Her Highland Defender (2 page)

“We cannae just kill him,” Ceana protested. “We dinnae know if he’s important. Someone might want our heads if he is.”

Kate shook her head. “He’s no’ important or else he wouldn’t be alone. He’s a thief or an outlaw.”

The eldest released a noise of disgust. “Aye, and ye’d know of outlaws, wouldn’t ye? Yer meant to remain within the castle but I know ye’ve been sneaking out to see that Fraser again, have ye not? He’s as close to an outlaw as there is.”

So there was at least a man around. Where was he and why did she consider him an outlaw?

“My ladies—” he tried, but the women ignored him.

Kate’s eyes flared. “He is no’ an outlaw. He only stole a chicken and ye cannae blame him. His mother and brothers were starving.”

Ceana waved his blade at her. “Ye willnae see him again. I’m telling ye—”

Blane drew in a breath. “That’s enough.” He took a swift step forward and snatched the sword from her with ease.

Kate gasped and lunged his way but he knocked the dagger from her with a well-placed jab of his fingers to her wrist. She clutched her arm and darted back while he kicked aside the little weapon. Slipping his sword into his belt, he lifted his palms once more as Ceana snatched Kate and pressed her behind her.

“If I was an outlaw or intended ye harm, I could have done it as soon as ye granted me entry, as ye can see. Now that we’ve established that I could cut ye down in but a moment but have chosen not to, will ye be so good as to prepare me some food and explain to me why yer defending this castle alone? A man is not to be trifled with when he is hungry.”

The curly-haired lass nodded slowly and eased Kate out from behind her. “Go to the kitchens and bring up some ale and bread. He can have the pork too.”

“The pork? But I thought—”

“The pork, Kate.”

The young girl’s shoulders dropped and she nodded before hurrying into the depths of the castle.

“If ye dinnae mind, I’ll ask ye to stow yer blade in our armoury. We dinnae allow weapons in the Great Hall.”

“Of course.” He followed her through a dim corridor and into a small room. Where swords and shields should have been were empty spaces. He placed down his sword and motioned to the empty spaces. “Ye are alone are ye not?”

She pressed a hand to the wall next to her and turned. “Aye. With the exception of the servants, ‘tis just myself and my sister.” He heard her sigh echo through the room. “If ye’ll come with me, we’ll get ye fed and rested.”

Blane saw the brief slump of her shoulders before she lifted them again and took him into the Great Hall. She motioned to the long table in the centre of the room. “Will ye no’ have a seat? Kate shall bring up the food in but a moment.”

He sank onto the bench, feeling too large and intimidating to be alone in what was a fairly small hall with this woman. She stood to one side as he sat and looked straight on. A few more candles were lit here and a fire in the hearth warmed the room. Tendrils of heat reached him and he began to feel a little like a block of ice placed in front of the flames—slowly softening and melting. His stiff muscles eased.

“I thank ye for taking me in.”

Her face turned in his direction as though surprised he was in her hall. He scowled. She was an odd sort of a woman. There was something ethereal and strange about her, particularly with those eyes. It wasn’t the way she looked so much—her dark hair and figure didn’t say otherworldly to him—but there was an air to her and the slow, careful way she moved made him feel heavy and clumsy in comparison.

“So will ye tell me how it is yer all alone here?”

Ceana eyed the shape that was the stranger. She couldn’t see him well in this light, if at all. She moved so that the glow from one of the candles was directly behind him and she was better able to make out the width of his broad shoulders. Mayhap she should have kept him outside. In the daylight, she was less vulnerable. There she could make out colours and definite shapes but in the gloomy confines of her father’s castle, she used memory and touch to guide her.

She could hardly touch him. Or admit her troubles to him. Who knew if he might try to use her secret against her.

Where was Kate? Ceana didn’t think this man had bad intentions toward them but being in close confines with him made her throat constrict. She wasn’t entirely sure why. If she’d established he wouldn’t harm her, why did the air stifle about her?

Swallowing, she clasped her hands in front of her. The great weight of the burden she’d been bearing the past two months felt like a huge boulder pushing down on her shoulders. This man could remove that weight, she suspected. Tall, strong, skilled with a blade. The more she thought on it, the more she considered he might be the answer to her prayers.

Ceana inched forward, feeling for the tell-tale line of the uneven floorboard with her foot. Her shin touched the bench and she sat opposite him. Now he was only a dark mass with a faint glow about him but there was no doubting that a warrior sat opposite her. She heard his steady breaths and the rasp of his plaid as he made himself more comfortable on the bench and leaned in toward her. She tried not to back away from the dark shape of him as it filled what little vision she had.

“Ceana?”

Her name in such deep, dark tones sent a shudder through her—one that ran down her spine and around into her belly, burrowing low down.

