THE GIFT: A Highland Novella (13 page)

“
You
’
re a thick-headed man,
”
she said.
“
I want to go home.
”

Her declaration pierced him. Though she had been so frightened of the London mobs that she traveled hundreds of miles alone into a strange land to escape, she would rather return than be with him.

“
I
’
ve told ye,
’
tis too dangerous to sail the open sea with winter upon us.
”

“
I don
’
t care,
”
she said, folding her arms.
“
I
’
m going anyway.
”

“
The Lord of the Isles wishes ye to remain on MacDonald lands,
”
he said.
“
No boat will take you away against his wishes.
”

When she squeezed her eyes shut and pounded her fist against the wall, he felt as if a giant hole had opened beneath him, and he was falling fast.

CHAPTER 12

“
I
’
ll take ye back to your chamber,
”
Roderick said, gripping her elbow.

“
Don
’
t touch me.
”
She jerked her arm away.
“
I don
’
t need you to escort me. I remember the way.
”

“’
Tis not safe for a lass to walk about on her own with drunken warriors everywhere.
”

She brushed away an angry tear. Arguing would be pointless, so she fixed her gaze ahead and marched down the corridor.

“
In the morning after you
’
re rested,
”
he said,
“
we can discuss how to change the chieftain
’
s mind and avoid this marriage, if that
’
s what ye wish.
”

If
that
’
s what she wished? Was he daft? He had deceived her. It gave her no comfort that he, in turn, had been deceived. When she remembered the horror on his face upon learning that he was expected not just to deliver her but to wed her, Lily had to hold her breath to keep from weeping
—
which infuriated her all the more.

“
Don
’
t pretend you wish us to marry any more than I do,
”
she snapped as she marched up the stairs to her guest chamber.
“
Though I expect your chieftain would reward you well for suffering with me as a wife.
”

There was no possibility she would let that happen.

When they reached the door, she was assaulted with the memory of the passionate kisses they had shared at this very spot the night before.

“
Give me time,
”
he said.
“
I
’
ll find a way to make this right.
”

She bit her lip as he brushed a stray tangle of hair from her cheek. Despite everything he
’
d done, she had to fight the temptation to lean against him and rest her head against his chest.

“
Lily,
”
he said, and rested his hand on the back of her waist, drawing her toward him.

For a moment, she was caught in the treacherous memory of how it had felt to be wrapped in his arms as he said her name and moved inside her. The enchantment he wielded on her was so strong that she wanted to believe he cared for her, that it had not all been a lie.

Before she weakened, she ran inside, slammed the door in his face, and threw the bar across. While he called her name and pounded on the other side, she leaned her back against the door and slid slowly to the floor.

***

Roderick sat in his guest chamber drinking far too much, though his celebratory mood was long gone.

He had a nagging feeling that he ought to go back to Lily
’
s chamber. Each time it pulled at him, he took another drink and stifled the urge. When she slammed the door in his face, he had banged on it until his hand was bruised. It was the middle of the night now. She needed her sleep, and he should be sober when he tried to make amends to her.

Winning Lily
’
s forgiveness would not be easy. And how in God
’
s name was he going to mollify his chieftain when he refused to wed her? He sure as hell was not going to force Lily to be his wife.

He took another long drink.

He woke up with a start, dreaming he heard Lily call his name. Squinting against the daylight eking through the narrow window, he saw that he was still fully dressed, sprawled across the bed.

His throat was parched, his tongue felt like sand, and he had a blinding headache. He got up and splashed water on his face from the ewer. As he drank down a cup of stale ale he found on the table, he looked out the window.

Through the hills, he had a narrow view of the bay and the sea beyond. Something caught his eye
—
a dark red sail small as his thumbnail from this distance, disappearing over the horizon.

The Spaniard
’
s ship.
He remembered Lily and the Spaniard talking with their heads together during supper. Damn it, he knew it in his gut that she was on that ship. If she was, he would sail after it and fetch her.

He was strapping on his sword when a fist pounded at the door loud enough to make him wince. He swung open the door to find one of Alexander
’
s personal guards.

“
The Lord of Isles wants you,
”
the guard said.
“
Now.
”

“
There
’
s something I must do first.
”
Roderick was desperate to go to Lily
’
s chamber in the hope of proving his instincts wrong. And if his instincts were right, he was going after her.

“
Nay, ye must come at once,
”
the guard said, shaking his head.
“
The chieftain is in a fury.
”

A few moments later, Roderick strode into Alexander
’
s solar, fuming with impatience.

“
Your Sassenach disappeared,
”
Alexander greeted him.

Roderick
’
s heart nearly stopped in his chest. Lily was gone. She must have left in the night, with drunken Highland warriors at every turn. Anything could have happened to her. She could be lying in a field, raped and bloody.

