The Laird of Stonehaven (12 page)

Graeme seemed not to notice. “Today we begin shearing the sheep,” he explained. “I expect to be in the shearing shed most of the day. Maeve usually sends the midday meal out to us, so dinna look for me before dark. What will you do to keep busy today?”

“I thought perhaps Alyce and I could go into the forest to gather herbs and willow bark. This time of year is perfect for gathering herbs.”

“Dinna wander too far from the keep,” Graeme warned.

Blair glanced up at him, wondering if he was worried. His expression nearly took her breath away. He was smiling at her, a tender look upon his face. Before he turned and strode away, he leaned down and brushed a kiss across her lips.

Mouth agape, Blair stared at his departing back, her fingers pressed over her mouth. She still felt the shock of his kiss. What was he up to? She hoped he did not expect her to share his bed on a regular basis. She had gone to his bed in order to protect herself from Niall, and there was no more to it than that.

Liar
, her inner voice accused.

Her purpose did not matter. The important thing was that she was no longer a virgin and Niall could not contest her marriage. She was Graeme’s wife in every way.

Blair wandered into the kitchen to seek her own breakfast when none was forthcoming. She found Maeve stirring something in a kettle over the hearth.

“I hope that’s porridge you’re stirring,” Blair said.

The spoon clattered against the kettle. “Ye startled me, lass. Didna Glenda bring yer breakfast out to ye?”

“She must be busy,” Blair returned. “I’ll eat in here, if you dinna mind.”

Maeve dished up a bowl of oats and placed it on the table along with a pitcher of milk and a plate of bannocks. “Sit down, lass. I’m glad for the company.”

Blair pulled a bench up to the table and dug into the oats. She was exceptionally hungry this morning. With sudden insight, she realized the reason for her hunger and blushed. She was unaccustomed to the kind of activity she had engaged in last night.

Maeve’s perceptive gaze settled on Blair. “Is something wrong, lass? Ye look a mite feverish.”

Embarrassed, Blair tucked her chin down. “I am fine, Maeve. Have you seen Alyce this morning?”

“Aye, she was up early and went to speak to the alewife. She said something about providing some special herbs to make her ale more flavorful.”

Blair finished her breakfast and rose. “If you see her, tell her I’ll be in the stillroom. I’d like her to accompany me to the forest to gather herbs.”

Blair wandered to the stillroom, but her mind wasn’t on herbs. Her body still thrummed from Graeme’s loving, and she couldn’t think beyond the fact that her response had been a surprise to herself. He hadn’t been brutal or harsh, causing her only the unavoidable pain of his entry. He had taken his time, aroused her slowly and given her unexpected pleasure. The pleasure was something she wished hadn’t happened. How in God’s holy name was she supposed to deny her feelings for Graeme Campbell when all her senses screamed that she was meant to love this strong, virile man?

Blair sensed a movement near the open door and whirled, expecting to see Alyce. Instead she saw a small lad standing on the stoop, his gaze darting this way and that, as if afraid that something or someone would swoop out and grab him.

“Ye’re wanted in the village, lady,” he said in a timid voice. Before she could question him further, he turned and scampered off.

“Wait! Who wants me? Is someone sick or hurt?”

“Gunna said to fetch ye,” he threw over his shoulder.

He darted around a corner and was gone, presenting a dilemma for Blair. How badly was she needed? Desperately, she thought, if Gunna had sent for her. The woman hated her. Should she go alone or ask Alyce to accompany her? The urgency of the summons convinced her to fetch her basket of remedies and not waste precious time finding Alyce.

An uncomfortable feeling settled in the pit of Blair’s stomach as she strode to the village. Something was wrong—she could feel it in her bones. She tried to discredit her premonition by telling herself she was tired. But the warning she’d received in her dream last night played over and over in her mind. Perhaps it was lack of sleep that had her on edge. Whatever the reason, she wasn’t going to let trepidation interfere with what she considered her God-given duty to help the sick and injured. When a call for help came, she couldn’t ignore it.

When Blair reached the village, she had no idea where to go. The lad had given her no directions. For some strange reason, the streets were all but deserted at a time when women and children were usually out and about. A tremor of anxiety slid down her spine. Clutching her basket tightly, Blair decided to stop first at Mab’s cottage, hoping the Scotswoman would know why she had been summoned.

