by Lynsay Sands
When she had been informed that Duncan had agreed to marry Iliana only if Sherwell was forced to finally fulfill the marriage contract that had been drawn up between their families so many years ago, Seonaid had been a roiling mass of humiliation and fury. The man was being forced to come and collect her as if she were some poxy whore that no man would want for bride, and only a king's order could move him to do his duty. She had fled. With disastrous results.
"I think ye should make him suffer a bit more," Aeldra said grimly.
"Mayhap he should, but I'll no have anyone else suffer more with him; they have all suffered enough."
"I knew it!" Aeldra stomped over to her and caught her by the arm to turn her around.
"Knew what?" Helen asked in confusion. "What are you two talking about? Who else has suffered?"
Aeldra ignored the question and glared at Seonaid. "Yer blamin' yerself fer Allistair."
"Why would Seonaid blame herself for Allistair's death?" Helen asked with bewilderment.
"O' course I am," Seonaid snapped, also ignoring Helen. "And who else should I blame?"
"Me," Aeldra said firmly.
"You?" Seonaid gawked at the petite woman.
"He was my brother."
"Aye, but that makes ye no more responsible for his behavior than I am for Duncan's."
"Seonaid is right," Helen agreed quickly. "Neither of you is responsible for Allistair's behavior." She hesitated, then added, "I am afraid that Janna did not explain his behavior to me; she told me only that he is dead. What did he do?"
"Betrayed our people, snuck around helping Greenweld, planned to see my brother and father dead, then to marry me and claim himself laird of the Dunbars," Seonaid answered flatly, moving away from the window to sit on the bed.
"Oh, dear," Helen murmured, following and sitting on the far end of the bare mattress. "Well ..." She shook her head. "That is awful, but 'tis his own doing. Neither of you is responsible for it."
"He was me brother," Aeldra said flatly, dropping onto the hard surface between them.
"If I'd stayed here and married Blake when he arrived rather than running off to St. Simmian's, none of this might have happened," Seonaid said at the same moment.
"But that is--You two are--Oh, this is just nonsense," Helen said with exasperation.
"Aye, 'tis," Aeldra agreed and frowned at Seonaid. " 'Tis no yer fault."
"I knew his caring fer me was more than that o' cousin, and it flattered me. My pride was so beaten down by Blake's neglect that I even encouraged it."
Aeldra snorted. "Not much ye didn't. Had ye given him any real encouragement, ye'd have been bedded and breeding by seventeen, Allistair was that crazy about ye."
"Ewww," Seonaid said as an image flashed through her mind of herself and her male cousin together.
"Aye." Aeldra grimaced, probably at a similar vision.
Seonaid sighed, then fell back to lay across the bed. She stared up at the ceiling as she said, "Still, had I stayed and married Blake rather than allow me pinched pride to send me harin' off to St. Simmian's--"
"Blake would probably be dead along with everyone else," Aeldra interrupted grimly. "Seonaid, had ye stayed and dutifully married Blake, Allistair would have seen him dead 'ere the wedding night. He wouldna have allowed it to be consummated. And who kens what might have happened next? He still would have had to see Duncan and Uncle Angus out o' the way to gain the title o' laird, and whatever way he tried might have actually worked," she pointed out, then shook her head. "Nay, ye canna take the blame. But I can."
Seonaid turned her head to cast a scowl her way. "Just because he was yer brother--"
"Nay, no jest because he was me brother." She sighed. "I kenned he was weak, Seonaid. And I kenned Giorsal's anger and the way she whispered it in his ear. I knew she was bitter, like fruit left to rot on the branch, and I just ignored her, but Allistair had no the character to do so. Ye ken he had no opinion o' his own. He would voice a belief, then someone would voice a different one and his would suddenly change. He was easily led and I kenned that. I should have realized that Giorsal's constant harping would affect him. I should have seen this coming and done something about it."
