Chapter 24
With a sigh, Fiona said to Fin, “Rory figured it out, sir. But he knew that you and MacNab had gone to Cawdor, so he came to me. He also knew that the Comyns sometimes kept prisoners on that island, and—”
“Do I ask how he came to know that particular fact?”
Fiona was trying to think of an innocuous way to explain when Rory straightened his shoulders, looked directly at Fin, and said calmly, “I lived wi’ them, Sir Fin, so I ken much that I wish I didna ken about them, that’s how. I didna say nowt about any Comyns when I came tae Castle Finlagh, ’cause I knew ye were enemies wi’ them, and I feared ye wouldna want tae keep me if I told ye.”
“Is that why you didn’t tell Sir Àdham who they were at Lochaber?”
“Nae, but I didna ken him then, and I feared he’d send me back tae them. Hoots, though, he saved me from Rab Comyn and scared Hew off. Then he brung me here. So when I heard MacNab tell her ladyship that some’un may ha’ seen him in Nairn, I took Sirius and we followed his trail well past Raitt. I kent then that them Comyns—likely Hew hisself—had got him. But ye’d gone, so I told her ladyship, thinking she might ha’ a notion o’ what we could do.
“I didna think she’d want tae go and find Sir Àdham herself,” he added, glancing at Fiona. “But it be as well she did, though. I dinna ken how anyone else could ha’ got tae him without them guards a-seeing or a-hearing ’em.”
They walked on in silence for a time, each with his or her thoughts. But as they topped the pass, Àdham said, “Hew had come to suspect that I killed Rab Comyn at Lochaber, so he and his cousin sneaked onto the island without alerting their men that they were there. Before Hew tried to kill me, he talked some blethers about having expected to trade me for Fiona so Ormiston would persuade Jamie to release Alexander. But that—”
“Faith,” Fiona exclaimed, “that’s who that man is!”
“Which man, lass?” Fin asked. “We know that they are Comyns. I suspect, as well, that they are responsible for the attack on you near Lochindorb.”
“Aye, sir, but I just realized why Hew Comyn’s voice sounded familiar, although the bearded man I saw tonight did not seem to resemble anyone I had met before. But, Àdham, he is the fop who accosted me in the assembly hall that night. He said I’d be sorry that I’d rebuffed him. Do you think he wanted to kill me, too?”
Àdham shook his head. “Not if he thought he could hold you for ransom, mo chridhe, especially if he believed Ormiston could get James to release Alexander.”
“James does listen to him,” she admitted. “He even seeks him out when he wants his advice. Even so . . .”
“Hew Comyn failed to capture you, lass, so his reasons need not concern us now,” Fin said. “Moreover, in the wake of the royal army’s defeat at Inverlochy, James will have much to do to restore order. I doubt that Ormiston would seek his aid at such a time, even to save his beloved daughter. His reply to such a demand would more likely be made in person, at the head of his own army.”
Fiona smiled then for the first time since she had set Àdham free, knowing that Fin was right about her father.
Seeing Fiona smile, Àdham glanced at Fin and saw that his uncle was looking directly at him, his expression somber.
“We could use such an army now, ourselves,” Àdham said. “Our forces are sadly depleted.”
Fin grimaced. “Would you truly welcome a host of mad Borderers to the Highlands, lad? I have fought them, and I can tell you, they take no prisoners and know not the meaning of mercy.”
“With respect, sir, you could say the same of our fellow Highlanders. But from what I have hitherto heard of Borderers, much of their ability lies in their horsemanship. That would avail them naught in our treacherous mountains.”
Shifting his gaze to Fiona, he saw that she was frowning.
“What is it, sweetheart? Does our discourse offend you?”
“No, sir, for I have learned that Scots are much the same wherever they live. I was thinking about tonight’s events on that island. Do you think that man will die? Not Hew, but the other one.”
“He was still breathing when we tied him up,” Àdham said. “He is apparently Hew Comyn’s cousin, Dae.”
“I met only the one called Hew in the assembly hall. . . . Why do you frown, sir?”
Àdham shook his head. “I do not frown at you. You awoke a memory. Someone else mentioned a chap called Hew . . . Sakes, it was Gilli Roy! I saw him talking to that fop after he’d accosted you, and Gilli said his name was Hew but that he knew naught else about the man. Now, I wonder about that.”
“Many men are called Hew,” Fin said. “’Tis as common a name in the Lowlands—or in England and Wales—as it is here.”
Fiona’s expressive face told Àdham that their words had stirred an unwelcome thought in her mind.
Ignoring Fin, he said, “What troubles you now, lass?”
She hesitated, eyeing him warily.
