In the Kingdom's Name (Guardian of Scotland Book 2) (3 page)

William looked back from atop his warhorse and regarded Eva. Riding beside Lady Christina, the two women chatted quietly. When he caught her eye, the lovely ginger-haired lass’ face brightened with her smile. Oh, how the woman could make his heart leap from his chest when she directed a smiling sunbeam his way. Och aye, he would have married the lass if it weren’t for the war—War of Independence, Eva called it. His jaw twitched. He might have made an offer of marriage despite the war, but she’d told him more than once she wanted to live for the now.

The now. What else is there?

Though like brushing a horse’s coat against the grain, he knew she was right. He could not make a commitment to Miss Eva or to any woman no matter how much he loved her. Now a soldier of Scotland, William once had lofty ambitions to become a Templar priest. But he’d abandoned his training to fight against the outrageous acts of tyranny brought into the Kingdom by Edward the Longshanks. Ever since taking up the sword, Wallace had followed the path of war, leading a band of rebels and fighting for the release of King John from the Tower. William could no sooner take a wife as he could turn his back on his duty.

He’d even tried to leave Eva. At first. Now William could barely tolerate the thought of spending a night without his woman in his arms. But he’d be forced to do that soon, regardless. At least his woman would be safe and thank the good Lord she’d made a bond with Lady Murray. Eva would be far less likely to venture out on her own once he and Sir Andrew took the army south.

Reports of skirmishes on both sides of the border had been trickling in. William needed to take charge, organize these patriotic zealots and stage a full-on invasion of Northern England—and soon. If only Sir Andrew’s health would take a turn for the better. They’d joined together as comrades in arms in this rebellion. Unfortunately, the knight had suffered a crossbow arrow to the shoulder at Stirling Bridge and his health had declined since. Worse, Eva regarded Sir Andrew with fear in her green eyes. She’d predicted too many things about the future for her foresight to be mere luck. The lass had the gift of a seer—aye, she’d insisted she was from the future, but regardless, William knew the gift of sight when he encountered it.

A moment of eerie silence mushroomed on the breeze before a flock of birds scattered and flew above the forest ahead. The back of William’s neck burned with prickles. Raising his hand, he signaled for a halt. Wallace drew his sword as he made eye contact with Blair and Little.

With his next blink, an arrow whizzed past his ear.

“Attack!” William bellowed, reining his horse toward Eva.

Clutching the reins in her fists, she gasped, her mouth drawing down in a panicked grimace.

Another hiss came. Then a dull whop. Rearing, William’s mount whinnied and reared. Clamping his knees to stay on, he reined the warhorse in a tight circle, but the horse’s hindquarter gave out and the big stallion spiraled downward. Launching himself from his stirrups, William leapt free. His shoulder smacked into the dirt. A jarring thud reverberated through his teeth.

In the blink of an eye, he forced the pain from his mind as he rolled then rose to his knees. Still gripping his sword in his fist, William’s gaze searched the bedlam for his woman.

The roar of battle boomed with the clang of iron in concert with bellows, grunts and shrieks from the wounded. Eva and Lady Christina huddled, hunched on their skittish mounts in the center of the mayhem. They wouldn’t be safe for long. Their horses’ ears pinned back with heads held high and nostrils flaring.

Gaining his feet, he started to run toward them. Hoofbeats thundered behind. With an upward strike, William spun and met his assailant’s sword with a crushing blow. Flung from his mount, the man howled. William advanced and buried his sword in the traitor’s chest.

He whirled around. “Andrew! Take the women to safety.” His order would not only save the women, it served to remove the wounded knight from danger.

Only able to use one arm, Andrew circled his horse and latched on to Lady Christina’s mount’s bridle. “Miss Eva, follow me,” bellowed Sir Murray, reining his gelding eastward. “Make a path.”

Swinging battleaxes and swords, William’s men fought to open a gap wide enough for a horse to charge through. Digging in his spurs, Andrew barreled ahead, pulling his wife’s mare in his wake.

