Onyx (19 page)

“It won’t
, as long as you stay right by me. Please. Let’s get some sleep and leave fresh, first thing tomorrow.”

“Fine, then. But din
na think I’m lettin’ ye outta me site. What were ye doin’ out here te begin with?”

“I came looking for you, Onyx. I knew you were upset and I wanted to apologize for saying I loved you.”

He looked at her and just shook his head. “Lady Love, dinna say ye’re sorry fer somethin’ ye truly feel.”

“But I never should have put you in that position.
I know how hard it is for you right now and . . .”

He didn’t let her finish. He took her head in both hands and bent over and kissed her passionately on the mouth. She looked so surprised when he
pulled back.

“Why did you kiss me?” she asked.

“Becooz I dinna want ye te e’er apologize fer lovin’ me, lassie. I jest dinna ken how te say it back te ye, thet’s all.”

She smiled and took his hand in hers. “And I don’t want you to say anything that you can’t.”

“Ye’re no’ mad at me?”

“Not in the least. I want you to take all the time you need.”

“Why did ye even go up to the Scots?” he asked her. “Didna ye see that their tartans were no’ of the MacKeefe clan and thet ye werena safe?”

“I thought
it was you. I just saw him from the back.”

“But lassie, me tartan is g
reen and purple. Those MacDonalds had plaids of bright red.”

“I
didn’t know,” she said. “They all look the same to me. I told you, I can’t see color at night.”

“Really, lassie? So how do I look to ye right now?”

“Void of any real color, unfortunately. Everything looks the same. With the sunlight I can see colors slightly, but not how I should be seeing things.”

“I did
na realize how bad it was. I canna even imagine no’ seein’ color.”

“That’s why I wanted the charms,” she told him. “Not only to hopefully cure my mother, but to possibly cure me of my color blindness as well.”

He took her hands in his and brought them to his mouth in a kiss. “Then I shall help ye, Love, no matter if those charms are the works o’ the devil or a witch. If thet’s what it takes, then we’ll do it. Becooz I canna bear te think someone like ye will go through yer life no’ seeing the bonnie colors around ye. That, I believe would be the saddest thing o’ all.”

Chapter 13

Old Callum MacKeefe lent them an extra horse for their trip to England, and Onyx was thankful. It was a long journey, and he was trying his hardest to make it back in time before the guards decided that Onyx had killed Lovelle, and in return took the life of his mother.

They’d spent over five
days journeying to her home already, stopping at inns the first two nights, making love and lying in each other’s arms. But trying to make up time, he opted to ride longer and sleep less, and the last three nights they’d made a campfire and slept on the ground. He’d made their bed in the shelter of a pine forest, the fallen needles giving warmth and comfort underneath them.

He knew Lovell
e didn’t like it, but they had warm woolen blankets in their packs from the MacKeefes, and Callum had given them some of his mountain magic. After one sip of the potent whisky, she had slept like a baby curled up in his arms. He was glad the weather had been milder the past few days, or he didn’t know what they’d have done.

But time was running out. T
hey’d spent two days going to MacKeefe territory to find the book in the first place, and this whole thing was taking too damned long. They’d ridden the horses hard, and he knew Lovelle was not used to traveling so quickly, but they had to hurry, and thankfully they were almost there . . . but time was almost up.

“Onyx, can we stop?” asked Lovell
e. It was night, and it had been raining for the last few hours. They were soaked to the skin, and he noticed her teeth chattering, but there was no way in hell he was going to stop. They had until tonight to get there, and there was no telling when her guards may actually decide to kill Fenella. Tawpie was hiding in the travel bags and very ornery because of the rain as well.

“We canna stop,” he called over his shoulder. “No’ until we get there.”

“But I’m wet and cold and very tired. I can’t continue like this any longer. The horses need to rest as well, and get in out of the rain.”

“We have no choice, Love,” he to
ld her. “We need te get there afore they kill me mathair. Why the hell did ye tell them to kill her if we werena back in a sennight? What in the clootie’s name were ye thinkin’?”

“I’m beginning to wonder that myself,” she said, and remained quiet for the rest of the journey.

By the time they got to Worcestershire late that night, he was irritated and miserable and wanted nothing more than to get into dry clothes by the fire, have a good meal, and have a good night’s sleep as well. Lovelle looked tired and frustrated, and even Tawpie was hissing at him as she peeked out of her hiding place. They acted as if this whole thing was his fault. And when he’d tried to comfort his pet, she reached out and scratched him, drawing blood. It was something she’d never done to him before. She’d always adored him since he saved her from dying when poachers killed her mother, and he didn’t like that she was acting this way.

Ironic, he thought. His kitten didn’t have parents either.

Then he felt it. Something was wrong. The aching in his bones was sharp, and the closer they got to Lovelle’s home, the worse his pain became. He’d never felt it this bad before, and he could only hope it didn’t mean his mother was already dead.

Lovelle was exhausted, and so cold and wet, that all she could think about was getting back to the castle. She could see the black flags and banners fluttering atop the battlements in the distance, the sign that the lord of the castle – her husband - was dead. It sent chills through her and she almost felt as if death was all around her. She felt a need to get home immediately. She knew all they had to do was make it through the village and up the hill and she would finally be home.

But then,
Onyx slowed his horse to a walk. She rode up next to him not understanding why he’d be slowing down now after riding so fast that she’d barely been able to keep up.

“Why are you stopping?” she asked. “We’r
e almost there. I can see the castle in the distance.”

His eyes were focused forward, and he didn’t blink. Then she followed his gaze and gasped when she saw what took his interest.

