"Sadly, nae." The chief looked genuinely disappointed. "Ye met my son Tristan in England, if ye recall."
The king chuckled softly at what could have been construed as an insult. "Knowing most of the n.o.bility in England and Scotland, I"d say you taught most of your sons well."
"Aye," Callum agreed. ""Tis difficult when yer own nephew plots against ye."
The king nodded, raising his cup to his lips. "It is only a matter of time before Monmouth is caught, and Argyll as well."
Rob made an impatient sound, pulling Davina"s cautious gaze to him. He stood alone, so tall and strong, folding and then unfolding his arms over his chest, the lines of his jaw rigid. The solar suddenly seemed too small with him in it. She was surrounded on all sides by men of great power and skill, but none of them made her heart accelerate, her mouth go dry by the sheer force of Rob"s indomitable strength. Like the mountains that rose up around his home, he was unbendable, unbeaten by the storms that raged around him. He"d protected her when he could have chosen not to, he"d promised to keep her safe, and he had. She felt treasured in his arms, untouchable by his side. If she lost him, she would cast her heart into the sea and never love another.
Rob ignored his father"s warning glance with a black look of his own and asked boldly, "And Admiral Gilles? What are yer men doin" aboot him?"
The king looked up at him without censure, but with refreshed curiosity. "We will find him."
"Before he finds her?" The flagrant challenge in Rob"s voice was undeniable.
"He will never find her here, sire," Callum interjected before his son spoke again. "And if he does, as ye know now fer yerself, we will see him comin" long before he arrives."
"Leave her here?" the king asked. For a moment he seemed to be considering it, but then his gaze shifted back to Rob. "You have my deepest grat.i.tude for saving my daughter, but I am afraid I must decline."
Instantly, Rob rushed forward. Just as quickly the two soldiers standing behind Davina drew their swords.
"Nae!" Callum shouted together with Davina and Kate, and flung himself in front of his son, shielding his arms around him. "Stand doun, Robert, or would ye have yer mother see our blood spilled before her eyes?" He spoke quickly, quietly, his voice thick with emotion and restraint. "M" lord," he turned to look at the king. "Let us discuss this further. Yer daughter"s safety means much to my son. He-"
"And so does my daughter, obviously." The king stood to his feet and tilted his head to stare hard into both their eyes. "I suspected this. But she is my heir. Her future has already been decided."
"But not by me." All eyes turned to Davina rising slowly to her feet to face her father. She would not tremble. She would not falter, and she would not cry. Not now. If there was any way to stop this, to stop her father from taking her, or Rob from starting a war he would lose, she had to take it. "Being your daughter has taken everything from me. I love it here, father. I love these people. I beg you, do not take them from me, as well."
Her father"s eyes softened on her. "Davina, I give you my solemn oath that you will never want for anything again. I should not have left you to nuns. I have regretted it since the day I handed you over, but G.o.d spared you for a purpose, and someday you will fill it."
"I know that I must, but it is not what I want," Davina argued through her tears. "I do not want anything your courts have to offer. Perhaps if I had been raised in them as my sisters were, I would feel differently."
"You will come to feel differently," he said tenderly, but when she shook her head, his voice took on a harsher tone. "And him," he said, turning to Rob. "Do you love him also?"
Her eyes darted to Rob, remembering his words to his father. He would never deny her. She looked to Callum next, recalling all too clearly his warning, as well. "I... I know my duty."
Over the king"s shoulder, Rob stared at her with a look of such replete sorrow she was certain it would haunt her until her dying day. She would have fallen into his arms had both their fathers not been standing between them.
"Gather our men," King James commanded his guards over her head and s.n.a.t.c.hed her hand. "We are leaving."
Chapter Thirty-five.
Rage seared through Rob"s blood and was finally unleashed with a groan that nearly brought him to his knees. As if in a dream from which he could not awaken, he watched the king pull Davina toward the door he"d been blocking only a few moments ago. She turned, tugging on the fingers that held her, and looked at him for the last time.