“My father—the chief—and the rest of the men have joined the fight against the English. We are too close to the king’s army. They feared our castle would be sacked if the battle was lost.”

“Ah. But they left you with no protection?”

“We had several but fever took its toll. It killed near twenty of us, including the few men remaining.”

“I’m sorry.”

She lifted a shoulder. “My cousin is to join us by the end of the sennight with some of his men who have not yet joined the fight. ‘Till then ‘tis just us womenfolk and a few lads.”

“I’ll pray for their safe arrival.”

“I thank ye.”

Silence washed over them. Where was her sister? An idea was coming to fruition as she sat opposite this highlander.  They needed protection and he needed rest and food. Mayhap she could persuade him to delay his journey until her cousin Bram arrived.

“Kate!” she called after several quiet moments.

“Yer sister?”

“Aye.”

“Yer very alike.”

Ceana laughed at this. For years, they’d been told they looked alike though there was near ten years between them. She didn’t know if their features were similar. Her eyesight meant she’d never seen either of their faces properly. In the daylight, she could make out their dark hair and the shape of their lips. Kate used to let her touch her face to feel the contours, but since she’d grown older, the closeness they’d once shared had trickled away.

Now, even if they were alike in looks, their temperaments couldn’t be more different. Kate thought of little but herself and was rash and wild. Ceana didn’t understand why she couldn’t take the time to think things through a little more.

“Where are yer servants?”

“Oh.” She rose and nearly stumbled over the bench. “I’ve not given the signal.”

“The signal?”

She hurried to the stairs and, in her haste, tripped over her skirts. Her knees hit the floor, taking the brunt of the fall and sending a bone-jarring pain through her. Ceana pressed up with stinging palms. Warm hands wrapped about her arms and dragged her up. The disorientation made her head spin. She’d lost her bearings in the room and panic threatened to engulf her.

“Are ye harmed?” came an urgent rasp.

She lifted her gaze to his face to see the dark shape of his hair and the pink of his skin. Mutely shaking her head, she tried to press away but his grip was too strong.

“Did ye hit yer head?”

“Nay!”

“Ye look addled.”

Before she could protest, an arm came about under her knees and her blurry world tilted. She found herself flattened against a solid chest, the metal of a broach pressing into her shoulder. Instinctively, she put her hand to his chest to feel carved muscles and the fabric of his plaid. It was finely woven, not rough. Expensive.

Of course, she couldn’t tell him that she was not addled. The only people who knew of the troubles with her eyesight were her closest family members and the villagers. Long ago, a healer had declared her an abomination, a devil child, when her family had sought help. She knew full well others would see the same. As the current leader of their small clan, she couldn’t afford to let any outsiders know of her weakness.

“I am well,” she insisted, breathlessly.

Again, her world moved and she felt the wood of the bench beneath her. Ceana splayed her hands across the wood to feel for the familiar notches. He had put her about halfway along. She jolted when palms upon her shoulders urged her around. Rough hands took hers in his. There were calluses on them and little bumps where leather reins had rubbed. They felt a little dirty too.

“No harm here.” She squeaked and tried to push him away when she felt him fumble with her skirts. When she forced herself to focus, she realised he was kneeling in front of her. “Ye landed hard on yer knees,” he murmured, inching up her skirts.

“Get yer hands off my sister!”

A blur of blue flew across the room and she heard the rattle of a dish crashing to the floor and an
oof
from Blane.

“Kate, he was doing no harm!”

She longed to stand and drag her sister back but to do so would put herself at risk again, particularly if her sister was battling the large warrior. Shaking her head to herself, she was half-tempted to turn away and burrow her face in her hands. Her sister would never learn to think and ask questions first.

“Kate!” she tried again and both figures split apart, her sister in her blue gown on the left and the dark shadow of Blane on the right. “Go sound the signal. All is well here. The servants need releasing from the cellar.” She glanced at where she’d heard the food spill on the ground. “And have more food sent up.”

Kate huffed. “Yer a fool, Ceana.”

Ceana pinched the bridge of her nose and waved her sister away. Her footsteps thumped across the floor as she stomped off. Before long, the sound of a horn rang out and the villagers would come out from their homes now they knew they were safe.

But for how long?

“Yer sister is protective,” Blane commented.

She watched his form move across the room then duck down. The rattling told her he was picking up the mess her sister had made.

“Aye, and a lot of work.”

“Och, a protective sibling is no bad thing, though I’d expect it to be the other way around.”

“I am protective of her. She just forgets that sometimes.”

The tray rattled on the table and the bench creaked. She felt the warmth of him nearby and swung her gaze his way. He seemed too close but she didn’t know for certain.

“Did ye hurt yerself?”

She smiled. “Only my pride.”

“Aye, that can be painful indeed.”