Gilli Roy had not told anyone how far north she had gone the day they’d met Àdham on his return to Finlagh, and Fiona still felt deeply grateful for that kindness. She was therefore reluctant to betray him or herself now. But if Gilli did know Hew Comyn better than he had suggested, surely she ought at least to tell Àdham so.
Would it be the truth, though? Gilli had seemed like a lost soul in Perth and behaved much more confidently in the Highlands. That transformation was one that she could understand, because she had experienced an initial loss of confidence in the Highlands that she had rarely felt in the more familiar Borders and Lowlands.
“Fiona?”
Starting at Àdham’s single word and realizing that she had forgotten what, exactly, he had asked her, she struggled to remember. As they passed through the gateway into the bailey, she said, “I cannot believe that Gilli Roy purposely made a friend of Hew Comyn, sir. I was trying to imagine such a thing, but it will not serve.
“Gilli knows that the Comyns are enemies of Clan Chattan, so I doubt that he would purposely encourage one in a town where others in the Confederation might see them. Faith, did you recognize Hew Comyn in town?”
“Nae, but if I’d ever seen him before I met him at Lochaber, I do not recall it. Also, in town, I saw only a foppish churl to whom my complaining cousin talked more amiably than he did with his own people.”
“Mayhap, his own people were not as sympathetic to his unhappiness about being in a town he did not know or like, with people whose language he did not properly understand or speak. Mayhap Hew Comyn took unfair advantage of that.”
Àdham gave her a more searching look then, and something in that look disturbed her senses in more ways than one.
Rory, whom she had completely forgotten was still with them, took advantage of the pause to say, “Be ye vexed wi’ all of us, Sir Fin?”
Fin turned his attention to the boy. “Should I be, laddie?”
“As tae m’self, I couldna think o’ aught else tae do but talk tae her ladyship. I didna think ye’d like it if I told Lady Cat, instead. But ’haps I should ha’—”
A gasp from Àdham and a look of comical dismay on Fin’s face interrupted the boy, permitting Fin’s dry admission that he would have disliked that very much. He added, “I do think, though, that I shall pay a visit anon to Comyn of Raitt.”
“MacNab and I would go with you,” Àdham said, thus, unbeknownst to himself, forcing Fiona to stifle her protest at the thought of his walking into danger again so soon.
“Nae,” Fin said. “I’ll take my men. But I will send word to Raitt that I seek a peaceful meeting. I doubt that Hew will have told his father the whole of this tale, and I do think that Comyn should hear it. He will understand as well as I do that endangering a knight of Jamie’s own making and that knight’s noble lady might well persuade James to change his mind about who should lawfully possess Raitt.”
The porter, evidently hearing their approach, opened the door then, and Fin thanked him, adding, “As for you others, I will bid you good night. I’d wager you are all longing for your beds.”
“I am,” Àdham admitted. “Good night, sir.”
Fiona echoed him, but when she looked at Àdham again, he had turned to Rory and was telling the boy to take himself off, that they would talk more on the morrow. Having expected Fin to have stern words for her, she decided that he expected Àdham to attend to her and wondered if Àdham would feel obliged to be more severe than he might otherwise have been.
Interruping her thoughts, Àdham acknowledged MacNab, saying, “I shan’t need you tonight, so go to bed.” Then, he turned back to Fiona. “We’ll go right up, too, sweetheart. I’ll admit I’m worn right through.”
“Truly, sir?” she asked, raising her eyebrows and smiling at him.
Giving her a probing look, he said quietly, “I may recover more swiftly when I’m safely in mine own bed.” Taking her hand and tucking it into the crook of his arm, he escorted her to the stairway and then urged her on up the stairs ahead of him.
She could not read him and, for once, had no idea what he was thinking. He seemed to be interested in bedding her, but, since he had said nothing yet about her venturing into Comyn territory with only Rory and Sirius to accompany her, she knew not what to expect when they were alone.
He reached past her to open the bedchamber door and then, with a gentle hand to her back, ushered her in and shut it behind them.
She stood still, waiting.
“Look at me, Fiona-lass.”
Swallowing, she turned.
“I shan’t eat you, I promise,” he said, his eyes twinkling.
With a sigh of relief she walked into his arms, and he held her tight.
Leaning her head against his chest, Fiona heard his heart beating and thought of how she might never have heard that sound again had the Islesmen or the damnable Comyns killed him.
Realizing that her hair was still damp, Àdham said, “We need to get these wet clothes off of you. I suspect that your shift is still dripping.”
“It doesn’t feel wet,” she said. “I feel only the welcome warmth of your body.” After a pause, she added softly, “I feared you were angry with me.”
