The Beauty of the Mist (43 page)

“Stand back you coward,” Caroline hissed at her husband. “You’ve never been a real man–either in or out of our bed. You don’t have the stomach for a fight. Hide behind me so you won’t have to see the blood. Or go to the landing, if you’ve less courage than I thought. Go ahead, coward, go and hide.”

The two men both saw Caroline lift her wrist, poised for the thrust.

“Stop her, Thomas. This is not for one clan’s wealth or honor. This is our King, our future. In God’s name...”

Kit’s hand caught at the dagger, but Caroline was strong, and the point sliced upward through the skin as they struggled. And then she stopped.

John grasped her wrist just as the sword blade tore outward through the side of Caroline’s chest, nearly catching the Highlander, as well, with the force of Sir Thomas’s powerful thrust. The woman’s body tensed for a moment, her eyes glazing even as she turned them back to her husband.

The King held the dagger in his hand as Sir Thomas allowed Caroline’s body to slump to the floor. They all stared at the dead woman at their feet, the blood dripping steadily from the sword in the knight’s hand.

The steps outside and then the sight of two men as they rushed into the chamber brought the Highlander’s attention back to their mission.

John shook his head silently, stopping Gavin from cutting down the knight.

“There was no other way, Thomas,” he said as the elder man stared wearily at his dead wife.

“Sire,” Gavin said, addressing the King as the two men bowed quickly. With only one startled look at the woman’s dead body, he turned his attention back to John. “Jack, we stopped the steward from spreading the word. But there is not much time. The others have fresh horses ready for us. But we have to go now!”

John gave a quick look at the young king who stood, dagger in hand, his eyes fixed on the unsteady knight.

“I’ll never forget what you did here, Sir Thomas,” King James said quietly to the knight, drawing the man’s attention upward. “I swore long ago that, once I was free, every Douglas in Christendom would feel my wrath. You have taught me that I must reconsider that vow.”

With a nod, the king moved to a washstand and wiped away the blood that had run down his neck. John placed a hand on Thomas Maule’s shoulder.

“I am truly sorry,” the Highlander said quietly.

“You were never the cause.” Sir Thomas turned blood-shot eyes toward John. “She brought this on...and I did, as well. I was too blind to see it before. And now it is too late. A woman is dead, and another I love even more is lost to me.”

“You don’t need to lose her, Thomas.” John spoke fast, sensing the edginess of his men. “If you ask her, she will come back...now that Caroline is no longer here. But you will have to accept a son, as well. That’s a price your daughter will surely demand you pay.”

The elder man’s eyes brightened a bit. “It’s a passable small price. One I willingly pay. David’s a good lad.”

“Aye,” John said. “You’ll see. There’s none better.”

Moments later, the King and his rescuers started out the chamber door, .

“Wait,” Sir Thomas called before John could follow the other three out onto the landing. The knight hurriedly scribbled a message on a piece of parchment at the King’s writing desk. Quickly, he folded it, addressed it and sealed it using his signet ring.

“Hurry, Jack!” Gavin called urgently from the chamber door. John shared Gavin’s concern. The problems that lay ahead would be insurmountable if they had to start fighting their way out before even leaving the Palace.

“Use this letter,” Sir Thomas said. “It has my seal on it and I’ve addressed it to the Earl of Angus. If you get stopped, it should guarantee you a smooth passage through our men.”

John moved to him and accepted the letter. Looking at the seal, he realized this meant the king’s freedom. Sir Thomas’s action meant more than the swords strapped to their sides. He put out his hand in friendship and the knight grasped it.

“What did you write in it?” the Highlander asked.

“Just this...that his time has come.”

Drummond Castle, The Highlands

It just can’t be true, she thought as she ran.

By the time Maria reached the end of the long corridor, she could hold back her tears no longer. Shoving the door open, she rushed into her chamber and swung the heavy oak door shut behind her. The young queen stood with her back to the door for a moment, her unseeing gaze sweeping over the chamber’s furnishings. Then, sinking to her knees, she began to sob uncontrollably, her tears flowing freely down her face.

