Captured by a Laird (19 page)

Alison took comfort in the old guard’s assurances. All the same, she did her mending by the window in the Tower Room that overlooked the gate, so she could watch for Robbie. When he did not return by supper, she went back to speak to the older warrior who stood guard at the gate.

“I expect his horse went lame and he’s walking back,” the old guard said with a shrug.

“Has he been gone this late before?”

“Aye,” he said, and stretched. “I’m sure he’ll turn up, and there’s naught we can do before daylight anyway.”

If a horde of screaming banshees appeared, she suspected this old warrior would pick at his teeth and tell her he had seen it all before.

“I don’t like it,” she said, hugging herself.

“The laird said he’ll be back tomorrow,” he said. “If Robbie’s gotten himself into trouble, the laird will find him and bring him home.”

“How can ye be so sure?” she asked.

“Our laird is the best tracker I know,” he said. “And the Devil himself would be wise not to stand between him and one of his brothers.”

***

“You’re leaving already?” Cochburn asked. “Thought ye were waiting till morning.”

“Changed my mind.” David mounted his horse and signaled to Brian, who was returning with him. It would be dark in a couple of hours and he was anxious to be on his way.

“Can’t say I blame ye,” Cochburn said. “I’d ride hard for home if I had a bonny bride like yours waiting for me.”

“I brought what men I can spare,” David said, ignoring the remark. “Send word if D’Orsey arrives.”

“I’m grateful for the help, but ye should take a few of your men back with ye,” Cochburn said. “’Tis no secret that the Blackadders want your head.”

David was not concerned. He had a sixth sense that told him when he was being followed, and it was easier to disappear with one companion than with twenty. While he could fight off an attack if he took more men with him, he preferred to choose the ground and circumstances for the inevitable confrontation with the Blackadders.

“Haven’t ye heard?” David said, cocking an eyebrow. “I can call up a black mist from hell to hide me from my enemies.”

Cochburn was still laughing as David and Brian rode off. They were halfway home and the sky was growing dark when David spotted a lone rider coming toward them.

“That’s Robbie’s horse,” Brian said.

“Aye, and that’s my brother on it.” He spurred his own horse to a gallop, fear rushing through his veins. Something dreadful must have occurred for Robbie to disobey his order. Visions of Blackadder Castle filled with smoke and the sounds of battle filled his head.

When he met his brother, David pulled his horse up hard, causing it to rear.

“What’s happened?” he shouted.

“Ye said ye weren’t coming back till tomorrow,” Robbie said.

Was the lad in shock? David forced himself to wait for Robbie to gather himself and say what disaster had befallen their family and clan. He imagined Alison and the girls screaming while enemy warriors flooded the castle.

“I came to join the siege,” Robbie said.

David stared at his brother, unable to accept what his ears heard. “The castle has not been attacked?”

Robbie shook his head. The frantic beat of David’s heart slowed, and his fear turned to anger.

“Ye disobeyed me for no cause?”

“I’m ready to fight as a man,” Robbie said.

“I gave ye a man’s duty when I placed the care of our family in your hands,” David ground out.

“Laird,” Brian said, and nodded toward the horizon.

A large band of riders were cresting the hill, their outlines silhouetted against the orange sunset. They must have recognized Robbie and followed him all the way from Blackadder Castle, hoping to catch them both.

“Ach, ye wee fool,” David hissed at his brother as he turned his horse around. “Ye had two dozen men behind ye, and ye didn’t notice ye were being followed?”

Robbie’s face finally showed a smidgen of shame.

“This way,” David said, and spurred his horse into the valley below them.

Without being told, Brian fell in behind Robbie, knowing David wanted his brother protected at all costs.

***

David was still fuming when they finally rode into Blackadder Castle after a long night of hiding in muddy ravines and risking good horses riding over rough terrain in the dark.

“We had thirty men chasing us all night, and we lost them!” Robbie shouted to the guards at the gate, and shook his fist in the air.

David held his tongue until they had dismounted and were walking their horses to the stable.

“That was no damned game,” he said through clenched teeth. “Ye could have gotten us all killed.”

