Page 18 of Bride Takes a Laird (Highland Vows & Vengeance #2)

M agnus stood by the garrison and tried to pay attention to what his brother was saying, but he couldn’t help but think about Kendra and that she purposely kept from him the fact that she was betrothed when they’d met. That she hadn’t confessed when he asked her dejected him. He didn’t want his wife to keep secrets from him. There had to be a reason why she’d done so. Eventually, he’d get her to open up about it. Until then, he needed to settle the matter.

Wyren grumbled and shoved his shoulder. “Only two men are missing from the garrison. Since there’s no sentry out about our lands, I say they might be the two we search for.”

“That makes sense. Aye, have a search made for them and when we find them, I want to question them.”

His brother nodded. “I’ll see to it.”

“I must take care of something, a personal matter, and need two messengers. Pick two of our most trusted soldiers.”

Wyren tilted his head to the side. “And where are these messengers headed?”

“It doesn’t concern ye. Just have the men await me outside the fief.” Without another word, he strode off toward home and entered. Someone was inside the hall and he heard voices. He supposed it was his parents because no others resided within. He’d spotted Kendra earlier headed to the back of the fief so she wasn’t inside. Taking the steps two at a time, he entered his chamber, left the door open, and rushed to the table.

There, he picked up a quill and found a blank parchment. After he dipped the quill in the small ink pot, he considered what he’d wanted to reply. He hastily wrote:

Lord Heatherington, enclosed within ye shall find the sum which ye paid to Lord Graham for his daughter’s hand. I consider this matter closed and ye will not have contact with my wife or her father henceforth. If I hear that ye try to extort coins from my wife or her father again, ye shall bear my wrath. Magnus, Laird of Clan Cameron.

He reached for the small coffer on the table and retrieved the coins needed to pay the debt. Once he placed the coins in the center of the parchment, he folded it tightly so they wouldn’t fall out and sealed it with wax along the seams and in the center with his seal.

Before he left the chamber, he glanced around and noticed his wife had tidied it. His shoulders slumped because he should have just told her what he’d found out instead of trying to get her to tell him. He realized he’d been overly harsh too with her and that tightened his chest. Kendra was a kind-hearted lass and she had tried to help him even though she should have spoken to him about the parchments. With that thought, he returned to the tables and picked up a volume.

Magnus thumbed through the pages and he sighed at the work she’d done. All were correctly inputted, summed, and properly categorized. The discrepancy wasn’t as great as he’d thought it would be. Ned hadn’t squandered their fortune. He gave praise to God above for that because the coin belonged to the clan and their needs.

How had his wife come by such knowledge? He should’ve known she would be apt at such a task. When next he saw her, he would have to apologize for being brash and perhaps even thank her for her aid.

He set the volume down and picked up the missive that he wanted to be delivered to Heatherington. Trudging down the stairs, he listened again but didn’t hear anyone in the hall. He left the keep and found the two soldiers his brother had assigned to the task of delivering his message. Magnus handed the missive to James and instructed where to deliver it.

The men bowed to him and set off.

Magnus headed for the stable and met with the stable master, Vincent. The man stroked the feathered back of the hawk that his brother had brought to him for healing. The hawk skitted around on the protective cover on Vincent’s forearm and eyed him curiously.

“How is he? Almost ready to be freed?”

“Aye, he’s sound now, he is. I was awaiting Jake’s return and thought he might want to release him. When is he expected home?” Vincent lowered his dark-haired head toward the bird a made clicks with his tongue.

“I know not when he shall return. He’s recovering from an injury at the healer’s cottage. It could be some time before he comes home. If the bird is ready to be released, I’m sure Jake would want ye to handle it.”

“Och, I’ll see to it then. Are ye needing your horse, Laird?”

Magnus nodded and wondered where Winston was. “If ye are busy, I can get him. Where’s Winston?”

Vincent grumbled. “Your attendant has been shirking his duties of late. Either marriage is keeping him from the stables or he is up to no good.”

“I’m sure whatever keeps Winston away is important. It is not like him to shirk his duty. I shall ask him when next I see him.” Magnus strode away from the stable master and reached his steed’s stall. It took little time to saddle him and get him ready for the trek.

Outside, he mounted his horse and rode to the gate. The watch hastily strode toward to open it and as he rode through, he said, “I will return on the morrow.”

Craig, the leader of the gate watchmen, shouted their clan’s motto and nodded to him.

Magnus didn’t bother to take anyone with him for his trek to Lillith’s cottage. The location of the healer’s domain was close to the border of his lands and a great distance, at least a few leagues away. As he rode along, he thought about his brother and hoped Jake recovered. Likewise, he suspected Oswald’s injury had to be good and healed by now.

From the distance, he noticed the smoke from Lillith’s chimney. Blackish-gray smoke wafted into the afternoon’s sky. Outside Lillith’s cottage, he tethered his horse and ambled up the walkway to the door. He rapped on the wooden edifice and waited. The door was opened a moment later by Hayden.

“Laird, ’tis good to see ye. I’m gladdened ye came.” Hayden opened the door wider to allow his entrance.

Magnus stepped inside and clapped Hayden on the shoulder. “’Tis good to see ye too. How are our men?” He saw Lillith tending to the MacKendrick soldier. Jake lay upon a cot next to him. Oswald sat in a chair by a low table and stirred something in a pot.