Following with focused determination, Eva kicked her heels against her gelding’s barrel, slapping her reins. “Go, go, go!”

Attacked from the side, William deflected a poleaxe while watching his woman’s old gelding lurch into a gallop. Before the horse cleared the skirmish, a brigand dove sideways and caught Eva’s gown.

A high-pitched shriek screeched in William’s ears as she sailed through the air, arms flinging wide. The bastard dug his grimy fingers into her waist as together they crashed to the ground.

Screaming, Eva thrashed, fighting to break free.

The defiling whoreson trapped her with his leg. Tearing off her veil, he rolled atop her and licked her neck. His sickly laugh rose above the tumult while he yanked up her skirts.

Rage boiled from William’s gut and erupted through his chest.

Bursting forward with a thundering roar, he battled through the skirmish. Eva’s hem creeped further up her thighs. Swinging her fists, she beat the cur’s back and thrashed her head. But the plunderer cackled with bloodlust in his eyes.

Unable to chance striking her with his blade, Wallace grasped the lout by the chin and yanked his head sideways with a sickly crackle of bone and sinew. The slimy varlet’s body fell limp and dropped atop her. Eva screeched with staccato yelps while she squirmed under the dead man.

Hefting the corpse aside, William grabbed Eva’s wrist and hoisted the only woman he’d ever loved over his shoulder. “I’ll spirit ye away from here.”

He raced for a riderless horse while the battle surged. A thug stepped into his path. With a kick up the backside, William sent the brigand face down to the dirt and surged forward. No time for decorum, he tossed Eva over the stallion’s neck and leapt aboard. Gathering the reins, he dug in his spurs and galloped for the shelter of dense forest.

***

Too frightened to worry about her stomach pounding against the horse’s withers, Eva gripped the girth strap and held on for dear life while her knuckles turned white. Her breaths came in gasping bursts. Branches slapped her face and legs as William raced for safety.

Stars darted through her vision before he tugged on the reins and pulled the horse to a stop.

“We’re out of danger for now.” William dismounted and helped Eva slide to her feet.

Her knees buckled and he gripped his fingers around her waist. “Steady, lass.”

She swiped trembling fingers across her face. “Oh God,” she shrieked. “They came from n-nowhere. One minute w-we were alone. And the next…”

“I ken.” He smoothed his palm over her hip where she’d fallen. “Are ye hurt?”

“I don’t think so.” Honestly, her entire body felt numb. “Maybe a bit bruised.” She shook so violently, her teeth chattered.

“There, there,
mon amour
.” William tucked a strand of hair under her veil and pulled her into his arms. “Ye’re safe now.”

Eva’s gaze darted to the path they’d taken. “What if they follow us?”

With a pat to his sword’s hilt, William’s eyes grew dark. “Then they’ll have five pounds of cold iron run through their bellies.”

Her stomach squelched. Nothing worse than nearly being raped and murdered to stir the fear in one’s blood. “How can you take it? Knowing you could be attacked at any moment? This is no way to live.”

He pulled her into his arms and clutched her head to his chest. “Och, ye could be attacked by brigands when lying in your bed. ’Tis no use cowering or hiding from them. The only way is to stand and fight. Show them we will not tolerate their brutality.”

“I was so afraid.” Gulping, she tried to still her unsteady breath. “I can’t fight off a whole band of outlaws. I don’t know the first thing about swinging one of those mammoth swords.”

He tightened his embrace, like forming a shield of iron around her. Lord, his strength felt so secure, she never wanted him to release her. “Och, Eva. Ye ken I’ll protect ye, no matter what.”

She buried her face against him and hid in the comfort of two arms hardened by years of training and battle. The reassurance William imparted calmed her thundering heart. But every time she closed her eyes, all she saw was blood and the face of that monster who pulled her from her horse.

“There, there, lass. ’Tis over now.” He pressed his lips to her forehead. “I could have killed a hundred brigands when I saw that bastard touch ye.”

