"Nay, that is true enough. Yet, I might still find out what I came here to learn if I am careful."
"What did ye really come here for?"
"To discover who murdered my cousin Arailt. He had a lover here, bred a son, and was slaughtered here as he tried to get to us so that we might help him protect his son."
"Oh. Was his lover Anne Drummond?"
"Aye. They mentioned her, did they?"
She nodded, a chill snaking down her spine as she recalled all they had said. "Your cousin is the reason they intend to send six men to capture ye and take ye to the dungeon. Sir Ra.n.a.ld said the mon who was murdered killed four men with his bare hands and his teeth. Sir Ra.n.a.ld was told of it by this laird. He believes it for"-she grimaced and looked at him, unable to hide how much she wished she did not have to tell him all she had heard-"he has your cousin"s skull. He says he saw the teeth."
Gillanders swore and prayed he might have the chance to make Sir Ra.n.a.ld pay for that desecration of his cousin"s body.
"Egan still questions The Laird"s sanity, and I think he is right to do so. Yet, for all that, there will still be six men coming after ye to take ye captive. Ye have but one more night to, as Sir Ra.n.a.ld says, play your games. For all I ken, they may weel have counted this night as that one more. So ye must see that ye have to leave this place as quickly as ye can."
He was touched by her concern. The news that Arailt had put up a good fight and taken some of his killers down with him eased some of Gillanders"s grief over the loss of a good man, but none of his fury over the killing. The pleasure of that knowledge was somewhat dimmed by Murdina"s disbelief in all Sir Ra.n.a.ld had said. The fact that she did not believe what she had heard, undoubtedly thought Sir Ra.n.a.ld and Egan fools for heeding a strange man known only as The Laird, did not bode well for him. At the moment, however, it served him well, for her disbelief had helped to make her run to him with a timely warning.
"I had already begun to think it was time to leave," he said, bringing her face closer to his and brushing his lips over her mouth. "Howbeit, I do thank ye for the warning."
Murdina told herself to break free of his hold, but good sense had fled the moment his lips had touched hers. All she could think of was that he was going to leave, that the first man to ever stir a woman"s fire within her was about to go away. The thought of never seeing him again made her reckless and greedy. She had nothing in her life, not even family. It would be wonderful if, just for a little while, someone would make her feel wanted, cared for. She slipped her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth more firmly against his, savoring the hot sweetness of his kiss and letting the heat of it flood her body.
Gillanders knew the moment she gave in to her desire. Her whole body softened against him, the faint stiffness of uncertainty fleeing her small, lush figure. He pushed her down onto the bed and deepened the kiss. Desire was a fire in his veins, an ache that loudly demanded to be satisfied.
As he stroked the inside of her mouth with his tongue, softly growling his approval when she began to respond to the caresses and thrusts of his tongue with some of her own, his mind cleared of all thought save that of feeling her flesh against his. He ran his hands over the soft curves of her body and then unlaced her gown as he kept her drugged with his kisses. Tugging her bodice down, he pressed a kiss between her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, fighting the need to immediately feast upon the plump, rose-tipped curves. He also had to fight the urge to nip at her long, slim throat, the sight and sound of the rapid pulse in the vein there clouding his mind with the dark hunger the MacNachtons were cursed with.
"Ah, la.s.s, ye are beautiful." He licked the hard tip of each breast, her soft gasp of pleasure music to his ears. "And ye taste as sweet as the finest honey."
Murdina was briefly shocked when he covered the aching tip of her breast and sucked on it like a bairn, but a fierce desire brutally banished her hesitation. She thrust her fingers into his hair, the thick silk of it a soft caress on her hands, and held him close. The way he covered her b.r.e.a.s.t.s with kisses, strokes of his tongue, and the skillful touch of his hands soon had her squirming beneath him, her body eager for something more.
In a small, still sane part of her mind she was aware of him tugging up her skirts, but she did not stop him. It was not until he rubbed his hand against her woman"s flesh that shock dimmed a little of her pleasure. This was not what she had come here for. Yet, his touch and the way it made her burn caused her thoughts to scatter. It was not until she felt the hint of anger and cruelty invade the sweetness of her pleasure in his arms that her senses returned. She pushed at him, trying to get him to move off her.
"I think someone approaches your bedchamber," she whispered when he frowned at her.
