Page 21 of Highlander’s Captive Bride (Troubles of Highland Lasses #4)

21

T he castle seemed deserted, for she encountered not a soul on her way up to Bellamy’s chambers. Once inside, she shut the door and went to his writing desk. She took a sheet of parchment from a shelf and dipped a quill in the inkpot.

My dearest Bellamy,

I am so sorry to leave you like this. Please forgive me and try to understand that I must go home, now that Elodie is better. My family needs me, and they have waited too long. Please take care of yourself and Elodie.

Goodbye,

Daisy.

She blotted the ink with sand and then left the note on his pillow—the pillow where they had rested their heads together only hours before.

Choking with emotion she could hardly control, she left the room. Trying to get a hold of herself, she went up a flight of stairs and made for Elodie’s room, intending to kiss the sleeping child goodbye before she left.

She came to the familiar doorway and paused, taking a deep breath before she gently pushed open the door and went inside. She froze on the threshold at the scene before her.

It was unbelievably shocking. If it had not been for the low moans coming from Poppy, who was lying senseless on the floor, surrounded by an expanding pool of crimson blood, Daisy might have thought it was some magical trick being performed.

Standing over the bed, where Elodie was sleeping peacefully, was a figure from a nightmare, a demon, clad in a long black cloak, with a hood covering its features beneath. Daisy was gripped with terror to see it standing over the sleeping child, in its hand a blood-stained dirk, the blade glittering wetly in the lamplight.

Without a moment of hesitation, Daisy launched herself at the figure, crashing into it and knocking it to the floor with a loud thud. The nightmarish creature cried out in pain, dropping the dirk, which skittered under the bed.

The murderous attacker breathed heavily, fighting to free themselves, but Daisy would not let go, determined to do everything within her power to capture them and find out their identity.

They fought for what seemed like an eternity to Daisy, for her assailant proved to be strong. They kicked her, punched her in the ribs, and grabbed her hair, pulling it hard. But she refused to let go despite the searing pain.

Summoning every bit of her strength, she bit their arm, hard, and was rewarded when they let go of her hair with a hiss of pain.

In that split second, she was able to grab the edge of the hood and wrench it backwards from the fiend’s head.

What she saw made her feel sick to her stomach.

* * *

Bellamy was feeling pleasantly tipsy and found himself in surprisingly high spirits. It was turning out to be one of the best Beltane celebrations the clan had ever seen. With Elodie well and happy, his mind was at least temporarily free from worry on that score, even if the poisoner was yet to be uncovered.

He had allowed himself the luxury of relaxing just a little bit, and a large part of that had been spending time with Daisy at the party. And now that he had performed his duties as the Laird and could really concentrate on celebrating, the woman he wanted to celebrate with appeared to have vanished.

Not long before, he had been giving his speech, and she had been sitting nearby, smiling at him and raising her glass for each of the toasts he had called. She had looked so dazzlingly beautiful in the light of the bonfires, it had taken his breath away. He could not wait to be free to dance with her again, to talk to her and feel her body against his.

But by the time he had done his duty, shaken all the hands, and received all the congratulations for his speech, he immediately looked for her, only to see that her place at the bench was empty.

Assuming she had gone to answer the call of nature and would shortly reappear, he left the eating place and began wandering the field, searching for that familiar, neat figure in the light of the bonfires.

But she was nowhere to be seen.

After a quarter of an hour with no sight of her, having asked Jamie if he had seen her, he became concerned and decided to go back into the castle and try to find her.

He hurried inside and ran up to her room, tapping on the door.

“Daisy, ’tis me. Let me in,” he called, rattling the latch. The door creaked open, and he looked inside. It was empty.

She’s likely with Elodie.

He shut the door and headed to Elodie’s chambers, entering quietly because the child had not long been put to bed and was probably already asleep. He did not wish to disturb her.

However, the scene he came upon was wholly unexpected and shocking.

