Highlander’s Winter Rose by Fiona Faris
Chapter Fourteen
Aweek had passed since Maximus made it to Kellgan, and he was finally completely healed from his ankle injury. He still walked carefully, but he did so unconsciously, just in case he was not out of danger yet. Elaise and her father had made his recovery top priority with the healer being given a room in the castle and expected to care for him each day. Maids also waited on him hand and foot, bringing him the best food in the castle as Rudolph was convinced that he was thinner than he remembered.
Through it all, Maximus missed Rosallyn. He was getting the best treatment he could possibly get, but all he could think of was Rosallyn. He wished she was the one caring for him. Wondering what she was up to had led him to ask Elaise to have her spies who were going into his clan to search for her.
Elaise had given him a teasing look, but she obliged, adding that the spies should also look for Rosallyn while infiltrating the Mackay clan. Their main target, however, was finding out where Donald Ross had gotten all the gold that had helped him win over the traitors. It had taken seven days, but they sent news of their findings just that morning.
Elaise came to find him with the news bright and early that morning. He had only just had breakfast and returned to his chambers when she came into the room.
“Ah, blessed mornin’ Elaise, ye seem to be in high spirits,” he said with both brows raised. She pulled over a stool and made herself comfortable beside his bed.
“Blessed mornin’, I bring news from our spies. Finally, they found the secret,” she said, as though that was explanation enough for her high spirits, although in a way it actually was. Maximus was interested as well since he had requested news of Rosallyn.
“First, about Donald Ross’s sudden wealth. I made this top priority since we didnae want to go into battle with him without kennin’ if he had backin’ from someone powerful and could pull some surprise tricks on us. One of me spies became the lover of one of his top officials, and she brought this news straight from his drunk lips,” Elaise said, her eyes sparkling.
Maximus raised his brows but said nothing. Elaise was a frightening woman. Her spies were not the same as her father’s spies. She had a group of women who infiltrated several clans and were on standby to begin working for her the moment she requested it. She used women in ways that no one would expect. Not many people were aware of her network of spies. Maximus only knew of it because Alexander had told him. This was one of the reasons why Alexander was afraid of her.
At their betrothal feast, Alexander and Elaise had both noticed something off about the Ross clan Laird, so a semi-drunk Elaise had told him that she would send a spy to infiltrate his people. It seemed she had made good on her word, and her spy had been successful at climbing up from being a regular maid to being to lover of a top official next to Donald Ross.
“All of the gold comes from a secret gold mine in the lowlands. For over 30 years, the gold mine belonged to an old English man. Donald’s father had been in business with this Englishman, and what he did for him was to secretly mine the gold in small quantities and sneak the gold into England for him so that he could avoid taxes,” Elaise said.
Maximus had not expected that. It was not too surprising for the English to work with a Highlander for resources, but he had not expected that something that illegal had been happening in the small Ross clan right beside them.
“Accordin’ to this official, for all those years, the Englishman had cheated Donald’s faither, nae givin’ him proper reimbursement for the work he did for him, and Donald’s father was too scared to steal any gold from him. Once Donald took over the clan, his first act as Laird had been to get assassins to kill the Englishman. The job had been done and done well. The Englishman was proclaimed to have died in his sleep. Nay one suspected any foul play. And since nay one else knew about the secret gold mine, Donald took possession of the mine.”
Maximus shook his head. It was an unfortunate tale of the thief. He could not proclaim the gold mine openly as his asset, so now that he had been murdered, the mine had been repossessed by the Ross clan. He was surprised still that the old man did not have any one he trusted and could have told of the mine. Then again, those who did illegal things hardly had those they trusted.
“I guess he continued to have his clan mine the gold, but now instead of sneaking the gold into England, they began to sneak it home,” Maximus said, now understanding why it was a rule in the Ross clan not to speak of the carts of gold even if one saw it. Elaise nodded at that.
“Exactly, and now that he had gotten that much gold in his pockets, he was able to move on to his other plans for the clan: the domination of the surroundin’ clans,” she said. “Apparently it has been a dream of his to infiltrate and take over the large clans surroundin’ his own, and now all of his soldiers have so much faith in him since he has succeeded in takin’ Mackay.”
Maximus stroked his chin, processing the news. It had all started with a dream, and that was how the tiny Ross clan surrounded by giants, had swallowed its first giant, the Mackay clan. He was irritated and slammed his hand down on the bed.
“I ken that it is upsettin’, but we will take back yer clan, dinnae worry,” Elaise said. “More importantly, now that we ken that he doesnae have any backin’, we can go in. I will have me spies look for a map to the mine as well. We will deal Donald Ross an attack where he least expects it.”
Elaise was basically glowing from how much she was looking forward to wrecking Donald’s plans. If he were in a better mood, he might have laughed at her excitement.