She was just thinking that his eyes were even more beautiful when darkened by a desire she had stirred within him when he leapt up, grabbed her by the arm, and silently urged her to get beneath the bed. From her hiding place she watched as he walked toward the door, reaching it just as a hard rap at it announced a visitor. Murdina was not surprised to see Egan, although it did shock her a little to realize that the man had such strong feelings toward Sir Gillanders she could sense them even before he reached the bedchamber door.
"Why do ye disturb my rest, sir?" Sir Gillanders asked in a voice that made Murdina shiver.
"I was wandering the hall and thought ye might wish to share a drink," said Egan, holding up a jug of wine that Murdina strongly suspected had some dangerous herbs in it.
"Kind of ye to think of me, but, nay. I am still a wee bit weak from our swordplay the other day. It may have been an insignificant wound, but it bled freely, and I find I still tire easily."
"Of course. Then I bid you a good rest, sir."
Gillanders frowned at the door after he shut and bolted it. "Now why did he come to me, I wonder."
As she crawled out from beneath the bed, Murdina asked, "Do ye think they ken that I might have heard their plans for ye and come to warn ye?"
"Nay. I think he but wished to see if I was armed whilst in my bedchamber. Mayhap e"en see just how late I remain awake."
"They planned to make ye drink a lot of wine to be certain that ye went to sleep and slept deeply."
"I did notice how readily they filled my tankard when we dined this evening, and now comes Egan with more. I think they must plan to make me insensible with drink ere they try to take me."
"And they mean to try that tonight."
"It would appear so." He walked to the other side of the bed, picked up the bags he had packed, and set them on the bed.
"Oh. Ye were already planning to leave here." She told herself it was foolish to feel so hurt, but that did not ease the pain that gripped her at the thought of his departure.
"I was. They played their games weel when we dined, but nay so weel that I didnae scent the threat. And I think ye ought to come with me."
She blinked, stunned by the invitation, and not daring to take it as a promise that he cared for her. "Why should I do that? Do ye think I might be in danger, too?"
" "Tis possible as it willnae take them long to look to you as the one who warned me. But, also, I ken where your cousin is."
"I had wondered when I began to think ye were nay Sir Baldwin but Sir MacNachton. She is with your clan?"
"She is. She has wed my cousin, and they raise Arailt"s wee son as their own."
"Then she doesnae truly need me to join her. She begins a family of her own."
Gillanders walked up to her, gently tugged her into his arms, and kissed the top of her head. "Ye are her only living kin just as she is yours. Of course she will want ye to come. And, when all is said and done, do ye have any other place ye can go?"
"Nay." What she wanted was for him to say he wanted her to come with him, for himself, but she beat down the yearning. "Then I shall come. I but need to gather a few things."
"Then hurry, la.s.s. We need to be away from here as quickly as possible if we are to put distance between us and Sir Ra.n.a.ld"s men."
"Ye think they will try to chase us down?"
"Aye. If all ye say he believes about me and mine, his awe of that laird, is true, he will wish to capture me ere I can get to Cambrun."
"And how do we flee unseen from a crowded keep? Many are abed, but there are all the guards to worry about."
"I ne"er stay anywhere without finding out exactly how to flee unseen if I must. Trust me in this, I ken exactly how to get out of here with nary a one seeing us leave."
She nodded and stepped away from him. "I just wish I could pack my wee pony," she mumbled as she started toward the door. "Poor beastie doesnae deserve the fate of being left in the hands of men like these."
Gillanders stared at the door as it shut behind her. They would be taking her pony, but he would let her discover that later. It would not be as fast as a horse, but it would be better than one horse trying to travel a long way, perhaps at a fast pace at times, with two people and all their belongings packed on it.
He frowned as he thought on how she had known Egan approached before he himself had even heard the man"s steps. It was hard to believe she could have better hearing than a man like him with both Callan and MacNachton blood in his veins. Nor did he think she was a trap set by Sir Ra.n.a.ld. Yet, she should not have been able to tell that someone was approaching them as she had. It was something he was going to have to ask her about. There was a chance that little Murdina had a secret or two of her own.
Murdina shoved her meager belongings into a sack she had taken from the kitchen. She already had bread, cheese, and wine in there. It had been difficult to overcome the abhorrence of stealing, but she had done so, deciding that men like Sir Ra.n.a.ld did not deserve loyalty.
