Bride of Vengeance (Highland Romance Series Book 1) (11 page)

Chapter Seventeen

“You should not be here, Lydia.” Mary wept in her sister’s arms. Together, the sisters sat in a dark room in the very back of the holding. It was the room Lydia used to frequent as a child. “I sent a message to you. I swear I tried.”

“I could not let you marry Baron Fane. I could not.” Lydia comforted her younger sister like she had so many times in their lives. It had never been like this before. “I had to try.”

“The wedding is tomorrow.” Mary sobered now. “I’ll not survive.”

“Hush now. We’ll think of something.”

Silence. Both girls knew Lydia was lying. The only hope they had was a husband that had little interest in his wife. God, she hoped he meant what he said when he declared his love for her.

“Garrison will come for you.” Mary predicted.

“We cannot count on it.”

“I am counting on it.” Mother entered the room and had both girls growing frigid in their seats. Mother approached the girls and sat on the bed next to them, lovingly stroking Lydia’s hair.

“My beautiful children.” Mother cooed. “I never thought children would be useful to me.” Mother touched Lydia’s cheek. “So many times I fought myself as a young mother. So many times I took you both to the water’s edge and prayed for the strength to end it. To take this lovely head and hold it under the water until you stopped moving. I suppose God moves in mysterious ways, after all.” Mother stopped stroking Lydia’s hair then. Instead she went on to run her daughter’s cheek. “Mary will bind a treaty with the most powerful man, and a dear friend.” Mother dropped her hand and took in the looks on her daughter’s faces. Lydia was not looking at her. Bitch. “And Lydia will end a lifelong quarrel for me.”

Lydia’s eyes finally moved to her mother’s.

“Men can be so… easily persuaded, can’t they?” Mother was once again petting her oldest daughter. “Did Garrison tell you about his mother?” Mother paused. Was she expecting an answer? “Of course he did. Men, you see, are weak when it comes to women. I am sure you have figured this out by now. That bastard Garrison’s mother was weak, for your father. No sooner had she given Laird Garrison a son was she throwing herself into my marriage. Six years your father had an affair with her. He was weak for the Scots. They held a power over him in his youth.”

Mother was standing now, speaking low, feeling the pain of her memories. “I could not have that.” Mother was now leaning in front of Lydia, taking her hands between her hands. “I told your father he could end that abomination growing inside Garrison’s belly, or I would never give him an heir of his own. I would keep finding ways to have accidents, and no baby would survive inside of me.”

Mary silently started to cry beside her sister. Lydia forced herself to stay strong.

“He obeyed, of course. No man can go without an heir. I trusted he would end the boy as well. But, men can be pathetic. Instead of an heir, we got you two. How disappointing life can be sometimes.” Mother reached out and grabbed Mary’s hand, pulling her along as she left the room.

“Lydia!” Mary screamed. Lydia stood and was greeted by a hard punch to the abdomen. Lydia fell to the ground. Mother kicked her in the stomach several times, screaming like an animal.

Lydia lie on the floor after the attack, catching her breath, forcing herself to breathe through the pain. “Say goodbye to Mary, dear.” Mother grabbed her younger daughter again. “She’s getting married in the morning. I’d love for you to join, but you have another engagement to attend.”

After her mother and sister left, Lydia let the pain, physical and emotional, overcome her. Lydia broke down, sobbing in the middle of the floor. “Oh God, Nathanial, do not come for me.” She prayed over and over again.

Chapter Eighteen

William was not a child. He’s been making his place in the world by hunting people since he was a young man. He was not young anymore, and there was no reason he should be feeling this guilty. There was only one other person that made him feel this way in his life. Samantha changed his entire life while she was in it. He had stopped hunting then, stopped taking jobs. He was ready and willing to live an honest life with her and their child to come, and then they both left the world without him.

William went back to his old ways when they died. He left her mother alone in a cottage he built for his family, and he never looked back. He was the same man he had been before he met Samantha. He was the blood money he had earned for a living and nothing more.

Lady James had let him know exactly why she wanted her daughter back to badly. She was going to lure the Highland Laird from his home and kill him on English soil. It was the last insult to some dispute between the two of them. It was a dispute that had nothing to do with him. Until he met Lydia. When he saw the girl hiding, desperate to know of her sister, William knew this was not like other hunts.

And now, as he made his way through the woods, he felt guiltier with every step.

