The Chase (17 page)

“I ken,” Aeldra said with a grin, and the two women hugged awkwardly, then pulled away,
each of them clearing her throat and feeling slightly embarrassed.

“Well,” Helen said with a pleased little sigh, “now that the two of you have settled that,
you should both leave at once and make Blake give chase. Leaving you hanging about until
twenty-four is shameful and he deserves to suffer for it.”

Seonaid peered at Helen with amazement. “Yer no sounding much like a sister, Sister,” she
teased.

Helen grinned. “In truth, I do not feel much like a sister either. I wish I could go with
you.”

Seonaid glanced down at her feet again, feeling confused about what she should do. She
wasn't completely over her anger with Blake, but the memory of his kiss was strong in her
mind, blurring her thinking a bit.

“We do have to leave, Seonaid,” Aeldra said suddenly. “And no jest to harass Blake.”

She glanced at her cousin with interest. “Oh?”

“Has it no occurred to ye that Rollo Cameron is in quite a spot at the moment?”

“Aye. He's most like to lose his home and his very life over this does he no flee before
Helen's father gets here, finds out what's about, and sends a message to the king.”

“Aye,” Aeldra agreed solemnly. “If Helen's father arrives here.”

Seonaid frowned. “What mean ye,if he gets here?”

“Well, all Rollo's problems could be at an end if he could just silence Helen and her
father.”

“Damn,” Seonaid murmured. Desperate men took desperate measures. And if he was willing to
commit one murder, why not two?

“I do not understand,” Helen said anxiously. “You think Rollo will go after my father?”

Seonaid stood and began to pace as she considered the problem. “Yer maid went to yer
father. If she gets there, what will she tell him?”

“If she gets there?” Helen echoed.

“Aye. I'm presumin' Cameron had many men traveling with him?” When she nodded, Seonaid
pointed out, “Well, he may have sent half after her, or even just a couple, and kept the
rest with him to come after you. She may no have reached him at all. But if she did,” she
hurried on when Helen began to look upset, “what would she tell him?”

Helen hesitated, obviously distressed by the possibility that the maid might not have
reached her father, something she hadn't considered. But then she appeared to force the
thought aside and straightened. “She would tell him that I overheard Rollo plotting to
kill me. That we escaped and I fled to St. Simmian's while she made her way home.”

“And what would yer father do?”

“He would be very upset, furious. He would mount up at once and ride to St. Simmian's to
hear it from me for himself.”

“Alone?”

“Nay. He would bring most of his men. He would be angry and in a fighting mood. He would
bring enough men to lay siege to Cameron's castle, if necessary.”

Seonaid nodded. “Would he take the time to write to yer king first?”

Helen bit her lip as she thought, then shook her head. “Nay.”

Seonaid sighed. “I suppose it doesna matter whether he would have written to the king or
no. Either way, so long as Rollo kills you and yer father, he is safe.”

“But Father would bring an army. He should be safe with all his men around him.” Seonaid
shrugged. “They'll be lookin' fer you, no awatchin' fer an assassin.” “Assassin?” Helen
gasped.

“Well, Cameron doesna need to kill yer father's entire army; he needs only to kill you and
yer father and either make both look like accidents or attacks by someone else. Then he
need only claim ye'd misheard him and it was all an error. He'd probably get away with it
so long as yer father's no around to pursue it further. Unless ye have other powerful
relatives, an uncle or a brother or some such?” Seonaid finished the comment on a
question, but Helen shook her head.

“I am my parents' only child, and each of them were the only surviving children in their
families. 'Tis why Father chose Rollo Cameron; he has an older brother who is laird of the
Camerons. Father hoped he would wish to live in England and take over there.”

Seonaid nodded and continued to pace and ponder. Helen and Aeldra waited patiently but
looked expectant when she stopped and turned to face them. “Aeldra and I will away to yer
father and explain all. That way at least he will be warned about what is happening and to
watch fer Rollo. We can ride back with him and”

“I will come with you.”

“Nay. Ye're safer here, Helen.”

“I shall not allow you two to risk yourselves for me alone. I will go with you,” Helen
said with determination.

“Nay. You” “Would you allow me to ride out on a dangerous journey like this while you
stayed safely behind?” Seonaid scowled, unable to argue that.

“Besides, if we were to take the secret passage Aeldra mentioned, surely we could slip
away without Cameron seeing us. If he followed, he saw us enter the bailey, and he will be
watching the gate to see us leave.”

“She's right,” Aeldra said quietly. “'Sides, we did promise to see her home.”

“Aye.” Seonaid sighed. “All right, we will all three of us go.”

They were all silent for a moment; then Helen said, “What of Lord Blake?”

