Highlander's Ransom (28 page)

“I have been told my entire life that I am too
spirited, too stubborn, too quick to speak my mind. My father tried to break
me, and I would bet my life that Raef Warren would have done worse. And then
you attempted to do the same. You all took away my choices, my freedom. You all
put yourselves and your money, your battles, and your revenge, before me.” She
paused, closing her eyes for a moment, whether in pain or thought Robert
couldn’t tell. He held his breath, his jaw clenched, waiting for what he feared
most to hear from her.

“The difference with you, though, is that I fell in
love with you.”

Robert’s heart surged at her words, then twisted
painfully at the look in her cloudy eyes. Though he longed to tell her that he
loved her too, he let her go on without interjecting.

“I fell in love with you because I thought of you as
honorable. I thought you to be compassionate and protective of those in need.
And I thought you to be a good leader, putting your people first, doing what
was best for them rather than for yourself.” Another long pause stretched. “Was
I wrong?”

He swallowed the tightness in his throat, brought on
by the power and insight of her words. Her opinion of him meant everything to
him.

“Nay, love, you weren’t wrong. I have…strayed in my
duty to my people, and shamed myself and my family name, but I am the man you
fell in love with—or at least, I will always strive to be so in your eyes.”

She held her gaze steady on his face, seeming to read
him. Deciding something, she gave a little nod and the corner of her mouth
turned up.

“Then perhaps we can continue to try to make the best
of this…unusual union?”

He barely stopped himself from scooping her off the
bed and into his arms, but at the last moment reminded himself of her injury.
Instead, he cupped her cheek in his palm, trying to soak in every exquisite
slope and angle of her face, the look in her eyes that penetrated him to the
soul.

“I love you, lass.” He almost didn’t recognize his own
voice, edged with raw emotion.

Instead of a slight upturn to her mouth, this time he
was hit full on with a radiant beaming smile.

“I love you, too.”

With his eyes riveted on her warm smile, he realized
that he would do anything to make her happy. And he knew then that the pain and
rage that he had fed toward his enemies would no longer rule him. The light
that Alwin had brought into his life had chased away the shadows, reminding him
of who he was and who he was meant to be. He leaned forward and captured her
lips in a soft kiss.

Suddenly, a thought popped into his head. “Alwin, why
were you in the stables to begin with?”

Her smile slipped and she seemed to look everywhere
but at him. Calming herself with a deep breath, she said steadily, “I was
planning another escape.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, but she plowed forward,
seeming to gain momentum and courage as she went. “I couldn’t just sit idly by
while you planned to give me over to Warren, could I? I was going to steal a
horse and head to Iona to take vows as a nun.”

At that he nearly chuckled, but it came out as more of
a guffaw.

“What would you have had me do, wait for you to
realize what a complete fool you were being?” she asked indignantly.

“Peace, lass, peace! I heartily commend you for seeing
clearly what I so obviously did not. I was merely surprised at the idea of you
being a nun.” He gave her a wicked look that he hoped conveyed his meaning.

It worked. She blushed from neck to ears. This time
when his lips met hers, the sweetness was gone, and in its place was a dark
promise of pleasure to come.

“Oh, my lady, you’re awake!”

Robert jerked back from their intimate kiss at the
sound of Stella’s surprised voice in the doorway.

Stella turned a glare on him. “I hope the Laird has
not been accosting you when you need your rest, mistress.”

“Actually, I feel as though I’ve had plenty of rest,
Stella. I would be much obliged for something to eat, though.” As if to concur
with her words, her stomach growled.

Stella hurried over with the tray she had been
carrying. “This was going to be for you, Laird, but I’m sure you wouldn’t mind
sharing.”

The older woman set the tray on the desk nearby, then
brought over a bowl of steaming porridge with milk. Robert reluctantly let go
of his hold on Alwin’s hand and cheek in order to prop another pillow under her
so that she could eat. She winced the first time her head shifted, but then
raised it on her own and turned her neck this way and that.

“Don’t push yourself, lass. That was quite the blow to
your head,” he soothed.

“I am not made of glass, Robert. I should hope that
all that sleeping helped me heal, and now I want to start getting back to
normal,” she said firmly.

He almost retorted that she wasn’t strong enough, but
stopped himself. He felt a surge of protectiveness for her, but he had to let
her make her own decisions. “Aye, you’re right, love,” he said softly. “But
promise me you’ll go easy on yourself—for my sake.” That seemed to please her,
for she gave him another little smile.

Breaking between their gaze, Stella leaned in and
began spoon-feeding Alwin the porridge. “Unlike the Laird, who seems to have
fallen under your spell, mistress, I’ll hear no arguments about your care for
the next week. You will remain in bed with the windows covered, and absolutely
no shenanigans.” She gave Robert another sharp look. “Of any kind.”

As Stella turned to deposit the porridge bowl on the
desk and retrieve a pitcher of water, Robert locked eyes with Alwin once again.

“We’ll see about that,” she whispered, an impish gleam
in her eye.

He knew without a doubt then that she would be right
as rain in no time—and so would he.

Chapter 41

Alwin’s
week of forced convalescence flew by relatively quickly, in part thanks to the
dozens of stolen kisses she shared with Robert. He was also her co-conspirator
when it came to helping her walk around the chamber, then up and down the
spiraling stairs that led from the chamber to the great hall. They were careful
to keep their activities from Stella, which was difficult because she always
seemed to be just around the corner with another bowl of porridge or broth, and
more admonitions on the importance of bed rest.

A few days after she awoke, the village healer
returned to the castle. Apparently the birthing she was seeing to had gone
smoothly, but her wagon had broken a wheel on the journey back, forcing her to
wait for repairs. After examining her, the healer declared that Alwin was well
on her way toward being completely healed, with only a little residual swelling
around the temple.

