An Excerpt from
LACHLAN"S BRIDE.
HIGHLAND LAIRDS TRILOGY.
by Kathleen Harrington.
Lady Francine Walsingham can"t believe Lachlan MacRath, laird and pirate, is to be her escort into Scotland. But trust him she must, for Francine has no choice but to act as his lover to keep her enemies at bay. When Lachlan first sees Francine, the English beauty stirs his blood like no woman has ever before. And now that they must play the besotted couple so he can protect her, Lachlan is determined to use all his seductive prowess to properly woo her into his bed.
May 1496.
The Cheviot Hills.
The Border Between England and Scotland.
Stretched flat on the blood-soaked ground, Lachlan MacRath gazed up at the cloudless morning sky and listened to the exhausted moans of the wounded.
The dead and the dying lay scattered across the lush spring gra.s.s. Overhead, the faint rays of dawn broke above the hilltops as the b.u.t.tercups and bluebells dipped and swayed in the soft breeze. The gruesome corpses were sprawled amidst the wildflowers, their vacant eyes staring upward to the heavens, the stumps of their severed arms and legs still oozing blood and gore. Dented helmets, broken swords, axes, and pikes gave mute testimony to the ferocity of the combatants. Here and there, a loyal destrier, trained to war, grazed calmly alongside its fallen master.
Following close upon daylight, the scavengers would come creeping, ready to strip the bodies of anything worth a shilling: armor, dirks, boots, belts. If they were Scotsmen, he"d be in luck. If not, he"d soon be dead. There wasn"t a blessed thing he could do but wait. He was pinned beneath his dead horse, and all efforts to free himself during the night had proven fruitless.
In the fierce battle of the evening before, the warriors on horseback had left behind all who"d fallen. Galloping across the open, rolling countryside, Scots and English had fought savagely, until it was too dark to tell friend from foe. There was no way of knowing the outcome of the battle, for victory had been determined miles away.
h.e.l.l, it was Lachlan"s own d.a.m.n fault. He"d come on the foray into England with King James for a lark. After delivering four new cannons to the castle at Roxburgh, along with the Flemish master gunners to fire them, he"d decided not to return to his ship immediately as planned. The uneventful crossing on the Sea Hawk from the Low Countries to Edinburgh, followed by the tedious journey to the fortress, with the big guns pulled by teams of oxen, had left him eager for a bit of adventure.
When he"d learned that the king was leading a small force into Northumberland to retrieve cattle raided by Sa.s.senach outlaws, the temptation to join them had been too great to resist. There was nothing like a hand-to-hand skirmish with his ancient foe to get a man"s blood pumping through his veins.
But Lord Dacre, Warden of the Marches, had surprised the Scots with a much larger, well-armed force of his own, and what should have been a carefree rout had turned into deadly combat.
A plea for help interrupted Lachlan"s brooding thoughts. Not far away, a wounded English soldier who"d cried out in pain during the night raised himself up on one elbow.
"Lychester! Over here, sir! It"s Will Jeffries!"
Lachlan watched from beneath slit lids as another Sa.s.senach came into view. Attired in the splendid armor of the n.o.bility, the newcomer rode a large, caparisoned black horse. He"d clearly come looking for someone, for he held the reins of a smaller chestnut, its saddle empty and waiting.
"Here I am, Marquess," the young man named Jeffries called weakly. He lifted one hand in a trembling wave as the Marquess of Lychester drew near to his countryman. Dismounting, he approached the wounded soldier.
"Thank G.o.d," Jeffries said with a hoa.r.s.e groan. "I"ve taken a sword blade in my thigh. The cut"s been oozing steadily. I was afraid I wouldn"t make it through the night."
Lychester didn"t say a word. He came to stand behind the injured man, knelt down on one knee, and raised his fallen comrade to a seated position. Grabbing a hank of the man"s yellow hair, the marquess jerked the fair head back and deftly slashed the exposed throat from ear to ear. Then he calmly wiped his blade on the youth"s doublet, lifted him up in his arms, and threw the body facedown over the chestnut"s back.
The English n.o.bleman glanced around, checking, no doubt, to see if there"d been a witness to the coldblooded execution. Lachlan held his breath and remained motionless, his lids still lowered over his eyes. Apparently satisfied, the marquess mounted, grabbed the reins of the second horse, and rode away.
Lachlan slowly exhaled.
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