Page 14 of The Mad Highlander

14

A couple of days passed as Cayden and Iris felt themselves drifting into a comfortable routine with one another. He had taken to eating his meals in the dining room along with his family instead of avoiding Iris. Their evenings were spent together training long after the rest of the family had gone to bed.

Looking out the window at the rays of purple and gold that cascaded across the late afternoon sky, Cayden couldn’t help but think of Iris. She was changing him; he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind in her presence, and he was even less afraid that he would burst whenever she angered him which proved to be quite often when they were alone.

“Ye look like a cat that has gotten the cream.” Margot’s voice drew him back to the present as he turned to see her standing in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest.

“Was there something ye needed, Maither?” he responded gruffly and turned his attention back to his desk. His mother would tease him mercilessly if he uttered so much as a hint of what he was feeling.

“Nae, I didn’t need anything, I just wanted to thank ye for the effort yer making with Iris. I ken that it hasn’t been easy for ye, but I can see a difference in her.” Margot pushed herself off the doorframe and came into the room, wearily eyeing the untidy stacks of parchment.

He felt his heart warming at his mother’s sentiments despite his refusal to let her see. If he had been honest with her, he would have told her that it wasn’t an effort at all. Spending time in Iris’ company felt more freeing to him than anything else he had done in his life. The more time he spent with her, the less he seemed to lash out at everyone around him.

“I ken that I pester ye at times, but it’s only because Iris is such a…” Her face suddenly paled as a scream of terror ripped through the air.

“Where is Iris?” Cayden jumped to his feet, demanding a response as his eyes frantically searched his mother’s face. The panic he saw in her eyes suddenly turned his blood to ice in his veins.

Margot opened and shut her mouth like a fish gasping for air before she finally managed to utter a word. “She’s with Robyn; they asked if they could gather berries at the edge of the forest. I told them nae to venture too far, but I think they are both still out there!” Her voice became more urgent as she searched his face. “Cayden ye must hurry!”

He was out the door and headed down the hall before his mother could even utter her last sentence.

Several maids screamed in terror and threw their bundles of neatly folded linen in the air as he passed them in a whirlwind of speed. His mind was almost blank with fear as he sprinted across the grounds, heading straight toward the edge of the forest.

Where are they?

He stopped for a breath as his eyes frantically searched the line of trees. Everything was still, save for the wind that rustled the heather bush.

A second scream curdled his blood as a flock of birds took flight, guiding him in the right direction.

Cayden could hear his blood pounding in his ears as he cleared the line of shrubbery in one giant leap. Thistles scratched his thighs as he raced through the forest like an angry bull.

“Leave her alone!” His cry broke through the air as he spotted two men at the other end of the clearing; one was holding his sister with her hands firmly secured behind his back, but the other…

His vision suddenly turned red as he spotted Iris on her back, fighting for dear life as she clawed at the Highlander’s face.

The man laughed mockingly at her as he held her down and tried to hold her face, so he could kiss her. Iris moved from side to side, not giving him the chance.

Sprinting toward the man, Cayden gripped the braid that hung down his back, yanking him back as he cried out in pain.

“What the devil do ye think yer doing?” The Highlander growled with a fierce grimace as he hit the forest floor with a loud thud that should have knocked the air from his lungs.

Turning to Iris, Cayden quickly helped her to her feet and searched her face. “Are ye hurt?”

“Nae.” She shook her head and pointed behind him with a loud gasp.

The Highlander gripped his arms, pulling him back, but Cayden was quicker as he spun around and landed a blow on the man’s jaw that sent him flying clean across the forest floor.

The second man, who was a lot smaller in stature than the first, seemed to have second thoughts as he took a step back, pulling Robyn along with him.

A wave of pride washed over his body when Iris came up from behind and bludgeoned the man clean over the head with a log. The man crumbled like a stack of hay in the wind as Robyn escaped his grip, running into Iris’ arms with a sob.

The moment was short-lived when the bulkier man came to his feet, shaking off the hit as he glared at Cayden.

“Who are ye, an’ what do ye want?” Cayden growled, cracking his knuckles as he flexed his fingers when the man began to move in a wide circle. His precise steps and calculated actions spoke of someone who had battle experience. He wasn’t just a mere robber who had been prowling the woods. He was someone who knew how to fight. Cayden could see in the man’s eyes that he had come there for a purpose.

“That depends, who is asking?” The man’s cracked lips split into a devious smile, revealing an ugly row of yellowing, broken teeth.

“The laird of these lands! Ye are trespassing on O’Brien territory. That makes ye either a brave man or a very stupid one,” Cayden lowered his voice to a growl when it seemed as if the man was about to charge. “If ye have hurt me sister or wife in any way, I shall repay ye tenfold. So much as a scratch, and ye will wish ye had never stepped foot near me castle.”

“Ye really are the mad laird, aren’t ye? Well, I’ll be damned; I’ve heard stories of ye, how yer hands thirst for blood. Ye arenae as big as they say. I’ll be the talk of me clan when I cut ye and gut ye like a fish. Ye may think of me as a foolish man, but I count meself lucky. I was hired to do away with the black-haired lass from Clan McCabe, but here I find meself with three prizes instead of one. I’ll be a hero when the rest of the lads hear about how I killed the… mad… laird…” His voice trailed off as a manic laugh cracked through the air.

Iris’ screams reached his ears just as the man charged at Cayden with his head lowered like a raging bull.

Jumping to the side, Cayden allowed the man to fly past him, losing his footing as his head cracked against the trunk of a large oak.

