Page 19 of Bride Takes a Laird (Highland Vows & Vengeance #2)

S omething awoke her—a bang or shout, Kendra wasn’t sure which. She rubbed her eyes and sighed wistfully because she didn’t want to awaken. She’d had the most sensual dream about Magnus. His hands roamed her body and she sensed the effect of them on her skin as if it were actually happening. Regrettably, now she realized it had been just a dream and he wasn’t in bed beside her. By the sight of the window casement, it was night for the sky was dark. Magnus still hadn’t returned and his side of the bed remained unoccupied for the third night.

The banging sounded again. Someone was knocking at her bedchamber door.

Kendra closed her eyes and drifted slowly toward a good slumber and back to the sensual essence of Magnus caressing her when someone shook her.

“Kendra, you must awaken. Something has happened.”

She groaned and rolled to her side. “I don’t wish to rise, Linet. Go away.” Kendra wanted to revisit her dream. In her sleep, Magnus loved her. It was the only place—in her dreams—that he was honest about how he felt about her.

“My Lady, your father has gone missing. You must rise.”

She shot up to a sitting position and pressed her hands over her face to abate her drowsiness. “What say you?” Kendra threw her legs over the side of the bed. Sleepiness and the lure of being with Magnus had completely vanished and she stared at her friend. “I’m awake. What has happened to Papa?”

Linet rummaged through her garments and approached with a frock. “Here, put this on. You shall need a cloak too for it is a little chilly this night. Your da has gone missing. John said that they had gone to bed and he’d awakened because he heard a noise. He realized that your da was not in his bed and so he searched the cottage and outside but alas could not find him. The watch has called a search and there are men even now searching the grounds.”

“Oh, nay. He’s probably just wandering around the fief. We shall find him.” At first, Kendra wasn’t too worried because her father had gone on a walk before but he’d never gone too far. But as the final dregs of sleep drained away, she realized they weren’t at home. It was her worst fear, that he’d be lost on Cameron land, come true.

“Come, we should join the search.” Linet awaited her by the door.

Kendra pulled off her night garment and yanked the overdress over her head. She slipped on her boots and pressed down the tangles of hair that had gone askew during the night. There was no time to make herself completely presentable and she was in a rush to get outside. As she approached the door, Linet set her cloak about her shoulders. Kendra fastened it by tying the strings together at her neck as she proceeded to the steps.

She hastened outside and at the entry, she halted. A brisk wind hit her and she pulled her cloak tightly around her. “We shall search at the far end of the fief.” With that, she marched onward and didn’t speak to Linet, but only searched amongst the cottages on the way.

There was no sight of her papa. Each step brought a daunting despair that settled in her chest. It was too cold for her father to traipse around in the night. Hopefully, he’d put on his cloak. She worried for him and prayed that he would be found soon.

Half the night passed. Still, there was no word from the guards and she hadn’t found him either. Along with the harsh wind, a dampness settled on the land. By morning, fog rolled on the ground and sent a wearisome message—that something horrible had happened to her father. Kendra lingered by the back gate and questioned the soldier who’d been assigned to the post.

“And you didn’t see him leave the gate?”

“Nay, Milady. No one went through this exit.”

Laird Hugh stood next to her now, but she hadn’t noticed him arrive. He scowled at the guard and pressed him for information. “Ye stayed at your post all night?”

“I only left to seek nature’s call, Laird Hugh. I was gone but a short time. Surely, he could not have passed through the gate whilst I was gone.”

“We need to search from here to the loch,” she said. Kendra was about to run forth when she saw Winston and Craig approach the back entrance. Their faces beheld a grimness and it seemed everything stopped. They walked forward as if they were slowed in time, ghosts in the night coming to tell her disparaging news. Her eyes blurred and she took a breath to settle herself.

“Milady,” Winston said, “I am sorry to tell ye…” he paused as if afraid to go on.

“Sorry to tell me what, Winston? Go on, speak the news. Though I cannot bear it, I need to hear the truth.” Kendra leaned against Linet and her friend set her arm around her back. She appreciated her friend’s support, but she drew away and stepped toward Winston. “Tell me.”

Craig the gate watchman pulled Winston back when it seemed the man was unable to speak, and spoke instead. “Milady, we found your da. He was floating in the loch. I’m afeared he drowned. He was gone when we pulled him from the water. I am awfully sorry, Milady, for your loss.”

Her breath came hard and fast as if she’d run a mad dash about the fortification. Her chest rose rapidly as she tried to draw in breath. Kendra pressed her hands on her chest and willed herself not to succumb to the heart-crushing pain of their news. Her papa was dead.

“Milady, I am sorry,” Winston said and stood before her. “Clarence, our healer, told us that he didn’t last long in the water. His death was hasty and he didn’t suffer overlong. Our clan shall mourn Lord Rupert.”

Crestfallen, he stepped back. He kept his gaze averted but it was still sorrowful.

“We should return to the keep, Kendra. Come, ’tis grown colder and we should get something warm in you. A good cup of hot mead will ease you and we will sit by the fire,” Linet said.

Numb and unaware of those around her, she followed Linet meekly. Each step brought on a lightheadedness and she suppressed the urge to gag. Kendra’s hands shook as she pulled her cloak around her shivering body to ward off the brisk chill. Still the cold overtook her and she couldn’t avert the shock that wound its way through her and twinged her with unbearable pain.