"Nay." Seonaid sat up and shook her head. "As ye say, I kenned he was weak o' mind too and easily led, yet I did not see this coming. Neither could ye be expected to." She kicked her foot in the rushes on the floor, then asked, "Did it anger ye that Father never gave ye a room in the keep? It truly never occurred to me, Aeldra, else I would have suggested--"
Her cousin interrupted her with another snort. "Seonaid, I practically do live up here in the keep. Ye and I have been inseparable since Allistair and I arrived here. I am up here at the keep from the moment I get up in the morning until the moment I go to bed at night, unless we are at an abbey or hunting with the men or practicing in the bailey," she added dryly. "Guid God, they called us 'the twins,' and that wasna because we look so much alike."
Seonaid laughed slightly at the old nickname, and her cousin continued. "And Uncle Angus treated Allistair and me as much like his children as a man could. He fed us, clothed us, and even supplied our horses and weapons at no small cost to hisself. Yer no the only one with the sword made specially fer yer size and strength, are ye? Nay, I have no bitterness with any o' ye. I've not, but gratitude and love."
Seonaid scowled. Her throat felt tight with the tears she was fighting back. "I'll take the love, but ye can keep the gratitude," she growled, then added, "And we love ye too."
"I ken," Aeldra said with a grin, and the two women hugged awkwardly, then pulled away, each of them clearing her throat and feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Well," Helen said with a pleased little sigh, "now that the two of you have settled that, you should both leave at once and make Blake give chase. Leaving you hanging about until twenty-four is shameful and he deserves to suffer for it."
Seonaid peered at Helen with amazement. "Yer no sounding much like a sister, Sister," she teased.
Helen grinned. "In truth, I do not feel much like a sister either. I wish I could go with you."
Seonaid glanced down at her feet again, feeling confused about what she should do. She wasn't completely over her anger with Blake, but the memory of his kiss was strong in her mind, blurring her thinking a bit.
"We do have to leave, Seonaid," Aeldra said suddenly. "And no jest to harass Blake."
She glanced at her cousin with interest. "Oh?"
"Has it no occurred to ye that Rollo Cameron is in quite a spot at the moment?"
"Aye. He's most like to lose his home and his very life over this does he no flee before Helen's father gets here, finds out what's about, and sends a message to the king."
"Aye," Aeldra agreed solemnly. "If Helen's father arrives here."
Seonaid frowned. "What mean ye, if he gets here?"
"Well, all Rollo's problems could be at an end if he could just silence Helen and her father."
"Damn," Seonaid murmured. Desperate men took desperate measures. And if he was willing to commit one murder, why not two?
"I do not understand," Helen said anxiously. "You think Rollo will go after my father?"
Seonaid stood and began to pace as she considered the problem. "Yer maid went to yer father. If she gets there, what will she tell him?"
"If she gets there?" Helen echoed.
"Aye. I'm presumin' Cameron had many men traveling with him?" When she nodded, Seonaid pointed out, "Well, he may have sent half after her, or even just a couple, and kept the rest with him to come after you. She may no have reached him at all. But if she did," she hurried on when Helen began to look upset, "what would she tell him?"
Helen hesitated, obviously distressed by the possibility that the maid might not have reached her father, something she hadn't considered. But then she appeared to force the thought aside and straightened. "She would tell him that I overheard Rollo plotting to kill me. That we escaped and I fled to St. Simmian's while she made her way home."
"He would be very upset, furious. He would mount up at once and ride to St. Simmian's to hear it from me for himself."
"Alone?"
"Nay. He would bring most of his men. He would be angry and in a fighting mood. He would bring enough men to lay siege to Cameron's castle, if necessary."
Seonaid nodded. "Would he take the time to write to yer king first?"
Helen bit her lip as she thought, then shook her head. "Nay."
Seonaid sighed. "I suppose it doesna matter whether he would have written to the king or no. Either way, so long as Rollo kills you and yer father, he is safe."
"But Father would bring an army. He should be safe with all his men around him."
Seonaid shrugged. "They'll be lookin' fer you, no awatchin' fer an assassin."
"Assassin?" Helen gasped.
"Well, Cameron doesna need to kill yer father's entire army; he needs only to kill you and yer father and either make both look like accidents or attacks by someone else. Then he need only claim ye'd misheard him and it was all an error. He'd probably get away with it so long as yer father's no around to pursue it further. Unless ye have other powerful relatives, an uncle or a brother or some such?" Seonaid finished the comment on a question, but Helen shook her head.
