CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
R uben’s head turned to Paige—when she was half the field away, a child at her side.
“Lass!” he shouted at her back. “Stop!”
When she did not hear him, or if she did and did not care to answer, he turned to the salesman. “I’ll be back. That geldin’ is mine.”
“God’s blood,” he swore under his breath. “What is that foolish lass doing? And where are the damn guards who are supposed to be with her?”
With a mental note to castigate her missing guard, he broke off into a trot, following his wife.
Heavy footsteps sounded behind him—Williams and his guardsmen, following their laird—but he did not heed the sound.
He could already hear the harsh reprimands he would give her the moment he got her back to safety.
“Paige, where are ye—” he rounded the line of outhouses to see three men grabbing at Paige, trying to haul her atop a horse.
Two men were trying to shove her into the hold of another man atop horseback. To her credit, Paige was fighting with all her might, jabbing her boots into the men’s face. She threw her head back as hard as she could and smashed it into the horseman’s face.
An unholy rage swept through him. Ruben leaped forward on nothing but instinct and fury. Not so much as a second thought crossed his mind as he plunged a sgian dubh into the neck of one of the men who held her.
He bellowed and slew the other man before the horseman tried to haul her into his lap. Paige seized the opportunity and managed to twist as much as possible to push his from the horse.
He lurched and fell to the side, dropping Paige as he went. The third man slumped sideways in the saddle, with his foot stuck in a stirrup, but did not fall clear of the horse. His head was dragged along the ground as the horse continued to gallop away.
As he leaped to get to Paige, Williams and two more of his men ran after the horse.
“What in God’s name were ye thinkin’, lass?” he snarled. “Did ye understand nothin’ that was said to the children? They also pertain to ye!”
“I—I-” she gasped in some air, her eyes with fright as she grabbed at him. “What just happened? W-who were those men?”
“I daenae have the faintiest inklin’,” he said, looking over her shoulder. “But the men chasin’ after the last man might tell me. If he is alive that is. God, I have a mind to tan yer hide.”
Her face was still bloodless white. “I- it’s nae me fault. Who forces children to lure people into an ambush?”
“More than ye think,” he stood and pulled her with him. “It’s one of the oldest ruses for brigands, lass.”
She brushed her skirts down, “Ye think they were robbers?”
“They could be,” Ruben said as his men were returning, a wild horse and thief in tow. Only, the man was slumped over the back of the saddle, his limbs too loose for a captured man.
“Is he dead?” Ruben demanded. He was so full of rage he wanted to run the man through, but he needed to know who had sent the would-be kidnappers.
“Nay, me laird,” one of the men shook his head. “The horse threw him, and he landed on his temple. He is unconscious.”
In a tight tone, Ruben ordered, “Take him to the healer hall and I need two guards with him day and night. If he wakes, send for me immediately.”
He turned to Paige. “When we rejoin the children, nae a word to them. When we get home, ye and I are going to talk. Men, take the prisoner the long way around so ye daenae scare the children.”
Spotting the doll she meant to give to Nera on the ground, she swiftly swept it up and brushed it off. “I daenae ken if I can act as if nothin’ happened,” she was still breathless. “I—I am still in shock.”
He grasped her arm. “Take deep breaths and force a smile on yer face. Ye cannae scare the children. Put on a brave face and act as ye have had the best time today. When we get home, ye and I are going to talk.”
“From yer tone, I daenae think ye want to talk ,” she said pointedly.
Ruben gave her an eye. “Ye’re right. I am going talk, ye are going to be quiet and listen. Ye are too impulsive and easily swayed, which in these lands, is a death sentence waitin’ to happen.”
Swallowing, Paige pressed a hand to her still rioting heartbeat. They began to walk back to the main part of the fairgrounds, as she said, “The child was lookin’ for her maither. Isnae that a reasonable reason to help?”
The urge to punch something made his palm itch. “The reasonable thing would be to take the guards with ye before walkin’ off with the child. A child, mind ye, that has conveniently disappeared in the fracas.”
