Highlander's Sword (11 page)

   When they entered the stables, chaos reigned. The stable master still lay on his death bed with his family and many who worked in the stables around him. This left the stables ill-staffed and hectic. Aila was glad to be in disguise. She still didn't know if the person in the stable had seen her, or if he wished to do her harm. Retreating to the safety of the convent seemed a good idea.

   "What d'ye want?" snapped the assistant stable master as Aila walked in the door.

   "Swift mounts to carry an urgent message," Aila replied, trying to keep the hood of her traveling cloak covering her face and her voice low.

   "Alright, alright, keep yer breeches on. I'll be wi' ye in a minute."

   "I'll help ye," said a young stable lad, rushing up. Aila recognized him as Maggie's brother, who must have been alerted to the plan.

   "Go find him a good horse," Aila said, nodding to her maid. "I'll choose my own." Aila walked directly toward a particular stall. If she was indeed leaving Dundaff forever, she could not leave Shadow behind. Saddling him quickly, she backed Shadow out of the stall to find Maggie's brother standing there aghast.

   "Nay, m'lady," he whispered. "Let me find ye a more suitable mount."

   Aila looked the nervous lad straight in the eye. "I'll be taking my brother's horse." The stable lad looked around. The others were all busy with other work, not heeding them in the least. He simply nodded and walked away.

   So far, so good, thought Aila as she tied a small bundle of clothes to the saddle, mounted, and rode toward the main gate.

   "Messengers from Lady Graham," called Aila to the gate guard, wishing to be gone but cringing internally at the lie.

   "Permission granted," called back the voice of the guard, most surely Maggie's beau. She hoped they would have a good marriage and passed through the portcullis. Reaching the other side, she breathed deeply. She was free.

AILA STRUGGLED TO HOLD BACK SHADOW, AS HE WAS accustomed to being given free rein once outside the castle. Her maid would never be able to keep up with her, so Aila constrained her mount to a more sedate pace. Having traveled to the convent many times, Aila hardly required an escort, but her mother liked the idea of having someone with her on the journey. Senga must have been swayed heavily by the sight of gold when she boasted she knew the way to the convent, for several times she would have led them astray had Aila not set her right.

   By the time they reached St. Margaret's, Aila was in quite a state. She doubted her reasons for coming and wondered if she was doing the right thing. She felt guilty for sneaking away from her new husband and even more guilty for marrying him in the first place. She turned it round in her head but could not decide who had the greater demand on her loyalty: her father, her mother, her husband, or the Church. Utterly confused, she stabled her horse and sought out her spiritual advisor and friend, Sister Enid.

   The Sisters of St. Margaret were trained to be concerned only with the things of God and renounce worldly interests, but the sight of Lady Aila, wearing soldiers' garb and muttering broken fragments of different languages as she wandered dazedly through the convent, raised more than one eyebrow. Aila was a wreck by the time she finally found Sister Enid sitting in the gardens.

   "Aila?" asked the nun with surprise. Sister Enid was a middle-aged nun with sharp, discerning blue eyes, a warm smile, and the faintest of accents borne from her native France. Her hands had become stiff and painful over the years and now were so deformed she was no longer able to write. Her spiritual guidance was still frequently sought both in person and by courier, though now she used a scribe to respond to the letters.

   "Sister Enid." Aila collapsed at the nun's feet and began her anguished tale. "I've made such a mess of things. I dinna get yer missive until after I married MacLaren, but he dinna come for me, so I can still join the sisters if the abbot can get an annulment, which Mother says he will, due to the dowry. Oh, and the stable master was murdered, or at least he will be once he dies."

   "Saints above," exclaimed Sister Enid. "Clearly a lot has happened since I saw you last. Come sit here beside me and be still."

   "But, Sister, I need to ask for sanctuary."

   "You are in trouble?"

   Aila nodded vigorously.

   "Have you prayed for guidance?"

