Ian (15 page)

“Put away the weapons.”
Tearlach motioned with his hand in the air to his warriors. “Ian isna goin’ te kill me. After all, he kens better then te try somethin’ so stupid inside me own castle and with so many o’ me warriors surroundin’ him. He’s no threat te me.”

“Ye really believe thet?” asked Ian.

“I’m no’ worried,” Tearlach assured him. “After all, one o’ me own men already tried thet and yet here I stand.”

“One o’ yer own men?” asked Ian, trying to draw out information to discover exactly what they knew. “What do ye mean?” It didn’t seem as if they were about to attack him, so he slowly lowered his sword. When he did so, the soldiers followed suit.

“Och, dinna tell me ye did
na ken what happened te me?”

“Why dinna
ye tell me?” Ian’s voice was low and clipped.

“Well, right after yer wife died and ye ran off with ye
r tail between yer legs, one o’ me own men decided te challenge me as laird but was such a coward that he put his sword through me back instead.”

“Really.” Ian’s eyes went from Dunmor and back to Eigg, but he couldn’t read their stone-like faces. Then
his eyes flashed over to Tearlach’s men.

“Ye seem on edge,” Tearl
ach said to Ian. “Mayhap me soldiers are upsettin’ ye.” He gave a nod of his head and the soldiers all went back to what they were doing. Just Eigg and Dunmor stayed at his side.

“It’s true,” said Eigg. “Someone from our own clan almost killed him.
”

“And
ye dinna ken who?” Ian almost didn’t want to hear this answer. He hoped to hell they didn’t suspect him. But if they had, Tearlach would not have dismissed his men.

“Dunmor
here killed me attacker,” Tearlach informed him. “He found me head guard, Murdock right after I went missin’ and the man still had the bloodied sword in his hand.”

“Thet’s right,” said
Dunmor, his eyes darting around and settling on Ian’s. “It was Murdock who done it. He told me he killed our laird becooz he wanted te be the new laird. And thet’s when I killed the bastard fer what he did.”

“Hard te believe,
isna it?” asked Tearlach. “Especially since Murdock was the one I trusted the most. It jest goes te show ye canna trust anyone.”

“
Aye,” said Ian. “I agree. So tell me . . . how ye were brought back te life? And how did ye get outta the grave?”

“Who said I was buried
or ever had a grave?” Tearlach looked at him suspiciously and Ian cursed himself silently, hoping he hadn’t just given himself away.

“I . . . jest figured ye were. I thought thet’s what they meant when they said ye came back te life.”

“Aye, well ye’re right,” answered Tearlach. “It seems Murdock was tryin’ te hide me deid body and buried me. But me sister, Odara was out gatherin’ herbs just after it happened, and found me tryin’ te claw me way outta me grave. Ye see, Murdock was in such a hurry, he never checked te make sure I was really deid. I nearly bled te deith and me sister spent over two years nursin’ me back te health. But here I am, and I assure ye I’ll ne’er let anyone do thet te me again.”

“Thet’s quite a story,” sai
d Ian. “And a guid thing thet ye killed Murdock, Dunmor.” Ian looked over to the man and they exchanged glances. Dunmor seemed uneasy, but Ian had no idea what was going on.

“So, are ye goin’
te join the MacTavishes again?” asked Tearlach. “Or are ye goin’ te spend yer life fussin’ o’er the fact I killed thet witch?”

“I tol’ ye, t
het witch was me wife and she was carryin’ me bairn,” snapped Ian. “How can ye even think I’d come back here after what ye did te me?”

“Yet here y
e are.” Tearlach chuckled. “Ye ken as well as me thet ye have a rage within ye thet willna let ye leave. Ye enjoyed our little raids, Ian, and I’d be willin’ te bet ye canna wait te attack again.”

“Ye have no idea.”

“Och, thet rage inside ye seems te have grown since last I saw ye. And I’m startin’ te think thet ye willna forget thet ye feel I did ye wrong.”

“And neither should I.”