"I am my parents' only child, and each of them were the only surviving children in their families. 'Tis why Father chose Rollo Cameron; he has an older brother who is laird of the Camerons. Father hoped he would wish to live in England and take over there."
Seonaid nodded and continued to pace and ponder. Helen and Aeldra waited patiently but looked expectant when she stopped and turned to face them. "Aeldra and I will away to yer father and explain all. That way at least he will be warned about what is happening and to watch fer Rollo. We can ride back with him and--"
"I will come with you."
"Nay. Ye're safer here, Helen."
"I shall not allow you two to risk yourselves for me alone. I will go with you," Helen said with determination.
"Nay. You--"
"Would you allow me to ride out on a dangerous journey like this while you stayed safely behind?"
Seonaid scowled, unable to argue that.
"Besides, if we were to take the secret passage Aeldra mentioned, surely we could slip away without Cameron seeing us. If he followed, he saw us enter the bailey, and he will be watching the gate to see us leave."
"She's right," Aeldra said quietly. " 'Sides, we did promise to see her home."
"Aye." Seonaid sighed. "All right, we will all three of us go."
They were all silent for a moment; then Helen said, "What of Lord Blake?"
Seonaid smiled wryly and shrugged. "He dallied ten years in comin' after me, he can wait on me fer a change."
Helen nodded, then asked, "When shall we go?"
Seonaid exchanged a glance with Aeldra, then shrugged and stood. "Now. The men should sleep fer another four hours at least. That gives us a good head start. Come."
She led the way to the door of the room, opened it, and stepped out into the hall, relieved to find it empty. Gesturing for them to move quietly, Seonaid practically tiptoed along the hall to her own room and eased that door open.
"It is in here?" Helen asked in a whisper. The trepidation in the woman's voice made Seonaid glance curiously over her shoulder as she stepped inside.
"Aye. Why do you ask like that?"
"Oh, no!" Aeldra hissed as she followed the two of them into the room.
Seonaid's eyes shot to her cousin in question, then turned and peered at the wall Aeldra was gaping at, and her mouth fell open with shock. The entrance to the secret passage had been blocked off.
Chapter Ten
"I had the men block off the secret passage." Angus Dunbar stood in the doorway to his room, glaring at Seonaid irritably. She was glaring right back.
Seonaid had stared at the pile of huge stones stacked up against the wall of her room with shock, then whirled away and stormed to her father's door to find out what on earth was going on.
"Aye, I ken ye blocked it up. I just saw it. Helen was asleep in my room earlier, or I would have known then. What I'm wantin' to know is why ye would do a fool thing like that."
"Because Allis--" He paused abruptly, and seemed to change what he had been going to say to, "Because someone told Greenweld about the secret passages, or at least one o' them. So I had them both blocked off so they could no invade the castle."
"Damn!" Seonaid closed her eyes briefly, then sighed and told him, "We know about Allistair."
"Ye do?" His scowl deepened. "Who told ye? Duncan?"
"Nay. Giorsal."
"Giorsal?" He looked shocked. "How the devil did she ken?" he asked, then answered his own question. "Duncan must have told her. Only he, Iliana, and I ken the truth. Well, and Lady Wildwood, but she's no talked to anyone. She's been with me since--"
"No one told Giorsal," Seonaid interrupted. "She knew the tale o' Allistair's dying in battle was false because she knew he was plotting with Greenweld. She is the one who encouraged him to do so."
The air left Angus on a hiss.
"Ye may wish to watch her," Aeldra said quietly. "She's grown more and more bitter o'er the years, and this has jest made her worse."
"Aye." Angus ran a hand through his wiry gray hair, then told Aeldra, "She hoped to marry me, ye ken. When yer mother and my brother got together, Giorsal had hopes that she and I might make a match too, but I fell in love with Muireall, Duncan and Seonaid's mother. Giorsal never forgave me for it." He shook his head. "I'm sorry about Allistair, child."
Aeldra shrugged unhappily. " 'Tis no yer fault. Allistair made his own decisions, as does Giorsal. 'Tis kind o' ye to try to preserve his honor in memory at least by keeping what he was up to a secret."
"He wasna a bad lad," Angus said gruffly. "Must have been sufferin' a brain fever to have acted so. 'Sides, Duncan said 'twas obvious Allisatir's heart wasna wholly in it. He wouldna let Greenweld abuse Iliana and he couldna bring hisself to kill Duncan, but made the lad kill him instead."
