"No" with a chair, love," Rob a.s.sured her, then scowled when he realized he"d forgotten his mead.
"Will is bleeding," she pointed out regrettably and sank into her chair. "Oh, Rob!" She tugged on his plaid without taking her eyes off the melee. "Seamus MacDonnell just hit Will from behind. Look out!" She bolted back to her feet and screamed in Will"s direction and then turned on her husband. "Robert MacGregor, do something! He is your closest friend!"
Davina had no idea that Rob would have shamed Will if he moved to protect him against men who were too drunk to do any real harm. As it turned out though, Rob didn"t need to do a thing. A cry from the battlements stilled them all.
Chapter Thirty-four.
Callum was the first to reach the castle doors, with Rob close behind him. It wasn"t every day that the MacGregors had visitors, and while most who came here were usually from neighboring clans, no one had forgotten Davina"s father... or Admiral Gilles.
"Finn," Rob ordered as the lad caught up with him, "bring Davina to my mother!"
"She went to the chapel."
Before Rob could reply, his father pulled on the doors, stepped outside, and shouted up to his patrolling guards. "Which way?"
"From the hills, m" laird. Aboot thirty riders. Too far yet to see who they are."
Rob felt his heart crash and splinter at his feet. Unless Gilles had recruited more men on his journey, it had to be the king.
"Banners?" he pushed past his father and called to the guards.
"Dinna" see any."
"Load the cannons!" Callum roared and spun around to the men watching him from the doors. "Alert everyone. Prepare fer the worst."
Rob turned to Will and without a word spoken between them, his bloodied and bruised friend nodded and set off toward the chapel.
"Uncle," he said to Jamie next. "Find Asher and bring him to us. If Admiral Gilles is among those men, the captain will know his face."
"And if "tis the king," Brodie reminded Rob somberly, "Asher could identify yer wife."
"And "twill be the last thing he ever does," Rob growled and caught the heavy claymore Angus tossed him.
"Laird," a guard shouted from above. "A Highlander leads them. M" thinks "tis Colin!"
Rob felt as if someone had just shot him through the heart. Colin. Nae, it couldn"t be. And if it was, then whoever was with him had likely forced him to bring them here. But even as Rob told himself that his brother would never betray him to the king, he knew that Colin could not be controlled by royalty, sword, or pistol. If Colin did not want to be here, he would have died at the hands of their enemies rather than lead them to Camlochlin.
The lethal scowl on his father"s face as he searched the hills told Rob that Callum knew it too.
"If he brought the king"s men here-"
"We dinna" know who travels with him yet, Robert, or if "tis even him," was all his father had to say on the matter.
They waited, armed and ready while the castle came alive with shouts behind them. Rob could hear the heavy cannon wheels grinding across the battlements above, where more of his kin waited with arrows c.o.c.ked and ready to fly.
""Tis Colin," Rob"s father said and raised his hand to halt the archers.
A wave of panic washed over Rob such as he had never felt before. Why was his brother here? What had he done? If he"d told the king that his daughter was here, would he point her out as well? Sick to his stomach, Rob looked toward the chapel"s outside entrance. They weren"t going to take her from him.
"It"s the king."
Everyone"s eyes turned to Asher exiting the castle with Jamie. "He travels without his banner, but his regal bearing is difficult to conceal."
"He"s correct," Callum told them, his sharp eyes fastened on the large troupe coming over the hills only a few hundred feet away now. The lead rider was in fact his son. The man beside him pushed back his hood to reveal a somewhat pale, yet familiar face as his eyes scanned the battlements, and then the men beneath them.
"Stand doun!" Callum roared to the guards and then waited while the riders grew closer. "Shyt," he groaned and then turned to his son. "Remember, I beg ye, what we spoke of. Dinna" tell him ye wed her, Robert."
Asher was the first to fall to his knee when the king reached them. Callum followed, keeping his stormy gaze on his youngest son as he leaped from his saddle.
"Faither, I-"
But Callum raised his palm to quiet him as the rest of his men knelt behind him, following his example.
When Rob was the only one still standing, the king glanced at Colin. "Your brother, I presume?"
Colin nodded and met Rob"s murderous gaze. "I told only him, Rob. No one else knows."
Rob"s fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword. If Colin was not his brother, he would have run him through then and there and to h.e.l.l with the king.
"Where is she?"
Rob cut his dark gaze to the king when he spoke. Rob hated him, hated him for leaving her, for sentencing her to a life without her family, for never bothering to see her.