Luckily for William, being distracted and lost in thought did not ruin his ability to track. There were other men in the woods with him. William did not know if he had been seen yet. He slid behind a tree and kept himself silent.

When he saw the Highland men walk from the trees, even he would admit his heart skipped a beat. There were at least thirty of them. Did they know how outnumbered they were? And, more importantly,
were
they outnumbered?

“I knew ye were good for nothing.” William sighed out loud at Duncan’s words. He turned to defend himself and met a heavy object over the temple. The world went black for him.

****

Nathanial had to get to his wife. It was the thought that had been on his mind for the last several days. When he arrived to his keep and found she had vanished, he knew exactly what had happened. Nathanial knew there was no time. It almost killed him when he realized he would not get to her before she made it to her destination.

Was he already too late? Or would her evil kin wait to end her life until he arrived? There was no doubt in the warrior’s mind that this was all meant for him. He could only pray to any God that would listen, pray that he would make it in time.

Fear and dread stuck in the back of his throat strong enough to choke him to death when he thought about Lydia in the hands of the cruelness that took his mother from the earth. Nathanial was not willing to think of a world without the woman he’d come to love.

“Laird,” Duncan’s voice called him back. They were no further than a few hours from his wife. The sun was setting, and with it, panic was rising in his heart. Garrison turned to his most trusted advisor. Duncan was standing with the Englishman kneeling at his feet. Garrison unsheathed his sword and advanced. “Not quite yet, Laird.” Duncan spoke up right before Nathanial cut through the coward. “I am biting at my chance to kill this one.” Duncan defended, seeing the hate in his Laird’s eyes. “He can get us in.”

Nathanial placed the tip of his sword under William’s neck and forced him to make eye contact. “Can ye now?”

“That is not what I said.” William started. “Listen to me,” he hastened when Garrison lifted his sword again. “I think I can get
you
in. You probably will not leave alive.” William observed the man in front of him. “You willing to die?”

“Aye.” Nathanial sheathed his sword. “But there’ll be no dying today.”

****

Lydia’s eyes flew open in the middle of the night. She was in her childhood bedroom in her undergarments only. She was not afforded any sleeping gown, so she did the next best thing. Lord knows how she was able to fall asleep. Lydia’s body had been through hell the last several days, no way did she think there would be any relief this night.

Yet, there she was, passed out. Or at least, the girl had been until she heard the commotion outside. Was she making it all up in her head? Lydia thought that might be a possibility, until she heard Mary’s voice outside her door.

“Mother, please!” Mary begged. Lydia heard a hard smack. She heard Mary’s body hit the ground.

Lydia flew from the bed, ready to fight. The doors open and three large men entered with her mother.

“Lydia, tell your sister to behave herself… if she wants to make it to her wedding.”

Lydia was thinking of her next move when Baron Fane entered. He was enough to distract her from whatever was happening in the courtyard. The old man looked at her hungrily. He took a step towards her, ready to pounce.

“No wonder the bastard Garrison took liberties with her. Look at the way she insists on sleeping.” Fane, visibly aroused, had a hard time keeping his breathing calm as he watched her.

“Now, dear.” Mother placed a calming hand on his shoulder. “That can wait a few more minutes, can it not?”

Fane nodded. “I want her first.” He announced before he left.

“Of course you do.” Mother crooned. She motioned to the men. They were upon her in seconds.

Lydia struggled, cursed and screamed as they dragged her from her childhood bedroom. Mary was still laying on the floor, tears streaming down her face. Lydia held onto her gaze as she was dragged out of the warmth of the keep and into the falling snow.

She remained confused until she saw William standing over her husband in the middle of the courtyard. Nathanial’s face was bruised and bloodied. His hands bound behind his back. The coward William held a knife to Nathanial’s throat.

Lydia struggled more violently now. The men stopped in front of a large wooden post, directly in front of Nathanial and William. Lydia broke free for a moment and dashed to her love. She threw her arms over his neck and wept. “Why did you come?” Her words came from the very middle of her tortured soul. The men grabbed her once more and forced her to the post. Nathanial said nothing, but he kept his eyes locked on her.

“I want double what I got for her.” William demanded. “Double or I spill his blood right here, right now.”

“So good of you to come back, William.” Mother was not trusting the situation for one second. She stood in the comfort of the keep while the men tied her daughter to the post in the middle of the courtyard. “Answer me something, boy – how did you manage to overpower Nathanial Garrison?” There was a twinge of amusement in her voice.

