’Twas all too much, far too much for one day. He was bone weary, filthy, hungry, and wanted very much to find his wife.
As if he could read Richard’s mind, Angus looked first to Rory then to Richard. “Yer man looks close to keeling’ over.”
‘Twasn’t an understatement.
“Our men will help yers sort through this mess,” Angus said as he gave a nod toward the heaps of bodies. “I think ye should both bathe and seek out yer beds.”
“Nay,” Richard and Rory said in unison.
“I need to seek out my wife,” Richard said.
“And I need to seek out someone else,” Rory said.
Lachlan hadn’t said a word as yet. He’d been patiently waiting for Richard to order him hanged for allowing his wife to be put in danger. Hopefully, he was too relieved and happy to be free that he would forget his role in this ordeal.
“Lachlan, would ye please fetch Rory and I clean clothes and soap and meet me at the loch?” Richard asked as he began to walk away.
“Aye,” he replied with a slight inclination of his head.
“And Lachlan?” Richard called out over his shoulder. “I will eventually kill ye. I just haven’t decided yet how I shall do it.”
The nooning meal and come and gone, and there was still no word from the keep. Worry was etched in Aeschene’s brow as she sat on an old felled log. Marisse was right beside her, offering her words of encouragement.
They were a few miles from the keep, in their own temporary encampment. A few tents had been erected, and a nice fire built in a quiet little spot in the woods. Lachlan had been adamant that she be nowhere near the fighting when it broke out. She hadn’t been able to convince Daniel to allow her to stay, no matter how much she pleaded or threatened him with chamber pot duty.
So whisked away they were, she, Aeschene, Keevah, along with Hattie and the kitchen maids. Raibeart and Colyne were here as well. For once, Colyne didn’t grouse about taking a bath. He went willingly to the loch, under the careful watch of ten MacCullough warriors and his older brother.
They had been fed, and were now resting in one of the tents. Aeschene prayed Colyne would not be forever haunted by whatever torment Randall Chisolm and his men had put him through. She also prayed that Raibeart would forgive her for not allowing him to stay and fight with the rest of the men.
“Why have they nae sent word yet?” Aeschene asked as she worried at the hem of her cloak. “It has been hours.”
“I must admit, I too am worried,” Marisse murmured softly. “Did ye see how awful Rory looked?”
Aeschene gave her a look that said, truly? When Marisse didn’t respond to that look, she said, “Aye, I did. Plain as day it was.”
Embarrassed, Marisse rolled her eyes and apologized. “Och! Aeschene-”
“Dunnae fash yerself,” she said with a warm smile. “It has been a harrowing few days.”
She gave her leg a gentle pat before turning away. “Just how bad did they look?”
“Oh, Aeschene, ’twas awful. He was so badly battered and bruised, his left eye was swollen shut, his lip caked with blood. He was filthy, and looked so worn and haggard.”
Having a sneaking suspicion Marisse was finally coming to grips with her feelings for Rory, she said, “Is it my husband ye speak of or Rory?”
“Rory,” she admitted. “Richard looked far worse.”
That didn’t make her feel any better.
“Ye care for him. For Rory.”
For the first time, Marisse didn’t deny her feelings. “Aye, Aeschene, I fear I do!”
She sounded indisputably despondent, as if admitting such was some sort of crime.
“Marisse, I will be fine, ye ken that, aye?”
“Are ye tryin’ to get rid of me?”
“Never,” Aeschene said with a smile. “I will always need ye. But mayhap, ’tis time ye start building’ a life of yer own.”
Marisse shrugged as she pursed her lips, not quite ready yet to admit she would very much like to start building that life or the fact she wanted to build it with Rory.
In the distance, Aeschene heard the sound of horses and they were approaching at a rapid speed.
“Aye, I hear it too,” Marisse said a moment later.
The two women got to their feet and held one another.
“They must be our men,” Aeschene said. “No one has given a call to arms.”
Moments later, they men on horseback came into view.
Aeschene felt Marisse grow tense. “What is it?” she asked, her own tension and worry expanding rapidly.
“’Tis Rory, and Richard,” Marisse said.
Relieved, yet fearful because she knew her husband was probably quite distressed with her, Aeschene stood a bit taller, fully prepared to explain herself in a thoughtful, intelligent matter.
“Aeschene?” Marisse said as she tried to take a step back. “Ye might wish to run.”
“Run? Whatever for?”
“Because yer husband looks mad enough to bite his sword in half.”
Running, of course, was not an option. Even if she could see clearly, Aeschene wouldn’t have been able to run far enough or fast enough to escape her husband’s wrath.
He said not a word as he dismounted and thundered towards her. She could feel him coming towards her, could feel his fury.
“Now Richard.” Why did her voice crack so?
She didn’t get another word out before he was scooping her into his arms. In his usual manner, his deep voice booming through the forest sending birds to flight and creatures scrambling. “Which tent is my wife’s?”
One of his warriors answered and soon he was tromping over this and that. Several moments later, they were inside Aeschene’s tent where he set her on her feet.
“Now, Richard, let me explain,” she said, taking a cautious step back. She didn’t like the idea of retreating, but truly, what other choice did she have.
“Do ye realize the risk ye took?” He wasn’t going to give her time to answer. He was too bloody furious. Even more angry than when she had inadvertently stepped out on the plank all those months ago. “Nae only did ye put yer life at risk, ye put our babe’s life in jeopardy as well. We all could have been killed!”
She decided it might be best to simply let him have his say. After all, she couldn’t truly blame him for being angry. She had taken several dangerous risks.
“That was the most stupid, irresponsible, reckless, harebrained thing I have ever witnessed in my life!” He began pacing back and forth like a caged animal. “I swear ye will be the death of me someday!” He stopped long enough to rake a hand through his hair. “How could ye behave with such disregard for our babe? And why in the bloody hell did ye agree to marry Randall Chisolm? What if we had nae been successful this day? What if I had died? What if ye couldn’t have held the keep? Would ye have married the man?”
She understood then, with perfect clarity. He wasn’t as upset with the risks she had taken as he was with the words she had given the Chisolm.
“Richard, ye must ken that I did nae mean what I said to him. I had to make him believe I dinnae love ye, that I despised ye and wanted ye dead.”