Rob woke, and with a roar that brought a dozen En-glish soldiers and Highlanders alike to the solar, he leaped for the king.
His father tried to stop him and both men nearly careened to the floor. Rob met Colin"s horrified gaze as he bounded back to his feet, then followed it downward to the two gleaming swords pointed at his throat.
"Tell yer men to lower their weapons against my brother," Colin shouted. "Ye gave me yer word."
Rob barely heard him and lifted his arm to swipe the swords out of his way. His wife"s cry stopped him.
"Please, please, Rob. You cannot die."
"I am dead if he takes ye from me," Rob told her across the length of the blades, desperation hardening his face and softening his voice.
"MacGregor," the king warned Rob on a low snarl. "I could take your head right now for this."
"Oh, Father, please, don"t let this happen." Davina closed her tearstained eyes and prayed from the depths of her soul.
"Daughter," the king answered, thinking she was speaking to him. "I understand that you feel indebted to this man for-"
"No, no," she argued through her tears. "It is more than that. Please, do not harm him. I forgave you for leaving me, but I will never forgive you if you kill him."
Her father"s stern expression collapsed at her vow and he looked, for a moment, like he might be ill. He raised his hand to her cheek and a small, sorrowful sound escaped him when she moved her face away. "Give me a year. One year to know the daughter I"ve not known for over four and twenty. Let me give you all that I have never been able to give you before, and if after that time you are still unhappy, we will discuss a different path for you."
When she nodded her agreement, Rob moved against the tips of the blades until two trickles of blood broke the surface. "Davina, dinna" agree to this, ye are my-"
"Rob!" Davina held up her trembling hand to silence him before he sealed both their fates. "I have decided. You will let me go."
"Nae!" Rob"s eyes darkened on the guards keeping him still. He was going to crack their skulls in half and then step over their dead bodies and kill anyone else who stood in his way. But the instant he moved, Jamie and his brothers threw their bodies into his and held him with the aid of his father.
"I let you live today, Robert MacGregor," King James said, motioning for his guards to lower their weapons. "My debt to you is paid. If you come after her, I will have no choice but to have you shot."
"Please, don"t," Davina mouthed silently to her husband as the king hastened her away.
"Son, she does this fer ye," Callum hushed, grasping Rob from behind. "She wants ye to live."
"Rob, fergive me," Colin implored. "I will make this-" His apology was cut short by Rob flinging them all off him.
They all rushed for the door to stop him from going after her. Angus slammed it shut and whirled on his heel to further block the exit, should Rob try to kick the wooden one down. But Rob did not bother. She left. Nae, she chose to leave, just as he had feared. In an instant he had been changed, defeated, broken in two. He turned his back on the men watching him, went to a chair, and fell into it without another word.
He didn"t hear the door open again. He didn"t care who came in or went out. She was gone. That was all he knew.
It wasn"t until sometime later, when Maggie pushed open the door and told them that Colin had gone after the king, vowing to make things right, that Rob left the solar with his father, and a whole new fear descended on him.
"Ye lied to me." Colin reined his frothing mount to a halt after stopping the king"s troupe just beyond the braes of Bla Bheinn. It hadn"t taken him long to catch up with them, for the king and his men had not pushed their mounts to their limits over the steep hills and muddy terrain as Colin had. He was angry and he wanted answers. If he had to ride all the way back to England to get them, he would. He was aware of the king"s soldiers moving to surround him, quick to protect their liege lord. Colin gave them only half his attention. If they wanted a fight, he would give them one, but first he would have his say. "Ye gave me yer word."
James raised his hand, signaling his men to back down. "And I have kept it. Your family remains unharmed."
"Unharmed?" Colin seethed, glaring at the man he had begun to like, even respect. "Ye might as well have cut oot my brother"s heart!"
A sound, like a soft moan, drew his attention to Davina, saddled on a spotted gelding a few feet away. When he met her bloodshot gaze, he looked away. He should have known she loved Rob. He should have recognized it in the tender way she looked at his brother while they traveled back to Skye. The way she rested against his chest, a trace of pure contentment curling her mouth. h.e.l.l, what had he done?