“Sweetheart, I’d have to be as much of a rogue as Hew Comyn is to be angry with the woman who rescued me, especially since I’m in love with her. I do have some things that I want to discuss with you, but they can wait for another time.”
“What sorts of things?”
“Not now,” he said firmly. “You must know that I am not a violent man—”
“Faith, sir, the first thing you said when you learned that only Rory had come with me was that you were going to take a tawse to both of us!”
“I did, aye, and you were so terrified by that threat that you said I could do so as soon as we were safe. And we are safe now, are we not?” he said, reaching for her bodice laces and letting his hands brush the tips of her breasts as he did.
“Aye,” she said breathlessly. “Art sure you are not vexed?”
“If I have a complaint, it’s about the way you said that I could beat you. You spoke to me then as if I were a simpleminded bairn.”
She smiled then, tremulously. “You seemed so dreadfully weak and helpless that it frightened me. Did you mean it when you said you were in love with me?”
“I did, I was, and I am, mo chridhe. I can no longer imagine life without you. I think I realized I’d fallen in love when I had to leave you here. I had never given much thought to those I left behind when I went off to serve as a warrior. But it was nearly all that I thought of for days on our journey to Inverlochy. I also meant it when I said that I’m not angry, but I will insist that you take more care when you walk out alone. Would you like me to ask where you were, exactly, when you met Rory and MacNab earlier today?”
“I would rather not have to tell you,” she admitted.
“Then I think you know how I would react if you were to venture there alone again.” He slid her kirtle off her shoulders, and she let it slip to the floor. “I was right about your shift,” he said then, whisking it off over her head.
“I trust you are not in your courses,” he added.
“Umm . . . no.”
“Why do you hesitate? Do you fear they may begin tonight?”
“No,” she said, this time visibly trying not to smile.
“Fiona, is aught amiss with you?”
“No, sir, but I am not certain how you will react to what I must tell you.”
“Tell me, anyway.”
“Very well,” she said. “I am nearly certain that we are going to have a bairn, because I have had most of the symptoms that Joanna had.”
He gasped with shock, delight, and then anger. Catching hold of her by her upper arms, he peered into her face and said, “’Tis as well that you say you are not sure, because if you were sure, then what the devil were you thinking?”
Having watched the play of emotions on his face, Fiona knew exactly what thoughts had flown through his mind. She said, “I was thinking that I had no intention of raising a son without his father, sir. That’s what I was thinking!”
“But—”
“Nae, now, you listen to me,” she said firmly. “When Rory told me that the Comyns likely held you on an island, I knew that unless they also housed their guards on that island, I might have a chance to set you free. I did not tell even Rory what I meant to do, though, so you must not blame him.”
“I won’t,” he said grimly. “Go on.”
Suppressing a smile and hoping that he did not discern as much, she said, “I told Rory only that I wanted to see the island. We left at dusk, so it was dark and cloudy when we arrived. But we could see stars reflected in the water, as well as the island, and I knew I could swim that far without the guards seeing me.”
“What if there had been guards on the island?”
“I expect that I’d have heard them before they saw me. In any event, I did search briefly before I lifted the bar from the door and set it aside. I could hear them talking across the water. The tone of their voices did not change.”
“You did not see Hew and Dae in their boat,” he pointed out.
“They did not see me, either.”
He nodded, then picked her up in his arms and carried her to their bed. “I have one more question for you before we sleep,” he said.
“I want you to make love to me, if that is what you would ask.”
“I am glad to know that, because I do mean to make love to you until you squeal for mercy,” he said. “But the question I would ask has more to do with the answer you gave me earlier about why you thought Gilli Roy had made friends with Hew Comyn. Do you still feel the way you think he felt? Are you unhappy in the Highlands, trying to speak the Gaelic?”
“No, I’m not, nor do I worry that people here dislike or misunderstand me. I thought that I had made that plain when I said that I believe all Scots are much the same wherever they live. Fin called Borderers ‘mad’ tonight, just as I once called all Highlanders ‘barbarians.’ Do you not think that makes us similar if not the same?”
He chuckled. “I am not even going to try to answer that question. I do have one more for you, though.”
“What is it?”
“Might we hurt the bairn, if there is a bairn, if we make love?”
“No, because James and Joanna . . . That is, I asked Cat, and she said no. And, before you ask, I have not told her or anyone else about the babe yet, but I am sure about him, Àdham, just as sure as I am that I love you more than you love me.”
“Nae, you do not, and I know how to make you agree that I love you more.”
He failed to make her agree to that, but he did make her squeal for mercy.