Plead Forgiveness: Betrayed Twice (Loyalty Series) (15 page)

A fortnight later
and after speaking with Father Logan, she decided to embrace the love in her
heart for all those around her. No longer would she allow the past to thwart
her future. She could not control the tide of the sea or the direction of the
wind any more than she could control the events of the days to come.

With each new day
her love for Gavin grew stronger, as did the need to confess her sin and reveal
her identity. When night fell and their bodies were sated, she attempted to
divulge her heinous secret, but words continued to fail her. Moreover, despite
his numerous duties throughout the day, Gavin always found time to spend with
her, giving Ella many opportunities to confess her sin.

Aware of the risk,
she decided to reveal herself to the one person whose honesty surpassed all.
Paen

“And where do ye
think ye be heading off to, hellion?”

“Taking Apollo for
a long ride as you well know. I suppose Gavin sent you to be my escort?”

“Aye, ye ken yer
husband well,” Paen chuckled. “Tell me, would ye have gone without an escort?”

“Nae, I
acknowledge that such a ruse is disastrous.”

“Yer husband would
nae only skin ye alive, but the blackguard as well if we were to allow ye out
of the castle unprotected.” He cocked his head slightly as he added, “He love
ye, ye ken.”

A rosy blush
filled Ella’s cheeks as she searched for words, and then finally she whispered,
“I pray you are right.”

“Give me a moment
to saddle Righ,” he quickly replied, sensing the import of this ride.

Clouds scattered
in the sapphire sky, shifting morning light on the long grass of the meadow as
the pair rode through a short time later. Both competitive by nature, they
raced to the pine trees that lined the edge of the forest before slowing their
mounts to a halt. Arth, faithful as ever, came bounding along moments later.

“Do you know that
Gavin only permits his blackguard to ride with me when outside the walls of
Doran Castle?”

“Aye,” Paen
replied with a knowing smile.

“With the
exception of you and my husband, who acts as single escort, I must ride with at
least two and sometime three of the guard.”

“Aye,” he said
with a shrug.

“Why?”

Her vexation made
him chuckle as he stated, “Yer safety is paramount to Gavin, his guard, and our
people, lass. He dinna allow the other men in the guard to act as lone escort
for one reason.”

“And what pray
tell would that reason be?”

“His words, nae
mine, were that we are the only men capable of out-riding his headstrong wife.”

“Headstrong?”

“Aye, headstrong,
pigheaded, nae a docile bone in her wee body. I ken these traits well-”

“Since you possess
them too,” she finished for him. “Aye, I agree.”

“Brat,” he said
with a playful grin.

“Jack-a-nape.”
With a humorous glint in her eyes, she added, “You and Righ are getting faster.
You almost won that time.”

Since Paen had
made a similar comment to her the last time they raced, he took it with his
usual mix of grace and sarcasm.

“Ye are too kind.
I really must learn yer trick of cutting another rider off when leaving the
castle gates.”

With mock offense
she asked, “Do you honestly believe that I, your brother’s wife, would do such
a horrid thing just to win a horse race?”

“Aye, ye would and
did, but dinna change. I like the fact ye dinna back down to a man in
competition or in life. More women should be like ye.”

“I believe that is
the greatest compliment I have ever received.”

“Remember it well,
for I dinna give them often.”

Ella always
enjoyed their playful banter, and today was no different. Paen reminded her so
much of her brothers, encouraging her wild streak and boyish ways.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For treating me
like an annoying sister.”

He burst out
laughing and said, “Aye, that ye are, lass. Now let us be gone, we are too
close to the Fraser’s land for my liking.”

The rift between
the Macleods and the Frasers began when Laird Fraser refused to forgive the
Macleods for raiding their land and causing the death of his wife a decade ago.
The woman had been in the village at the time of the raid. When she attempted
to flee, amidst the chaos, a loose arrow caught her unaware.

As they rode
through the lush foliage of the woods, Ella’s thoughts turned to her need to
reveal her identity to Paen. For some reason, she trusted him with this
confession and believed he would understand that her mother’s death was an
accident.

She halted Apollo,
and then turned to Paen and said, “There is something I would like to confide
in you.”

Her austere
expression unsettled Paen, but not as much as the stark fear in her eyes. To
strengthen her resolve, he said, “’Tis my sincere wish that ye do, lass. I
would-”

 Arth
unexpectedly bolted forward, startling both Paen and Ella.

“His senses are
better than ours. We must take caution,” he warned.

“Soldiers?”

“Nae, more than
likely ‘tis another animal.”

Suddenly, a female
scream ripped through the air. Without thought, both riders put their heels to
their mounts and raced in the direction of the terrifying sound.

