Regency Romance: The Rake's Fake Marriage (Historical Arranged Marriage Romance) (19th Century Victorian Romance) (9 page)

He stood above her breathing hard, his shaft still inside her. She wanted him to hold her, and her legs tightened around him and pulled him down to the bed. He slipped out of her and lay next to her warm body. She curled up into his arms and closed her eyes.

And then she felt the goosebumps.

''Wake up, wake up, Alexander.''
Eana
shook her husband uncontrollably, trying to rouse him from the deep sleep he had fallen into after their lovemaking. ''Wake up,'' she said again, this time pawing at his face.

''What?'' he complained.

''You should wake up. I can feel danger. Get up and take your sword.''

He grinned at her, thinking his new wife was playing with him. When she slapped him hard on his face, he realized she wasn't. He jumped up from the bed, pulled on a pair of pants and took his sword from its place in the corner of the room. Just as he did, the door slammed
open,
and Bran Sutherland burst into the room carrying a long dagger and a sword.
Eana
closed her eyes and turned her head away as Bran dived towards her, but Alexander threw himself against Bram and knocked him to the floor at the side of the bed. Alexander jumped on top of him, but Bran threw him off towards the window. The two started to fight with their swords.
Eana
curled up against the headboard and put her hands over her ears to protect them from the chinking sound as the
swords
smashed into each other.
Bran
pushed Alexander
back,
and he had to stand on the bed. As Bran thrust his sword up, Alexander jumped to the side and off the bed. Bran's momentum carried him forward, and he landed head first on the bed next to
Eana
. She screamed at the sight of his hideous expression as Alexander thrust his sword into Bran's back,
piecing
his heart from behind, killing him instantly.
Eana
jumped up and ran to Alexander. She wanted to take him in her arms, but he pushed her away.

''You knew about this didn't you?''

''No,'' she shouted. ''How could you think that?''

''It's obvious: you knew, and at the last minute, got cold feet and warned me. I don't trust you
any more
. You nearly got me killed.''

''Alexander,'' she cried. ''No, you're wrong.''

''How else could you have known to warn me? Of course, you were in on it.''

''Alexander I have special powers. I can predict things.''

''You have what?''

''I don't know how, but I have the ability to sense danger. Strange things happen
around
me.''

He thought about what Laurie had told him. ''I don't believe you.''

She took hold of his arm, ''You must believe me, I have some powers.''

''Is that why people think you are a witch?'' She nodded. ''Witches should be executed,'' he said savagely. ''You will stay here in this room and not leave.''

She burst into tears as Alexander removed Bran's body from the room and locked the door behind him.

Eana
was confined to her room for two weeks before anybody came to visit her. All she saw was the man that brought her food, and the woman that stood over her as she bathed. She cried herself to sleep every evening. Alexander discussed the situation with his
father,
and they went to see Laird Irvine. Laird Irvine told them that he knew his daughter had some special powers but that they weren't sinister and that she wasn't a witch. Alexander was angry with himself for having married her. Laurie had told him the rumors about
Eana
, and if he'd been more
forceful,
he was quite sure his father would eventually have relented.

One evening Alexander was sitting with Laurie by a fire in the castle's courtyard.

''I'm no longer interested in her. I am not convinced she isn't a witch and witches should be executed,'' Alexander told him.

''But you fell in love with her,'' Laurie pointed out.

''Yes, and I can fall out of love with her again. I'm not convinced by her attempts to deny she knew anything about the attack, and if she didn't, you have to admit her powers are quite strange.''

''I suppose so,'' Laurie smoothed his kilt over his
legs
and took a sip of his beer. ''But if her powers are only good, I don't know why you are so concerned.''

''We are going to war with the Sutherland Clan,'' he said, changing the subject. ''Laird Sutherland has denounced
me as
a common criminal for
slaying
his son. He's sworn revenge, and this afternoon, my father received a messenger.''

''What did he say?''

''He said that Laird Sutherland has challenged us to a battle at
Cloggan
Moor in a week. If we don't go, he's vowed to attack us here at the castle.''

''Then we should go and kill him,'' Laurie jumped up and brandished his sword in a gesture of defiance.

''We will. He's also challenged the Irvine Clan. We will fight alongside one another and defeat him forever.''

That evening, Davina opened the door to
Eana's
room. ''I'm sorry I haven't been to see
you,
but I was forbidden from having anything to do with you. The guards have been called away, so I sneaked in.''

''It's lovely to see you,''
Eana
said hugging her new friend.
''I have been so alone.
Will they kill me?''

''What? Kill you, why?''

''I'm sure Alexander thinks I'm a witch.''

''Alexander has other things to worry about now. The clan is at war with the Sutherlands. There
will be
a battle soon. Your father will fight alongside Laird Muir and Alexander.''

''Oh, how terrible. Laird Sutherland is a monstrous man. He's probably trying to avenge his son's death,''
Eana
said.

''That's
exactly
what he's trying to do. I'm very afraid they will be killed.'' Davina said as she sat on the bed next to
Eana
.

''Help me,''
Eana
said.

''I will help you in any way I can. What do you want me to do?''

''I want to go and see Laird Sutherland.''