Both women gasped and clung to each other as the man fell face-first into the dirt, giving Cayden enough time to pounce on his back and secure his assailant’s wrists behind him. Reaching down, he grabbed the man’s braid and lifted his head.

“Why have ye come?” Cayden lowered his head and growled in the man’s ear, making sure to keep his knee firmly pressed between the bulky shoulder blades.

Grimacing, the man bared his teeth as a single trickle of blood ran down his lower lip. “I told ye, I was hired to kill the black-haired lass. She has a bounty on her head worth more than a good piece of land.”

Cayden felt his heart stop beating as she quickly glanced up at the fear in Iris’ eyes.

Who would want her dead?

His stomach coiled at the thought of losing her. It couldn’t have been the Murdochs; they didn’t know anything unless they had turned up at Tristan’s castle and found her missing.

“Who hired you?” Cayden lost his temper and pressed his knee even further into the man’s back.

Wincing, the Highlander flinched. “I didnae ken the man; he came to me in a tavern with the offer. All I did was accept the job.”

“Ye must have seen what he looked like; tell me if ye wish to keep yer life!” Cayden tightened his grip around the man’s neck.

“Urgh! He was a younger man. I heard his companion refer to him as McReed!” He whimpered in pain when Cayden bore down again.

Shock and horror cascaded in his mind as Cayden suddenly thought back to the council meeting and how angry McReed had been. He had also been one of the men who refused to stand with him.

“Cayden, look out!” Iris’ scream ripped him from his realization just as a flash of steel crossed his vision. He had been so absorbed by the realization that he hadn’t even noticed the second man creeping up behind him. The girls must have been so focused on what was happening that they too had been startled by the sudden change.

A scuffle ensued as Cayden was thrown off the larger man with the other man locking his arm around his throat. Shouts of confusion and horror further confused matters as Cayden found himself locked in a battle for dominance.

Me dirk.

Cayden suddenly snapped out of the confusion as he reached for his belt, quickly retrieving his dagger and sinking it into the man’s side.

The color drained from his assailant’s face, and the scuffle suddenly stopped.

The full weight of a body fell against his chest as the man went limp, a final cry of anguish escaping his lips.

Moving quickly, Cayden pushed the body away and got to his feet just in time to see the larger man bearing down on him with a cry of fury. His efforts came to a halt when several men from Cayden’s clan appeared out of the bushes and tackled the Highlander to the ground, using force to keep him at bay.

“Where the devil have ye all been?” Cayden growled, using the back of his hand to wipe a trickle of blood from his mouth. The edge of the blade had managed to graze his cheek in the scuffle, leaving a small cut that stretched to the corner of his lips.

One of the men scrambled to his feet after checking to see if the second man was still alive. His lack of action let Cayden know that his blade had met its mark. “We dinnae ken that anything was happening, Me Laird. McReed called us all into a meeting at the training grounds. We were only alerted when yer maither came to find us.”

Cayden swore under his breath. It had all been planned. They were called to one of the more remote sections of the castle so that nobody would hear any screams or even a scuffle. “Where is McReed now?”

“He’s back at the castle, comforting yer maither, Me Laird.” The man’s face paled when Cayden balled his fists at his side.

“Go back at once, an’ throw McReed in the dungeons.” He turned to the men who were still holding the struggling Highlander on the ground. “Take him to the dungeons and lock him up. Send someone back for the body and then bury him,” he continued to bark orders.

The men scrambled about doing his bidding, leaving him in the clearing.

That bastard.

He had known that McReed’s pride had been hurt after the meeting, yet he hadn’t thought that the man would stoop to such levels. His thoughts were interrupted when Iris threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his chest as she sobbed.

“Oh, Cayden, I was so scared; thank ye for coming. I dinnae ken what would have happened if ye hadnae…” Her voice broke off as she clung to him, hanging on as if her life depended on it.

His heart softened, allowing fear to take over as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and drew her body close to his.

I nearly lost her.

He felt a shiver of fear run down his spine at the thought. He wouldn’t have been able to live with himself if anyone else had been harmed under his care, especially not Iris.

Her sobs eased as she tore her face away from his chest and looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “Cayden, I am so sorry, I didnae mean to cause trouble; all we wanted to do was pick berries.”

“Dinnae fuss. It wasnae yer fault.” Cayden let go of her body and cupped her face in his hands, wiping her tear-stained cheeks with his thumbs.

“But if I had only…” Her voice broke again as a second flood of tears burst free.

“Ye are nae to blame for this, Iris. McReed is a good-for-nothing dog, an’ ye could ne’er have kent that a man inside this clan would do anything like that. I didnae even ken that he was capable of this.” Cayden swore under his breath again before pulling her into his arms and holding her close to his chest.

He wasn’t sure what he would do to McReed, but he’d make him pay. The fear that had coursed through his body when he realized that Iris was in danger had shaken him to his core.

“Ahem.” Robyn cleared her throat and came forward. “I ken that the two of ye are having a moment, an’ I dinnae wish to break things up, but I am fine as well, nae that anyone asked.”

Iris suddenly raised her head as if she had remembered that she and Cayden weren’t alone. “Robyn, I am so sorry, I didnae mean to make ye feel as if ye dinnae matter. Where ye hurt?” She quickly rushed over and examined the girl.

“Nae, I am well, just shaken. I think we should head back to the castle ’afore anything else happens out here.” Robyn glanced over Iris’ shoulder, smirking at Cayden when Iris wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace.

So much for being the matchmaker, more like the obstacle creator.