“I ken, and that hurts me deeply. But that, Brathair, was in battle.”
“But it wasna a fair fight.”
“Still, they all had a means of protectin’ themselves.” Duncan’s eyes roamed back to the guards. “I canna kill unarmed men durin’ Yuletide, no matter who they are. It just doesna seem right.”
“Och,” spat Angus. “Now is a fine time for havin’ morals. Ye realize ye are talkin’ like a scared wench again!”
“Stop complainin’. I got us out, didna I?” With the guards inside the cell, Duncan slammed and locked the door.
“We’re no’ out of here yet,” Angus reminded him. “And for all we ken, there could be ice and snow out there. Or did ye forget that it’s winter? That is goin’ to slow down our travels back to Scotland. Especially if we’re bein’ chased by those English curs!” Angus made a face and spit through the bars at the guards who stirred slightly and started to moan.
“All that matters is that we get back to Scotland,” Duncan told him. “I am supposed to wed Mari on Hogmanay and I still intend to do it.”
“Ye really think she will have waited for ye?” asked his brother, looking at him as though he thought he’d gone daft. “After all, we’ve been gone for three weeks now. Since the clan didna come for us or send the ransom, that tells me they’ve given up hope. I’m sure they must think we’re dead.”
“Nay, I dinna believe they’d leave us here to die. Somethin’s no’ right,” said Duncan. Slipping the dagger into his boot, he headed for the door with the sword clutched tightly in his grasp. “Mari never would have let the others stop lookin’ for me. She would never have given up hope of findin’ me again. We’re in love!”
“She’s back at her own clan and probably doesna even ken that we’d been captured,” mumbled Angus, hurrying after him. “Eideard gave us bad information and has probably lied to her as well. Besides, even if she does ken, it’s been so long that she surely thinks we’re dead by now.”
Duncan stopped in his tracks at hearing this, and turned around. His brother crashed into him, his weight almost knocking Duncan over. “What do ye mean by that?” he grumbled.
“Duncan, dinna get yer hopes up about the wench. Mari is young and beautiful and very desirable. She willna sit around waitin’ for ye. I’m sure by now she’s already married to someone else.”
“Nay. No’ my Mari. Our love is strong. She will wait. I’m certain of it.” Duncan said the words but, in the back of his mind, his own words rang out loud and clear. He’d told Mari that if he didn’t return she should marry another. God’s eyes, he hoped now that she’d really meant it when she’d told him she’d never marry another man besides him as long as she lived.
“And what if she doesna wait for ye?” asked Angus with a raised brow. “What are ye goin’ to do if ye return to find she is someone else’s wife?”
Duncan couldn’t even consider that thought. He had told Mari to wed another if he got killed, but he wasn’t dead yet. However, she didn’t know that. Now he realized his mistake by telling her to do it. If he returned to the Highlands to find that his love had married another, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to love a lassie again.
Chapter 2
Mari Stewart clutched her cloak tightly for warmth to shelter herself from the winter wind as she trudged through the woods. A flurry of snow swirled around her, sending a chill up her spine and making it hard to see. The weather had turned quickly. She and her sister needed to get back to the castle immediately with the children. They were all at risk since they’d left without an escort.
“Mari, Eideard is goin’ to be angry when he finds out we left with the children without tellin’ him,” said her sister, Tillie.
“I dinna care. Eideard doesna scare me,” answered Mari. “And I resent the fact he’s taken over as chieftain since Duncan’s faither was killed. He doesna deserve it. Plus, he keeps tellin’ us all that Duncan and Angus are dead. Well, I dinna believe it since they never found their bodies like the rest of the party who had been slain by the English. Nay, I dinna believe him at all.”
Mari, as well as Tillie and her children, had come to MacLean Castle to be with Duncan’s mother, Emmaline, at her request. Mari didn’t hesitate to go, not wanting the woman to be alone after losing her husband recently. Plus, the woman was distraught since she’d been told she’d lost her sons as well.
Weeks ago, when Duncan and the warriors didn’t return from battling the English, his father and some of his men went out to look for them. That’s when they found their twelve dead men, killed by the hands of the English. On their way back to tell the clan, Duncan’s father, Gilmer, and his men were attacked by bandits on the road. Gilmer didn’t make it back alive. How much more tragedy could Emmaline and the clan take?
With Duncan, Angus, and Gilmer gone, Eideard, Duncan’s half-cousin, stepped in as chieftain. Mari never liked or trusted the man. Especially since he’d cornered her in the barn and kissed her last year when he knew darned well that she belonged to Duncan. She’d never told Duncan because she didn’t want the men to battle. Instead, she’d been ever so careful to stay far away from Eideard.
Everyone seemed to be afraid of the man, and rightly so. He was deceitful and selfish and, in her opinion, there was something evil about him. Lately, he brought men into the clan that didn’t even belong there, and that Mari had never seen before. He told the rest of the clan that they’d lost a lot of men and these men were here for protection. Things changed quickly. There weren’t many loyal clanmembers left anymore since Eideard forbid anyone to speak out against him and threatened their families if they didn’t pay him allegiance now. Some of the men left the clan with their loved ones, while others gave in and answered to Eideard now, just to protect their families.
“Ye must believe him. Why would Eideard lie about Duncan and Angus bein’ dead?” asked Tillie. “He is part of the clan, and now chieftain. Surely, he must care what happens.”
“Nay!” Mari retorted. “Eideard only cares about himself. Duncan and Angus are too guid of warriors to have been killed. I’m sure they are no’ dead. They canna be.”
“Mari,” said Tillie, putting her hand over her sister’s. She looked deeply into Mari’s eyes. “We’ve talked about this before. If Duncan and Angus were alive, they would have returned by now or at least sent a message to ease their mathair’s mind.”
“No’ if they were taken prisoners by the English, they wouldna. Mayhap they couldna send a message at all.”
“But Eideard said the clan has no’ received any ransom notes or word from the English at all. That can only mean that even if they were captured . . . they are no longer alive.”
The wind picked up and the snow started to fall faster.
“Well, I refuse to believe it. And dinna ye think it is strange that Eideard doesna want revenge on the English after they killed so many of our men?”
“It’s winter. I’m sure he will go after them once the weather changes.”