"I have no control over your brother"s heart, Colin."
"Aye, ye do," Colin argued. "Ye are the law, are ye no"? Ye didna" have to take her away. What should it matter if a Royal loves a commoner?"
The king offered him a rueful smile. "You are young, and have much to learn."
"Aboot love?" Colin asked and then nodded, "Aye. Mayhap, I do. I brought ye here because I was foolish and believed that ye loved yer daughter. But what kind of faither could ignore his bairn"s tears? Can ye no" see that she loves him? Nae, ye canna" see it because ye dinna" know her, and as long as yer laws come before her, ye never will."
"I"ve given you too much leave to speak to me as you will, Colin MacGregor. I..."
Colin wasn"t listening. Someone moved slowly on his mount to Colin"s right, and when he saw who it was, his eyes blazed like fiery jewels beneath the afternoon sun. "Och, h.e.l.l, what is he doin" here?"
"Captain Asher belongs in England with-"
"He belongs on a noose! Ye rip yer daughter from the arms of the man who would have given his life to protect her and coddle the man who told Gilles where to find her at the Abbey?"
"What are you saying?" The king"s face went taut with anger, and he turned toward Asher. "Is this true?"
"Aye, "tis," Colin said before the captain could. "He admitted it to her. Everyone in Camlochlin knows it."
"I"ll have you flayed alive."
"Father, no!" Davina kicked her horse forward, coming to Asher"s defense.
"Silence!" the king commanded without looking at her, and it seemed even the birds in the air obeyed.
In that moment of startling stillness, another sound could be heard in the distance, and everyone, save for Colin and Davina"s captain, turned to the group of riders approaching from Camlochlin"s deep vale.
Because Colin and Asher were the only two looking at Davina, they alone saw the blinding flash of sunlight coming from beyond a rocky crest to her right. Colin scowled, not knowing right away what had caused his momentary blindness, or why Asher took off like a cannonball headed straight for Rob"s wife.
A shot rang out, echoing through the braes, just as the captain leaped from his saddle and crashed into Davina, knocking them both to the ground.
Everywhere around Colin, men were shouting and taking cover. Davina was screaming, trying to free herself of the dead weight on top of her. They were under attack, and she was the target.
Sc.r.a.ping his sword from its scabbard, Colin moved to go to her but Rob flew past him on his stallion, bounded from his saddle, and hauled Asher"s body off her.
"Get her behind the braes!" Colin heard his brother shout to Will as a small horde of more men appeared from where they had lain in wait for the king"s troupe to pa.s.s. Some of them brandished pistols and made a quick end to four of the king"s soldiers before the battle even began.
Colin hated pistols. Even more, he hated men who used them to try to kill bonnie la.s.ses who would likely plead for their souls before G.o.d after they slew her.
Thanks to that first flash of light, he knew where the b.a.s.t.a.r.d who fired at Davina had been hiding. He"d watched as the coward left his cover to fight alongside his comrades, and with a smile as cold and merciless as a Highland winter night, Colin slipped from his saddle and ran straight for him. He did not stop or slow his pace but twirled his deadly blade in his hand, making it dance at his command. Spotting him, his enemy hurried to empty more powder and another ball into his weapon, but he fumbled, growing more frantic as Colin sprinted closer.
"I feel "tis only fair to tell ye," Colin warned, about to fall upon him. "I"m no" opposed to killin" unarmed men."
The man looked up from his impotent pistol and then closed his eyes an instant before Colin separated him from his head.
After that, Colin turned his bloodstained face toward the next shooter and smiled.
Rob watched Will disappear on his horse with Davina beyond the shadow of Bla Bheinn. When he was certain they were safe, he ripped his sword free of its long scabbard and turned to enter the combat coming to life around him. He looked down in time to see Asher"s eyes open. The captain had received a fatal wound and was about to die, but the terror widening his gaze was not for himself.