“We weren’t,” Robbie said.

“By luck,” David said. “I ordered ye to stay here.”

“With the bairns and old men,” Robbie said.

“Keep your voice down,” David ordered.

They had reached the stables, where a couple of young lads were waiting to take their horses.

“Give them a good brushing and extra feed, lads. We pushed them hard,” David said, patting his horse’s neck. “If ye notice any sign of lameness, be sure to come find me.”

“If ye don’t need me, laird,” Brian said, “I’ll be off to find my bed.”

Brian was covered in mud and looked as tired as David felt.

“I’m grateful ye were with us,” David said, resting his hand on Brian’s shoulder. “You’re a good man.”

Brian’s eyes shone. “’Tis an honor to serve ye, laird.”

David was anxious to see Alison and set matters aright with her. Leaving her upset had nagged at him from the moment he left. But before he sought her out, he needed to soak off the mud and his irritation with his brother in a steaming tub.

Robbie should know to leave well enough alone, yet no sooner were they out of the stable than he picked up their conversation.

“I did as well as Brian,” Robbie said.

“Brian did not disobey my orders.”
Nor did he lead thirty Blackadder warriors to us.

A number of men had come out of the keep to greet them. David gave them a warning look to keep their distance.

“I am your laird,” David said, “and ye will follow my orders, same as any Hume.”

“Even when you’re wrong?”

“Aye,” David said without breaking his stride. His patience was too thin to have this conversation now with his brother.

“Ye ought to treat me like a man.”

“A man must follow orders for the safety of all.” David stopped and turned to face his brother. “I warned ye that next time ye disobeyed me I would punish ye, as I would any other man.”

“So punish me,” Robbie said, glaring back at him.

He suspected Robbie had forgotten that the usual punishment for disobeying an order was a lashing. If Robbie would just keep his mouth shut, David could still avoid imposing it.

“I will punish ye, but right now I’m tired and I’m starving,” he said. “If ye have even a wee bit of sense in that thick head of yours, you’ll stay out of my sight until I call for ye.”

David turned his back on his brother and started up the steps of the keep.

“What must I do to make ye see that I’m not a bairn anymore?” Robbie called after him.

Barely holding his temper in check, David ignored him and kept walking.

The familiar
swoosh
of a sword being drawn from its scabbard stopped him in his tracks. He prayed to God he was mistaken and that Robbie had not done what he thought he had.

“Let me fight you!” Robbie said behind him.

Damn it to hell.
Slowly, David turned around. His brother had indeed drawn his sword on his laird and chieftain, a grave offense. Several of their clansmen rushed toward Robbie to disarm him. David put his hand up to stop them without taking his eyes off his brother.

“Chieftain or no, pulling a sword on me is a mistake,” David told him. “No man has done that in many years and walked away.”

Robbie swallowed and David could see that he regretted his rash move, but he was too stubborn to drop to his knee and beg forgiveness.
Damn that Hume pride.

“Drop your sword,” David said in a low voice, wishing to hell they did not have an audience. “We both know you’re no match for me.”

Robbie’s eyes were still angry, but he seemed to realize the depth of the hole he had dug himself into and laid his sword on the ground.

“Ye know ye must be punished,” David said.

“Aye,” Robbie said, his tone defiant.

David could have had his brother muck out the stables for disobeying his order not to leave the castle if that was all he’d done. But challenging his laird in front of all the men required a severe penalty. Robbie wanted to be treated like a man, and so he would be.

“How many lashes would ye say ye deserve?” David asked him.

CHAPTER 24

Alison was in the kitchens with the cook when she heard running feet coming down the stone steps to the undercroft. A moment later, Will burst into the kitchen.

“Alison! Help me!” The usually implacable lad was frantic and out of breath.

“What is it?”

“David is going to flog Robbie,” he said, fighting tears. “Please, ye must stop him.”

Alison dropped the wooden spoon she was holding and hurried out of the kitchen with him. “Where are they?”

“In the courtyard,” Will said. “Robbie challenged David in front of all the men.”