Her heart pounded with an uncomfortable mix of fear and excitement. She was about to mark herself as the one who had warned Sir Gillanders, the one who had helped the prize Sir Ra.n.a.ld sought to slip out of his grasp. When compared to that crime, a little theft was nothing. She would never be able to come back this way, however. She knew the laird had a long memory when it concerned people he believed had wronged him.
Some of her fear, and also the excitement she could not quell, came from the fact that she was about to embark on a journey with a man who made her blood heat with desire. Murdina knew they would become lovers once they were away from the keep. She also knew she ought to be alarmed by that, for she would be giving away her only dowry to a man who gave her no vows or love words. That did frighten her but not enough to make her turn away from it.
She could touch him. It all came down to that simple fact. She could put her hands on the man and feel only calm or desire. If he had any evil in him, it was well buried. Even the shadow she could sense beneath the calm, beneath things like loyalty, love for his clan, and honesty, carried no tinge of evil.
"Ah, Mother dear, your la.s.s is about to become a fallen woman," she whispered as she gazed upward to the ceiling. "I but pray that, if ye are watching, ye will understand and forgive. I can touch him, Mother. "Tis such a wonder that I cannae turn from it. And, aye, I do believe I may be in love with the fool."
She collected her things and walked toward the door of the tiny room she had been given once she had been given the ch.o.r.e of being a maid to an honored guest. The room was dark, cold, and often damp, little more than a niche in the wall with a thin door, but it had been hers alone for a short time. After being crowded in with all the other maids who did the lowest and dirtiest of the ch.o.r.es, it had been a pleasure to have the tiny s.p.a.ce. She hoped there would be a tiny s.p.a.ce for her somewhere at Cambrun.
"I begin my adventure now, Mother," she whispered. "Please watch over me and Sir Gillanders. Even if he isnae the mon who will stay with me, he is still a good mon."
She slipped out of her room and headed toward Sir Ra.n.a.ld"s bedchamber. There was one more thing she had to pack to take with them. This time she had no hesitation about the theft she was about to commit.
Chapter Six.
Gillanders picked his pack up, tossed it back down on the bed, and resumed pacing his room. He had wavered between waiting a little longer for Murdina and simply leaving without her. It was easy to convince himself that a much needed stealth was the reason she was taking so long to return, but it was also easy to convince himself that she had changed her mind and was not going to ride to Cambrun with him. The latter possibility troubled him far more than he wanted to admit.
He finally sat down on the edge of the bed, crossed his arms over his chest, and stared at the door. If she did not appear soon, he would hunt her down. Murdina thought she had been unseen when she had come to warn him, but he was not so certain. Since she had no skill at stealth, had never been trained to it, she could have been seen but simply not known it. The reason she had not joined him yet could be because Sir Ra.n.a.ld or one of his men had caught her warning him or even caught her as she was trying to join him now. His stomach knotted at the thought of Murdina"s facing an angry Sir Ra.n.a.ld.
The sound of a soft footstep just outside his door brought him to his feet. He was standing at the side of the door, dagger in hand, as it was eased open. Murdina"s scent came to him first, but he remained tense until he was absolutely certain there was no one with her. The moment he was sure she was alone, he tugged her into the room and shut the door. Relieved that she was safe and with him again, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
Murdina let the heat of his kiss melt away her fear, but before she sank beneath the fog of desire he could so easily rouse in her, she backed away from him. "We dinnae have time for that, I think."
"Nay, true enough. A shame that." He frowned when he realized she carried two sacks. "Do ye wish me to carry one of those? They look to be quite a burden."
"Oh, nay. One contains what little I own and some food. And, the other? Weel, the laird is spending time with his mistress in the village as is his habit, ye ken. So, I went into his bedchamber and took the skulls," she confessed, her voice slowly fading away to a whisper. "I wasnae sure what ye would do with them but, if they are your kin, I thought ye would at best wish them removed from Sir Ra.n.a.ld"s mantel. I think one may be of the cousin ye lost."
"Why would ye think that? Because he was murdered near here?"
It was very tempting to tell him that she had merely guessed, as he suggested, but she fought against giving in to that cowardice. The man had a right to know the truth, even if it changed his mind about taking her with him. If he pushed her away now, at least she could slip back to her little bed. Once on the journey to Cambrun she could find herself deserted in the middle of a strange land. Murdina did not think he would do such a cruel thing, but she had never faced anyone squarely and told him the truth about her gift.