“
Good God,
”
he said,
“
I must find her.
”

“
I sent men all over the island looking for her earlier,
”
Alexander said with an icy glare, then he added through his teeth,
“
While you slept.
”

“
She may have boarded that Spaniard
’
s ship,
”
Roderick said, anxious to be on his way.
“
I
’
ll go after her.
”

“
No need,
”
Alexander said, drumming his fingers on the arm of his elaborately carved chair.
“
I already have her.
”

Praise God.
Relief coursed through Roderick
’
s limbs.
“
Where is she? Is she all right?
”

Alexander slammed his fist on the arm of his chair and roared,
“
I
’
m not accustomed to being disobeyed!
”

Roderick had been so worried about Lily that he had failed to appreciate that the Lord of the Isles was enraged.

“
I honored that English lass by welcoming her to the great clan MacDonald, and I made clear my wish that the two of ye wed.
”
Alexander got up and paced the room with his hand clenched around the jeweled hilt of the dirk at his belt.
“
Yet I must send warriors searching every path, every cottage, every boat, looking for the wretched lass.
”

“
I understand Lily has tried your patience, but she
’
s a Sassenach and doesn
’
t understand our ways.
”

“
She was found on the Spaniard
’
s ship,
”
he spat out,
“
dressed as a lad.
”

“
Let me speak to her,
”
Roderick said.
“
I
’
ll persuade her that she must respect your commands.
”

“
Your skills under the blanket must not be up to your reputation, as ye failed to persuade her yet,
”
Alexander said.
“
But perhaps she
’
ll find ye more appealing after she spends some time in the dungeon.
”

Roderick staggered back a step.
“
You
’
ve locked Lily in the dungeon?
”

CHAPTER 13

The dungeon was so dark that Lily could not see the rats, but she heard them skittering before her feet as she paced her tiny cell. Rodents were less likely to bite if you kept moving. She had learned that useful lesson when her grown idiot brothers locked her in the cellar, hoping to make her cry and scream, the last time she was fool enough to visit them.

At each turn, she cursed someone. First she cursed the Spaniard for giving her up so easily. As soon as a dozen Highland warriors brandishing huge swords boarded his ship, he pointed to where she was hiding behind a barrel on the deck.

Next she cursed the Lord of the Isles, the great chieftain of chieftains, for sending the men to catch her, and she cursed both him and the men for locking her in this filthy cell.

Then it was Roderick
’
s turn, and that was a long list. She must have walked half a mile back and forth, back and forth, as she cursed him for each wrong he
’
d done her.

Lastly, she cursed herself for wishing Roderick had been there when the men caught her. Somehow, she did not think she would have ended up in the dungeon if he had been. Like a fool, she had even called for him when they carried her into the cell, though he was nowhere in sight.

She came to an abrupt halt as something else occurred to her.
Good God,
what had she done? Or rather, failed to do
.

Now was just a fine time to realize she had never prepared that tincture to prevent conceiving a child from her night of sin with Roderick. How could she have forgotten? Even if she were not locked in this godforsaken dungeon without her bag of herbs, it was far too late now.

She started pacing again, but faster, spinning around again and again in the cramped space. But she could not outrun her thoughts. The reason she had not taken the tincture was painfully clear to her now. Deep down, she wanted a child.

She wanted
his
child.

A door creaked somewhere above her. When she heard footsteps on the stairs that led down to her cell, she finally stopped her pacing.

She squinted against the sudden torchlight that shone through the iron grate of her cell.

“
Lily?
”

Relief flooded through her at the sound of Roderick
’
s voice, and she chastised herself for it. He had fooled her with false kindness.

She had not let anyone hurt her in a long, long time. No matter what, she would not let the Highlander past her defenses again.

***

Roderick
’
s heart lurched when he saw Lily in the torchlight through the iron grate. She looked much like when he first met her
—
tired and dirty and dressed in lad
’
s clothes
—
and utterly pathetic. Thinking she would be more amenable to what he had to say while behind bars, he resisted the urge to unlock the door at once and pull her into his arms.

He leaned against the grate and folded his arms.
“
I
’
ve made a deal with my chieftain to get ye out of there.
”

“
I
’
m not marrying you,
”
she snapped before he could get out another word.
“
If that
’
s the agreement you
’
ve made, you can tell him I
’
d rather remain in his dungeon until I rot.
”

Roderick sighed inwardly. Her brief imprisonment had not cooled her temper.

“
I
’
ve managed to persuade Alexander to let me take ye to my grandmother
’
s.
”
That had been no easy task after Lily
’
s attempt to defy him by running off.
“
You
’
ll stay with her for the winter.
”

“
And after the winter?
”
Lily maintained her defiant stance, but he could tell by the tilt of her head that she was willing to listen now.

“
If my grandmother determines ye don
’
t have the gift to be our clan
’
s next seer
—”

“
I don
’
t.
”

“
Then you
’
ll be free to return to London in the spring with the blessing of the Lord of the Isles.
”

“
You
’
ll understand if I don
’
t have much faith in the old woman
’
s ability to see into the future, as it was her prediction that got me into this trouble,
”
she said.
“
What if she still says I am the one she foretold?
”