She looked down at herself through the tears. There was nothing different about her. And yet, everything was different.

The quiet knock at the door was followed by raising of the latch, and then Elizabeth slipped into the chamber as Maria quickly wiped at her tears.

Although Maria had run to her chamber in search of solitude, a feeling of relief and gratitude washed over her at seeing her friend’s look of concern and support. The friendship they’d established in the Abbey of Holyrood had already deepened and strengthened into a bond Maria had never before experienced. With Elizabeth, she was not queen. Here she was simply Maria.

She had passed Elizabeth’s work room as she’d blindly made her way to her chamber. Elizabeth must have seen her then and followed.

“Is there news?” Maria asked, looking up at Elizabeth.

“Nay, it’s still too early to hear,” she answered, watching the young woman pull herself to her feet. “Even assuming that all went well, and they were able to free him at Falkland Palace, there is no telling what resistance they may have met at Stirling Castle.” Even though Maria had put a stop to her tears, her flushed face and her trembling frame spoke of continuing distress. Their eyes met, and then Elizabeth simply opened her arms to her friend.

With her friend’s arms embracing her, Maria’s tears began to flow again.

“What did Fiona’s physician say, Maria?” Elizabeth asked. “Did he tell you what is wrong with you?”

Maria drew back out of the embrace and turned around, facing the room. She felt so foolish. One moment she would think what a disgrace she would be to all of them–to her family as well as to her friends. But then she would think that her condition now was nothing like before. She was a different woman. A woman with passion and belief. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. But how to express that to Elizabeth...to anyone.

But at the bottom of it all, she cherished the news. It was a gift, a miracle. Four years as a wife and she had not been able to conceive an heir to a husband whom she had not loved. One night with the man she loved...and here she was carrying his child.

Her tears were of happiness for this chance and sadness for the fact that she could never tell John about their child. There would be no one she could share her joy with. She already knew what she had to do. Her only chance was to go to Castile and live out her life as her mother was living out hers. And she would raise her own child. Joanna would help her there, Maria was certain of that. Her mother understood love, and she understood what it was like to have your loved ones taken from you.

Maria felt her friend’s hands rest gently on her shoulders.

“You don’t have to bear it all alone. Ambrose and I can help. Please let us.”

Maria turned around and smiled timidly at her friend. “There isn’t a thing wrong with me. The physician said I am fit. You are worried for naught.”

Elizabeth smiled gently before gathering Maria’s hands in hers and taking her to a nearby chair. After Maria was seated, Elizabeth went and fetched a drink for her friend before returning to her.

“You shouldn’t shoulder this alone,” Elizabeth said quietly, standing before Maria and handing her the cup. “You should talk to him about it.”

“Talk to whom?” Maria asked, startled. She had never spoken a word of John and their affair to Elizabeth. In their talks at the Abbey, she said that she would not wed King James and that she would do whatever she could to help free the young monarch. But she had also told Elizabeth of how John had saved her life when she had been running away from her brother the first time. How he had cared for her injuries. She had said nothing more of how he had won her heart. Had she been so obvious?

“You should talk to John.”

Maria couldn’t stop the heat that rushed into her face.

“I don’t know.” She tried to clear her throat. “I don’t know what interest Sir John would have in my health.”

Elizabeth looked for a moment into the face of the young woman before her. The overwhelming urge to protect Maria had surprised her at first. It was a different urge than she had experienced with her own sister Mary, a woman far more helpless and dreamy-eyed than Maria. But something in Maria’s desire to determine and pursue her own happiness resonated in Elizabeth. Elizabeth knew what it was like to have your future dictated to you. And she knew what it was like to fight against it.

“I can assure you, John has a great deal of interest in you,” Elizabeth said, pressing on. She was willing to play the chattering magpie if she could make Maria listen. And the color rising again in her friend’s face encouraged Elizabeth to go on. “After all, John is very much a Macpherson. And I can safely tell you that when it comes to their women, all Macpherson men are alike. Ambrose and I have been married but four years; however, you can ask Fiona. She and Alec are going to be married twelve. Or you can ask Lady Elizabeth, their mother. She and the laird, Alexander, have been together a lifetime. She would be the first one to tell you that her sons might be the new generation, but their attitudes are the same as her husband’s.”