"I touched one." She sighed when he looked at her in confusion. "I have always had a strong intuition about people. S"truth, ye are the first person I have willingly touched in many a year, aside from my own parents. When I touch a person I can feel a great deal about who they are, what they feel. Ye just feel calm but with a wee shadow behind it all. Sir Ra.n.a.ld feels angry and cruel. So does Egan."
"And ye felt that when he approached. "Tis how ye kenned he was coming to the room."
"Aye. Once I did get a feeling from a hammer the cooper in my village used to beat his wife to death. So, I do all I can to touch no one and to touch very few things, especially things like daggers and swords. That has nay been easy to do in such a crowded keep."
"Ye touched the skulls."
Relaxing a little when she sensed no revulsion or fear in him, she nodded. "Just one. I got the feeling of deep grief, the grief of a mon who kenned he would ne"er see his son grow to be a mon nor be able to protect that child as he grew."
"Did ye see who killed him?"
Murdina realized that Sir Gillanders was no stranger to such gifts, his calm as she spoke one of utter acceptance. "Nay. I dinnae truly see, I just feel. "Tis true that, at times, it is as if I see something, but it comes from the emotion"s being verra, verra strong. "Tis difficult to explain, but, with the hammer I spoke of, I could feel the woman"s pain and the cooper"s fury and hate."
He nodded. "So it was nay so verra hard to ken just what he had done with that hammer." He took the bag holding the skulls from her. "We will take this because, aye, I suspicion they are the skulls of my kinsmen, and they should be returned to Cambrun. Mayhap, when we reach my home, ye can touch them if it doesnae repel ye, and discover enough that we may ken exactly who has been returned home."
"I can try but "tis just the skulls. Are ye certain your clan will want them returned?"
" "Tis more than we have of them now. So, come, la.s.s, "tis time we left this cursed place."
Stunned at how easily he accepted something she had hidden all her life, Murdina silently followed him. There was a chance the MacNachtons had more oddities in their blood than a tendency to grow very sharp teeth. If that was true, if some of his people had gifts such as she had, for once in her life she would be able to cease fearing that someone would discover what she could do and decry her as a witch.
Murdina forced herself to concentrate on following Sir Gillanders as carefully as she could and not getting caught. The man slipped from shadow to shadow with ease as he led her down into the bowels of the keep. He had not been boasting when he had claimed he already knew how to slip away without being seen. The bolt-hole he led her through was long, narrow, dark, and damp, but she caged her fear.
Once out of it and in the stables, she wondered how they could silently escape with his horse. That was not an animal one could easily hide in the shadows. Before she could ask, he had readied his horse and her st.u.r.dy pony, secured their belongings to the saddles, and was leading his mount toward the back of the large stables. She grabbed the reins of her pony and followed him.
"Another bolt-hole?" she whispered as he opened a thick wooden door to reveal a large, ironbound one.
"Sir Ra.n.a.ld obviously plans to flee on horseback if pressed to it. I wondered when I saw how the stables were built hard up against the curtain wall. It did take a while to be able to open both doors and the iron-gate though. On the outside is a steep hillside, difficult for an enemy to descend unseen by men on the walls, so this proved not to be the weakness I thought it to be. It is, however, a way to leave this place unseen with a mount to help us put a lot of miles between us and this cursed place ere we are discovered to be gone."
It all worked just as he said it would, but the fear that they would be caught did not leave Murdina until they were several miles away. She could no longer see the keep, and there had been no outcry, so she began to believe that they had actually succeeded in escaping. It would be several hours yet before the laird left his mistress"s bed, returned to gather the six men he thought he needed to subdue and capture Sir Gillanders, and found only an empty bed. Murdina wished she knew exactly how much effort the man would exert to hunt them down. She rested her head against Gillanders"s broad back, closed her eyes, and prayed the laird simply accepted his loss and stayed at Dunnantinny.
The sun was barely peeking over the horizon when Gillanders found a place for them to rest for a few hours. One thing he had gained from his mother was far more tolerance for the sun than many another MacNachton. The height of the day was still dangerous, however. During those hours, especially if the sun shone brightly, he could be seriously weakened and would need blood to recover his strength. That was something he wished to avoid.