“You think I ever act on my own?” William sounded confident, sure of himself. It seemed as though the thought had never occurred to Mother before.

“I suppose not.” She smiled. Slowly, painfully slow, she walked into the courtyard. She stood there, observing the scene for many moments before looking back to the keep. “It’s safe. You can come out.” Disdain laced her words. The man had always been a coward, lurking in the shadows. Tonight, he would be the star of their little game.

Nathanial watched Lydia as Baron Fane stepped into the light, and then to the middle of the courtyard near her. The Laird had no intention of letting his eyes fall anywhere else. Even as Lydia’s mother came deathly close to his face, he did not take his eyes off his wife.

“Look how he watches her.” Mother smiled evilly. She tugged his hair and forced the large man to look at her. “I used to punish my husband for failing to kill you along with your whore of a mother. Did you know that?”

“I want my turn.” Fane was getting anxious. He was standing in front of Lydia now, watching the way tears streamed down the girl’s face. He rubbed her arms as he watched her. “I’ll make you forget him.” Fane whispered into Lydia’s ear as he pressed himself close to her body.

Nathanial was losing control. He could not wait any longer.

“It worked out better this way.” Mother assured the Laird as she turned back to her daughter. Lydia shivered and silently wept as Fane continued to rub her shoulders.

“Lydia,” Nathanial’s voice was gentle as he pulled her gaze back to him.

“He does speak.” Mother was so pleased. “Have your fun, my dear Baron.” Mother turned and walked back towards the keep. “Don’t exhaust yourself, though. You do have a wedding to attend in a few hours.”

“Lydia, look at me.” Nathanial commanded. Lydia obeyed. She held onto her husband’s gaze, even as she felt Fane tugging at the fragile string that protected her body from his. “Do not look anywhere else.”

Nathanial was her rock, once again and always. She held onto his gaze when the whistle of arrows broke through the courtyard. She heard Fane scream, an arrow piercing his right thigh. He dropped right in front of her, and still she kept her husband’s gaze. She was aware that the courtyard was now full of Highlanders and a battle was in full swing. She watched her husband as William cut the binds behind his back.

Her husband stood in the chaos, fully trusting his men would do their work. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lydia’s mother crumpled on the stairs of the keep with arrows sticking from her. Lydia would never see that. She kept her eyes on him. Nathanial approached his wife and cut her free with ease.

“You’ll pay for this.” Baron Fane seethed from under them. Nathanial slowly raised the knife he used to free Lydia. It was an offering.

“We had an agreement.” Lydia knew what he was saying to her. Killing Fane was her right and he was letting her have it.

Lydia stared at the knife for long moments. Then she looked back into her husband’s eyes. “I don’t need it.”

Nathanial placed the knife back in his plaid and lifted his wife in his arms before motioning to Duncan to finish the job.

****

With the carnage behind them, the group set out back to Nathanial’s land in the early hours of the morning. He hated being on English soil, surely that was the source of his bad mood. That, and Mary. Lydia convinced her loving husband that they need to take her in until a more suitable arrangement could be made. The Laird’s suggestion, that Mary be given to the mercenary, William, did not go over well.

He was quite sure William had decided to make Mary his, and they would be seeing him again. Mary was not so sure. Especially since she punched him one last time before realizing he’d come back to help.

For now, he was saddled with a young girl that simply could not stop talking. Lydia and Mary rode together for about an hour before Nathanial looked back and saw the look of pure exhaustion on his wife’s face.

Once again he was her rescuer.

“Oh, I am so happy to be with you, Lydia. We will make so many more memories together.” Mary’s words went far too fast for Lydia to understand most of them. “The Highlands cannot possibly be as bad as I am thinking? Lydia, there are nicer looking men there?” Lydia started to open her mouth to confirm her sister’s worst fears when she felt herself flying through the air.

She knew immediately her husband had come for her. She embraced him around her waist and smiled, deeply in love. Nathanial nodded to Duncan. The command was clear: Mary duty.

“I’ve held out hope there was a god until this moment.” Duncan slowed down his pace to keep up with the now horrified girl.

Nathanial felt his wife giggle in his arms. He placed his chin on her forehead . “Happy, wife?”

“Very.” Lydia sighed.

Moments passed before Laird Garrison spoke again. “And what are we doing to do about that?”

There was no answer. He knew there would not be one. Lydia was sleeping, mouth open, on his chest.

It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

The end