Elizabeth paused. Maria was listening to her every word.

“She will tell you that all Macpherson men are alike. They might search a lifetime for their soul mate, but once they have found her, they’ll never let her go.” Elizabeth felt a glow of happiness building within her as she talked. She was speaking of Macpherson men, but her thoughts were only on Ambrose, her husband. “They have a way of folding themselves around you. They are always part of your life, always there, forever giving, forever loving. They draw you into their hearts and nestle you there. You feel their passions, you understand their beliefs and they understand yours. And after awhile, they are like the air you breathe, they become a part of you. You wouldn’t think to live without them–nor would they think to live without you.”

“It must be wonderful to be loved so much,” Maria whispered, unable to keep silent.

“It is heaven on earth. It is a more beautiful world that any sorcerer could conjure,” Elizabeth whispered with a smile. “That’s why I think you should talk to him. It would be fruitless to try and lock him out of your life.”

“But...how do you know...?” Maria couldn’t continue. She couldn’t ask the question without admitting what she and John once had felt...so long ago, it seemed.

Elizabeth placed her hand on Maria’s. “You knew of me–of my family before we even met. You told me so at our first meeting, remember?” Maria nodded in response. “John would never have revealed so much unless he cared for you. Unless he thought of you as part of this family.”

“We had days at sea,” Maria argued weakly. “Perhaps...just to pass the time...”

Elizabeth acknowledged her words with a smile and a nod. “Then let’s talk about more telling things–more revealing things than words.” She took a breath and then continued. “Your eyes brighten, you blush continually, you stop whatever you’re doing any time his name is even mentioned. Ambrose tells me John’s condition is not much different. And when you and I talk, I see your thoughts drifting, so much like a woman in love. Another thing, John took you to Hart Haus in Antwerp. He has never taken any woman there. Nay, Ambrose and Alec both see a difference in John. A sadness, an anger, and yet a faraway look that is so new to his character–they believe their brother is in love.”

Elizabeth paused searching Maria’s face for a reaction to her words. It was there, the young queen couldn’t hide it.

“It took great courage on your part to defy your brother and run away as you did. But then, it took an exceptional love drive you back to the Palace at Antwerp. In fleeing, you had already done the unthinkable. So why didn’t you finish it?” Elizabeth watched as Maria lowered her head, her eyes locked on her hands. “You don’t have to speak the words, my friend. They are written across your face. They are in everything you do. You can’t hide it, Maria, nor can John. He is with you, and what the two of you have shared has changed you and changed your destiny. Your lives can never be the same.”

Maria lifted her eyes. “I’ve done him a great wrong. I know he has more hate within him now than he ever had love. He will never forgive me, Elizabeth. There is no future for us.”

Elizabeth took hold of Maria’s arm. “Don’t underestimate the power of what you’ve already shared, of the words you’ve spoken, of the seed you’ve planted.”

Maria looked up at her friend as Elizabeth rested her hand lightly on the young queen’s stomach.

“You knew, and yet you had me examined by Fiona’s physician.”

“It would have been difficult to ignore your condition, since we are sharing the same symptoms.” Elizabeth didn’t try to hide the smile that lit up her face.

Maria’s face reflected the sudden radiance. “Does Ambrose know?”

Elizabeth shook her head. “Not yet. I’ve been through it twice already, so I know better than to tell him so soon. The baboon would have me bedridden for the next eight months.”

“Twice? How about Jaime...” Maria stopped abruptly. She had no right to ask. “I am sorry, Elizabeth. It was wrong of me to pry...”

“Don’t be sorry.” The young painter smiled. “I spoke without thinking. Now you are a part of our little secret, as well. To the world, Jaime is our daughter, but there is a very small number of souls who knew she is my niece. Aye, everyone thinks that Ambrose and I had a child long before we married. For a while it kept the gossip mill turning happily at court.”

“Then who...?” Maria asked.

Elizabeth shook her head. “That’s a long story–and one I’ll share with you during our long months of pregnancy together.”