Poppy was lying on the floor, unconscious, surrounded by a pool of blood. Daisy was on the floor, wrestling with someone in a black cloak, struggling to hold them down, while Elodie lay asleep in her bed.

“Daisy!” Bellamy shouted, quickly running to help Daisy.

“Bellamy, help me!” she cried out, fighting hard to keep her assailant from escaping.

He skidded to a halt on his knees at her side, grabbing the struggling figure in the black cloak and easily overcoming them, pinning them to the floor.

“What the devil d’ye—” His voice died in his throat as he looked down and saw Nadia staring up at him. His ward was crying, and her eyes were wide with fear.

Bellamy knew instantly what had happened. His face dark with wrath, he dragged Nadia to a standing position and held her there by the scruff of her neck. She shook like a sickly puppy, tears streaming down her face.

“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded, his blood boiling with fury. The girl just trembled and sobbed in obvious terror. “Tell me, now, girl!”

“I-I was—” Nadia stuttered.

“She had a dirk, Bellamy. She was going to murder Elodie!” Daisy snapped, free at last to tend to Poppy, who was still unconscious. “The knife is under the bed, so don’t let her get it.”

“Is this true?” Bellamy growled, shaking the girl.

Nadia burst into fresh sobs and nodded her head.

“But why, Nadia? Why?” he demanded, some of the anger in his voice turning into hurt incomprehension as he stared into the frightened eyes of the orphaned girl he had taken into his home and raised so many years ago. He had trusted her completely.

“I-I didnae want to do it,” Nadia choked out through trembling lips.

“Then why? I trusted ye. I thought ye loved Elodie as I do.”

“I do! I do love her. But…” she trailed off as if she could not bear to finish the sentence, her voice laced with regret.

“But what?! Say it!” Bellamy shook her again.

“I had to. ’Tis all me braither’s plan. ’Tis what he told me to do,” Nadia admitted brokenly.

Bellamy dropped her to the floor, where she collapsed into a sobbing heap.

“Yer braither?” he repeated in a stunned voice. A few moments ticked by before he asked, “Are ye speaking of Lachlan?”

“Aye,” Nadia cried from the floor.

Bellamy stared down at her, open-mouthed with shock. “But he’s dead.”

Nadia shook her head. “Nay, he’s alive.”

Bellamy could hardly take it in. “Ye’re nae lying to me?” he asked sharply.

She shook her head vehemently. “Nay. I promise ye, Lachlan’s alive. He wasnae killed when ye stormed the castle. He’s been hiding out all this time.”

Bellamy ran a hand through his hair in amazement and began pacing the room. He barely registered Daisy tending to Poppy’s wound a short distance away.

“How long have ye known this?” he asked, turning back to Nadia.

The girl recovered herself enough to sit up and wipe her face. “’T’was about a year ago, he approached me in the market. I couldnae believe it was him at first, but it was. I was so glad to see him, to ken I’m nae the last of Clan McGowan.” She looked accusingly at him. “Ye see, I never understood why he had to die, too. He was always kind to me, while Faither was… Anyway, I loved Lachlan.”

Bellamy listened with rapt attention, his thoughts racing with the implications of this new information.

“So, I was happy when he came and talked to me. But after a while, he started wanting me to do things for him.”

“Go on,” Bellamy urged, watching her face for any sign of deceit.

“He was the one who made me poison Elodie. It was on his orders that I did it. He wanted to get back at ye, he said, and I-I wanted to please him. He said he was goin’ to rebuild the clan and promised to take me with him.”

“So, it was ye poisoning her all this time! Ye were tryin’ to kill me wee lassie?” Bellamy could hardly comprehend the startling revelation.

“I’m so sorry, I didnae want to do it. But Lachlan said I would be helping him rebuild our family and our clan. I believed him. But I regret hurting Elodie, I truly do,” Nadia said, her eyes beseeching.