She had taken no more than a few steps when Gunna called to her from the doorway of a small hut. “This way, lady,” she urged. “Hurry.”

“What is it, Gunna?” Blair asked. “Do you need help delivering a bairn?”

The contemptuous sneer on Gunna’s face should have warned her that all was not as it should be. “I have no need of yer magic, lady. There are other matters that need yer attention.”

She grasped Blair’s arm. “Come with me.”

Blair allowed herself to be pulled into the dim interior of Gunna’s hut, expecting to find someone in desperate need of healing. Instead she found her worst nightmare come to life.

“You! What are you doing here?” She whirled on Gunna. “What have you done?”

“Naught but what is right, lady,” Gunna sniffed. “We dinna need yer kind at Stonehaven.”

Blair tried to flee, but Donal MacKay blocked the door with his hulking form. “Ye’re not going anywhere, lass.”

Then she saw her brother.

“Niall, tell your friend to move away from the door,” Blair ordered.

Laughter rumbled from Niall’s barrel chest. “Ye’re good at giving orders, Blair, but I am the MacArthur laird now and ye must obey me. I’m taking ye home, and tomorrow ye’ll be wed to the MacKay.”

“I am already wed,” Blair argued.

“I have it on good authority that yer marriage hasna been consummated. If that proves true, I have every right to demand yer return.”

“I am not a maiden,” Blair whispered, looking away in embarrassment. “I have lain with my husband.”

“Ye’re lying!” Niall declared. “I know the words of the Prophecy as well as ye, and I dinna believe ye would risk yer powers for physical pleasure. Besides, ’tis rumored that the Campbell loves another. He only wed ye because he owed Father a debt of gratitude.

“I intend to prove ye’re still a maiden. I sought out the village midwife when MacKay told me she was his kinswoman. Gunna was more than eager to do my bidding.”

Blair sent Gunna a quelling look. “She doesna like me.”

“So I learned. Ye havena earned any friends here, Sister. I suspect Campbell’s kinsmen will be happy to be rid of ye.”

“Dinna fret, Blair,” Donal MacKay said. “I dinna want ye to share my bed. I have women aplenty to fill that role. ’Tis yer powers I covet. They’ll make me rich beyond my wildest dreams.”

Blair stared at MacKay and shuddered. He was a huge man, with a wild thatch of red hair and a shaggy red beard. “My brother is wrong,” Blair argued. “I can do naught to help you. I am a healer—my skills canna help you gain the power you desire.”

“Niall has seen ye work yer magic.”

She rounded on her brother. “Why are you so determined to give me to the MacKay?”

“MacKay wants ye for the powers ye possess, while I want naught to do with yer magic. He will let me keep yer dowry, which is more than Campbell will do, thereby strengthening the alliance between the MacKays and the MacArthurs. Father didna trust MacKay, but he is gone now and the decision is mine to make. Joining with the MacKays and aligning ourselves with King James will bring prosperity to our clans. The king needs us, and even now courts our loyalty. We will become the most powerful lairds in the Highlands.”

“Get on with it, MacArthur,” MacKay growled. “Let the midwife do what we’re paying her for. If the lass is yet untouched, she is mine to wed.”

Without warning, Niall made a lunge for Blair. Grasping her from behind, he pinned her arms to her sides and dragged her to the bed. Blair fought with every ounce of her strength, but it wasn’t enough when MacKay entered the fray. Moments later she was pinned to the bed and held in place by MacKay and Niall.

“Begin the examination, Gunna,” Niall ordered. “And ye’d best tell us what we want to hear.”

His words and Gunna’s mirthless grin gave Blair little hope that the midwife would truthfully report her lack of a maidenhead. She would tell Niall exactly what he wanted to hear. Would Graeme fight for her? Blair wondered. Most likely he would be glad to be rid of her.

Blair bucked wildly, making it difficult for the midwife to begin her examination despite the two men pressing her against the thin straw mattress. “It will take more than two men to hold me down,” she warned. “But I promise to cooperate if you leave me alone with Gunna. ’Tisn’t right that men should witness this travesty.”

Niall’s eyes narrowed. “I dinna trust ye.”

Desperation forced Blair to resort to tactics she would normally disdain. “If you both dinna leave the room, I swear I will cast a spell that will shrivel your man parts until they resemble small worms.”