“Ye’d better stop it, Ian, becooz ye’re startin’ te make me think I’ve judged ye wrong. Becooz with all the rage I see in yer eyes right now, if I didna ken Murdock was the one te try te kill me . . . I’d guess it was ye.”

Kyla watched as Ian clenched his jaw so tight she saw a muscle twitching in his cheek. Then he slowly slid his sword back into its sheath.

“I’m j
est here te drop off yer bride and make the alliance,” Ian told him. “I’ll be on me way back te MacKeefe territory in a day or two.”

“Well now,” said Tearlach, “mayhap ye’ll change ye
r mind after bein’ back fer a few days. He looked over to his men. “Eigg, see te it thet MacKeefe gets a chamber te himself, and also have Odara prepare a room in the tower fer me new bride.” He reached over and ran his hand over Kyla’s cheek and she cringed. She looked up to see Ian right behind him with fire in his eyes. She half-expected him to grab the man around the throat, but he didn’t. “And ye’ll both join me in a few hours in the great hall so we can celebrate this happy occasion.” He turned and waved his hand in the air. “Dunmor, summon the priest from the village,” he ordered. “Tell him te start preparing fer the weddin’ which will be in two days time.”

“Thet soon?” asked Ian. “What aboot postin’ the banns fer several weeks first as is proper?”

“There’s no time fer thet,” said Tearlach, turning away from her. “After all, the MacGillivrays are on a raidin’ rampage and we need te seal this alliance as fast as possible. We’ve helped the MacKeefes ward them off once already, but I will no’ do it again unless our alliance is first sealed with this lassie as me wife.”

Chapter 17

Ian followed
Eigg down the corridor, not liking the fact that Odara had swept Kyla away from him before he had the chance to try to talk to her. Something was wrong here. Very wrong. Tearlach should be dead, and Dunmor was lying when he’d said he found and killed Tearlach’s attacker.

Ian needed to get Dunmor alone and find out what was going on. And although he wanted nothing
more than to kill Tearlach right now, he’d use this to his advantage and stay here and try to figure out a way to stop the marriage. If Tearlach didn’t know Ian was the one who’d tried to kill him, then Ian wasn’t going to mention it until he could find a way to get Kyla out of the there and bring safety to the MacKeefes as well. But now that he knew Tearlach was alive, he realized that things were even worse than he’d thought.

“So,” Ian said to Eigg as they walked. “Since
Tearlach is marrying again, then what happened te his wife?” Eigg stopped in front of the door of the room that was being given for his use.

“She d
ied a year ago from the plague. Never did give him any children.” Eigg opened the door and entered, and Ian followed with his wolfhound right behind him.

He
stepped one foot inside the chamber and stopped. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He knew the way this castle looked three years ago, and it was nothing like this. The MacTavish’s castle as he remembered it was simple and run down and not very elaborate. It had been taken after a huge battle from a clan that no longer existed, thanks to them. But this was very different indeed. While the outside of the castle still looked to be in disrepair, the inside looked to be that of a very wealthy earl.

“What’s this?” asked Ian, his
eyes scanning the large bed with velvet curtains, as well as the ornate tapestries lining the wall. A fire was burning brightly on the hearth and displayed above it on the wall were claymores and maces, and atop the mantle were platters and cups make from gold.

“We’ve been lucky o
’er the past few years in the spoils o’ war.”

“I’ll say.” Now he knew why no dowry was even required for the alliance. One wasn’t needed, as Tearlach had enough wealth that
he went from living in squalor to living like a king.

“So, who did he have to kill or swindle te get all this?”

“Save yer questions fer Tearlach,” snarled Eigg.

“What’s really goin’ on around here?” asked Ian.

Eigg reached out and grabbed Ian’s leine by the neck, and Ian’s hand instantly gripped his in the process. “I dinna like ye,” said the man. “I ne’er did from the moment ye showed up here three years ago. And I dinna trust ye either. And had I kent ye were goin’ te be bringin’ the bride, I ne’er woulda made the alliance with the MacKeefes in the first place.”