Bellamy scoffed, “Dinnae try to wheedle yer way out of yer guilt. ’T’was ye who’s been poisoning her, watching her suffer all this time while ye were pretending to be her friend. Ye disgust me.”

“But ye dinnae understand everything,” Nadia hastened to say. “I wasnae goin’ to do it anymore.”

“Oh, ye had a belated attack of conscience, did ye nae?” Bellamy said mockingly.

“Aye, I did when I found out what sort of a man Lachlan truly is. I didnae ken before. I loved him as me braither, all that’s left of me flesh and blood. But yesterday, he told me himself that he’s Elodie’s true faither, nae ye at all. He told me about yer sister and what he did to her. That was when I realized he isnae a good man. I willnae do his bidding any longer.”

“Is that so?” Bellamy gritted out, his heart torn by Nadia’s reference to Bridie’s fate at her brother’s hands.

“Aye, ’tis true.”

“I want more answers. Like what were ye intending to do with Elodie this night, when ye were caught red-handed standing over her bed with a knife.”

“I had to use the knife to stop Poppy. I wasnae goin’ to hurt Elodie. I only came to get her and take her away from here, and I kenned Poppy would try to stop me.”

Bellamy rounded on her. “What? Take her away? Why?”

“Because Lachlan is goin’ to ambush the castle in a few hours with his men.”

Bellamy stood above her, his eyes blazing. “And what else?”

“He told me he’s goin’ to take Elodie with him, her being his daughter. I panicked. I couldnae stand the thought of what he would do to her, but I didnae ken what to do about it. Then I thought, under cover of the Beltane festival, I could take Elodie and run away before the attack begins. She’s me niece, after all, and I want to protect her.”

Bellamy was gripped by fresh anger. “Ye vile, wee hypocrite!” he hissed, grabbing Nadia by the collar of her cloak and pulling her to her feet. “Ye dare expect me to believe anything ye say when ye’ve been poisoning her for weeks now, and almost killed her?!” He dragged her roughly to the door, throwing it open. “I’m taking ye to the dungeons meself, and ye can stay there and rot, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Nay, please, I’m sorry. Please, forgive me,” Nadia repeatedly begged as he marched her through the halls and outside to the dungeon entrance.

Once inside, Bellamy shoved her at the surprised turnkey and commanded him to lock her up.

“I’ll never forgive ye for what ye’ve done to Elodie. Ye’re as bad as that braither of yers. To think of all I’ve done for ye…” he told her harshly, too choked with fury to say anymore.

He marched out of the dungeons and then hurriedly found Jamie and told him what had happened, commanding him to prepare for the forthcoming attack.

When a shocked Jamie raced off to ready their defenses, Bellamy ran back upstairs to help Daisy with Poppy. Amid the swirling anticipation of the forthcoming battle that was pervading his whole being like smoke was a jagged edge of fear for Elodie’s safety. But he knew he would protect her with his life if necessary, so he could deal with that.

What was more difficult to manage was the desperate need to safeguard Daisy, too, and the realization of what that entailed weighed him down with sorrow.

* * *

Fortunately for Poppy, the blade had only struck her shoulder, not inflicting any major damage, but she had fainted from the shock. Daisy was concerned by how much blood she had already lost, but she worked tirelessly to staunch the flow and was able to bandage the wound firmly enough to stop it.

She burned the end of a quill feather in the fire and waved it beneath Poppy’s nose to try to bring her around.

At last, the servant coughed and opened her eyes, wincing with pain, her hand flying to her injured shoulder. “What happened?” she croaked as Daisy helped her to sit up. “Ugh!” she suddenly shrieked, seeing blood everywhere.

“Dinnae be scared. Ye’ve lost a bit of blood, but ye’re goin’ to be fine,” Daisy told her soothingly. “’Tis a wound in yer shoulder, not deep at all.”

“Och, by God, Daisy, it was Nadia who did it! She came in, and the next thing I knew, she was on me with a dirk in her hand, trying to stab me!” Poppy’s face was white, and her eyes were round with shock.

