Highlander’s False Betrothal by Alisa Adams

14

Aodh reached the top of the hill, turning to look down at the Carnegie estate. It was a picturesque place, and he tried to imagine himself spending significant amounts of time there visiting with Freya once she had married Scott, playing with his nieces and nephews in the gardens.

Except somehow, he could not quite seem to embrace the idea of it.

Perhaps because I now realize that Ainsley might continue to wield her knowledge of my secret like a cudgel, he thought bitterly, and so making any long-term plans seems foolish, knowing that my prospects might fall apart at her slightest whim. Damn it, Caroline had tried to tell me that Ainsley could not be trusted, and she was not the only one who attempted to warn me, either. Freya told me of Ainsley’s low character and manipulative, mercurial nature as well, many times. I waved away their concerns, lovesick simpleton that I was, and now I may have well and truly ruined us. And to think, I prided myself on being such a fierce and disciplined warrior only to be brought down in the end by a madwoman!

He felt chagrined and humiliated. For the first time since Caroline had proposed a false marriage, he found himself wishing that he’d simply agreed to a real one instead. It would have deprived him of a chance to marry Ainsley, yes, but clearly, in retrospect, that would have been no great loss, and he and Caroline would not find themselves in such a precarious position now.

Suddenly, he noticed a figure running up the hill toward him, and he shielded his eyes against the sun so that he could make it out more clearly.

It was Freya, and she wore a look of grave concern.

This sight sent a shiver up Aodh’s spine, even though the sun was beating down warmly on his back and shoulders. It made him recall every hazard and threat that had menaced him and his siblings, ever since their parents had been murdered by their treacherous uncle Ronald.

He started to run toward Freya as well, his stomach churning fretfully.

“Freya? Is something the matter?”

“I am not sure,” she answered breathlessly. “I was in your chambers talking to Caroline, and then Bhaltair came in and demanded to speak with her alone.”

Aodh’s eyebrows shot up. “Laird Bhaltair demanded to be alone with my wife in our chambers?”

“I protested!” she told him. “I told him that it was a terribly inappropriate request, but he…well, to be honest, Aodh, his tone and manner frightened me!”

A red mist seemed to settle over Aodh’s field of vision. He could hardly believe his ears. “Bhaltair frightened you, Sister? Did he threaten you?”

“He said he did not, but I believe he did,” she said. “I would have remained regardless of what he said, for Caroline’s sake, but she told me I should leave, so I came here at once to find you and interrupt your brooding! I thought you might want to investigate at once!”

“You were correct,” Aodh snarled, rage boiling in his chest like the magma of a furious volcano. “I shall get to the bottom of this at once. You ought to remain behind in case there’s trouble.”

He ran the entire way down to the manor and up the stairs to the guest chamber. When he reached it, he flung open the door and found Caroline sitting in the chair by the bed. She was as pale as the curtains behind her and trembling as well.

“Are you all right?” he asked, going to her. “Freya told me that Bhaltair was here.”

“Aye,” Bhaltair’s raspy voice spoke up from the doorway behind him, “and Bhaltair is still here. And Bhaltair is not alone.”

Aodh turned and saw that the stout laird was flanked by four of his guards.

All of them, including Bhaltair, were brandishing swords.

“What is the meaning of this, Laird Bhaltair?” Aodh asked slowly, wishing he had a weapon at hand. “Surely you do not intend to murder a guest in your home?”

“No, I mean to dispense justice to the man who stole my son from me!” the laird roared. “You are no more a ‘guest’ in this house than the lowest insect in its larder!”

“Except that those insects were not invited to enjoy your hospitality, Bhaltair, and we were,” Aodh said through clenched teeth. “To do this will be a grave dishonor to your house. The stain of it shall blacken your legacy for generations to come.”

“Speak not to me of legacy, whelp, when you have so cruelly deprived me of mine!” Tears gleamed in Bhaltair’s angry eyes.

“Very well.” Aodh raised his hands. “If you would slaughter an unarmed man thusly, so be it, but spare Caroline’s life. She had no hand in Declan’s death. She is blameless and undeserving of your ire.”

“She has already been promised her life,” Bhaltair chortled. “She will not reveal the truth of what happened here, and in return, I will not reveal the truth of your false marriage and see her imprisoned for it!”

Aodh risked a glance at Caroline, and from the look on her face, he could see that Bhaltair’s words were true. He supposed he should have been furious with her for striking such a bargain with him, but the truth was, he could not blame her for doing whatever it took to preserve her own life, even if it meant standing by and bearing witness to his death.

Quinn,Aodh thought to himself. He is with the other Campbell guardsmen we brought along. He will come to our aid.

But it was as though Bhaltair was able to read Aodh’s thoughts, for he grinned and gloated: “If you are counting on your own men to save you, little laird, I’d not hold my breath if I were you. My men surprised them in the guest barracks and butchered them. Their bodies are being carted off to a shallow pit even as we speak.”

The thought of his old friend being assassinated in such a callous and craven fashion was almost more than Aodh could bear.

“‘Twas Ainsley, was it not, who told you of the false wedding?” Aodh guessed.

Bhaltair nodded smugly. “She was only too happy to divulge that little secret. Not that I can blame her since you chose to scorn her by taking up with this English lass.”

Aodh sighed, backing away from the laird and his guards. “Then I have no one to blame but myself for what comes next.”

As Bhaltair and his men surged forward, Aodh threw an arm around Caroline and flung himself backward against the window, carrying her with him.

But at the last moment, Bhaltair’s guards seized Caroline, and before Aodh knew what was happening, she was torn from his arms, and he was plummeting through the window on his own. He barely had a chance to cry out in surprise before he felt the impact of the garden’s dense bushes against his back. The breath was knocked out of him, and he became tangled in the twisted branches. The jagged edges of the leaves snagged his clothes and scraped his hands as he struggled to free himself.

He heard Caroline call out his name, saw her arms flail briefly through the broken window, and then her voice was muffled, and she was pulled backward.

Aodh stumbled toward the edge of the estate’s property, to a wooded area. His back felt like there were daggers in it from the fall, but he ignored the pain and pushed himself to keep going until he could find cover. His older brother Dand had spent many years keeping to the forests and wilds, and he’d told Aodh lots of stories. Aodh was confident that he could hide from the men if they came in after him.

But they didn’t, and as night fell and Aodh nursed his injured back, he dreaded what would happen to Caroline in his absence...and wondered what to do next.