Winning the Highlander's Heart (31 page)

“Aye, I sensed that was what concerned ye, but pray tell, what see you?”

“Edgar Atheling’s men-at-arms.  Mayhap thirty.”  Her eyes filled with tears.  “My uncle intends to fight alongside Robert Curthose.  They hide Edgar’s standard, but ‘tis them.  His steward, Laird Robertson, rides with the men.  There would be nay fighting betwixt us, if we ken not what they were up to.  But Torq Robertson, brother to the man I killed, would recognize me at once.  He would realize I would know he sided with Henry’s brother.  They would slay us all to keep their whereabouts secret.  Some of the lowlanders would hide Edgar’s men, many of them being Saxon lairds who fled when William of Normandy invaded.  King Malcolm gave them safe haven, including Matilda’s mother, Princess Margaret, whom he wed.  Some of the lowlanders are Normans who would be loyal to Robert Curthose.”

Malcolm stared at Anice, disbelieving she could know the men were her uncle’s without even seeing them.  “How…”  Tears spilled down her cheeks, and he quickly dismissed the question.  “They may not wish to kill ye, milady, but take you hostage and use you for ransom.”

She shook her head.  “Laird Robertson hated me for the death of his brother.  Without my uncle to stop him, he may seek revenge.”

Malcolm would let no harm come to the lady, but before he could speak, Dougald whipped his horse around and rode back to them, his countenance highly agitated.

Looking from Anice to Malcolm, Dougald said, “What is the problem, Malcolm?”

“Trouble up ahead.”

“I see nor hear anyone,” Dougald argued

Malcolm looked steadily into Dougald’s eyes, his brother’s doubts noted.  “Nevertheless, we will have to ride--”

“Farther east to avoid the men,” Anice quickly said.

“What men?” Dougald asked, shifting his gaze from Malcolm to Anice.

“Men who align themselves with Robert Curthose.”  Anice stiffened her back, as if she were readying for the joust.

“You ken this how?” Dougald asked, his voice filled with disbelief.

She glanced at Malcolm, then raised her chin higher and spoke to Dougald.  “I saw Edgar Atheling’s standard, flown by his steward, Laird Robertson, and Robertson and his clansmen are headed in this direction.”

Malcolm stared at her.  Had not she just said the standard was hidden?   She had not seen the men at all, or Dougald, who had been riding farther ahead, would have spied it.

“I saw nay sign of anyone up ahead, milady.  Ye must be mistaken,” Dougald argued.

“Ye cannot fight them, Dougald.  There are too many.”

“Why would they fight us, milady?  They would have nay idea we are loyal to King Henry, nor would they wish to begin a battle here in Scotland.”

  “I ken Laird Robertson.  He kens me.  If he sees me, what think you will become of us?   Queen Matilda and I are Edgar’s nieces, but I am the only one who is unmarried.”

Malcolm cleared his throat.

Dougald’s knowing look exchanged between the brothers.  Now everyone knew their marriage had not been consummated.  They were married all right, but the marriage could easily be annulled if Malcolm didn’t bed her.

Anice’s cheeks turned brilliant red, and Malcolm frowned at her.  ‘Twas not his brothers’ business and a situation he meant to rectify as soon as he was able.

“My uncle might want to ransom me to Henry because he wishes to marry me to a loyal Norman laird.  Then again, Edgar might wish to give me away to someone loyal to himself.  But you see, I killed Laird Robertson’s brother, and he has always wanted revenge.”

Again, Dougald looked at Malcolm as if seeking confirmation she spoke the truth.

“We travel east well away from these men,” Malcolm ordered.

“It will add hours onto our destination when we dinna know if what the lass says is true.”

“We cannot risk a confrontation if the lady is correct.”  In his heart, he was certain Anice spoke the truth, yet he didn’t want his brothers to concern themselves with how she knew, at least not at present.  If she said so, the danger moved in their direction.  Best be concerned with moving out of its path.

When they continued in their usual configuration, Malcolm took a deep breath and said what was on his mind.  “Lass, I ken you knew what you were talking about.  What I have to know is how you knew this.”

“Thank ye for believing in me.  ‘Tis naught.”

“Ye said they were hiding Edgar’s standard, which would be prudent in case others who did not support his cause, fought them.  Then you said you saw the standard.  I venture to guess you did not see any sign of them.  In that case, how did you know they were beyond the hills, out of sight, and heading in our direction?”

“Mayhap I overheard someone telling someone else of Laird Robertson’s movements?” she asked, her green eyes wide, expressive, endearing.

“Mayhap not, milady.  Ye are gifted?”

She stared ahead and didn’t say a word.

“How oft do ye see things like this?”

“I dinna know what you mean.”

His jaw tightened.  If he was to be her husband, he had to know everything there was about the lady.  He would not allow her to put his concerns asunder.  “Anice, ye need not worry how I feel.  I am verra open-minded, not like some of my kinsmen.”

She looked at him, and his heart nearly gave out.  She looked so fearful.  Why?  Thinking he would cast her aside if she had such a gift?

“Lass, whatever ye think, I treasure you for being you.  If you wish no’ to tell me—”

“And your brothers?” she asked.

How could he keep such a thing from his brothers?  They never kept secrets from one another, except for his not mentioning he had failed to bed the lass, but ‘twas not any of their concern for now.  Still, they would suspect something was not as it should be, the way she sensed danger before any of them did.

