Love Letters from Largs: Brodie and Celestina (Highlander Clan Grant Series Book 3) (14 page)

Chapter Fifteen

The Norsemen are Coming

Brodie paced the center of the village with his brother, Nicol, Tomas, and several warriors.

Robbie shook his head. “I have a bad feeling about all this, Brodie.”

“All what?” Brodie responded.

“You heard. Haakon is on his way to the Firth of Clyde. What in
hell is going to happen to Ayrshire if the churl sends his men pillaging up the coastline?” Robbie ran his hand through his light brown hair as he stomped his feet in frustration

“We’ll fight. That’s why we’re here,” Tomas answered.

Robbie turned to his
friend with an exasperated look on his face. “Hellfire, do you no’ think I know that, Tomas?”

“What if he splits
up his longboats and sends them at different places up the coast?” Nicol said. “Then we may have to split up our forces to stand against them.”

“Nay, h
e won’t break his forces up,” Brodie said. “Any leader knows there is power in numbers. He’ll attack all at once.”

“But
where in hell is he headed?” Robbie stared at the sky, as if the answer might be in the clouds.

“Probably right here at the royal castle. ‘
Tis where I’d go if I wanted to weaken a country.” Nicol paced in a circle as he spoke.

“
Robbie, I know patience is not one of your virtues any more than it is one of mine,” Brodie said, “but there is naught we can do ‘til they land their ships. The best way for us to spend our time ‘til then is on training. Did you send the king’s message to Alex?” Brodie sat on a nearby tree stump, pulling twigs apart.

“Aye, but you know he will no
’ be happy.”

“Och, but he may have to bring the rest of our warriors,” Brodie said. “We need as many as possible to keep the Norwegians from going inland. The only sure way of protecting Maddie and our clan is for us to defeat them quick at the coastline, before they have time to move in for more weapons or supplies. We need Alex fighting with us. You know his power.”

Robbie placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“I know you’re thinking of her, too, Brodie, but do no’ worry. We’ll get her. She’s a Grant and we‘ll get her out of there.”

A group of soldiers came into the courtyard, so Brodie turned away
from his brother’s remark. He didn’t need the king or anyone else other than their private Grant warriors to have any knowledge of their plans. Just then, as if they’d been summoned by the Grant brothers’ thoughts, he spotted a pair of wee legs churning his way. The look on Loki’s face hit him square in the gut. Something had happened to his love.

When Loki reached
Brodie, he threw himself directly at him, a letter clutched in his small hand. Mindful of all the guards in the area, Brodie stuffed it in his sporran. “What is it, Loki. What happened?” The air choked him as he stared at Loki’s distraught face.

“Master Brodie, she looks so bad. He beat her. Someone beat her. I couldnae wake her.”
The sprite rubbed his eyes.

“Is she dead?” Brodie’s breath caught in his throat, dreading what Loki’s answer might be. “Is she alive or dead, Loki? Tell me!”

“She’s alive, Master, but she is hurting. She was asleep when I got there, and I could no’ wake her at first. But then I yelled in her ear and she woke up.

“Good job, lad. What else?”
As Brodie set the boy down, Robbie and the two friends gathered around them.

“After I woke her up,
she tried to sit up, but she hurt too bad. Then I saw her bruises. All over her belly and her legs.” Loki swung his one fist into the palm of his other hand. “The surly pig-nut. I’ll fix him someday, I will. He can’t be hurting our angel without being held accountable.”

Brodie’s blood raged through his body. His head pained him in so many ways, he couldn’t
even think straight. How could anyone hurt an innocent like his wife?

Robbie patted the
lad’s back. “Tis all right, young warrior. Tell us what else you know.”

“She was all right after I woke her.”
Loki swiped at his eyes. “And I am no’ crying either.”

“Nay, we know that
.” Robbie hid a smirk as he glanced at Tomas, “You’ll make a fine Grant warrior, lad. Now, think carefully. Did you tell her about our plans?”

“Aye, I told her on the morrow, in the eve and to be dressed to go outside.”

“Good job, Loki. When you are a bit bigger, we’ll even train you with a sword.”

Brodie
started to pace as the others conversed. Snippets of what was being said carried over to him. He knew Alex would tell him to focus on the fact she was alive and deal with the rest later. He could hear his brother’s words in his head.
You have a job to do. Focus and do it.
Still, he was so upset, he couldn’t see straight. It was difficult to restrain his desire to find Ivarsson and stab him right through his heart.

Brodie took a deep breath, focused, and returned to Loki.
“What about the guards? How many are there?”

“Not too many, but there is a new one and h
e is big and mean. Everyone in the kitchen is afraid of him. Aldrik ‘tis his name. I bet he beat our angel. We have to save her. We have to!” Loki’s big eyes squinted up at him. “Please, Master Brodie, you will save her, will you no’?”

“This is important, Loki. Do you think she can walk on her own?” Robbie
said.

“Aye, I think so. She is
verra strong for a lass.”

Brodie
handed Nicol a coin. “Go get the lad the biggest meat pie you can find.” He turned to his brother and Loki with his hands on his hips. “Do no’ worry, Loki. Tonight, we move.”

“Nay, do no’ change your plans
,” Robbie said, placing a hand on his arm. “We have everything set up for tomorrow night. We could hardly get there on time tonight. Patience, brother, patience.”

Brodie nodded his head
, acknowledging his brother’s logic. He pulled out the letter from Celestina to see if there was any new information there. When he read the last part of the note, his hand shot up and massaged his temples. “Robbie, we do no’ have much time. He may kill her.”