She fixed Niall with a fierce glare and began an incantation guaranteed to send even the bravest of men fleeing. Loss of one’s manhood was an appalling prospect, and both men took Blair’s threat to heart.

“Witch!” Niall shouted, backing away.

“Nay!” MacKay cried, protecting his manhood with one hand while retreating like the coward he was.

“Verra well, ye win,” Niall said. “But dinna try to escape. Ye promised ye would cooperate, and ye damn well better if ye know what’s good for ye. We will be waiting outside the door while the midwife examines ye.”

Once alone with Gunna, Blair planned her escape. There was no way she would let the midwife touch her with her filthy hands. Closing her eyes and clearing her mind of all thought, she sent a mental plea through time and space to Graeme, directing him to Gunna’s cottage in the village.

“This willna take long,” Gunna cackled. “Yer brother wants to know if yer husband’s rutted with ye, and I intend to give him the answer he is seeking. Ye dinna belong with our laird.”

“You’d lie?”

“We dinna need the likes of ye at Stonehaven.”

That was all Blair needed to hear. If Graeme didn’t arrive in time, Niall would take her away, and the combined MacArthur and MacKay forces would make it impossible for Graeme to rescue her, if he were of a mind to.

Gunna moved between Blair’s legs and pushed them apart.

“Wait! Wash your hands first. They’re filthy.”

Gunna looked at her grubby hands and shrugged. “No one has complained of my dirty hands before. Ye’re too persnickety, lady.”

“I mean it, Gunna. If you dinna wash your hands, I will cast a particularly nasty spell on you.”

Gunna stared at her with unfettered hatred and a good deal of fear, then spun around and marched to the washstand. Using Gunna’s distraction to her own advantage, Blair seized a heavy candlestick from a nearby table and brought it down on the midwife’s head. Then she climbed out a back window, lifted her skirts and ran.

Graeme cocked his head and listened. He heard someone calling to him. He glanced at Heath, who was working beside him. “Did you speak to me?”

Heath sent him a quizzical glance. “Nay.”

“Are you sure? I clearly heard someone calling to me.”

Graeme glanced about. No one else seemed to have heard what he had. “I must be hearing things.”

Heath sent him a concerned look. Then, very distinctly, Graeme heard it again . . . a plea for help. Blair? He rushed from the shearing pen, convinced that Blair needed him. Was he losing his mind? Then he heard the voice again.

The village
, the voice whispered inside his head.
Come to the village. Help me, I need you.

Blair was in trouble! Graeme took off at a run, fear pounding though his veins, his heart pumping furiously. If someone had hurt Blair, he would tear him or her apart with his bare hands.

Fortunately, the shearing pens were no great distance from the village. He reached the outskirts and nearly collapsed with relief when he saw Blair, skirts raised to her knees, sprinting toward him. He caught her up in his arms and held her close.

“Are you hurt? Who tried to harm you?”

Gasping for breath, Blair pointed behind her, alerting Graeme to approaching danger. Glancing over Blair’s shoulder, Graeme saw Niall MacArthur and Donal MacKay in hot pursuit of his wife. He shoved Blair behind him, cursing his lack of a weapon.

“What do you want?” Graeme growled when the men skidded to a halt before him. “You are trespassing on Campbell lands.”

“I but wanted to speak with my sister,” Niall said.

“He lies!” Blair charged. “He came looking for grounds to annul our marriage. He and MacKay lured me to the village so Gunna could examine me. They hoped to prove I was still a maiden.” She shuddered. “I couldna bear her hands on me, so I bashed her with a candlestick when she turned her back.”

“I heard you calling me,” Graeme said, his voice pitched low. “We’ll talk about that later.” He turned to Niall. “How dare you insult Blair in such a vile manner? If you wished to speak with her, you should have come to the keep.”

“I have a proposition for ye, Campbell,” MacKay said. “Will ye listen to what I have to say?”

Graeme’s first inclination was to order the two off his land. But he decided to hear them out before setting them straight about the state of his marriage and banishing them from Campbell lands.

“I will listen,” Graeme said grudgingly. “But only if you accompany me to the keep. A public road is no place to air family matters.”

“Do ye guarantee our safety?” MacKay asked.

Graeme stiffened. “Are you questioning my honor?”

“Of course not,” MacKay hedged. “But a mon canna be too careful.”

“At the conclusion of our conversation, you’ll both be free to leave. All I shall require is your promise to leave my wife alone in the future.”