Surely this man had never suffered wounded pride? From what she could tell he was everything a Highland warrior ought to be, and chivalrous too. She doubted he knew what it was like to feel weak and useless.

“Why is it ye locked up the servants but not yer sister and yerself?”

“I was in the village when ye were spotted. Kate was meant to take shelter with the servants but she is not so easily commanded. While my father is gone, the people look to me. I couldnae hide behind the strong castle walls while the villagers are at the mercy of strangers.”

“Ye need not have hidden from me.”

“I couldnae know if ye meant danger or no’.”

“I am alone.”

“And we are but women and children. Alone or no’, I wouldnae risk their lives on an assumption.”

He gave a low chuckle. “Then ye are wiser than half the men I know.”

She tilted her head to try to get a better view of him. He didn’t move, simply remained confidently close to her, as if he’d always occupied this spot in her father’s hall. If she shifted marginally, the firelight cast a glow over one side of his face and brought out more than a dark blur of features.

“How is it ye are travelling alone?” she asked.

Even though she couldn’t see him properly, she sensed him stiffen. “Where is yer sister? I am starved.”

Ceana scowled. Why would he not answer the question? She hoped she hadn’t been wrong about this man. If he had secrets, he could bring trouble with him. However, she wouldn’t press him. If she was to ask for his help, she needed to charm the stranger.

Not an easy feat with her sister trying to attack him and her own limited charms.

“I’ll check on the food,” she muttered before easing away from the table. Careful to hitch up her skirt, she took a quick moment to establish where the light from the windows was and a few more paces told her how close to the kitchen steps she was.

Feeling assured of her surroundings once more, she walked confidently into the winding stairs and took them down to the kitchen, skimming her hand along the cool stone wall.

“Ye need to send him out on his arse, Ceana,” Kate declared.

Ceana seldom came into the kitchen. No windows lit the room and servants often moved the things she could use as points to guide her. She had the entire castle mapped out in her mind but the kitchens were too dangerous. Too many knives and sharp objects. As a girl, she’d learned the hard way to have more care.

But caution could only take her so far. She needed aid and Blane could provide it.

She pressed against the wall, aware of the noise of Kate chopping some meat. “We need him, Kate.”

“Why? We’ve done fine on our own.”

“Fever killed all our men. I dinnae call that fine.”

“’Twas no’ yer fault they fell ill.”

Ceana shook her head. The fever had swept through the men like wildfire. The healer suggested they had contracted it when out on a patrol of the area.

“There is tell of English about. One of the men said as much before he passed.”

“We dinnae need a stranger. Cousin Bram will be here soon.”

“And if the English are upon us before then?”

The sound of chopping stopped. Ceana imagined the mutinous look on her sister’s face. She didn’t need to see her properly to know her sister had perfected the expression. A lass as stubborn as her sister wouldn’t look any other way.

“We’ll fight them off. Fraser says I have the courage of a man, and he can help too.”

“
Dadaidh
will have my head if I let ye near the lad. He’s trouble.”

“He’s no’ trouble! He’s a good man and he believes in me. I wish ye would too.”

Ceana jabbed a finger in her general direction. “I’d be more likely to trust in ye if ye didnae play me false all the time.”

Something thumped against the table and Ceana jumped. “I dinnae know why
Dadaidh
put ye in charge. How can ye protect us? I’m better off protecting myself. Now you want to bring a handsome highlander in to our castle all because yer desperate for more attention. Are ye missing having all the men bowing and scraping, is that it?”

Reeling from the words, she had to brace herself against the wall. It wasn’t the first time Kate had spat such declarations at her and she doubted it would be the last. And in spite of it all, she knew her sister loved her. It just seemed as Kate aged, these outbursts grew worse and worse. Was she as much trouble at six and ten? She’d have to ask her mother later.

“Kate, I think this man can help us,” she said softly. “Be nice to him, I beg of ye.”

She wasn’t going to argue with Kate—particularly not on the subject of men. There had only ever been one, many seasons ago, and she had never noticed any bowing or scraping since.

Her sister released a disgusted sound. “Why do ye have to try to please everyone? Och, I’m no’ taking him his food. Ye can take it. Go flirt with the warrior and get him to bend to yer will like everyone else does. I’m going to see
mamaidh.
” A whistle of air and fabric breezed past her and footsteps receded up the steps.

Ceana drew in a breath and held it for a moment. She wished her father or their brother were here. Alec was two summers younger than herself but formed the link between the three of them. She suspected Kate was missing him sorely.

Edging her way forward, she found the table and fumbled her way across to the edge of the tray. It would be no easy task navigating the dark steps but she was confident she could manage to serve the warrior without giving away her lack of sight. Tray in hand, she made her way to the stairwell and took them cautiously.