“Oh, and they also brought news about yer woman, Rosallyn Grant. Apparently, she is nay longer at the village where ye left her. It seems she got into trouble that day when she helped ye escape…” Elaise began, and every fiber of his being tuned into her words.
“Got into trouble? What dae ye mean?” he asked, panicked.
“Calm down. She is alright, for the most part. It seems that the monastery was attacked, and her grandmother was injured. Apparently, she somehow nearly killed one soldier, and broke another’s nose. I dinnae ken how she did it, but I respect her already. It seems ye Mackay men have good taste in women,” Elaise said, her eyes dancing.
Maximus felt his jaw drop. She nearly killed one soldier? How? He could not reconcile it in his mind. What did she attack with? How could she have done that? She was not particularly strong, not the way that Elaise was. Then again, for quite a while she was lugging him around since he could not move on his own, so she was not weak. However, he could not picture her attacking anyone.
“Ye said her grandmother was injured?” he asked. Perhaps that was what had made her act out against the soldiers. Elaise chuckled, clearly liking Rosallyn already.
“Aye, that is what I said. She is quite famous in the village right now. It didnae even take the spies a lot of time or effort to find out what had happened. The story is that she ran into the group of soldiers and pushed one so hard that he fell and cracked his head against the wall of the monastery. Then two soldiers were not enough to hold her down. The third who tried to hold her down got kicked in the face, and she broke his nose,” Elaise narrated with her eyes aflame.
“I dinnae ken who she is, but I am so lookin’ forward to meetin’ this sister-in-law of mine. I feel we are kindred spirits,” she laughed.
Maximus imagined Rosallyn being exactly like Elaise, and he shuddered unconsciously at the image. Elaise was the type to wrestle you to the ground and break your arm. Rosallyn was the type to drag your unconscious body from the ground and fix your broken arm. He certainly did not want that to change.
“What happened after that?” he asked, knowing that she must have been arrested after that. Elaise’s expression darkened.
“Well, ye willnae like this part. I didnae either. Apparently, one of the Ross clan dogs, a really big soldier brought her down with a horrible punch to the belly while the other two held her. After that she was arrested by their commander, a traitor from Mackay. It seems this traitor kens her because from what me spies say, he is takin’ good care of her and even plans to marry her.”
Maximus was on his feet before he knew it.
“What did ye say?!” he thundered. Elaise winced at his raised voice.
“Which part was it that irked ye? Her injury or the fact that she is goin’ to be forced into marriage?” she asked. Maximus frowned.
“Both! What dae ye mean by that? I was already incensed by the fact that she was injured, but now she is bein’ forced to be a prisoner bride?” he raged on.
“Ah, I wanted to ken which we should dae first, take the arm of the man who hit her, or ruin the weddin’,” Elaise said. Realizing that she was already thinking about the way forward, Maximus chuckled.
“I say we make sure the weddin’ doesnae happen,” he said. Elaise grinned.
“I thought ye might say that. We are sneakin’ into the clan tonight; I am guessin’ ye would like to come along?” she asked with a knowing look.
“Oh, ye dinnae even have to ask,” Maximus said.
…
Rosallyn had spent most of the week in solitude, but then it was not as if she was a stranger to it. Before Maximus had come crashing into her life, she was alone most of the time in her house, only going down to the monastery whenever she felt lonely. Boyd had not come to see her again, not even in the days after Sophia showed up. She asked the maid who took care of her where he was and was told that he was out with the soldiers under him, visiting the villages and looking for those who did not swear allegiance to the new Laird.
So, she was right. He was out there working for the usurper. It was only one maid who came to take care of her, and she was not much of a talker. Or at least she did not talk much to Rosallyn. She did a good job of caring for her, however. She was clean all the time, and her bruises were healing up nicely. In only a few days, the bruise on her belly had lightened quite a bit and she was able to eat more solid food without fearing internal injury.
Since there was nothing she could do but lie there, eat and try to recover, she spent her time thinking. The main thoughts that circulated in her mind were of her grandmother, Maximus, and Sophia. She wondered what had happened to her grandmother. Was she alright? Hopefully, the hit from that soldier had not left any permanent damage. The thoughts alone filled her with worry.
She knew her grandmother would also be worried about her. She had gotten herself into quite a bit of trouble it seemed. The maids who whispered spoke of the legend she had created. It seemed that the soldier she had pushed had nearly died and was still being treated. Also, it was very well-known news that Boyd planned to marry her. They said he was working twice as hard so that he could return quickly and marry her.
If all of this news was circulating through the clan, her grandmother would certainly be worried. She had not even been able to say goodbye to her before she was whisked away. She wanted to see her… If she asked Boyd would he take her back to the village? No, it was more likely that he would bring her grandmother to the castle. She did not want to bring her into her trouble like that, so she decided that it was better to leave her where she was. After everything was over, she would see her again.