Paige held the doll to her chest as they rounded a booth and spotted the caretakers organizing the children. Ruben’s astute eyes ran over the group, hoping none of the children, especially the older ones, saw the attack.
He did not want to explain the situation to any of them, mostly because he was not sure why it happened or who was behind it. It rankled him, made him feel weak and powerless when certain situations were beyond his control.
He was a leader— he had to be in control. Something unsettling and gut-wrenching settled under his skin every time he was left picking up the pieces from an attack.
What could have happened if I’d nae been as quick to follow her as I did? She could have been taken like Norah.
His gut roiled with the feeling that he might have been too late to stop their attack and that made him want to find something and break it.
“I daenae think she will have a problem, me lady.” Mother Etna told Paige and Ruben realized he had missed something.
He sharpened when Paige gave the doll to a drowsy Nera. The poor girl looked tucked out from walk but brightened when she saw the doll.
“For me, me lady?” Nera reached out for the toy.
“Aye,” Paige said, “It’s for ye.”
To the lass’ credit, she was pretending very well. The tight lines around her eyes and the brittle edge to her smile did show she was tense. Only to him though; the children were not clever enough yet to see those signs.
The sun was setting; painting a vivid image that could only be found in the highlands. Vivid hues of orange bled into red and shimmering gold while the encroaching indigo of the night sky slowly ate away at the mélange of colors.
“T’is time to return to the castle,” he said, nodding to his horse. “Let me help ye up.”
Paige let out a long sigh of relief as she sank into the warm bath that had been delivered to her room.
As Maisie massaged soap into her hair, Paige rested her head against the towel draped over the edge of the tub.
“A good day, me lady?” Maisie asked.
She tensed a little but forced herself to relax. “Very, aye. The orphaned children enjoyed the day and so did I. I believe I even saw Ruben smile once or twice.”
“Sounds like a good day to me,” Maisie said.
She sent Maisie to her other duties while she gazed at the timbered ceiling. After the frightening day she had endured, the stillness and warm water added up to pure bliss.
Closing her eyes, the image of the man grabbing at her, the wicked snarl on his face, the tight grip of his scarred hands, the foulness of his breath as he shouted in her face—she startled.
“Nay, nay, nay…” the words tumbled from her lips, much as they did when he had grabbed her. “Let me go! Let me GO! I?—”
“Lass—” Ruben’s voice was faint in her ears, as a hand shook her shoulder. “Wake up, lass! Ye’re dreamin’! Wake up !”
With a gasp, her eyes flew open, and she stared at Ruben. The surrounding slowly came together and eroded the frightening gaze of the man who’d tried to abduct her. “W-what happened?”
“Ye fell asleep,” Ruben said calmly, his face grim. His eyes flickered between hers. “I can only assume ye were seein’ the man who tried to take ye.”
Pulling her knees to her chin, Paige wrapped an arm around them and rested her head on her forearms. “I did.”
“Did he say anythin’ to ye?” Ruben asked.
Her eyes flickered up to him. “The only thing he said was, ye’re comin’ with me.”
“Nay word of who wanted to take ye?”
Silently, she shook her head.
Grunting, Ruben pulled up the small stool and sat. His gaze was firm, while his slightly wet hair told her he had just bathed as well. He smelled like river water.
“Lass, what ye did earlier today was beyond reckless,” he said firmly, and she could hear him holding his tempter under a tight tether.
“If ye dare do somethin’ like that again and I am nae with ye, ye will be taken. Ye’ll vanish like Norah did and if they are the same men who took her, they’d probably kill ye.”
Cold, crushing realization was a tight belt around her middle. Her lips parted then clamped tight again. “I—I’m sorry.”
Ruben pushed away from the stool and gave her an eye. “Ye will be when they take ye and God forbid, do all manner of evil things to ye.”
“Ruben—”
“When are ye going to learn that this is nae the idyllic house yer faither ran?” he demanded. “This is nae a dream or a fairytale. In these lands, ye have to be smarter than that. One single mistake will be the death of ye and I will nae have yer blood on me hands.”