When he hesitated overlong to speak, she nodded.  “I suspected as much.  You will tell your brothers.”

Which meant she did possess some uncanny ability.

“Exactly what can ye see, lass?”

“Sometimes danger, but not always.  I did not see Laird Robertson wished me ill…”

She quit speaking abruptly and her face paled.

“Anice?”

“Nay, I sensed the danger long beforehand.  Robertson loved another and I ‘heard’ him and the woman he rendezvoused making plans.  They knew the only way I could inherit my uncle’s estates was if he died.  Laird Dunstan was healthy and robust.  He would have lived forever, had someone not murdered him.  But Robertson planned to wed me, kill my uncle, and then me.  He would have my estates and the woman’s hand in marriage.  When he tried to take me before our wedding, I killed him.  There was a madness in his eyes, and I could never understand why he wished to do the thing he did, though I suspected ‘twas because he’d had too much to drink.  Had he not, I might not have had a chance to thwart him where my uncle’s life was concerned once I was wed to the beast.”

“Do you see anything about us?”

She looked at him, her eyes misted.

Malcolm’s heart plummeted.  “Anice, what is it that ye see?”

“I fear we will have much trouble when we return to Brecken, yet we must go home.  I cannot delay returning there nay matter what I feel.”

He ran the reins through his fingers, then asked, “Did ye see Henry’s response to my request to seek your hand?”

She looked away, tears spilling down her cheeks.  “He and many of his men will come.  ‘Tis no’ good, Malcolm.  He is angry and wants your head.”

Malcolm considered her words, unruffled, then sat taller in the saddle.  “But he does not get it, does he?”

“Och, Malcolm, how can ye even jest about a thing like this?”

“I am no’ jesting, milady,” he responded, semi-seriously.

“I cannot see the outcome of things, only the danger present itself, sometimes, no’ all the time.  ‘Tis frustratingly annoying.”  Anice shoved a loose curl back inside her veil.

To change the darkness of the subject, he asked, “Pray tell, will I win the archery contest, or will ye?”

She furrowed her brows.  “I canna see everything that is going to happen.”

“Like ye dinna see if we have children?”

Clenching her teeth, she responded.  “Nay.  If the king has your head, I doubt we will have children.”

Malcolm pondered the notion further, then smiled.  Mayhap he might lose his head, but he had every intention of bedding the lady and leaving her with a child of his making.  Just the way she took in Kemp, the homeless urchin, showed Malcolm she would love a child of her own verra much.  If he did nothing else for her and nothing else with his life, he had every intention of giving her a bairn.

Though Malcolm suspected Anice’s mood would improve the closer they rode toward Brecken, she became even more fretful, which did not bode well.  Though he’d managed to avoid answering his brothers’ questioning glances, he knew before long he’d have to tell them about the lass’s abilities.

Both were more superstitious than him, so he wasn’t certain how they might take the news.  Even with him, the notion she would see things in the future made his blood chill.

Most nights, they’d slept under the stars, separated, because he would have wanted to bury himself deep inside her, not just hold her close to keep the chill out.  Even now, his trewes grew uncomfortably tight.  His reluctance to sleep with her did not go unnoticed by his brothers, and from time to time he caught them speaking to each other out of his and Kemp’s hearing.  Did they know he kept secrets from them and were now keeping secrets from him?

He hadn’t realized the lass would come between his brothers and he and the thought unsettled him.

“I must take care of business,” Anice said, motioning to the ancient Caledonian Forest, the floor cushioned in fragrant pine needles, a light chilly breeze stirring the dark green needles of the Scots pine.  The whooshing of the breeze through the branches, added to the pleasant sound of the gurgle of the rush of a stream nearby, the cold waters bubbling over rounded moss-blanketed rocks.

“Stray not too far, lass.”

“’Tis my home,” Anice said, motioning to Glen Affric.  “Naught would harm me here.”

‘Twas too late to continue their journey with still several hours to travel and the horses dead tired.  They’d pushed too far this day, yet he’d worried about them not getting the lady tucked safely inside her fortress.  He would not argue with her about how safe the place was, but thieves and other disreputable men lived everywhere.  If any knew she was King Malcolm’s cousin, and the cousin to King Henry’s wife, Anice might very well be taken hostage for ransom.

 He paced with his sword in hand, waiting for the lady to reemerge.

The sound of crunching on the pine-needle floor, made him whip around.  Relieved, he found Dougald before him.  “Where is the lady?”

Malcolm waved at the trees behind him.

“Angus and I want to ken what the lady knows about…”  Shaking his head, Dougald folded his arms.  “Tell me she isna a witch.”

“She is not, Dougald,” Malcolm said, his words harsher than he had intended.

“She sees things God hadna intended,” Dougald insisted.

“Have ye ever felt something was going to happen before it did?”

Dougald narrowed his eyes.  “Ye cannot say what I might have felt is the same as what she sees.”

Malcolm shrugged.  “When the MacTaggart tried to split your skull in two, ye whipped around and killed him first.  James and I had started in your direction and tried to warn ye.  There was too much noise for you to hear the man coming up behind ye, particularly when you were fighting one of his kin in front of you.  Do you remember what ye said when we were partaking of a fine draught of whiskey once the battle ended later that night?”