The other thing on her mind was Sophia, her father’s wife. Had she been too harsh on her? She wondered if her grandmother would approve of her behavior. However, she still could not bring herself to be apologetic. Sophia had deserved it. Her selfishness knew no bounds, and Rosallyn was not going to give in to her again. She was not a child, but a grown woman who had been selfish all her life. Rosallyn had been selfless for so many years, and she had given up too much.
She wanted to talk to Maximus, to tell him everything that had been going on with her. He was the one who she had allowed to comfort her. The person she had mourned in front of and the very first person she admitted to that she wished she’d had more time with her father. He knew Sophia more than she did, and he had said that Sophia had helped his mother, although she ignored him and his brother. Would he tell her not to hate the woman just because she was his mother’s friend? She doubted it.
Either way, she missed Maximus. She wanted to curl up beside him and tell him everything that was on her mind. This was what love was, was it not? Wanting to talk to someone all the time, sharing everything on her mind. She had just closed her eyes when the creak of her door opening made her eyes fly open.
It was night already, and the maid had come and gone. The only other person who would come to the room would be Boyd, but then Boyd was not in the castle town. Or did he return already? The fact that this person was quiet was a scary thing. Or at least it was until she heard the unmistakable voice whispering.
“Rosallyn? Rosallyn, are ye in here?” the voice whispered. She shot up into a sitting position immediately, looking around in the dark.
“Maximus?! Maximus, is it really you?!”
A match was struck, and a candle was lit. In the light that followed, Maximus’s face was clear. Rosallyn felt the tears well up in her eyes, and she rushed up out of bed and ran to him, ignoring the slight twinge of pain in her abdomen. She jumped into his arms, not minding the candle, and he had to hold it away to keep them both from getting burned.
“Ah, ye sure are sprightly. Although I suppose I should be happy about that,” he chuckled, putting the candle down on the dresser and wrapping his arms around her, returning her hug. He squeezed her a little too hard, and she squealed in pain, causing him to jump in horror and panic.
“Are ye alright? I am so sorry,” he stammered.
She chuckled, not really caring about the pain, just happy that he was there.
“Nay, nay, I am fine. I am just… so happy to see ye. How did ye get here?” she asked, leaning away just enough so that she could look him over properly.
“Ah, I see that yer leg has healed completely. Thank God for that.”
He grinned at her, leading her to the bed so that they could sit.
“It was all thanks to how well ye treated me. I am sorry I made ye stand up when ye are injured. I should have come to ye. Are ye alright? I heard what happened,” he said as he lowered her to sit on the bed.
“Stop worryin’, I am alright, especially now that ye are here. And I got up because… I was just so happy to see ye,” she said. “So how are ye here? Did ye make it to the Kellgan clan? Fill me in.”
“Ah well, I did make it to Kellgan, thanks to yer hard work. The Laird was my father’s friend and Elaise was my brother’s betrothed. It was… a very emotional reunion. They were glad to find that I was alive. They had been wanting to fight, but not having anyone left to fight for was the problem. The healer they called to care for me was impressed with yer treatment by the way. He had nothin’ but good things to say,” he said, bumping her shoulder lightly.
She smiled at that, tucking her hair behind her ear shyly. Somehow hearing that made her feel proud. It was silly and embarrassing, so she tried to brush it off.
“I was only doin’ the best I could,” she muttered.
“Well the best ye could was the best after all.” He smiled and poked her cheek.
“Anyway, Elaise and her father have really helped me. I will certainly take back the clan with them behind me, and then I will bring justice for us both. It was Elaise who informed me of how ye were doin’… I was… surprised to say the least. I didnae ken that ye had it in ye. She was very impressed with ye and wants to meet ye,” he told her.
She felt her cheeks get even hotter. He had heard the tale of how she became feral and attacked the soldiers? Why did that make her so embarrassed? No, what made her embarrassed was that the tale would surely have also informed him of how easy it was to take her down. She had tried to fight, but had instead gotten hurt, arrested, and fallen into the hands of a crazy traitor. Did he also know that Boyd was trying to make her his wife?
“Elaise is here with me. In fact, I am here to see ye, but this is also supposed to be an attack,” he was still saying, not yet noticing her embarrassment.
“Ah, what is impressive about makin’ a ruckus only to be put down so easily?” she murmured. Maximus looked over at her, angling his head so that he could see her face properly.
“Eh? Surely ye jest. Ye are a legend in the clan already. Ye stood up to the usurper’s soldiers. Ye have become the pride of the people. Nae everyone is brave enough to dae what ye did, but they surely wish that they were.”