“But Ruben, if I’d died, me blood would be on me hands, nae yers,” she tried. “T’would be me fault, nae yers.”
“Matters nae!” he argued. “If ye were taken I—I could nae live with meself knowin’ I could have stopped it.”
Spinning on his heel, Ruben marched out of the room leaving Paige to scramble. She hurried out of the tub and grabbed her towel. Hastily drying off, she dragged on her waiting smock and hurried off to find Ruben.
I cannae allow this argument to end this way,
Ruben did not have the words to tell her that, at that moment, seeing her being hauled onto the horse, he’d feared the worst. He’d seen what might have happened with Norah—and his heart had dropped to the very earth.
In his chambers, he flung the windows wide open to liberally inhale the night air. Another storm was coming, he could smell it, feel the charge of lightning on the air lifting the hair on his arm.
If it was not so late and for the storm coming in, he would have returned to the loch and swam another ten rounds. The frustration—and fear—in his system had to go somewhere.
“Ruben, please, talk to me,” Paige said from behind him.
Spinning, his eyes landed on her and ground his teeth at the image she presented. The moonlight and the light from the fire three her smock into a see-through scarp of nothing wrapped tightly around her ample breasts.
It did not help that she had not dried properly, and some part of the smock pressed wet to her skin. It was hard to ignore the imprint of hard nipples against her tunic, by he did.
“I understand that ye are upset, reasonably so, because of what happened to Norah,” she said softly. “And I am sorry I forced ye into thar position.”
Ruben turned back to the window and braced his palms on the sill. “The night Norah went missin’, I combed through every street, nook and shadow of the village. I dinnae sleep or eat for days.”
He stared into the roiling darkness. “I scoured every village, every inch of the forest, I’d have swum the sea and looked at the bottom if I could have.
“In all me years of being on the battlefield, I have never felt that sort of fear—” he looked out at the trees, now whipping around in the wind. “—and I faced that again, today.”
As he spoke, it occurred to him that his words could be interpreted as more than he wanted them to be. He did not want her to think he was over his head in love with her—but he did care for her more than he wanted to admit.
“We dinnae find Norah for months,” he said, his tone tortured. “Months, Paige. To this day, Norah has nae told me, told anyone, what she suffered. Who is to say whether the man who took her was the one about to take ye too? I daenae think he would be so kind to let ye go as well.”
A hand attentively rested on his back and Ruben stifled the urge to throw the hand off. He kept still. “I never want ye to feel that way.”
Turning, Ruben asked. “Are ye sure the man dinnae say anythin’ to ye?”
She shook her head. “Nothin’.”
He closed the window as the gale began battering the shutters. Turning, he told her. “By the end of this week, I’ll be givin’ ye a few daggers for ye to carry. Daenae ye dare do such a foolish thing again and if ye are faced with any such situation, daenae hesitate to strike.
“I’ll be teachin’ ye the best place to strike and beyond that, some tactics to defend yerself as well,” Nodding to the door behind them, he said. “Ye should go back to yer bed and get some rest.”
Paige looked over her shoulder then turned back to him, her cheeks holding a soft blush. “Actually, if ye daenae mind, I’d prefer if I stayed here with ye. After what happened today, I—I daenae think it’s wise to stay alone.”
Ruben cleared his throat then crossed over to the bed and pulled the sheets down. “After yer ordeal, I dinnae think seduction would be on yer mind.”
A strange sound left her mouth, “Seduction? What are ye—?” She paused. “Is that what ye think I am doing?”
“Yer smock is nay clothin’ at all,” he said, shooting a look over at her. It almost unmanned him, watching her rise from the water, her chemise clinging to her curves. “It’s damned near see-through. Ye’ll need to put on more clothes before ye catch a cold.”
Waiting for her to reply, he went to add more wood to the fire.
“…Or…” she said behind him. “What if we spend the night together?”