A shudder rippled through Eva’s body. “I feel so safe with your arms around me. I want to stay like this forever.”

“Jesu, I hate thinking about leaving ye alone. I must ensure ye are safe behind the fortress walls of Dirleton Castle. There ye’ll have an army of men and six foot thick stone walls to protect ye from the vile swine.”

He dipped his chin and kissed her cheek, his gaze connecting with hers, binding them together. Warm breath caressed her face as his mouth parted. Those intense blue eyes watched her while he sealed his lips over hers, taking possession of her mouth. There, alone in the forest, their spirits joined—two souls drawn together regardless of impossible odds.

She squeezed her eyes closed and inhaled his spicy masculine scent. “Promise to hold me forever.” The words escaped Eva’s lips before she had a chance to catch herself. But she didn’t care. Not now. Not when her every nerve ending trembled.

“Ye have my sword, m’lady. On that I make my solemn vow.” He loosened his grasp and placed his large palm in the small of her back. “Now come. We must haste to Dirleton. I’ll cradle ye in my arms through the duration of our journey.”

She looked up to his stern countenance and grinned. “As long as I don’t have to ride face down draped across your horse’s withers.”

His eyes sparkled with warmth. “I have to admit there wasna verra much time to set ye to rights.” Then a deep chortle rumbled from his chest as a sly grin stretched his lips.

“What?”

He waggled his brows. “I rather enjoyed the view.”

Eva thwacked his shoulder. “Oh, please.”

With a shrug, he bent down to give her a leg up. “I canna help it if I’m a man.”

She bent her knee and allowed him to hoist her into the saddle. “Right, all men running for their lives gape at the woman’s butt in their face while they’re crashing through the forest.”

“Butt?”

“Bum, buttocks, rear end…whatever you want to call it.”

A subtle snort trumpeted through his nose. “Will ye never cease to come up with odd twists of phrase?”

“I suppose, but what do you expect? I’m called to the carpet for my odd speech all the time.”

He mounted behind her and situated the reins in his hands. “I reckon I like it. Every now and again, ye come at me with a word that almost makes me laugh.”

Shifting her hips to find a comfortable position, she asked, “Why almost?” Eva dearly loved to hear him laugh.

“I expect it hasna been easy to draw a laugh from me these past months.”

Nor will it
. Again Eva shuddered. She hated knowing. Clenching her fists until her fingernails dug into her palms, she steeled her resolve.
Live for the now, you dolt
.

William nuzzled into her temple and slid one arm around her waist, drawing her snuggly against his chest. “Ye ken I’d die defending ye,
mon amour
.”

“And I promise there will never be a need for that.”
No, no, no. I mustn’t ever again be the reason for William to fight.

She closed her eyes and with an exhale, forced herself to relax into him. God, to think she’d been yanked from her mount trying to get her old horse to move fast. Horses were so damned unpredictable. “I think I need horseback riding lessons.”

“Too right.” William’s belly shook with his chuckle—not a laugh, but close. “I kent ye were no horsewoman the first time I tossed ye on the back of my mount.”

“As I remember it, you accused me of knowing nothing about horses, though I’d never claimed to have ridden one.”

“No training at all?” His palm slid up and down her abdomen. “Ye mean even though your da’s a knight, ye were never taught how? Not even as a wee lassie?”

She’d told him about trains, but hadn’t come across the need to describe a car. “There was never an opportunity. In my time, we have motorcars—four wheels, an engine that burns fuel for energy to propel it forward. You know, a horse gets energy from eating grass, a fire gets energy from burning wood and oxygen.”

“Oxygen?”

“Air.” She wriggled against him. “If you snuff the air from a flame it will go out, right?”

“Aye.”

“Well, around the end of the nineteenth century, they learned how to make an engine that burns gasoline—a fuel like oil—and thrust a vehicle forward—sort of like a horseless wagon.”

William, being the inquisitive type had a gazillion questions about how a car operated and after explaining about roads, steering wheels and passenger seats, he finally stopped probing and let her continue.