With shots ringing out around them, Rob dragged the captain over a small incline and hunkered down beside him. Whatever sins Edward Asher had committed in the past, he loved Davina now and had given his life to save her. Rob owed him much. "She"s safe, Captain," he told him. "Ye saved her life yet again."
Edward genuinely smiled at him for the first time and a trickle of blood seeped from between his lips. "Gilles," he rasped.
"Aye, I know," Rob said, growing serious. "I promise "twill be my blade that kills him, but ye must describe him to me."
Drawing his last breath, Edward told him. "Dark hair... cold eyes."
Rob rose to his feet when there was nothing else he could do for Davina"s friend. He was ready to find Gilles and kill as many of these Dutch b.a.s.t.a.r.ds as he could on the way.
"Formation!" He heard a man"s frenzied command behind him. "Get the king back to the castle!"
Rob turned to see seven English soldiers surrounding the king, ready to flee. "Nae!" he shouted, his voice overriding the others. ""Tis too open. Ye"ll all be shot doun before ye reach safety." He moved forward, and though he was on foot and the soldier on horseback, the soldier moved back. "Go there"-his steady gaze met the king"s-"beyond that hill. "Tis deeper than this one and they canna" fire aroond it." The king nodded. "Wait there until we stop their pistols."
"Then you best hurry," King James told him, angling his head around Rob"s shoulder. "Your brother is attempting to stop them all without any aid."
Rob turned, and together with the king, watched his youngest brother hack his way through three more shooters and emerge unscathed. h.e.l.l, he was reckless and-Rob noted with pride-terrifying.
"Go!" He wheeled on the king"s men. "Remember to wait."
From a carefully guarded position behind one of the many rocky hillsides that dotted the open terrain, King James watched Robert MacGregor with something akin to stunned disbelief marking his features. The Highlander had gone from a tactical commander to a savage warrior with the first arc of his blade. He"d gained his horse and rode straight into the fray, slashing torsos and severing limbs with speed, power, and precision, ensuring that one swipe served its purpose-to get him to the next man quicker. James wanted Rob in his army, and his brother with him. But he wanted something else even more, something for her.
He looked toward Bla Bheinn, knowing where his daughter was safely hidden, and knowing whom to thank for it. He knew also that Gilles-may G.o.d have no mercy on the blackheart"s soul-was behind this attack. James wanted him alive for the Wheel, but where in blazes was he?
Rob knew the fight had tipped in their favor. Even without the English at their sides, the MacGregors would not lose this day to their enemies. Most of Gilles"s men lay strewn on the ground, a good number of them, by his blade. The only shooting being done was from the English and the king was on his way back to the castle. The battle was almost at an end and Rob still had not found Gilles. None of the men he had killed fit Asher"s description. Their eyes were terror stricken, not cold. Where the h.e.l.l was the b.a.s.t.a.r.d? Could he be dead already? Rob hoped not. He whirled his horse around to find his next opponent and came face to face with one.
"Wait!" the man shouted out as Rob lifted his blade. "There is something I must tell you before you slay me!"
"Ye dinna" have much time," Rob promised, circling him, his blade outstretched and ready.
"I am the Admiral"s captain, Maarten Hendrickson. You must go to the castle now. Go to the king and his daughter."
Rob glanced into the vale leading to Camlochlin and to the king"s small troupe in the distance. He knew Davina wasn"t with them. Will would not have moved her until the battle was over.
"Gilles is among them," Captain Hendrickson told him, stilling Rob"s heart. "He took a coat from the body of an English and joined the king"s party at the rear when they..."
A shot rang out close to Rob"s ear. So close, in fact, that he went momentarily deaf. A few feet away from him, Gilles"s captain slipped from his horse, blood and smoke issuing from a hole in his chest. Rob turned as the Dutchman fell to the ground, and looked up the hillside at his brother waving a cloud of smoke out of his face. Colin smiled at him through the fog, lifted the smoking barrel of a pistol to his lips, and blew. Rob was gone before his brother shoved his new weapon into his belt.
Chapter Thirty-six.