“Oswald is well enough to return, Laird,” Lillith said.

He approached his soldier and nodded. “That is welcome news, Oswald. I’m glad to hear it.”

“Och, aye, my leg is just a wee bit tender. I can walk on it now for a short trek.”

“Good. And Jake?” he asked Hayden.

“Your brother still has not regained his senses.” Hayden’s face shifted forward as if he hid his eyes from him.

Lillith continued with her task of tending to the other soldier and said over her shoulder, “Jake lost a lot of blood and I suspect that is what keeps him from waking…that, and fever.”

Magnus was disheartened by that news. He stepped toward the cot where his brother lay and studied his face. His brother’s eyes remained closed and it only looked as though he was sleeping. He waited for Lillith to finish tending to the MacKendrick soldier and when she stood, he bowed to her. “Mistress.”

“Laird Cameron, I’m afraid your brother has developed an infection and I have had a difficult time keeping him cool. I continue to observe him but he is not out of danger. He shall need to remain here. Oswald is free to go.”

“Will Jake survive?” Magnus’s body tensed as he waited for the answer. Often infection lingered and took the life when a wound was too severe to mend.

“I cannot say, Laird, but I will do my best to help him.”

Magnus nodded, his heart heavy. “My thanks, Mistress, for your care of my men. Is there anything ye need? I can have my clansmen bring whatever ye need… Or should I leave Hayden here to assist ye?”

Lillith wiped her hands with a cloth she picked up from a nearby table. “Your men may leave. I no longer require them. Now that Jake is settled on a cot and the MacKendrick soldier is healing, there’s naught much to do. I will take ye up on your offer though, for I need some herbs and such, and have no time to collect them. If ye can have someone fetch them from the woods… I shall need mint, licorice root, willow-tree bark, and honey.”

“Of course, Mistress. Hayden will set men to tend to it when we reach home and return within a day or two with the items.” Magnus pressed a gentle hand on his brother’s head but Jake didn’t respond. He hoped he would recover soon. With that, he left the cottage and awaited his men outside.

Hayden ambled from the cottage and rounded the building, then returned a moment later with his and Oswald’s horses. “Laird, how goes the keep? Have ye made progress in finding out what happened to Ned?”

“Aye, a wee bit of progress. I’ll tell ye later what I have learned.” Magnus trusted Hayden as much as he put his faith in Wyren. Although he hadn’t wanted anyone within the clan to know about the two traitors, Hayden might have information that could shed light on the situation.

Osward retreated from the cottage and there was no limp in his gait. He mounted his horse and they rode toward the woods that led to their fortification. All were quiet during the ride.

Magnus had hoped to return home by nightfall, and since it was now dark out, they might have to make camp and settle for the night. The trek to his home was more than a few leagues and would take time to reach. After riding for a good stretch, he called a halt.

“Let us make camp and we’ll continue onward when there’s enough light to see by.”

His men dismounted. Hayden set off to find wood for a fire while Oswald retrieved his saddle bag. From it, he removed a bit of foodstuff he’d been given by Lillith.

“She gave this to me before I left the cottage. It should make for a good meal,” Oswald explained. “’Tis some pottage in a hollowed loaf of whey bread.”

Hayden started a fire and tossed in various-sized twigs and branches he’d collected.

“I am hungry.” Magnus settled near the fire and after eating a little, he grew tired. A night’s rest in the woods would help to clear his head and give him a good rest. He lay back on the ground and used his tartan under his head. Fortunately, the night hadn’t gotten too cold. He’d need no extra tartan to keep away a chill.

As the men settled around the fire, he closed his eyes and thought about his bonny wife. With everything that happened of late, he had put aside his marriage and his wife’s feelings. It didn’t sit well that he’d seen little of her or had given her his attention. If only Ned’s murder or his men being injured during their fracas with the Chattans hadn’t taken up his time. He might have enjoyed his marriage to Kendra. There was much to learn about her and the first thing he needed to know was why she hadn’t told him about her previous betrothal or how she learned the tasks of a steward.

The sound of a swish alerted him that someone was in the woods. A thumping sound caused his eyes to shoot open. He saw a rock rolling on the ground and it stopped before it reached the fire. His eyes scrutinized it for a moment and then he heard the sound of another whistling through the air. The rock hit Hayden’s head and his soldier fell back. He landed just before the fire with a thump on the ground.

Magnus was just getting to his feet when another rock came, sailing through the air with speed. It hit Oswald in the center of his eyes and he pitched forward and fell flat on a patch of grass near their horses. Magnus drew his sword and searched within the dark woods but the obscurity of them hid their ambushers. He turned about, peering around him. Another rock came and hit him on the side of the head and he lost the hold of his sword. He dropped it and it almost landed in the fire.

Magnus pressed his hands on his head, closed his eyes for a moment, and tried to stop the intense twinge. When he opened his eyes again, his view was obscured and hazy. His head throbbed madly and he felt a warm stream of blood flowing down the side of his face.

Magnus fell to his knees, groaned, and tumbled forward, landing on his chest. He shifted his hand to his head and pressed above his ear to try to abate the dizzying sense that overtook him. His other hand felt around the ground for his sword, knowing he needed to protect himself. Voices sounded around him but before he could ascertain the threat, he succumbed to the darkness of unconsciousness.