Seonaid was grateful her father took the trouble to say that, whether is was true or not. Aeldra had needed something like that to hold on to. A rush of love welled up in her heart for the gruff old man, but dissipated when he turned narrowed eyes her way. "And why are ye so upset about the secret passage anyway? Ye werena plannin' to run off again, were ye?"
"Would ye care if I did?" Seonaid asked with a scowl, then thought to ask, "Blake's father hasna arrived yet, has he?" They would not hold the wedding without him.
"Nay, Sherwell hasna yet arrived," Angus said. He hesitated before adding, "The boy deserved a good set down after dallying so long in coming fer ye, and from what the Campbell told Duncan, ye gave him that." He grinned suddenly. "It sounds an entertaining tale too. Ye'll have to tell it to me at sup." His smile faded, his expression becoming solemn. "But ye'll have to marry the lad eventually. And 'tis a fine line between showing him the error of his ways and humiliatin' him to where he thinks he has to get some of his own back."
Seonaid frowned over those words.
"He's a lot like his father, mostly good-natured and honorable, but ye don't want to push him too far."
"Good-natured and honorable?" Seonaid gaped at her father. "Ye said the Sherwell was a sneaky English bastard, that--"
"Aye, well, I've been angry at him, haven't I? We had a falling out." He scowled, but the expression died abruptly as a lovely older woman appeared at his shoulder. "Margaret. What--?"
"I thought I would just go down and have a word with Elgin. He shall need to know there will be more for dinner this eve. I doubt Iliana will get the chance to warn him in time for him to prepare extra. Perhaps he could even manage a special treat to welcome Seonaid and Aeldra back." She offered a smile of greeting to the three women as she spoke, and all of them smiled in return.
If she hadn't looked so much like her daughter, Iliana, Seonaid would not have
recognized Lady Wildwood from their first meeting. The woman was looking much better than she had on her arrival at Dunbar. Seonaid had only caught a glimpse of her then, but enough to know she'd been badly beaten; her face had been swollen, her eyes blackened, her nose broken. The rest of her hadn't been in any better shape. Lady Wildwood's face was completely healed now, however, and she was quite as lovely as her daughter.
"Oh, but ..." Angus protested.
"Mayhap you should dress yourself, my lord," Lady Margaret cut him off with a gentle smile. "You should not really be standing about in front of Sister Helen like this. Do you not agree?"
Seonaid's eyes shot to Lady Wildwood's face at the way she said the word sister. She found her peering at Helen with a perplexed look before glancing at Angus Dunbar. Seonaid followed her gaze and found him peering down at himself with a frown. He had again donned the golden braies to answer the door when Seonaid had knocked but had not bothered with a tunic, so stood bare-chested in the doorway. Muttering something under his breath, he turned and moved quickly back into the room and out of sight.
Lady Wildwood smiled after him, then turned and held out a hand to Seonaid.
"Hello, Seonaid, is it?" Margaret asked.
"Aye." She hesitated, then placed her hand in Lady Wildwood's and found it drawn through the woman's arm as she stepped into the hall to join them.
"Why do you not come with me, Seonaid? Perhaps between us we can convince Elgin to make your favorite meal. What is your favorite meal?"
"Oh ... er ..." Seonaid glanced over her shoulder toward Aeldra and Helen.
Lady Wildwood glanced back too. "Would you ladies mind waiting for Lord Angus and explaining where Seonaid and I have gone?"
When both women nodded their heads helplessly, Lady Wildwood smiled. "Thank you," she murmured, then continued on, gently tugging Seonaid along with her. "Now, what was your favorite meal, dear?"
"I ... er ... colcannon, black buns, and haggis."
"I do not think I have tried the colcannon yet, though I have had black buns. Quite delicious," she pronounced.
"Aye," Seonaid agreed as she was led down the stairs. Her gaze swept the great hall as she walked. She spotted Blake dozing in a chair by the fire as Aeldra had said he was, and as she had said, he seemed to wake at the least sound, for he blinked his eyes open as they reached the foot of the stairs, and--spying them--sat up abruptly.