“
Ye
made the alliance? Dinna ye mean Tearlach? Or are ye the one makin’ the decisions now-a-days?” Ian ripped the man’s hand off his clothing and pushed him away.

“
Tearlach is still havin’ a hard time gettin’ around. I do his biddin’ fer him. So watch yer back, MacKeefe or ye’er ne’er goin’ te be goin’ back te yer clan . . . alive.”

“Thet’s an odd thing te say te a c
lanmember ye’re in the midst o’ makin’ an alliance with, isna it? Or is this alliance jest a cover-up fer somethin’ else?”

“Like I said . . . watch yer back MacKeefe, and stop askin’ questions.” With that, Eigg left the room, slamming the door.

Ian paced back and forth, his head spinning with so many questions that he thought he’d go mad. He knew this whole alliance was a mistake from the very beginning and things were just getting worse. He’d die before he let Kyla marry that bastard. He had to get to her and warn her, as well as tell her everything about his past. He should have done this long before now, and he knew his mistake might just be the cause of a horrible future for Kyla as well as the death of many MacKeefes before this was all over.

* * *

Kyla followed the woman named Odara into the tower room, feeling like she was naught more than a prisoner now. She needed to talk to Ian, as she didn’t understand anything that was going on around here, but she was so upset with him, that she didn’t know if she wanted to see him right now. It sounded as if he’d not only married in secret, but been part of raids on unsuspecting clans. For all she knew, he could have even killed women and children. She no longer knew who he was.

“Ye’ll stay here until our laird calls fer ye.” The w
oman lit a candle next to the bed from the one she carried, and then continued to light several more all around the room. Kyla’s eyes fastened to the large bed in the center of the room. It wasn’t the normal thin straw pallet that she was used to, but rather a thick mattress raised up on a platform with three steps, and iron bars with curtains around it. It was the bed of a noblewoman, not a simple wife of a clan’s chieftain. She walked up and touched the mattress, and then sat down upon it. It was soft. So soft that she knew it had to be stuffed with down.

“What is yer name?” asked Kyla.
“And are ye te be me handmaid now thet I’m here?”

“Me name is Odara. And ye’ll no’ ask any more questions, as I will no’ answer them.” She walked over and pulled back a tapestry from over the window, letting in the night air.

“Canna or willna?” asked Kyla.

Th
e woman turned around, and in the firelight Kyla could see the surprise in her eyes by her question.

“Ye are young and foolish
and need te haud yer wheesht if ye dinna want te end up -”

“Deid?
” asked Kyla, standing up and walking over to the woman. “Now thet’s an odd thing te say te someone who was sent here as a bride and part o’ an alliance.”

“I did
na mean anythin’ by thet. Nothin’ at all.” She walked over and fluffed the pillow on the bed.

“Odara, I’m yer friend,” said Kyla, reaching out and touching the woman’s hand. “Ye can tell me anythin’.”

Odara just looked down at her hand and closed her eyes briefly. Then she let out a slight sigh and just shook her head. “There is no such thing as a friend around here anymore, so dinna fool yerself inte thinkin’ so.”

“What does thet mean?”

The woman pulled her shawl around her and hurriedly headed toward the door. “I didna mean anythin’ by thet. So jest forget ye even heard it. Now ready yerself te join our laird in the great hall and I’ll see to it yer things are delivered to yer room anon.”

“Thank you,” said Kyla with a nod.

The woman didn’t respond, just hurried out the door.

Kyla went to the window and looked out. She was so high up that she could see across the moors. She noticed some ruins
far in the distance in night sky, illuminated by the nearly full moon. A crumbling tower rose up high surrounded by several walls sitting atop a high hill. It was surrounded by many large trees. She recognized these ruins as the ones they had stopped at earlier that day. The ruins where Ian was abandoned as a baby.

Then she swore she heard wailing of some sort
drifting on the breeze. But it was drowned out by the cawing of a murder of crows as they lifted up from the trees and circled above the tower in the sky.

“Odd,” she said to
herself, wondering what she’d heard.