“What . . . is it?” she asked, seeing the cart in the middle of the road stacked high with . . . dead bodies. Two men covered from head to foot with rags wrapped around their faces and covering their noses, were picking up what looked to be a small boy and throwing him atop the pile. Then they picked up their shovels again from the ground.

The cart creaked under the weight, and one of the men slapped the horse
, pulling it to move it forward. The horse took a couple of steps and stumbled, almost falling to its knees.

“’Tis the plague, lassie,” Onyx
told her, his words sending a streak of fear through her heart. “Dinna ye remember it from when ye were a child?”

“Well, of course I remember,” she said. “Nearly half of England died. I don’t think anyone could forget that. But what I mean is, the plague is gone now. I don’t understand.”

“Well dinna be fooled, as I think the evil has decided te visit once again.” Onyx rode his horse up to the men and she followed. She held her gloved hand up to her nose as the smell of the rotting flesh assaulted her senses. She could see at once that the dead bodies were covered with black, raised buboes, some of them covered with blood as bloodletting had obviously been used to try to save them. Onyx was right. There was another outbreak, and the Black Plague had returned.

“
When did this happen?” Onyx shouted to the men.

One of them looked up, and he could see the emptiness and despair in his eyes. Just being near the dead bodies, breathing the air and touching them, these men were certain to be the next to die and they surely knew it.

“It only struck three days ago,” the man told him. “But it hit hard. It is spreading across England quickly.”

“Where have you been that you don’t know this?” asked the other man.

“We’ve been on the road,” Onyx told him. “We’ve come from Scotland, and havena been in a pub in several days te hear o’ it.”

“Well, you should have stayed there,” said the man. “If you have any sense you’ll turn around and head back right now before it’s too late.”

“This is my home,” Lovelle told them. “I am Lady Lovelle.”

They peered
through the darkness and bowed slightly.

“Our apologies my lady, we did not recognize you under the hood and in the dark.”

“That’s right,” said the first man. “You need to get inside the castle and stay there so you will be protected from the plague.”

“How bad is it?
” she asked.

“T
he number increases every day my lady, though it is not as bad as when it hit England the first time. Or at least not yet. The word was spread as soon as the first buboes appeared on an old dockman. Matter of fact, that’s him at the bottom of the pile.”

Lovell
e looked down and saw a man’s arm sticking off the cart, with raised, black swellings covered his body. She recognized him immediately.

“Sweet mother of Jesu
,” she swore, and then looked up to Onyx. “That is Twine, the dockman who came with me to Scotland to find Fenella.”

“Well the au
ld bastard got what he deserved,” said Onyx, raising his upper lip in a slight snarling sensation.

“Onyx, please don’t say that.
No one deserves this.”

“Ye are right,” he said. “I am jest tired. Let’s get ye home quickly.”

Tawpie became vocal
and jumped from the travel bag to the ground just then.

“It’s a damned cat!” sho
uted one of the gravediggers.

“I’ll kill it.
” The other drew his dagger and rushed forward.

“Nay!” cried Lovell
e. “Don’t touch it.”

“The bloody cats are what brought this plague,” said the firs
t man drawing his dagger too. “We’ve been killing them all off, but it looks like we missed this one.”

Onyx was off his horse with his sword drawn before either of the men could approach the animal.

“Ye touch me cat and ye’ll answer te me,” he warned them. They looked into his eyes and backed away, lowering their blades.

“He’s possessed,” said one. “My lady save yourself from the devil.”

“He’s not the devil,” she said. “But you’ll have the devil to pay if you so much as say that again. Onyx, bring me Tawpie before they harm her.”

Onyx scooped up the cat, keeping his eyes on the men and his sword out as he walked over and plopped it into her lap. She ran a comforting hand over the animal, then continued her discussion with the men.

“How is my mother?” she asked, barely breathing as she waited for her answer. “Is she all right?” She moved her horse further from the cart with the dead bodies, not wanting to catch the plague.

“My lady,” said one. “There have been many deaths at the castle in just the last day.”

“Aye,” said the other. “They were mostly prisoners from the dungeon, but we heard your mother has taken ill as well.”

“Nay!” she cried, turning
her horse and taking off at full speed. “I have to get to her quickly.”

“Fenella,” she heard Onyx’s concern for his mother
from behind her, and she had a sinking feeling that perhaps both their mothers were going to die or may already be dead.

Onyx followed Lovelle to the castle, noticing how empty the village streets were. It was late when they approached, and the drawbridge was up, stopping them from entering.

“Lower the drawbridge and open the gate
at once!” Lovelle called out, causing the watchguard to look over the battlements at them. He saw Onyx’s tartan and just spat over the side.

“No stinkin’ Scots will be coming inside the gates.
Isn’t it bad enough the plague is knocking at the door trying to get in?”

“Let us in at once or I’ll
have you placed in the dungeon for your insolence.” Lovelle lowered her hood and the let the man see it was her.

“I’m so sorry, my lady,” he said
, and immediately he called to the other guards. The sound of the winch turning, and clanking chains was heard as the bridge creaked and slowly lowered over the moat. She charged her horse forward, holding on to Tawpie on her lap, and ducked to get under the portcullis just being raised as she rode into the courtyard of her castle with Onyx right behind her.

Onyx jumped from his horse and quickly helped Lovell
e dismount as well. Tawpie gave an alarming cry, and he saw some of the guards looking toward her. Knowing if he took his eyes off his pet for a minute she’d be dead, he took the cat from Lovelle and settled it under his tartan that covered his shoulder and bunched at his waist, hiding it from the others.