his over-curious sister. He’d have to give her some portion of the truth, but he would not confess his lust for the woman—nor that he’d first met her in a very erotic dream. There were some things that even they, as close as they were, could not share with each other. Well, he mused,
she
should share such things with
him
, but there was no reason for
him
to speak of such things to
her
. After all, he was a man, he was her older brother and her guardian, and ‘twas his duty to keep her virtuous until she wed.

The little she-devil knuckled him in the upper arm. “Ouch!” Seeing the mulish look on her face, he relented. “She’s Alleck’s mother, Jesslyn. She came looking for the waterfall and I told her I’d show her the way to get there on the morrow.”

“Why did you show yourself to her? I thought we were to remain hidden until you’d had your meeting with the laird of the Macleans.”

Settling the rabbit he’d caught and prepared for cooking earlier that morn into the pot of now boiling water, he placed his hands on his knees and sighed. This would be the difficult part of the tale. Before he built his story, he decided he’d better know how much his sister had seen. “Before I explain, answer me this: Where were you hiding, that you saw all this and I had no notion of your presence?”

Clearly thrilled that she’d outwitted his normally keen ability of detection, she boasted, “I watched you from the bough of one of the tall Junipers that line the clearing around the cave you were in. I came upon the two of you just as you were pulling the vines back from the entrance.” In a self-preening tone she asked, “You truly knew not that I was near?”

A bit perturbed by his own negligence, but seeing that his sister wanted his acknowledgment of her own abilities, he replied, “Nay, lass. I truly had no idea of your presence. You’ve learned well.”

Bao tossed some root vegetables from the supply the lads left him into the pot. Knowing he could put it off no longer, he began to tell his tale. “Alleck’s mother was searching the area around the boulder. I feared that she would find an offering left by Alleck’s friend, and did not want the lads to be punished for their generosity. I knew she’d been worried for their safety, and I made the decision to make myself known to her.” Bao shrugged, but kept his gaze locked on the stew, unable to look his sister in the eye. “I told her that my business is with Daniel MacLaurin and that I plan no harm to anyone. She believed my words and has sworn to keep my secret until the time is right to reveal my purpose.” At least that much was true, he thought.

The two sat in silence awhile, watching the stew bubble. “Her gown was fine-looking,” Branwenn said, a note of envy in her voice.

Bao looked at the drab brown tunic his sister wore over woolen hose of the same color and expelled a deep breath in a slow stream, wishing he could allow her to wear the prettier garments she had begun to desire. “Aye, that it was, lass.” Placing his hand over hers, he said, “When we’re done with this, we’ll get you as many such gowns as you can carry. Will that suffice?” He chucked his knuckle under her drooping chin and grinned when he saw her smile.

“May I meet the lady, Bao? I could go with you to the waterfall on the morrow.”

Bao thought that was
not
a good idea at all. His sister would soon catch on to the lies he’d told her and she’d no doubt see the attraction he felt for the lad’s mother as well. “Nay. I think it best that I quickly have done with this duty and then endeavor not to see the lady again. ‘Twould tangle things even more were she to learn of your existence.”

Her shoulders drooped. “Aye, you are right.” Brightening, she said, “What if I followed the two of you—I’d keep out of sight, she would know not that I was near. I could watch your back and make sure no others see you or follow your trail.”

Bao shook his head. “I need you to guard our dwelling and make sure no one finds our cave. I know you are growing bored with the duty, but I swear ‘tis drawing to a close. Give me your patience just a bit longer.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she replied. “Aye, I’ll stay here on the morrow and do my duty.”

Bao lifted out a portion of the rabbit stew into a small wooden bowl and handed it to her. “Eat. You need a bit more meat on your bones.”

Rolling her eyes, his sister took the wooden dish and lifted a spoonful to her lips. “I have plenty of meat on my bones, you’ve just always preferred the fleshier lasses,” she retorted, and then she shoveled the juicy concoction into her mouth and eagerly chewed.

Thinking of one in particular, Bao kept silent. He’d best change his preference if he was to get through the next day without making an error in judgment.

*

Jesslyn hurried across the glen to the place she’d agreed to meet Bao, hoping he had not reconsidered his promise and gone back into hiding. Her thoughts had been filled with him since their meeting the previous day. She was drawn to him in the same way she’d been drawn to her husband upon their first meeting—yet there was something different in this attraction. ‘Twas much more vivid, and that worried her greatly. Because she could not trust her own reaction to the man, she’d decided that this would be the last she would see of him. After all, she was promised to Callum. And Bao, with his strange affinity for forest-dwelling, hardly constituted a suitable mate.

Coming through the break in the trees, she stood where she had the morn before and waited. Looking around for any sign of the giant warrior, including a quick perusal of the treetops, she was disappointed when she did not see him. Hoping he would not forsake her, she walked toward the vines covering the small cave, deciding to rest there while she waited.

*

“You surrender the hunt too easily,” Bao said from behind Jesslyn, his arms crossed over his chest and his feet spread in a wide stance.

She started and turned at the sound of his voice. “How did you do that? Are you part wood faery?”

Bao roared with laughter. “I confess, I’ve had the same thought about you. Nay, I am made from man and woman; I have no faery blood. My stealth I’ve had to learn, and learn well, in order to stay alive.”

“Aye. I suppose your size alone proves you come from no faery line.” Jesslyn cocked her head to the side, a question in her eyes. “You thought me wood faery? ‘Tis plain that I am flesh and blood; there is naught mystical about me.”

“I must disagree, fair one. There is much of you that I find mystical. You have the beauty of a goddess and the body of an enchantress.” Bao knew ‘twas a mistake to speak so boldly, but all his good and prudent intentions of the night before flew away like fine particles of silver swept up on a spring breeze when he saw her again.

A fiery blush swept across her cheeks and she bowed her head, evidently too embarrassed to give him the retort he deserved.

Shamed and angry at himself, Bao said brusquely, “Come, let’s make our way to the waterfall.” Turning, he began the trek across the clearing, expecting her to follow.

*

Jesslyn remained several paces behind her guide, still uncomfortable with his assessment of her and not certain how to proceed with him. But she found quite quickly that the expedition was not an easy one; there was much brush to move through and fallen debris to stumble over. Thankfully, she’d worn her boots with the thick leather soles and an old chemise and slightly ragged burnished-red woolen gown in anticipation of the hike today. This route was nothing like the one she’d taken in her dream, however. If this waterfall turned out to be the same one, then it meant she’d dreamt of entering from another part of the forest. But, was the route she’d taken in her dream of great import? Well, if it were, then she’d simply explore the area more fully on her own once Bao had shown her the way from this direction.