Taming the Wild Highlander 04 (2 page)

"
I…I dinna know. They could all be in the same dungeon. If 'twas only Kayne, the others would have come home to let us know. Kayne wouldna have needed to send word to me."

"
Sometimes you said it happens anyway. That even if someone else is there to aid the stricken person, his or her fright is…" Una waved her hands about in a familiar gesture of trying to describe the bizarre way Edana could hear someone's terror. "…forced into your thoughts."

"
Aye," Edana said, dejectedly as she continued to pack.

"
Have you told the chief? Are we going with his blessing?"

Edana
's eyes filled with tears. Her mother had died only last winter. How could her father have taken Zeneva into his bed this spring? The woman didn't care for her father. Edana had overheard Zeneva complaining often enough about her father's faults—he was too harsh, too demanding, too
old
. Did she think she could worm her way into his bed and then become his wife? Even if he was too old? And thereby elevate her position from working in the kitchen?

Edana had heard from Cook often enough how lazy
Zeneva was and how if she didn't move more quickly, she would beat her.

Her eyes blurry
with unshed tears, Edana ground her teeth, trying to keep her emotions in check, and looked Una in the face. But she couldn't say the words.

"
What is wrong?" Una asked, her anxious expression changing to alarm. She seized Edana's hand. "Your brothers…they are all right?"

"
I dinna know." She looked away from Una. She couldn't keep the secret of her father and Zeneva sleeping together even though she was ashamed of her father and didn't want anyone to know the truth. Una would continue pestering her until she told her what had happened.

"
What, then? Tell me."

Straightening her shoulders, Edana faced Una.
"I went to speak to my father about what Kayne had revealed to me. My father was with Zeneva in his chamber."

Eyes wide, her lower lip dropped, Una stared at Edana. She finally found her tongue and whispered,
"Nay."

"
Aye." Edana hastily brushed away the tears she'd managed to keep at bay until now. It was as though spilling her secret had opened the way for the tears to spill as well.

Una pulled her into a warm
embrace. She was supposed to be Edana's maid and companion, one of the guard's daughters, but once she had come to live with them, she had become more like a sister. She was the only one who had treated Edana's abilities with a mixture of awe and concern. Never with disbelief. Nor had she regarded Edana as if she was cursed like others had, though most attempted to hold their tongues when she, her brothers, and her father were within hearing. Her family would not have approved of such talk.

But that was
one of the reasons Una was her maid—to ensure that Edana remained chaste. Even though an older woman normally served in that capacity as a younger woman might easily be convinced to look the other way if Edana had wanted to see a lad in secret. In truth, no man wished to touch Edana in that manner anyway, so her father must have decided she would be safe enough with a woman nearly her age.

"
They were…," Una said, leaving the rest of her words unspoken.

"
They were
together
."

Una pulled away to look at her, ri
pe speculation written all over her face. Eagerness. Morbid curiosity.

"
We must prepare to leave if my da says he willna do anything about my brothers." Edana did not wish to speak another word about the matter concerning her father and that woman.

"
He…didna see that you saw him with…Zeneva?" Una asked, sounding uncertain whether she should bring it up.

Edana took a deep breath and released it.
"Nay…but Zeneva did."

Una
's eyes grew wide again. "Och, she is the devil."

"
She would say, and has said, that
I
am."

"
Nay. You are…gifted." Una looked at the floor for a moment, then back at Edana. "You must tell no one."

"
I hadna planned to. No' even you."

"
Nay, telling me was the right thing to do. Zeneva would like naught better than to claim she has your da's heart. If you say anything about this to anyone else, word will spread that she has been in his bed."

"
Do you no' think she will do the deed herself?" Edana asked, infuriated.

She wasn
't happy her father would lay with any woman, but Edana had to be reasonable. If he found himself another wife, Edana wanted it to be someone she cared for. Trouble was that because of her abilities, no one cared for
her
.

"
First we deal with the issue of your brothers. Then we take care of the other matter."

"
What would your plan be?" Edana asked Una because she was older, even though Edana always had her own plan in mind. More than half the time they both had the same notion.

"
You will tell your da about the message from Kayne as you had intended. And then if your da does naught about it, we find a couple of guardsmen who dinna have duty for a couple of days and nights. Aye? Think you we can locate your brothers before then?"

"
That was my thinking on the matter. Which is why I confided in you in the first place. Because your da is a guard, you know the men better than I do."

"
Aye." Una licked her lips as if she was nervous about something. Then she said, "If Seumas wishes to go, you must say nay."

"
Seumas?" Then the reason dawned on Edana. "Because he kissed you and you kissed him back?" And Una didn't want him knowing she wished to rescue Gildas.

"
Nay. He would most likely attempt to stop us from leaving. As to Zeneva? Once we, well,
you
tell your brothers about that, they can deal with her."

"
My…brothers?" Edana could do a lot of things, but tell them she'd found their father naked in bed with another woman? Her body grew hot with humiliation.

