Page 14 of Kidnapped by her Highland Enemy

W hen Maisie woke, it was past dawn and heading to midday.

She sat up and rubbed the lingering sleep from her eyes.

She stood, went to wash up then decided to find Heather and apologize.

It was not fair of her to demand that Heather accept Lucas when days ago, Maisie had considered him an enemy as well.

Besides, Heather had lost her brother in a deadly skirmish between the two clans and had a right to hate the Barclays. She had been too caught up in her emotions for Lucas to fully understand Heather but now, felt the pressing need to find her and make things right.

Descending the stairs, Maisie felt an odd silence resting in the house but the first thing that caught her attention was milk burning on the stove. She rushed to grab a cloth and heave the pan off the fire. Backing away from the burnt mass on the bottom, Maisie grew concerned.

Had Heather or Mrs. Jamieson started it but forgot about it? She peeked into the room where Mr. Jamieson’s wife stayed and found the lady sleeping then softly backed away. If it was not her, it had to be Heather.

She went to search for her maid, but she was absent from her room and that was strange. Where was her friend? Checking the other rooms on the lower level, she could not find Heather anywhere and slowly, Maisie grew worried and a bit fearful.

The more she searched, the more apparent it was that Heather was gone and then, when she darted down the stairs, the door opened and she let out a breath of relief. At least Heather had come—but no; Ian was stepping through the door.

“Ian—”

He looked pressured and Maisie felt that he knew what she was about to say.

“I cannae find her,” he said while rubbing his face.

“I was gone for a brief time, less than a few minutes, and she said she was going to make warm milk, but when I came back, she was gone. I didn’t have time to take the pot off, I ran off to look for her. ”

Maisie felt sickened and she slumped on the door moments before Ian gently guided her to a chair.

“His lairdship is going to be cross with me,” Ian said through gritted teeth. “And I deserve it. I kent better than to let a lass fool me.”

“She’s going home,” Maisie muttered while her fingers flexed on the edge of chair.

“She’s going back to me clan an’ when she gets there, she is going to tell me faither where to find us or at least point him in the direction.

When she does that, I can bet half me fortune, Lucas’s faither is going to come here as well.

We have to get away from this place—tonight. ”

Ian was grim. “That occurred to me as well. His lairdship isnae going to be pleased. I feel like a green lad on his first hunt, makin’ mistakes all the way.”

“What did she ask ye to do?” Maisie asked.

“To get her some water as we had run out,” Ian grated.

“The spring is just beyond the treeline and by the time I got back, she was gone. His lairdship and Mister Jamieson are out, seeking the levity of the situation that we might be walkin’ into when we go back to the clans, but now we must run whether or nae. ”

The soft shuffle behind them had Maisie and Ian turning to see Eilidh coming out of her room.

“Did we wake ye?” Maisie asked, concerned.

“Nay,” the lady said, rubbing her stomach. “The bairn did, and I am hungry too.”

“Let me help ye cook,” Maisie offered and stood. Even while fear and foreboding rested on her heart, she felt compassion for the lady. “And I am afraid we have some troubling news.”

While heading to the seaside cottage, Lucas mulled over the news he had heard in the town’s marketplace. The brick-wall of silence his father had imposed on his people now had cracks and crevices—people were starting to whisper and not all of it was comforting.

Dunn says his daughter was taken out of a revenge plot. Barclay says Dunn’s men wanted to kill him…whatever it is, war is on the horizon.

What was he supposed to do about this? If the clans went to war, not skirmishes, not brawls, or tussles over land and livestock, but full war , his efforts to stem the bloodshed would have failed.

This time, instead of a Maisie’s forefather stealing a lass for his ancestor, he was the one that had kidnapped a Hendry.

By kidnapping Maisie, he might have given his father and Dunn full reason to equip all their forces and go and annihilate each other.

Grimly, he guided his horse over a rocky outcropping.

It seemed that his effort to stop any war had come back to slap him in the face.

He had given his word to Maisie that he would end all this strife, but his actions had made it worse.

The only thing I ask is that ye daenae do anything to make me regret it.

The weight of Maisie’s trust rested on his shoulder like Sisyphus’s boulder, and he feared that if he failed and the clans went to war—again—it would tumble and shatter.

“Things are tense,” Oliver said beside him. “If war is on the horizon, we will need to act fast.”

Lucas grunted. “What do I tell the lass? The reason I took her was for me protection and now, with these revelations, hers as well. I see that there is someone trying to undermine us, we need to come together and fetter out this upstart in our ranks. From what I have deduced, it must be a pair of traitors sent by the king, working on each side. But now—” he grimaced.

“—me faither and hers have taken it as permission to settle old, smarting sores.”

“Aye,” Oliver grimaced. “It is nae good.”

Again, Lucas grunted. “And it will get worse if we do find that the King is behind all this. I havenae doubt that the capital will make us look as if we were the instigators instead of him and his scheming subordinates will look like saints.”

