Page 52 of Bride Takes a Laird
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 thefortification. 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 familiarwith 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’smanor, 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.