“Go back to the
castle,” Paen ordered.

“Nae.”

Paen cursed her
stubborn nature.

When they crossed
over onto Fraser land, a frightened horse flew passed them. They continued to
charge ahead, and moments later, they came upon a vicious, snarling boar
snapping at Arth. Just beyond the two animals circling each other, they saw a
young girl trembling with fear as she clung to the higher limbs of a tree.
Tears streaked down her petite face, and her dark hair fell in wild disarray
off her shoulders.

Roughly grabbing a
hold of Ella’s arm, Paen hissed, “I told ye to get back to the castle!”

She yanked her arm
back and replied, “Nae, I won’t leave her.”

“Nor would I.”

“Then let me
help.”

“Curse all
stubborn wenches!” He briefly looked at the figure in the tree, and then
returned his hostile gaze back to Ella.  “Fine, but ye will do as I say.”

“Ok.”

He took out his
long bow and said, “A single arrow will nae kill the boar, but it will distract
him long enough for Arth to kill him or send him charging for me. If the latter
occurs, loop around the tree and get the girl.”

“Ok.”

Apollo, trained to
attack when needed, is the only reason why Paen conceded to Ella’s mulish
demand.

“Only when I give
the command will ye get near the tree. Do ye understand?”

“Aye.”

“Go that way,
slowly,” he said as he pointed the direction. “Do nothing to startle the
animals. I will divert the boar’s attention.”

When Ella moved Apollo
away, Paen took aim, and then shot an arrow into the side of the boar.

Twisting and
snorting in pain, the boar suddenly lunged toward the wolf dog. Arth deftly
averted the attack and waited for the right moment to strike. Ella rounded the
other side of the tree when Paen let loose another arrow, burying it in the
boar’s neck. The beast let out a high-pitched screech and then charged Paen.

“Now, Ella,” he
screamed and took off, leading the boar away.

Swinging Apollo
around the tree, she yelled, “Give me your arm.” The girl wasted no time and
jumped on Apollo behind Ella. They then tore through the woods.

Relief surged
through Ella when she saw that both Paen and Arth were safe and a good distance
from the boar. When the beast finally gave up chase, she led Apollo over to
them.

Astonishment
briefly crossed Paen’s features when he saw the girl they saved, but he quickly
masked it with a show of indifference.

“Follow me. Our
horses need water and rest.”

Ella made no
comment as she followed him to the nearest burn.

After dismounting,
Paen assisted Ella and said, “Ye are in for a rare treat, sister, for ye are
about to meet the most spiteful lass in all the Highlands.”

Standing beside
Apollo and Paen, Ella turned and looked up at the girl. She had dark sable
hair, pale blue eyes rimmed a darker shade, and pink pouty lips. Ella thought
the girl looked only a few years younger than her own ten and eight summers.
She then saw the girl’s eyelashes drop and stains of scarlet coloring her
cheeks.

“Kyla Fraser,”
Paen began, “hellion of the Highlands and daughter to Laird Cormac Fraser.
Petite she may be, but her tongue is as sharp as my blade.”

And her beauty, he
thought, just as deadly.

When Kyla lifted
hurt filled eyes, Ella pushed Paen out of the way to assist the girl from
Apollo’s back. When he opened his mouth to further insult the girl, Ella
snapped, “Not another word unless you intend to apologize to this frightened
girl. I do not care that she is a Fraser. I care even less about the feud
between the Macleods and her clan. Can you not see how terrified she is?”

Remorse hit him
like a battling ram when he noticed blood soaking through Kyla’s skirt. Moving
Ella out of the way, Paen curved one arm around Kyla’s tiny waist, and then
hauled her off the horse and cradled her slight weight in his arms. He carried
her to a fallen tree by the burn, and then gently sat her down on the trunk.

Turning to Ella,
he snarled, “She’s hurt. Do something, now!”

Startled by his
abrupt change in tone and manner, she did his bidding without objection.

“I am Lady Ella,
Gavin Macleod’s wife,” she said, kneeling by the girl’s feet. “Will you allow
me to look at your wound?”

Pacing behind her,
Paen said, “She is a healer, lass. She will nae harm ye.”

Refusing to look
or even acknowledge Paen, Kyla said, “Aye, thank ye, milady.”

After lifting up
Kyla’s skirts, Ella tore the hem of her own tunic and said to Paen, “There is
clean linen in my saddlebag.” She quickly soaked the fabric in the burn, then
bathed the blood and gash on the girl’s lower leg.

“Please, call me
Ella.”

Kyla sat
thunderstruck by the bold, yet compassionate Englishwoman, whose golden beauty
stood out like the North Star in a darken sky. “Then ye must call me, Kyla.”