Seonaid smiled wryly and shrugged. “He dallied ten years in comin' after me, he can wait
on me fer a change.”

Helen nodded, then asked, “When shall we go?”

Seonaid exchanged a glance with Aeldra, then shrugged and stood. “Now. The men should
sleep fer another four hours at least. That gives us a good head start. Come.”

She led the way to the door of the room, opened it, and stepped out into the hall,
relieved to find it empty. Gesturing for them to move quietly, Seonaid practically tiptoed
along the hall to her own room and eased that door open.

“It is in here?” Helen asked in a whisper. The trepidation in the woman's voice made
Seonaid glance curiously over her shoulder as she stepped inside.

“Aye. Why do you ask like that?”

“Oh, no!” Aeldra hissed as she followed the two of them into the room.

Seonaid's eyes shot to her cousin in question, then turned and peered at the wall Aeldra
was gaping at, and her mouth fell open with shock. The entrance to the secret passage had
been blocked off.

“I had the men block off the secret passage.” Angus Dunbar stood in the doorway to his
room, glaring at Seonaid irritably. She was glaring right back.

Seonaid had stared at the pile of huge stones stacked up against the wall of her room with
shock, then whirled away and stormed to her father's door to find out what on earth was
going on.

“Aye, I ken ye blocked it up. I just saw it. Helen was asleep in my room earlier, or I
would have known then. What I'm wantin' to know is why ye would do a fool thing like that.”

“Because Allis” He paused abruptly, and seemed to change what he had been going to say to,
“Because someone told Greenweld about the secret passages, or at least one o' them. So I
had them both blocked off so they could no invade the castle.”

“Damn!” Seonaid closed her eyes briefly, then sighed and told him, “We know about
Allistair.” “Ye do?” His scowl deepened. “Who told ye? Duncan?” “Nay. Giorsal.”

“Giorsal?” He looked shocked. “How the devil did she ken?” he asked, then answered his own
question. “Duncan must have told her. Only he, Iliana, and I ken the truth. Well, and Lady
Wildwood, but she's no talked to anyone. She's been with me since”

“No one told Giorsal,” Seonaid interrupted. “She knew the tale o' Allistair's dying in
battle was false because she knew he was plotting with Greenweld. She is the one who
encouraged him to do so.”

The air left Angus on a hiss.

“Ye may wish to watch her,” Aeldra said quietly. “She's grown more and more bitter o'er
the years, and this has jest made her worse.”

“Aye.” Angus ran a hand through his wiry gray hair, then told Aeldra, “She hoped to marry
me, ye ken. When yer mother and my brother got together, Giorsal had hopes that she and I
might make a match too, but I fell in love with Muireall, Duncan and Seonaid's mother.
Giorsal never forgave me for it.” He shook his head. “I'm sorry about Allistair, child.”

Aeldra shrugged unhappily. “ 'Tis no yer fault. Allistair made his own decisions, as does
Giorsal. 'Tis kind o' ye to try to preserve his honor in memory at least by keeping what
he was up to a secret.”

“He wasna a bad lad,” Angus said gruffly. “Must have been sufferin' a brain fever to have
acted so. 'Sides, Duncan said 'twas obvious Allistair's heart wasna wholly in it. He
wouldna let Greenweld abuse Iliana and he couldna bring hisself to kill Duncan, but made
the lad kill him instead.”

Seonaid was grateful her father took the trouble to say that, whether is was true or not.
Aeldra had needed something like that to hold on to. A rush of love welled up in her heart
for the gruff old man, but dissipated when he turned narrowed eyes her way. “And why are
ye so upset about the secret passage anyway? Ye werena plannin' to run off again, were ye?”

“Would ye care if I did?” Seonaid asked with a scowl, then thought to ask, “Blake's father
hasna arrived yet, has he?” They would not hold the wedding without him.

“Nay, Sherwell hasna yet arrived,” Angus said. He hesitated before adding, “The boy
deserved a good set down after dallying so long in coming fer ye, and from what the
Campbell told Duncan, ye gave him that.” He grinned suddenly. “It sounds an entertaining
tale too. Ye'll have to tell it to me at sup.” His smile

faded, his expression becoming solemn. “But ye'll have to marry the lad eventually. And
'tis a fine line between showing him the error of his ways and humiliatin' him to where he
thinks he has to get some of his own back.”

Seonaid frowned over those words.

“He's a lot like his father, mostly good-natured and honorable, but ye don't want to push
him too far.”

“Good-natured and honorable?” Seonaid gaped at her father. “Ye said the Sherwell was a
sneaky English bastard, that”

“Aye, well, I've been angry at him, haven't I? We had a falling out.” He scowled, but the
expression died abruptly as a lovely older woman appeared at his shoulder. “Margaret.
What?”