By the end of the week, Alwin was itching to get some
fresh air and move her legs more—and perhaps see what Robert’s kisses promised
in their increasingly heated intensity. Stella had managed to shoo him out of
the chamber earlier in the morning, telling him that it was high time he did
something useful instead of getting in her way with all his hovering over his
wife. He was likely back with his men in the yard, training with them.

After a luxurious bath, Alwin felt more refreshed than
ever. She hummed a tune as she got dressed. Stella had insisted that she wear
stout wool stockings underneath the fine blue gown she had laid out, despite
the surprisingly mild spring air floating in through the open window. She
couldn’t be annoyed with the older woman for her extra care, even though there
was nothing she desired more than to have the sea- and grass-scented air
brushing her bare ankles.

It was nearly time for the midday meal, and she could
hardly contain her excitement to dine with the clan in a chair rather than in
bed. But before she could settle into a meal with Robert and the others, she
had a stop to make.

Her bright blue skirts swinging, Alwin strode through
the great hall and into the kitchen, where the staff was making their final
preparations to serve the light and simple meal. Looking past the serving
girls’ heads, Alwin spotted Nora directing the action in the middle of the
room. Alwin cleared her throat in an attempt to gain the head cook’s attention,
but got more of a reaction than she had planned. Suddenly all eyes were on her,
but instead of questioning looks or even displeasure at the sight of the
English mistress, she was hit with a wall of broad smiles and several
well-wishes. Nora’s voice managed to sound stern, even though she was smiling
around the corners of her mouth as well. “Alright, that’s enough girls. Don’t
overwhelm the mistress with your noise!”

One by one the serving girls passed Alwin, each with a
tray in hand, bobbing a curtsy to her as they went. As they filed out, Nora
sighed and rested a hand on her ample hip, tired but smiling.

“Nora, I cannot comprehend how you manage to keep
things running so smoothly in here with such a large castle to feed,” Alwin
said sweetly.

“Och, mistress, you’re too kind. Truth be known,
though, I have become too old to do this work all on my own. I thought I should
tell you that I’ve been training Bess this last week so that she can help out
more in the years to come.”

“Of course! And how is Bess taking to it?”

“Quite well indeed, mistress. In fact, just yesterday
I introduced her to the new system of ledger keeping you devised. She’s already
taken to it, but it’s no surprise considering how much clearer it all is.
Stella and I are both ever so grateful to you, mistress, for making it so much
easier.”

Alwin smiled brightly. This was the real reason she
was visiting the kitchens. She longed to know if the cook and the head of
servants had adapted to and stuck with her new notation system. “I’m so glad to
hear it. Thank you, Nora.” With a light step and an even lighter heart, Alwin
headed back to the great hall. Robert and his men were just beginning to file
in, sweaty but laughing among themselves after their first training session
with their Laird since the attack by the messenger. Robert had told Alwin when
she had still been on bed rest that he had briefed his men on increased
security measures, and that several of them had been angry or ashamed that
their castle, under their proud protection, had been infiltrated by an
assassin. Robert had assured them, however, that they hadn’t failed. They were
even glad for the extra grueling training, as it gave them the opportunity to
identify and weed out any potential weaknesses in their defenses.

“You look pleased with yourself, wife,” Robert said
with a smile as he settled himself in the chair next to hers. She was always
surprised by his smile, as it transformed is ruggedly handsome face into a
mischievous boy’s. Lately, though, she was seeing more of that smile, and
thought contentedly that she could get used to it.

“I am. I have just heard from Nora that the changes I
have made to the castle’s record keeping are going smoothly. You see, Nora and
Stella were each doing it differently, and—”

She stopped in mid-sentence when she saw his smile
slip and his face harden ever so slightly. “What is it?”

“Are you sure making changes now is wise?” he said
levelly.

She felt her heart plummet, then her temper flared.
“Do you still doubt my loyalty? You think because I’m English that I will
somehow betray you and your clan? Or is it that you are so resistant to change
that you won’t even hear out a good idea when it’s staring you in the face?”

“Nay, lass, hear me out!” he said on a chuckle,
throwing his arms up in surrender.

She was so confused by his rapidly changing demeanor
that she merely stared at him.

“I only meant to ask if you were sure that you were up
to the task on your first full day upright in nearly two weeks!”

“Oh,” she said in a small voice. Then she felt a smile
creeping over her mouth. “Sorry. I suppose I’ll have to work on not jumping to
the conclusion that you are behaving like—” She didn’t want to finish and risk
shattering the delicate trust they had been building over the last several
days.

He grasped her chin in one of his large, warm hands,
not letting her lower her eyes in embarrassment. “That I was behaving like a
fool, just as I was not long ago? It’s alright, lass. You have every right to
doubt me still. It will take time.” Releasing her chin, he ran a hand through
his dark hair and exhaled, leaning back in his chair. “Truth be told, I’ll have
to keep working on all this too. I’ve been away so much that I’ve nearly
forgotten how to run my own castle, or how to compromise and adapt to change
for that matter. But we’ll practice together.”

Confusion filled her once again. “What do you mean,
together
?”

He took her hand in his and gave her a serious look.
“I mean that my raiding days are behind me.” She gasped, but he continued. “Of
course, if King Robert the Bruce calls upon me to serve him in battle, I won’t
refuse. But it’s time for me to see to the needs of my people. I thought I was
doing what was best for them by plundering in the borderlands, but perhaps they
would be better served by me here, where I can get to know them again, and look
after the castle more closely. What is it, lass?”