At the fief, Linet guided her to the hearth where a fire had been stoked. Flames licked the insides of the stone with a good many logs set. She settled in the chair as close as she could get but still, she couldn’t get warm.

Voices sounded around her but she didn’t listen to or even hear what was being said. All she could think of was that her dear papa was gone. She was alone in the world now. Worse, she felt as though she had no family, and had lost the only man who ever cared for her.

“Get this down you, Kendra. It’ll warm you. You’re shivering.” Linet handed her a goblet of mead. After, she pressed a thick tartan over her lap.

Kendra took a small sip, but the warm, sweet brew did little to help cease her shaking. She held the cup in her hands and closed her eyes, wishing she’d never brought her father here. He wasn’t familiar with the land or its people. She felt responsible for his death and it wore on her. Had they been home, she could have kept him safe. He never would have been able to abscond beyond their walls. She’d made certain of it.

Lady Faye entered the hall and shooed all from the room except for Linet. “Go and have Ellen heat water for a bath for Kendra. We’ll get her warm and settled in bed. The poor lass is distraught.”

Linet left after nodding to the lady.

“Kendra, dear lass, I am sorry for your loss. Come, we shall take ye to your bedchamber where ye can mourn in private. Linet is having a bath fetched and we’ll get ye garbed and tucked in for a good sleep. Ye shall feel better when ye awaken.”

“I need Magnus. Where is he?”

Lady Faye took the goblet from her, knelt in front of her, and clasped her hands. “I know not where he is. I shall have Winston find out.”

“He’s been gone for so long. He hasn’t returned to the fief?”

“I think not because he would have been alerted of… Ah, well, Winston shall find him. Worry not. We shall have Magnus come to ye soon.”

She shivered and unclasped her hands from Lady Faye’s. “It doesn’t matter if he comes. I want to go home.”

“This is your home.”

Kendra shook her head. “Nay, this is Magnus’s home and yours and the Camerons’. I do not belong here. I need to take my father home so he can be buried next to my mother. I shall leave when the sky lightens.”

“Ye should await Magnus. Surely, he will take ye.”

She snorted a laugh at that. “Magnus is more concerned for his duties and cares only for his clan. He shan’t even know I am missing, I promise you that. Nay, I will leave with my friends and we shall go home. ”

“What will I tell Magnus when he returns?”

Kendra shrugged. “I care not what you tell him. He didn’t want to marry me. Magnus does not need anyone, least of all a wife. I vow he’ll be pleased to be rid of me.” Her sorrowful mood lessened her faith in Magnus even more. And at that moment, all she knew for sure was that she needed to go home. She had to bury her father and mourn him as a dutiful daughter should.

“If ye insist on leaving then I must send ye with an escort. Magnus will be angry if we allow ye to travel without protection.”

She rose and handed the tartan cover to Lady Faye. “We will need a cart.”

“I shall have Winston attend to it. Should ye not rest though? Take a day or two to mourn and then ye can go. By then, Magnus might return and he can take ye—”

Kendra shook her head and didn’t let her finish her request. It seemed unreasonable and Kendra couldn’t see doing this any other way. “We shall not await Magnus. I am through waiting for him and I will have plenty of time to mourn on my way home. Tell Linet that I do not require a bath and have her tell the men to ready my father for our travel home.” She staggered toward the steps and hastened up them to her bedchamber.

Quietly, she closed the door behind her, stepped to the bed, and sat on the side. Tears blurred her vision and she hurried to the chamberpot to retch. Every part of her hurt but mostly her heart. At the basin, she used her hands to press her wet palms over her face. Nothing helped to settle her despair. She sobbed and pressed her eyes. Her dear papa wouldn’t want her to weep and she tried not to but alas there was nothing she could do to stop her tears from falling.

While she awaited Linet, she considered her plans. The only thing that mattered was getting her father home and putting him to rest, and then she thought of Heatherington. Somehow, she had to find a way to repay the knave, especially since she would reside at her father’s manor, at least until Aston returned. She had to ensure her safety and that of her servants and soldiers. She prayed that he wouldn’t besiege them or extort them. The missing coins had to be somewhere. She wished with all her heart that her father had remembered where he’d put them but now it was up to her to right the situation. Being home would allow her to continue her search.

As much as she would miss Magnus, she doubted he would care a whit that she left. He was quite angry with her for tending to the manuscripts. And his repeated and frequent absences proved that Magnus didn’t need a wife. He’d make do without her. Also, with the despair filling her heart at her father’s death, there was little room there for her absent husband or her care for him. She wouldn’t allow herself to think about Magnus or how he would react to her leaving. He’d all but broken her heart and nothing he did would change that.

And it was true that Kendra had spent most of her life alone and hadn’t needed anyone. Magnus had given her a small glimpse of what having a husband would be like, and yet, in spite of her independence, she’d found she wanted more—love, devotion, and togetherness. She doubted though that he’d be willing to give himself to her the way she’d hoped. She would go on as she had before—without him—and especially, without his love or affection.

Such thoughts deepened her sorrow and she wept uncontrollably.