Ella smiled and
said, “How did this happen?”

“I was riding
nearby when the boar darted out from behind a bush. I tried to kick it away so
his tusks dinna impale my horse.”

When Kyla heard
Paen snort at the absurdity of her action, she closed her eyes and let her
shoulders hunch forward.

“That was very brave,
and is exactly what I would have done in the same situation,” Ella stated.

Kyla’s eyes flew
open in surprise and gratitude. “Thank ye,” she whispered.

“Nae, to save her
precious Apollo, Ella would have lunged at the beast afore it left the ground.”

Both women looked
up and saw the teasing glint in Paen’ eyes as he shook his head.

Chuckling, Ella
said, “Aye, and you would have done the same for Righ had it come to that.”

“Bloody right I
would.”

Ella noted that
Kyla gloried in the shared moment, and that her back straightened with pride.

“This will need to
be cleaned three times a day, and then rewrapped in clean bandages. In a
sennight you can cease bandaging it…” With quick, experienced fingers, she
finished tending to Kyla’s wound.

“Ye work fast, my .
. . ah . . . Ella.”

“I have had much
practice. Now, I would know why you were without escort?”

Before Kyla could
answer, Paen said, “Och, who does that remind ye of my wee sister?”

Glowering at Paen,
she moved to sit beside Kyla and took the younger girl’s hands in her own.
“Ignore him, sweetling. That is what I do when his words mean naught. Now, tell
me truth?”

Giggling at the
pair, Kyla said, “Ye treat each other like brother and sister.”

“Aye, she is just
as annoying as the other one I have.”

Paen ignored
Ella’s scathing look and asked, “Why were you alone, Kyla? The truth.”

“I always speak
the truth,” Kyla retorted as she jumped to her feet.

“Nae, the last
time we met,” Paen shot back.

“Ye are far from
sainthood, Paen Macleod.”

He would have
snapped back, had it not been for Ella’s bellow.

“Enough! Kyla,
please sit down. Paen, cease trying to instigate a fight.”

When Kyla sat back
down and Paen resumed pacing, Ella calmly said, “Please explain why you were
alone.”

“My father and I
had a disagreement while we were hunting. I was verra angry, and rode off when
he dismounted.”

“Why did you
argue?”

“He says he will
wed me to an Englishmen.”

A sudden chill
went down Ella’s back. “Who?”

“I dinna ken. My
father made an agreement with the King Henry.”

In an irate voice,
Paen asked, “What kind of agreement?’

With hurt showing
in her eyes, Kyla answered, “My father will give me away so he can wed Lady
Jane of Pennsbury. She is the Englishwoman he lusted after while at court this
year.”

Realizing the
insulting way she said ‘Englishwoman,’ and that Ella is English, Kyla
retracted, “I dinna mean that the way it sounded. We have all heard of yer
heroic deeds. The way ye saved Gabriel Mackenzie from the lash, escaped with
him from Greystone, and how ye fought the bloody English with naught but bow
and arrows.”

Distraught, Ella
asked, “How is it you know all this?”

“Word travels fast
in the Highlands. My father says that even though he hates the Macleods, their
laird did right by marrying ye.”

Ella blushed while
Paen said, “I thought yer father would nae marry ye till ye were ten and six.”

“I’m to be ten and
seven in a month.”

Ella gave Kyla’s
hand a little squeeze and said, “Will your father have any say in the
marriage?”

“He said as much,”
Kyla said with a shrug.

“Is your father a
good man? Will he take into consideration your wishes on a husband?”

“Aye, he will hear
my-”

Paen interrupted
by saying, “Aye, she has great skill in blistering a man’s ears.”

When both women
glared at him, he laughed and said, “God must have a wicked sense of humor if
he sought to bring ye two together to torment me.”

“Aye, you are
truly blessed, dear brother,” Ella acknowledged with a lift of her dainty chin,
then turned her gaze back on Kyla.

“I think it best
we take you back.”

Paen asked, “How
do ye purpose to do that, when the verra sight of me will incite the Frasers to
attack.”

“Easy,” Ella
stated. “We leave you here, and I will return-”

“Nae, honey,” he
interrupted. “Ye will nae leave my side.”

“What if Lady Ella
rode in front of ye,” Kyla suggested. “They would see only two females. I will
explain to my kin before they close the distance and recognize ye.”

Paen’s eyebrows
shot up by her clever suggestion. He then asked, “Ye want me to trust ye?”

“I have ne’er
given ye a reason not to,” she said vehemently. “Ye and Ella saved my life. I
would nae discredit that act by letting harm come to either of ye. Ye have my
word.”