A thread of hope emerged from the gloom. Elaine. Davina was Elaine.
"She isna" here," Rob said, giving Colin a warning look that said if he contradicted him, he would regret it. "It has all been a-"
But the king was not listening to him. His eyes had settled on someone behind Rob, and his face... his face told Rob who it was without having to look.
"Daughter." The king barely breathed the word, as if what he was seeing could not be real. His eyes gleamed with tears as he slowly dismounted. "You have changed little since last I saw you."
G.o.d, nae.
Now Rob did turn to her and found tears streaming down her face. Instinctively, he reached his hand to hers to comfort her, but she dropped to her knees and dipped her head.
"Arise, Davina." The king reached for her, paused as if she might flee, and then gently pulled her up by the shoulders.
Everyone around Rob ceased to exist-everyone but Davina. He could not move. He could not breathe as he watched her set her shimmering eyes on her father for the first time. Everything in him wanted to s.n.a.t.c.h her away from the man reaching his fingers to her face. But she closed her eyes, as if the moment she had dreamed about for so long had finally come, and only his touch would prove it real.
Losing Davina suddenly became more real for Rob than ever before. This was what she wanted. What she had always wanted. Her father. He took a step toward her, but Callum"s hand on his arm stopped him.
"You will never know how sorry I am for not being in your life."
The king"s softly spoken words were like daggers to Rob"s heart. If any other father had uttered them to his wife, Rob would have rejoiced for her, knowing how desperately she needed to hear them. But this father had the power to take her away-and as Davina covered her face in her hands and wept, Rob doubted she would resist.
That is, until she lowered her hands and looked at him with her whole heart in her eyes.
Following her sorrowful gaze, King James turned to Rob and sized him up with a worried crease marring his regal brow. "You are Robert MacGregor," he said, revealing that Colin had told him much. "You are the man who saved my daughter"s life."
Looking at her, Rob recalled that wondrous day, and every day after that. It hadn"t taken him long to fall in love with her modest smile, her playful laughter, her glorious eyes always on him, always expecting him to leave her. He never would. But her heart was soft, so very soft. "Twas yet another reason he loved her. She"d forgiven Asher for betraying her. She would forgive her father too.
"I owe you much more than I can ever repay," the king went on, grasping Davina"s hand in his. "You gave me back my life."
And you mean to take away mine. Rob did not speak the words aloud. He couldn"t. He couldn"t think of his life without her.
"MacGregor"-the king turned to Rob"s father-"might you invite us in from the chill? There is much you and I must discuss."
Callum ground his jaw and spared his eldest son a sober look before he nodded and gave the command to see to the king and his men"s comforts.
"Captain Asher," the king greeted, patting Asher on the shoulder before following Callum inside. "Young MacGregor has told me of your courage, as well. You too will be rewarded."
Rob watched them enter Camlochlin with rage clouding his vision. It was not directed at Asher for the praise he"d received. The captain was a coward. Rob knew it, and so did Asher. It didn"t matter what the king believed. Nae, his wrath was directed at his brother, and as Colin tried to step into the entryway, Rob stepped forward and blocked his path.
They waited in silence until they were alone, and when they were, Colin spoke first. "Brother, I-"
"Colin," Rob"s sharp voice cut him off, "from this day on, I am nae longer yer brother."
Colin backed up a pace as if Rob had struck him. His eyes rounded with stunned disbelief. "How the h.e.l.l can ye say that to me? I brought him here through the hills as we have been taught. I-"
"What did he offer ye?" Rob asked calmly. Too calmly. Anyone else would have backed further away, knowing Rob"s slow temper was about to snap.
"What?" Colin nearly spat the word at him.
Rob came at him like a bull, grabbing Colin"s tunic at the throat and hauling him against the wall with one hand and tearing Colin"s sword from its scabbard with the other before his brother could reach for it.
"Ye told him! Ye told him, Colin! Now, I"ll ask ye again. What did he offer ye?"
Colin stared at him with his own brand of rage making his eyes blaze like molten gold. "I should run ye through fer what ye accuse me of, brother."
He did not blink or cringe when Rob"s fist came at his face. But the blow did not come.
"Let him speak, Rob," Tristan said, holding back his brother"s wrist.
Rob yanked his arm free and turned away, not wanting to hear what Colin had to say.
"Why did ye bring him here?" he heard Tristan ask.