“Nay, he won’t
,” Robbie said in an uncharacteristically soft voice. He grasped his brother’s shoulders. “He beat her to keep her there. He did it to make sure she would no’ have the energy to escape. These are difficult times, and from what Alex informed me of Fredrik Ivarsson, he will be in the middle of it. He’s leaving the estate, and he wants to ensure she’ll be there when he returns. He will no’ kill her now, I promise you.”

Brodie’s shoulders drooped.
Time to wait—again.

***

The small group of chieftains and village members assembled at the royal castle represented most of the wealth in the town. The guards stood strong at the front of the castle and all around the perimeter. Inside, throats were cleared frequently, voices shouted and then calmed, feet were repositioned over and over, and everywhere there was the wringing of hands.

Quite a bit later than expected, King Alexander entered along with
Walter Stewart, the Earl of Menteith and the Sheriff of Ayr.

“Gentlemen,
there are issues of which we must inform you. This information we are about to impart is not to be taken lightly. Please take great care in making decisions to safeguard your loved ones.”

Not a sound could be heard in the room once the king paused in his address.
“King Haakon is making his way up the Firth of Clyde. He has sent his men to pillage our mainland. I expect his arrival within a sennight. All women and children must be moved by then.”

Gasps of surprise
and fear echoed in the chamber. The sheriff cleared his throat. “Please heed the king’s advice. Expect bloodshed here. Move your loved ones now. I myself am moving my wife to one of the islands in the Loch of Menteith for safety.”

Ivarsson
stared at Baron Lunde. “I must move my wife. This is happening much faster than I’d expected.”

“Where will
you bring her?” the baron asked.

“I had hoped you
would have a suggestion. Do you not have another small home I could use? My estates are in the Hebrides. There is nowhere else around here I can bring her, but I need to remove her from the chaos of this area, especially since those Grant warriors are wandering around at will. I will not be able to stay with her once I move her, though. I have too much at stake here.”

The
baron sighed reluctantly. “I have an old estate in Lennox, Moubrey Hall, near Loch Lomond. It should be far enough inland to be safe. If you have the staff to run it, you are free to use it. Although, if the threat gets much closer, I may well go there myself.”

***

The dark night misted as the man paced the cobblestones. He forced himself to stop, afraid he would make enough noise to draw the attention of the castle guards and that would be devastating. A cloaked visitor crept up on him without warning.

“Father, must you sneak in such a way?”

“Aye, I must. What message do you have for me to convey to the Norseman?”

“Tell him the place where he can gain the most riches is near Loch Lomond.”

“And how is he to know where?”

“If he comes through Largs, I will meet up with him somewhere between Largs and the
Loch, which is one of the largest waterways in the area. I will find him.”

“Anything else?”

“That is all, Friar. Largs, then Loch Lomond. And I expect half of the loot when we are free.”

“You are a demanding man. I doubt the Norseman will agree to that, but that is
between the two of you. I will pass on your message.”

With a nod of his head,
the friar disappeared into the night.

Fredrik Ivarsson grinned. Everything was falling into place. He knew that Haakon would plunder the area and wreak havoc on the Scots in every way possible. Haakon was still furious over what happened at Skye. With the Scots amid such chaos, no one would notice his involvement.

He can’t believe he actually pulled it off, sitting in the king’s solar as a wealthy nobleman supposedly loyal to Scot’s crown, all the while planning to help his Norse king bury the fools. He had sent Haakon news of every movement of Alexander III. He chuckled thinking of how the two forces had never even met up yet. The Norse always knew where the Scottish forces were held, thanks to him and to the friar.

Now he would have Celestina even closer to the Norse galley ships. After he retrieved the coin he gave to the foolish baron, he would take his lovely wife and set sail for Orkney. They
would never have to step foot on Scottish soil again. By the time he received payment from Haakon for his spying duties, he would be a wealthy man with a beautiful, submissive wife.

***

Celestina sat in the cart, defeat overtaking her. How could this have happened? Brodie was supposed to rescue her that night, and Fredrik had ruined that possibility. In the early morning, he had hauled her and her maid out the door with Aldrik’s help and thrown them into this cart. The entire event had happened so quickly and quietly, the only sound was Aldrik’s bellowing when he put on his shoes and found them full of stones. For someone that could mete out such punishing blows, he certainly couldn’t handle his own pain much. Somehow, word must have gotten out about Brodie’s plan. But how? She worried about her true husband and about little Loki.

As the car
t rolled over the stony road, she glanced at Inga, who looked almost as upset as she felt. Staring back out over the countryside, she felt tears well in her eyes as she tried to get comfortable. When the wheels sank into the potholes, she was in agony from the pain in her belly, but she tried to ignore it. Rolling hills flew by them. At least she couldn’t see Fredrik or Aldrik; she hoped she never had to see either of them again. Several guards secured their safety, but she didn’t recognize any of them. How she wished she had known they were moving. This would have been the perfect time for her husband to free them.

Inga reached over to clasp her hands. “Do not fret, Celestina
,” she whispered. “He will follow us. Brodie Grant is a good man.”

“And how will he know where we have gone? I do not even know where we are headed, nor even where we were before. I am helpless, Inga.”

“A
ye, but he found you before and he will find you again. He loves you. Are you feeling any better?”

“A bit.
I still cannot eat.”

“Have you had any more dreams about your mother?”

“Nay. She seemed so real; I believed I had awakened and found her there. But it was not the same room as the one where I was being kept. Similar, but not the same. Alas, ‘twas just a dream. Yet when I think upon it, I believe I have had such dreams of my mother before…aye, always in that same room.” She tried to puzzle it out, but came to no satisfying conclusion.

Celestina stared out the window. What did it matter
, anyway? Brodie would be forced to abandon his pursuit of her. They had traveled a long distance and were now far away from Largs and Ayrshire, and it would be impossible for him to follow her inland when he was a sergeant of the royal castle.