“We shall see. Let
us be off then.”

Ella, Paen, and
Kyla had just crossed the border onto Fraser land and came to a halt when they
saw approaching riders.

True to her word,
when Laird Cormac Fraser and twenty of his men came storming through the woods
a quarter of an hour later, Kyla blurted out, “Father, they saved my life. Nae
harm shall come to them, this I swore.”

Bemused by his
daughter’s words, Laird Fraser halted his mount, and then locked his gazed with
his enemy. He growled, “Paen Macleod, ye have nae business on my land and-”

Kyla moved Apollo
in front of her father, blocking his view of her two saviors, then spoke
softly. “Father, did ye nae hear me? I would nae be alive if they had not
rescued me. A boar attacked, and my horse threw me. I tried to climb up a tree,
but wouldnae have made it that far if it had not been for their dog.”

Laird Fraser
looked at the beast that stood staring at them from the edge of the woods. He
pointed at the animal and spat, “That dog?”

Kyla turned and
saw Arth. With a slight smile, she said, “Aye, he verra friendly and-”

“Verra friendly,”
her father roared. “’Tis a wolf, nae a dog.”

“He is only half
wolf,” Ella corrected.

Paen closed his
eyes and shook his head at the daft words of the lass in front of him.

“And who the hell
are ye?”

“Lady Ella, wife
to Laird Macleod.”

Laird Fraser’s
eyes widened in surprise.  

In a casual
manner, Ella continued, “The alternative to us returning your daughter to
safety was her walking unescorted and unarmed back to yer castle.”

Laird Fraser
huffed, and then opened his mouth to reply when Ella added, “I warn you now,
keep a civil tongue in your head if you do not want me to cut it out.”

Paen covered his
eyes with sheer vexation. “Ye just had to add that last bit, dinna ye?”

Ella remained
silent, keeping her gaze fixed on Kyla’s father. He seemed to have trouble
digesting her words, while his men snorted and grunted in disbelief.

Cormac Fraser
narrowed his eyes and stated, “I see the rumors about ye are true.”

“Rumors rarely
are,” Ella countered.

Highly amused, the
laird corrected, “True, but in this case they are. Suffice it to say, yer
courage is well noted and respected. I have nae like for kidnapping and abusing
children, even the nephew of my enemy. What ye did to save that child was the
most selfless act this old man has heard in a long time. And I will nae argue
with the woman whom I hold in high regard.”

Glancing over at
Kyla, he said, “I thank ye both for saving the life of my daughter.”

“Thank ye, Father”
Kyla whispered. She then leapt off Apollo’s back and handed his reins over to
Ella after she dismounted. 

Ella pulled Kyla
into an affectionate embrace and said, “’Tis evident your father loves you very
much. Express your wishes calmly, and I believe he will listen to you. And
remember, if you ever have need of me, send word through your maid as we
discussed.”

“Ye are a good
woman, Ella Macleod,” she said with a broad smile. Turning to Paen, she said
sincerely, “I thank ye, from the bottom of my heart.”

Paen stared at her
for a moment, and then nodded slowly.

When Paen and Ella
crossed over on to Macleod land, she asked, “Will you tell me about Kyla and-”

“Nae.”

Pouting, Ella
whined, “Why not?”

He glanced at her
briefly, before averting his gaze. “That look may work on Gavin, but it will
nae work on me.”

Noting her
excitement over their adventure, he added, “Speaking of yer husband, I dinna
believe he will be as happy as ye seem to be.”

“Why? I thought he
would welcome an alliance with the Frasers.”

“I doubt there
will be an alliance, but that is nae why he will be angry.”

“Why will he be
angry?’

Her worth is still
unknown to her, Paen thought. Her innocent expression made him realize how
unaccustomed she was to people caring for her welfare. The only ones who had
cared for her were dead.

With patience, he
explained, “Ye put yerself at risk when ye dinna follow my order and return to
the castle.”

Ella hung her
head, saddened that she disappointed Paen.

“Lift yer chin, my
wee hellion.” When she did, he continued, “Ye are part of our clan and our
family. They would be devastated if ye were harmed.”

“Really?”

“Aye, especially
yer husband.”

Seeing her sweet
smile return, he said, “Aye, ye love him as well. That is good to my way of
thinking.”

Ella blushed
crimson.

Paen chuckled, and
then declared, “I will nae reveal yer secret, for those words must come from ye
alone. Dinna fear he will nae return them. My brother has loved ye from the
moment ye threw yerself into his arms, after he killed the Englishman who dared
to attack ye.”

“Thank you.”

He waved off her
words, then spat, “Och, enough of this coddling. Let us ride and together we
will confess our sins.”