   Aila slowly shook her head.

   "These walls cannot protect you as well as the Lord. Breathe your prayer and be still."

   Though her mind was racing, Aila tried to do as her friend suggested, using the breath prayer she had been taught.
Lord Jesus Christ,
she prayed as she inhaled, hav
e
mercy on me,
she breathed out. As she focused on her breathing, she became more aware of her surroundings. They were sitting on a stone bench by the wall of the convent. Before them was the garden, with lines of vege tables, mostly beets and turnips. There were rows of dark, rich soil, too, freshly tilled for more planting, and the smell of dark, rich earth. The birds chirped around her, singing their cheerful songs. She became more mindful of the garden and felt more centered and peaceful.

   "Now please tell me what has brought you here today," said Sister Enid.

   Feeling considerably better, Aila began to relate the events of the past day. Sister Enid listened without comment except to remind Aila to breathe. Aila told her everything—the wedding, receiving Sister Enid's letter, her talk with MacLaren on the turret, his rejec tion of her on their wedding night, the secret passage, MacLaren's chase, the attack on the stable master, and her escape from Dundaff. When Aila finally finished, she was still unsure what to do but was relieved for the cathartic experience of telling all.

   "Well now," said the nun. "That was a lot to tell. Why do you think your father would have you marry so suddenly? And why to MacLaren?"

   "I dinna ken," said Aila, thinking back on events. "Though father did say to MacLaren that some may no' be pleased wi' the marriage. And he said he woud'na let McNab have me. I wasna able to ask any questions, since my father left right after the wedding to put out the fire."

   "Fire?"

   "There have been some accidents of late, and some fields have been burnt. Folks seem concerned about it, but I dinna give it much…" Aila's eyes opened wide as she considered new, frightening scenarios. "Could we have been attacked?"

   "It seems a possibility."

   "Then maybe my father needs MacLaren for the warriors. MacLaren is most ferocious." Aila remem bered him appearing out of the mist like the devil's own, sword raised high. "But woud'na someone tell me if we were attacked? Shoud'na my father ask me if I wanted to form an alliance with the MacLaren clan?"

   Sister Enid raised an eyebrow.

   "Well, he should," said Aila indignantly.

   "Tell me about the stable master. You say the maid said it was an accident?"

   "Aye, but I dinna ken seeing a chair, like she said. What I saw was the bloodied end of an iron bar. Someone was in the stables wi' me, but I ran. Maybe I should have called out for help, but I was so scared."

   "Did this person see Fergus?"

   "He must have. He had a lantern, and he walked right by him."

   "What did the person do when he saw Fergus?"

   "Nothing. He chased me up the stairs."

   "Aila," said Sister End, patting Aila's hand with her gnarled one, "I think in this case you were right to run."

   "Ye ken he was the killer? Gone back to the stables to make it appear an accident?"

   "'Tis a mystery," said the nun, her eyes gleaming. "There is much ado at Dundaff to be sure. I have something else to tell you, too. I did not send you that missive."

   "Ye dinna? Then, who?"

   "Who would profit from your entering the convent?"

   "Surely a person o' the Church woud'na deceive me."

   Sister Enid smiled again, waiting patiently and saying nothing.

   "Oh, Sister, surely no' the abbot…" Though even as she spoke the words, her suspicions were raised. Father Barrick served as the abbot for the region, residing at the abbey about five miles away. The abbot was a large, gruff man who made Aila feel most uncomfortable. Perhaps it was because she had never before known a priest to carry a sword and wear armor under his robes.

   "Or someone who wished ye to leave the protec tion of Dundaff."

   Aila put her head in her hands with a groan. "I've acted the fool."

   "You're not foolish. You're unaware of the lengths to which a person will go for his own gain."

   Aila looked at her friend as if for the first time. She knew very little about this woman's history or what had brought her so many years ago from her native France. "How far would they go, Sister?" Aila asked softly.