"
I
canna tell them," Una said, packing the rest of what they'd need on their journey, evidently suspecting the same as Edana—her father wouldn't do anything and they would be forced to leave with a small escort without his consent. "He is
your
da and
you
saw him with her, no' me."

"
Do you think
I
could tell my brothers that I had spied my da and Zeneva in bed together naked?" Edana whispered.

Una
's mouth dropped open. "God's wounds. In truth?"

Edana took a deep breath
and nodded. She thought Una had realized…

"
I thought they would have been covered up. Mayhap wearing something. Naught at all?"

"
The covers were down around their ankles." Edana felt her face warm, but Una's face blushed in color, too.

"
You shouldna have seen that."

"
Aye," Edana said. "'Tis my fondest wish I hadna. Are you ready?"

"
Aye. Should your talk with your da prove useless, I will have to ensure we ask two of the guards who wouldna tell
my
da of our mission, or we willna be going anywhere."

***

Later that morning, Edana joined her father at the high table to break their fast, having an awful time meeting his eye. Though he seemed to be suffering from the same condition. Had that horrible woman told him Edana had seen them naked together? Her whole body felt it was on fire, she was so mortified.

Her father was speaking to one of his men, ignoring her. She touched his arm to get his attention. She couldn
't wait for the meal to end to tell him what her brother had said to her.

Glowering, her father turned
cold blues eyes on her, his dark brown brows pinched together.

"
Da, I need to let you know what Kayne told me," Edana said, attempting to keep her voice steady.

"
Is that why you sneaked into my chamber this morn?" he asked, his voice angry, but low.

He
knew
. Zeneva, the witch, had told him.

"
Never
enter my chamber without my permission again," he growled low for her hearing only.

She wanted to crawl under the table, yet she tried to bolster herself with the notion she
'd embarrassed her father by catching him with Zeneva in his bed and that he hadn't wanted her to know. Now he didn't have any idea how to deal with her concerning the whole horrible matter.

Despite telling herself that, she felt her eyes fill with tears
. If she stayed a moment longer, those same tears would be flowing down her cheeks. He'd always adored her—or so he had acted—because she was his only daughter.

When her mother was alive, he
'd had enough love for them both. Now that her mother was gone, she assumed another woman would take her mother's place and Edana would no longer matter to him.

Feeling guilty, ashamed, and unworthy, s
he dropped her gaze, which instantly made the tears begin to roll down her face. "May I be excused?" she asked, her voice soft, choked, as she refused to look at her father.

"
Aye, go," he snapped, as if he wished never to see her again.

She quickly left her chair and headed out of the great hall.
If she could have done so, she would have obliged him. Una jumped up from the bench she was sharing with others at one of the lower tables and hurried after her.

"
You didna get his permission, did you?" Una asked gently, as she redirected Edana from the spiral stairs to her chamber, and out the door of the keep instead, heading straight for the stable.

"
Nay. He knew I saw him with Zeneva. The woman told him."

Una sighed.
"I knew that witch would. I was watching you the whole time, saw your da speak to you, and witnessed your reaction. He was angry."

"
Aye, and he had every right to be."

"
You have always gone to your father's chamber if there is a great need. He has always welcomed you to speak with him no matter the time of day or night. Even if he chose not to believe what you had to say."

"
No longer. He said I am never to enter his chamber again without his permission. Though I would never wish to after what I saw."

"
So we go without your da's permission?"

"
He wished me gone. Out of his sight. We will find my brothers and my da can do whatever he wishes to do with the scullery maid. 'Twill be none of my concern."

Yet it would be. Even thinking he would be with that hateful woman where her
dear sweet mother once had lain with her father made her heart shrivel.

"
I…already spoke to two of the guards. Seumas is coming with us, through no fault of my own," Una warned.

Alarmed, Edana glanced at Una as they crossed the inner bailey to reach the stables.
"You said he wouldna let you go."

"
I thought so. But he wanted to come, knowing we would go anyway. He overheard me talking to the other guard. Seumas said he believed you."

"
Good. Then let's be on our way." Mayhap she could convince her brothers, if she could rescue them, to talk their father out of his folly. Though she would not tell them she had seen him naked with the scullery maid.

***

Standing in his older brother's solar at Craigly Castle, Angus MacNeill stared at James in disbelief. Aye, James was laird of their clan and he could set any task before him and Angus would be obliged and honored to carry it out. Normally. But this time, Angus was desperately trying to come up with another solution to the problem. His brother's angular jaw was set as he sat at his table, and Angus was certain he wouldn't be able to change his mind. Not when he looked
that
determined.

Their cousin
, Niall, as much a brother to Angus and the rest of his brothers, was quietly waiting near the doorway to see what would happen next, not about to get himself tasked with such an assignment. He had a slighter build, not as muscular as Angus and his three brothers, but he had the same quick wit and smile, his dark hair much curlier, his eyes a darker brown. Gunnolf, their Norseman friend, blond with sharp blue eyes and sturdy features that said Viking warrior, was leaning against the wall, wearing a smirk.

"
I canna see why Edana's own brothers wouldna be the ones to fetch the wee lass home," Angus said.