"I brought him here because if our faither-or any one of us-believed Mairi was dead and she wasn"t, we would want to know. I heard Davina"s pain of never knowin" her faither. He heard it too." He pointed to Rob"s back. "She spoke of him often, did she no", Rob?" he challenged, but did not wait for an answer. "When I met the king, I had nae intention of tellin" him anything-"
"Then why did ye!" Rob shouted, turning to him once again.
"Because his pain of never knowin" her was just as great!" Colin shouted back. "She"s his bairn, Rob. He loves her."
Rob moved toward him, but now his rage had pa.s.sed and he stared quietly into his brother"s eyes. "So do I, Colin." He said nothing else and entered the castle alone.
"I knew he loved her," Colin said thoughtfully, looking after him. "We all did, but-"
"He took her as his wife," Tristan told him quietly as they headed inside.
"Och, nae," Colin stopped and raked his hand through his hair. "He knew who she was. He couldna" have."
"He did, nonetheless."
"d.a.m.n fool!" Colin swore.
Tristan tossed him a quelling look over his shoulder and shook his head. "I should have let him hit ye."
Davina sat in Callum"s private solar with Rob"s parents, two of the king"s guardsmen standing behind her, and her father. Was he real? Was any of this real? She pinched her thigh twice to convince herself that she was awake. The second time she pinched too hard and jumped a little in her chair. Beside her, the king patted her hand and gave her a tender smile before turning his attention back to Callum.
"You have a most impressive home, MacGregor. It was clever of you to build here. The landscape makes it virtually impossible to arrive unseen."
"Aye, there was need fer such when I built it." Callum poured four cups of warm mead and handed the first to his wife.
"Ah yes, during the proscription," the king said, accepting his drink next. "You were an outlaw and a rebel then."
Was this truly her father"s voice she was hearing, his warmth seeping into her skin, his scarred, calloused hand atop hers? Davina wanted to turn and look at him, take in every angle. She"d dreamed of his face and now here it was, just a few inches from her own.
"Aye," Rob"s father said, standing over her with her cup. "There was need fer that as well."
Davina took her cup with a shaky hand, wishing it was something stronger. Her father had come for her and she doubted he would leave without her. Dear G.o.d, help them all. Why did he come now? What was she to do? There was only one thing. But how could she leave Rob, or Camlochlin? Everyone at St. Christopher"s had died because of her. She couldn"t... she wouldn"t let everyone at Camlochlin die for her, as well. She looked toward the door. Where was Rob? He would never let her go if she was forced. Would he let her go if she went willingly?
"You are trembling, my dearest." Her father leaned in closer to her, washing her in his scent. "I understand my arrival was unexpected-"
"I am fine, really," she said, quickly wiping a tear from her eye. "Just... overwhelmed."
He smiled at her and Davina took in every crease, every crinkle that lined his comely face. How long had she wondered what he looked like? She thought his hair would be pale like hers, but it was completely gray now. His dark blue eyes were somber, shadowed by years of battle, on the field and off. His nose was long and straight, and his lips were thin, probably not p.r.o.ne to smiling. Until today.
"I am overwhelmed, as well."
Was he? She wanted to believe him. Did kings become overwhelmed by their children? He"d said he had seen her. When? Had he visited St. Christopher"s when she was a child? Why hadn"t she been allowed to see him if he had been there? She wanted to ask him, but smiled instead. He hadn"t forgotten her.
And it was when she was smiling, as if her life had just become complete, that Rob opened the solar door and stepped inside. The flames in the large hearth trembled at his presence, for he brought the cold with him, spreading it to each of them until his mother bounded from her chair and went to him. She spoke in a hushed voice against his chest, but whatever she said did not comfort him. His anguished, angry gaze remained fixed on Davina.
He said nothing, nor did he take a seat or pour himself a drink. He simply stood at the door, a barricade of raw brawn and single determination.
Davina felt faint with the need to go to him, to tell him she loved him and nothing would ever change that, but she would not let him die for her. But it was Rob"s father and not her own who stopped her from moving. With one look Callum spoke to her, reminded her of Rob"s fate should her father learn of her Highland marriage. She was the king"s daughter, whether she liked it or not, and the ruler of the three kingdoms had not cloistered his firstborn in a nunnery to save her for a life as a commoner.
"Yer Majesty," Callum said, shifting his powerful gaze to the king, "ye have met my son, Robert."
"Briefly, yes," James said, studying Rob"s scowl with a wary smile. "Tell me, MacGregor, do all your sons share a common mistrust of n.o.bility?"