   "Aila, I fear for you. You are an heiress now. I wonder you never thought on that."

   "I ne'er kenned I would inherit more than my dowry. After my brother, there were my uncle and cousins who would inherit before me, but they died, too." Aila shook her head, realizing her thinking had been much too small. "I thought only of my own grief, my own daily responsibilities, no' of what it all meant."

   "Well, clearly someone has been counting your worth."

   "What am I to do?" Aila asked plaintively, but Sister Enid was quiet once more and waited. Aila took a deep breath. She was a woman grown, and it was time she started acting the part. "So we ken my father may have arranged a marriage to gain MacLaren's warriors. We ken someone struck the stable master and made it look like an accident, though we dinna ken why. We ken there be someone who sent me a false message to try to get me to leave Dundaff and enter the convent. And someone may be putting fire to the fields. The question is, where will it be safest for me to be?"

   "Indeed, is that the question?" asked Sister Enid. "I was more wondering why, when danger is all around, you decided to stop praying."

   Aila gave an embarrassed shrug. "I guess I was too distracted by all that's happening."

   "Has not the Lord always spoken to you through the scriptures? Listen again, Aila. You need divine guidance more than ever." Sister Enid struggled to her feet and shuffled away slowly, leaving Aila to ponder her words.

   Aila's mind was again in turmoil, but she returned her attention to her breathing.
You're not a child
anymore
.
'Tis time to grow up.
At first, nothing came to mind, but then she remembered the stories of the women in the Bible—the strong and confident good wife in Proverbs, Ruth, who stayed with her mother-in-law against the odds, the women who stayed at the Cross when the disciples ran.

   
Si enim nunc silueris per aliam occasionem liberabuntur
Iudaei et tu et domus patris tui peribitis et quis novit utrum
idcirco ad regnum veneris ut in tali tempore parareris.

   She pondered the verse from the book of Esther. It was the story of a beautiful Hebrew girl who became Queen of Persia. Esther risked her life to tell the king about a traitorous plot and saved her people from annihilation.
And who knows but that you have come to
royal position for such a time as this?
The quote was the encouragement Esther received not to remain quiet but to tell the king the plot.

   With sudden insight, Aila recalled she had not told her father what had happened to the stable master. It was surely information he needed to know. Aila breathed deeply, gaining a new sense of confidence. She had been thinking only of herself. She needed to think on what was best for her clan. She stood and walked with sure steps out of the garden. Going back to Dundaff would be difficult. It would require an embarrassing confession of her flight, and she would probably be punished by her father or her new husband… and after that, her mother would kill her. But for the first time since her surprise wedding yesterday morn, she had a purpose, and she knew what she must do. She smiled wryly, remembering what Esther had said when she agreed to her mission:
If I perish, I perish.

   Aila caught up quickly with Sister Enid, who had not gotten far on shuffling feet. "I'm going back to Dundaff," Aila announced with surprising confidence.

Sister Enid smiled. "God's speed, Lady Aila."

   "Thank ye, Sister." Aila knelt before the nun to kiss her gnarled hands.

   "I'm pleased you received the guidance you sought. But perhaps before you return, you may want to consider your dress?"

   Aila looked down at her soldier's garb and gasped. "Merciful heavens! I will change directly. Thank ye again." Aila ran back to the stables where she had left her horse and her clothes.

   Aila found Senga in the stables. The maid had already changed back into her kirtle and was in deep conversation with a lad who looked to be a courier. When told of the decision to return to Dundaff, Senga was visibly distressed. She urged Aila fervently to stay, pleading with her, reminding her of the punishment they both would suffer. Aila gave the maid leave to stay at the convent, not wanting Senga to be punished unfairly for a mistake that was not hers. Though Aila persisted in her determination to return to Dundaff, it was unnerving to see her maid so distraught. In the end, Senga decided to return with her, though she made it clear she was quite ill-pleased.