''What? No. That's a really silly thing to do.''

''Everyone thinks I'm worthless, I might as well try and prevent the war.''

''But
Eana
, how do you think you can do that?''

''By offering myself to him. Laird Sutherland has wanted me killed for a long time.'' She put her hand on Davina's delicate shoulder and looked into her eyes. ''He sent his son's to kill me in the forest, and more recently, his only remaining son to kill me here in this very room. I will exchange myself in return for peace.''

''That's ridiculous,
Eana
, you can't do that. He'll just kill you and wage war anyway.''

''I must try. I am worthless sitting here in this room. I want to try.''

''But I will not help you to certain death.''

When Davina left,
Eana
began to plan her escape. She looked out of the window and tried to estimate the distance down to the ground. After her evening meal, she
tied
the bed clothes together and waited until it was dark. When she lowered the makeshift rope out of the
window,
she realized it was a few meters short of the ground. She tied one end to the bed and in the dead of night rolled out of the window and began to climb down. She'd dressed in a black skirt and black shawl which made her almost invisible against the dark wall as she inched her way down. When she reached the end of the rope, she took a deep breath and let go. When she hit the
ground,
she tried to roll and take some of the force out of the landing, but she felt a sharp pain as her knee buckled under her.

She got up and limped down the embankment to the place where she'd married Alexander, and across to the road that led away from the castle.

When Alexander found out that his wife had escaped, he was furious. He took the guards by the throat and threatened each of them with beheading.

*****

Eana
held her knee and grimaced as she lay in the undergrowth below Laird Sutherland's residence. It was almost
dawn,
and she'd been walking for six hours to reach her goal ten miles from Muir Castle. She saw guards circling the property and a deep looking moat full of stagnant water. She would wait until daylight and then present herself. She didn't want to risk being mistaken for a male intruder in the half light of the dawn. She'd probably be killed anyway, she thought, but she wanted to speak to Laird Sutherland first.

When the sun appeared from behind the castle walls,
Eana
came out from under the bushes and began to walk towards the moat. A guard high up on the castle wall shouted to a colleague, and in no
time,
she was surrounded. When they realized it was a woman, they decided they would bring her to Laird Sutherland instead of killing her.

''Who the hell are you?'' he roared. Just like his son Angus, Laird Sutherland was fat and red-faced. He had fiery ginger hair and cold blue eyes. Sitting in the great hall in a throne-like chair, he looked huge. He was dressed in red and white tartan and held a stick with a bulbous top which made it look more like a club than a stick.

''Do you now know who I am?''
Eana
was brave enough to ask.

''I do not. Why were you walking near my castle? You are not Sutherland Clan.''

''I am
Eana
Irvine, the woman who married Alexander Muir.''

His eyes
narrowed,
and he leaned forward. ''
Eana
Irvine. You murdered both my sons.''

''I didn't. Your sons attacked me and died because of it. If they had kept away from me, they would both have been alive today.'' Her voice echoed in the huge room. The ceiling was high and full of oak rafters from which flags of Clans the Sutherland's had extinguished hung.

Laird Sutherland nodded, and the guards that were holding her let go. Without their support, she felt her knee give
way,
and she stumbled forward. He stood
up
and took hold of her collar in his fat fist. ''Why are you here? Do you realize I will kill you?''

''I have come to ask you to agree to peace between out clans. War will only lead to death and suffering. The Irvine and the Muir clans are not seeking
war,
but you are.''
Eana
winced as he pulled her to him.

''I will not allow you to come here and tell me what to do. Your father and Laird Muir are both
murderers,
and they will be eliminated at
Clodden
Moor.”

This was not how
Eana
had planned it. She knew she would be killed, but her heart sank knowing that it would be for nothing.

“Guards take her
away. W
e'll kill her after the battle.''

Two guards took her by the arms and dragged her from the hall, down some stairs and threw her into a dungeon full of old straw.

''I quite fancy having a go at her later,'' she heard one guard say to his colleague.

****

Clodden
Moor was an expanse of grassland exactly halfway between Drummond Castle and Sutherland Castle. It was a desperate
day,
horizontal rain lashed at both armies as they stood and looked at each other.

The Sutherland's had five hundred men, and the Irvine and Muir Clans together, four hundred and fifty. It should have been an even
battle,
but Laird Sutherland's warriors had much more fighting experience.

Alexander, his face covered in blue woad, stood in the front line next to Laurie and listened to Laird Muir as he gave his battle address from a white horse. A little further up, Laird Irvine was doing the same to his men, from a black horse. Between them, lines of tartan-clad men, some holding flags, looked on anxiously.

A hundred meters away, Laird Sutherland sat quietly on his
horse
and looked down his line of men. He was fully confident that,
within the hour,
most of his opponents would be dead, and that he would be the proud owner of two new clans. When the warriors on the opposing side roared, he knew that their pre-battle speeches had finished, and he started to address his own men.

When he was finished, his men roared their
approval,
and he gave the signal for them to charge. The two sides began to run towards each other through the wind and rain. When they collided, swords, axes, and knives were brought down on their unfortunate victims with a high degree of brutality. After ten minutes the field was littered with dead and half-dead men.