He nudged Murdina awake, smiling at the way she rubbed her eyes then blinked sleepily as she looked around. As soon as he dismounted he helped her off her pony and pretended not to notice how she winced. A blacksmith"s daughter might know a lot about horses, but he doubted she had ridden one very often. Her pony was probably one the family had had to pull a cart or help at the forge.
"A shieling?" she asked as she walked around in a small circle, attempting to ease the stiffness in her legs, and studied the small stone and thatch building.
"Enough shelter for us to rest for a wee while," he said as he tended to their mounts. "Aye, and to allow our mounts to have a wee rest as well."
"I am certain they are in need of one." She paused next to her pony and scratched at his ears, earning an affectionate nudge from the animal.
"Do ye think we will be safe here?"
"Aye. For a few hours. Enough to have a bite to eat, a wash, and a rest."
Gillanders spoke even as he walked into the shieling, and she quickly followed him. It was not until they had washed the dust of travel away, eaten a little, and prepared to take a rest that Murdina realized Gillanders was antic.i.p.ating a great deal more than a rest. While she had cleared away what they had used to have their meager meal, he had set out their blankets. He had also stripped down to his braes and was now lying on the blanket, his arms crossed beneath his head, watching her closely. The desire he had for her was so clear and strong she could almost scent it in the air.
She hesitated only a moment before shedding her gown and slipping beneath the blanket they would use for a cover. He was the one she wanted. He was the only man she had ever been able to touch freely. In most people"s eyes it would seem wrong of her to want to give herself to him when he had not even offered a future together for them, but she did not care. The ability to touch him without being drowned in feelings of every sort was a blessing she could not ignore. This might be the only time she could learn just what could be shared between a man and a woman. If she ended up alone, it would hurt, but not as much as having missed this chance to know the things that had made her mother smile whenever the woman looked at Murdina"s father.
Gillanders turned on his side, wrapped an arm around her waist, and tugged her close. "I do heed a nay when "tis said, la.s.s."
"I ken it," she said, knowing she was blushing but trying to ignore it. "I find I am nay inclined to say it."
"I cannae tell ye how much it pleases me to hear ye say so."
He did not have to tell her, she could feel it. As he kissed her, his tongue stroking the inside of her mouth in a way that had her clinging to him, Murdina sensed his desire, and it fed her own. This would truly be a sharing, she thought, fighting not to tense with shyness as he rid her of her shift. The moment he pulled her back into his arms and their flesh touched for the first time, she ceased to worry about her decision. She was skin to skin with a man, and all she felt was desire, his and hers. She would be a fool to run from this.
Gillanders knew the moment she had shed all doubt, for her body nestled against his in a welcome that had his heart racing like that of some untried boy. He kissed her until that soft haze made her eyes the color of the sea and then began to kiss his way down to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. As she stroked his back and arms, he could feel the faint roughness there, but the rest of her skin was as soft and sweet as he had thought it would be. He silently promised her that she would never have to suffer the roughness of hard work on her hands again.
The rose-colored tips of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s were hard and beckoning, and Gillanders feasted on them. He slid his hand down over her taut stomach and between her legs. She tensed a little but that faded as he caressed her. The damp welcome of her desire was quick to form, and he had to grit his teeth against the urge to thrust himself into her heat as quickly as possible. He eased a finger inside her, feeding that desire and readying her for his possession. By the time he slid a second finger into her heat, she was breathing heavily and arching to his touch. Gillanders wanted to kiss her there, to taste her pa.s.sion, but beat down the need for she was a virgin. Some of the things a man and woman could enjoy in bed would be a little too frightening for one who had never had a man. He would save that pleasure for later.
Shaking a little from the strength of his own pa.s.sion, Gillanders settled himself between her legs as he kissed her. Slowly he eased into her and met the proof of her innocence. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he thrust deep inside, breaking through the barrier, and swallowed her soft cry of pain with his kiss. Sweat trickled down his spine as he held himself still so that she could adjust to the invasion, but he doubted he could hold still for long. He prayed the loss of her innocence had not killed all of her desire.
Murdina held tight to Gillanders as she caught her breath. The pain of the loss of her maidenhead was rapidly fading, an ache for more replacing it. She curled her legs around his lean hips, and he groaned, pressing his face against her throat. Murdina almost smiled, for she could sense his need as well as how fiercely he was fighting to control it. She shifted her hips, pulling him deeper into her body, and shivered with the pleasure of it.
"Has the pain eased?" he asked in a voice made hoa.r.s.e with the fight to remain still.