“Aye, I caught her just as she was about to attack Elodie. At least, that was what it looked like to me, but she told the Laird she wasnae intending to hurt her. I dinnae believe her, though,” Daisy explained briefly. “The Laird’s taken her away to the dungeons, so ye’re both quite safe now.”

Just then, they were both startled by the loud clanging of alarm bells ringing out from every tower belfry.

“That’s an alert for everybody to get inside so they can lock the castle gates!” Poppy exclaimed, looking bewildered. “Are we being attacked? What’s happening?”

“Nadia said her braither is goin’ to try to ambush the castle tonight,” Daisy explained.

Poppy expressed shock to hear Lachlan Pearson was alive. Then, she said, “Ach, what a thing to happen on Beltane! ’Tis a sly thing to do to attack on such a day. I hope God strikes him down for his arrogance and evil ways.” She tried to get up. “Can ye help me up? Och, I feel dizzy,” she complained.

Daisy helped her to her feet.

Poppy wobbled for a moment, leaning on Daisy’s arm for support, before regaining her balance.

“Ye will feel dizzy for a while, losing all that blood. I’ll fetch ye something for the pain and some fortifying wine to help ye feel better,” Daisy promised, leading Poppy to her chair.

The servant shakily lowered herself into the chair and then looked over at the sleeping child.

Daisy’s ears were ringing because of the alert, and it was a blessed relief when the bells ceased their clamor.

“And she’s slept through it all, has she, bless the wee mite? She was so tired after being at the party. She was right happy, she was,” Poppy observed musingly as she looked down at Elodie. Then, her expression became dark, and she looked up at Daisy. “Was it her all along, Nadia, giving poor Elodie that poison and making her so sick?” she asked.

Daisy nodded. “Aye, it was.”

She did not want to say anymore, and fortunately, Poppy asked no further questions. It was up to Bellamy to handle things from then on. Elodie was safe. Poppy was comfortable and would mend. Her own injuries from fighting with Nadia were painful but minor. There was nothing keeping her at Castle Murdoch, and she saw no reason to change her plan to leave.

“I’ll go and get ye something for the pain and the wine,” Daisy told Poppy and promptly left the room, intending to leave immediately after making Poppy comfortable. Her heart sank when she saw Bellamy hurrying towards her.

When they met, he asked urgently, “Is Elodie all right? How’s Poppy? Is she badly hurt?”

“Elodie slept through it all, thank God,” Daisy told him. “And Poppy has a flesh wound in her shoulder, but she’ll be fine after a rest.”

“Aye, thank God,” Bellamy said. Then, he looked at her and added, “Ye heard what Nadia said. Her braither is intending to launch a surprise attack on the castle tonight. There’s very little time, and I have to make sure everything is prepared so we can defend ourselves.” He moved closer to her, looking into her eyes. “If ye still want to leave, ye can go now, before anything happens.”

Hearing the words she had wished to hear for so long was shocking to her. She stared at him for a moment, her thoughts teeming.

Bellamy took her gently by the shoulders. “But, Daisy, I just want to say thank ye again for everything ye’ve done. I’ll send two men with ye to take ye home, that’s all I can spare, but if there’s ever anything I can do for ye, just let me ken, eh? I have to go now, to get things organized. So, goodbye.”

His voice cracked as he turned away, and it tore Daisy’s heart into pieces.

Am I really goin’ to just leave him like this, with an attack coming any moment, and I willnae be here to help? He needs me now more than ever!

“Bellamy!” Daisy called out, her heart thudding loudly in her ears. Bellamy stopped and turned around, looking back at her. “I’ll stay. Ye’ll need me to help with anyone hurt in the attack.”

Bellamy rapidly retraced his steps, caught her by the waist, and kissed her soundly.

Daisy kissed him back, holding him tightly, knowing she had made the right decision.