They raced up the stairs and across the hall.

The moment Alison pushed through the outer doors, she saw David and Robbie at the center of a large circle of men. They stood too close together, and she could feel the fury radiating from their bodies from thirty yards away. Whatever was about to happen, Will should not see it.

“Go back inside,” she told him. “I’ll do what I can.”

She watched from the top of the steps of the keep for a moment, uncertain what to do. They were nose to nose, glaring at each other, but they had not come to blows yet. Perhaps their good sense would prevail.

She saw a sword on the ground beside Robbie and remembered how quickly David had disarmed her. How foolish of the lad. He was nearly as tall as David, but gangly and thin as a long-legged colt, while David had the build and grace of a Celtic warrior god.

Despite how angry David appeared to be, surely he would not have his brother flogged? She gasped in horror as Robbie’s hand shot out and he shoved his chieftain in front of half the Hume warriors.

Alison picked up her skirts and ran.

***

A bloodcurdling scream filled the courtyard. David knew it was Alison before he turned to see her flying down the steps of the keep and across the courtyard. The men leapt out of her way as if she were a raging banshee.

“Don’t touch him!” she shrieked, and threw her arms around Robbie.

Robbie was as startled as David. His eyes went wide and a scarlet blush crept up his neck.

“Alison, go inside!”

Alison turned around to face him, but instead of obeying his command, she stood in front of Robbie with her arms stretched out to the sides, as if she meant to protect him with her body.

Christ!
David was in the grip of such rage that he did not trust himself to touch her.

“Remove her.” At his nod, two of his men gingerly took her by the arms.

“The devil take ye, David!” she shouted, as they had dragged her kicking and screaming to the keep. “Ye cannot do this! I will not let ye!”

His rage was suddenly gone, replaced by utter desolation.

He steeled himself to do what he must, and repeated the question he had put to Robbie before Alison’s dramatic interruption.

“How many lashes would ye say ye deserve for disobeying and disrespecting your chieftain?” Drawing a sword amounted to more than disrespect, but David deliberately downplayed the offense.

He saw a flash of fear in Robbie’s eyes at the mention of lashes, but his brother did not flinch. The tension was like a taut rope between them as David waited for his brother’s answer.

“Ye could start by apologizing,” David said, hoping Robbie would give him an excuse to minimize the punishment.

“A hundred,” Robbie spat out. “A hundred lashes.”

“Ye won’t survive a hundred,” David said, keeping his voice even.

He knew damned well what his brother was doing. A hundred was the number of lashes the English had given David when he was not much older than Robbie. At least, that was the story the other prisoners who witnessed his flogging told afterward. David himself had no notion what the true number was because he’d passed out before they were done. He never confirmed nor denied the number when asked, but it had become another tale that enhanced his reputation and served his clan.

“Then give me half the lashes today,” Robbie said, meeting his gaze. “And finish the job in a second round.”

The pigheaded little bastard. Robbie was suggesting that David whip him within an inch of his life and then let him heal, only to do it again. That was exactly what the English had done to David, and everyone in the clan knew it.

The worst part of that flogging had been waiting for the second round, when his body was bloody and battered from the first. It would break most men. David could not bear to see his fourteen-year-old brother break, and he surely did not want it to happen at his hands. Damn Robbie for cornering him with his defiance.

His brother wanted to prove he was as tough as David. But Robbie had been raised by a kinder, less demanding mother, in a circle of affection. One day, he might be as strong as David. But he was not yet.

Grief washed over David. He should do it now, but he gave himself a reprieve.

“You’ll have your punishment tomorrow at daybreak.”

***

David sat alone in his chamber drinking. How could he flog his brother? He remembered Robbie’s first step and teaching him to ride. But he had no choice. Robbie had first defied him and then openly challenged him in front of the men.

At the sound of the door creaking, he reached for his dirk. Alison glided in like a moonbeam in his dark sky. He recalled her screams when his men dragged her away and took another swallow of his whisky.

“If you’ve come to curse at me and wish me to hell again, it will do no good.” He was already in hell.