“And then we’ll have more problems on our hands,” Oliver said stiffly. “How long do ye ken this tense peace between the clans will stay?”

“I cannae tell,” Lucas replied as they cleared a vale and spotted the house. “Hopefully long enough that we can find these persons and make them confess this was a directive to send more war and division among us.”

A few thoughts began to prick at Lucas’s mind about how to go about that and he wondered if it made sense to even try to find the perpetrators.

If they had any lick of sense, from the moment word spread that there was more division between the two, they would have run, knowing their mission had been accomplished.

No, to tackle this we need to go to the source, we need to go to the capital and the King.

Gently, he dismounted and took his horse to a nearby tree to tether. A bucket with water was there and the horse readily drank while Lucas left for the house.

He stomped his boots on the stoop then knocked rapidly, and before he could knock again, Ian pulled the latch away and tugged the door open. From the grave look on Ian’s face, Lucas’s mood worsened. Stopping short, he grated, “What happened?”

“Miss Heather is gone,” Ian said, his jaw firm with worry and fear of recrimination.

“It is me fault, sir, I shouldnae have been so gullible in trusting her.” Curtly, Ian reiterated the events that lead to Heather slipping away and when he was done, added, “Miss Maisie said that she is heading to the clan and that when she gets there, she will tell her faither our location or as close to it as she can decipher. We will need to—”

“Leave,” Lucas said somberly while rubbing his face. “I ken.”

Over Ian’s shoulder, he spotted Maisie coming to the doorway of the room and leaning on the wall with her arms wrapped around her middle. She looked dearly troubled, and his first instinct was to go and comfort her, but he had to deal with Ian first.

“Daenae worry about it, lad,” Lucas said. “I was planning to leave here anyhow.”

Ian’s shoulders fell with relief, and he nodded once. “Just tell me when and I’ll start the preparation.”

“Aye,” Lucas nodded then side-stepped him and went to Maisie, gently resting both hands on her shoulders. Grasping her firmly, he waited a moment for her to meet his eyes. “Let’s go upstairs, hm?”

He knew it was prudent to start packing their things and heading out but he had to see to Maisie. When she nodded, he gently rested a hand on the small of her back and they mounted the stairs with her ahead of him.

Inside her room, Lucas did away with the cloak he had worn to the marketplaces and folded it over a chair. While she settled on the edge of the bed, he took a stool. “Ye kent she is going to yer faither.”

“Undoubtedly,” she said while gripping the edges of the bed. “She has nae love for yer clan, an’ I am certain she will tell me faither how to find this place the moment she gets to him. I’m sorry, Lucas. I ken this is more trouble than ye bargained for.”

“It is,” he reached for her hand. “I never bargained for it, aye, but this isnae different from any other war campaign I’ve been in.

Many a time we had to abandon a situation and find another way to go about ensuring we would win the battle.

Aye, we are leaving tonight but that isnae what is bothering me so badly. ”

Her delicate browns met in the middle, “Then what is?”

Succinctly, Lucas told her about the brewing trouble at their homes and while Maisie did not look shocked, she went pallid with worry.

Her eyes were dark and flitted along the line of boards under their feet.

“We need to go to the capital. If the King is truly behind this, that is the only way we can resolve it.”

“Me thoughts as well,” Lucas said.

“And if the King isnae behind it,” she added. “He might come to our help and find who is behind this duplicity.”

“The capital is either hostile ground or neutral one,” Lucas agreed.

“If it is hostile?” Maisie asked. “How will we leave?”

“He willnae touch us,” Lucas promised. “Despite our clans’ differences, he will nae attack us. We’re his strongholds in the highlands and those in his court are aware of it.”

“But what comes after?” Maisie asked pointedly

“Daenae worry about that now,” Lucas said comfortingly, putting warm assurance and confidence in his tone to soothe her. “Naything will happen to ye, I promise.”

Her lips parted and a long sigh left them, her cool breath skittering over his cheek. Maisie flattened her hands on his chest, her fingertips felt the heat of his skin through the fabric of his shirt as she aimed for his mouth.

Lucas met her halfway, his secret worry receding the moment she touched him. He kissed her slowly, allowing her to move against him as he closed his arms around her. His hand cradled the back of her head as he tilted his own to the side so their mouths fit perfectly together.

She pressed up against him, her soft body fitting with his completely as his mouth moved against hers, unleashing a rush of sensation that thrilled him all the way through. When he lifted his head, she was breathless, her eyes wide with want.

Lucas trailed his lips down the side of her jaw, and she gasped for breath. There was so much of her body he wanted to slide her hands over, every dip and curve, every stretch of smooth skin… but it was not the time.

Pulling away, he nosed her cheek, “It’ll be well, lass, I give ye me word.”

Her shoulders shook a little, but she nodded and lifted her head, “Where do we go from here?”

“Are ye willing to walk into hell with me?” Lucas asked, “Because that is where we will be headin’.”

“I’d prefer to ride,” she replied.