“I thought I would just go down and have a word with Elgin. He shall need to know there
will be more for dinner this eve. I doubt Iliana will get the chance to warn him in time
for him to prepare extra. Perhaps he could even manage a special treat to welcome Seonaid
and Aeldra back.” She offered a smile of greeting to the three women as she spoke, and all
of them smiled in return.

If she hadn't looked so much like her daughter, Iliana, Seonaid would not have recognized
Lady Wildwood from their first meeting. The woman was looking much better than she had on
her arrival at Dunbar. Seonaid had only caught a glimpse of her then, but enough to know
she'd been badly beaten; her face had been swollen, her eyes blackened, her nose broken.
The rest of her hadn't been in any better shape. Lady Wildwood's face was completely
healed now, however, and she was quite as lovely as her daughter.

“Oh, but...” Angus protested. “Mayhap you should dress yourself, my lord,” Lady Margaret
cut him off with a gentle smile. "You

should not really be standing about in front ofSister Helen like this. Do you not agree?"

Seonaid's eyes shot to Lady Wildwood's face at the way she said the wordsister . She found
her peering at Helen with a perplexed look before glancing at Angus Dunbar. Seonaid
followed her gaze and found him peering down at himself with a frown. He had again donned
the golden braies to answer the door when Seonaid had knocked but had not bothered with a
tunic, so stood bare-chested in the doorway. Muttering something under his breath, he
turned and moved quickly back into the room and out of sight.

Lady Wildwood smiled after him, then turned and held out a hand to Seonaid.

“Hello, Seonaid, is it?” Margaret asked.

“Aye.” She hesitated, then placed her hand in Lady Wildwood's and found it drawn through
the woman's arm as she stepped into the hall to join them.

“Why do you not come with me, Seonaid? Perhaps between us we can convince Elgin to make
your favorite meal. What is your favorite meal?”

“Oh... er...” Seonaid glanced over her shoulder toward Aeldra and Helen. Lady Wildwood
glanced back too. "Would you ladies mind waiting for Lord Angus and explaining

where Seonaid and I have gone?"

When both women nodded their heads helplessly, Lady Wildwood smiled. “Thank you,” she
murmured, then continued on, gently tugging Seonaid along with her. “Now, what was your
favorite meal, dear?”

“I... er... colcannon, black buns, and haggis.”

“I do not think I have tried the colcannon yet, though I have had black buns. Quite
delicious,” she pronounced.

“Aye,” Seonaid agreed as she was led down the stairs. Her gaze swept the great hall as she
walked. She spotted Blake dozing in a chair by the fire as Aeldra had said he was, and as
she had said, he seemed to wake at the least sound, for he blinked his eyes open as they
reached the foot of the stairs, andspying themsat up abruptly.

“We are just going to speak with cook, then have a little chat,” Lady Wildwood announced
when he got to his feet as if to approach them, adding firmly, “the sort of chat men are
not welcome to join.”

Much to Seonaid's amazement, Blake hesitated, then sank back into his chair and let them
go on their way without interference. She peered at Lady Wildwood with new respect at this
display of how to handle a man. Iliana's mother hadn't even raised her voice or had to
make any sort of threat, and the man had behaved as beautifully as a well-trained puppy.
Seonaid was impressed.

Once in the kitchen, the woman handled Elgin just as easily, greeting him with pleasure
and gently flattering him until he was practically begging to do as she wished. Seonaid
didn't know if she could emulate the woman's skill, but she was certainly impressed by it.
Until Lady Wildwood said, “Perhaps we should see if Lord Blake has any dishes he prefers.”

Seonaid scowled and suggested, “Rabbit stew.”

“Hmmm. I think not.”

Her tone of voice hadn't changed, but her smile had dimmed slightly. She'd obviously heard
the tale of the poisoned stew. Seonaid supposed Gavin had blabbed about that to Duncan too
and the tale had made its way to her father and then to Lady Wildwood. She wished it
hadn't; she was suddenly feeling all squirmy inside with guilt under Lady Wildwood's
solemn stare.

“I realize you were mightily offended by his delay in coming to collect you, Seonaid,”
Iliana's mother said gently. “And while I understand, I do not think you should take his
actions to heart. After all, he did not know you, so it was not reallyyou he was dallying
over collecting, was it?”

“It wasna?” “Nay.” “Then who was he dallyin' over collectin'?”

“You are being deliberately obtuse,” she said with exasperation. “Surely you understand
what I mean. Had he met you and known you before this, then you would have every right to
be offended at his delay. But as he did not even know you, it is not you personally he was
neglecting to collect, but your name. Your father's daughter. Now that he knows you, he is
obviously pleased to marry you.”

“He is?” she asked with amazement.

“Aye. Well, he did not need to chase you all over Scotland, dear. He could have gone to
the king at any point after your battle at St. Simmian's and claimed he had done his part,
that you were not co-operating and he wanted his freedom from the contract. In fact, the
way you attacked him at the abbey would have worked to his favor in gaining his freedom
had he truly wanted it.”

“So, ye think he's awantin' to marry me?” Seonaid asked with interest. “Aye. I do.” “Why?”
“Why?” she echoed with confusion.

“Why should he want to marry me? I ken nothin' about bein' a proper lady and wife. I canna
sew, I canna run the servants, I” Catching sight of Elgin edging closer and bending his
ear their way to try to hear what she was saying, Seonaid scowled at the man and barked,
“Get back to work on that colcannon else we'll have none fer sup.”

The man leapt to it without question.

“Aye, well...” Lady Wildwood cleared her throat. “You could learn to have a gender hand
with the servants, perhaps, but you do know how to order them. As for sewing and such,
Lord Blake will have servants to do those things.”

Seonaid considered her words, then sighed. “I doona even ken what a lady is supposed to
know. I only ken that I doona know it.”

Lady Wildwood pondered the matter briefly, then said, “Aye, but you know other things most
ladies do not. For instance, I understand you and Aeldra have been to battle with the men?”

“Aye.” Seonaid smiled wryly. “And we just as often have to sew 'em up afterward too.”

“You do?” she asked with sudden excitement.

“Aye. They're a great lot of babies about such things, ye ken. Most of 'em whine and
whinge and flinch at the very idea of stitching up a wound or having whiskey poured over
it, so Giorsal taught us how to tend them.”

“But that is wonderful!” Lady Wildwood enthused.

“It is?” Seonaid asked slowly. “Why?”

“Why?” Lady Wildwood echoed with surprise, then shook her head. “Because, my dear, tending
the ill and wounded is one of the most valuable skills a lady can have, and you do have
it.”

“Oh.” Seonaid considered this with relief. She had one skill at least. It was better than
nothing. "And you also have many skills most ladies do not have. And you are very pretty,
my dear. And

obviously intelligent. These are all very good reasons for Lord Blake to be happy to marry
you.“ Iliana's mother tilted her head to the side. ”The question is, can you see yourself
being happy married to him? For I feel sure that your father would give up your dower and
cancel the wedding rather than see you miserable."

Seonaid considered the question seriously. She had always known she would marry Blake
Sherwell, and had gone about her business on that premise. In fact, she had lived with the
idea for so long that the possibility of not marrying him was almost alien to her. And
from all she had heardwell, aside from her father's ranting, which the old man seemed to
be taking back nowhe was an admirable man; hard-working, ambitious, strong in battle yet
fair.

Then too, there was what she had seen of him since battling in the chapel at St.
Simmian's. Blake didn't appear to have a cruel streak. Another man might have beaten her
on catching up to her at the barn after the incident with the stew. He would have been
within his rights to do so. Actually, he would have been within his rights to do a lot
more than beat her, she thought with a start. Poisoning others was against the law, after
all. But he hadn't beat her; he hadn't even been mean to her since then. And this after
she had already pushed his patience with her constant escape attempts, including the time
she'd kicked him in the groin, then used her foot to toss him over her head. The man had
the patience of a saint, to her way of thinking. She probably would have plowed him one
herself for such a stunt.

“Seonaid?” Lady Wildwood prompted.

“Hmm.” She sighed, then listed his positives, “He's smart, reputed to be good in battle,
ambitious, patient, and I like the look o' him.”

“You like the look of him?” Lady Wildwood smiled slightly.

Seonaid shrugged. “He's pretty.”

Iliana's mother bit her lip, but nodded. “Aye. He is very... er... handsome.”

“Well formed too,” Seonaid informed her. “He has nice muscles in his shoulders and back,
nice legs too, and I like his backside.”

Lady Wildwood blinked. “Excuse me?”

“His backside,” Seonaid repeated. “I havena seen many, but the ones I've seen all looked
rather flat and saggy, but his is nice and rounded and” Seonaid paused to thump Lady
Wildwood's back when the woman made a choking sound and suddenly began to cough. When the
coughing fit stopped and the woman waved her thumping off, she asked with concern, “Are ye
a'right?”

“Aye.” She nodded, but her face was terribly flushed. Still, she soldiered on, “So, you
like him and find him handsome and he has fine... parts,” she said delicately, then added,
“I am sure I heard abut in there however?”