Highland Conquest Page 21

  “Shall I come save you?” he asked.

  “Nay, Amber can save herself,” Adaira said. “She’s been teaching me how to fight. But not with a sword, with my hands and feet.”

  “And head,” Amber added.

  “Aye, my head is really hard. She said I almost broke her nose.”

  Amber stopped about halfway down and pressed her fingers gently to the cartilage. It was still tender.

  “Are you all right, lass?” Lachlan asked.

  “I’m fine. What’s a wee bit of blood when you’re teaching self-defense?”

  “Too much,” Kerr said, then grasped Adaira’s waist and lifted her to the ground. He tweaked the girl’s nose. “You doona need to know how to fight, lass. Either of you. That’s what we’re here for. Lachlan and the rest of us will keep you and Amber safe.”

  Adaira scrunched up her face at him, looking mulish. Amber suspected her own expression was much the same. She clenched her jaw in annoyance, and drummed her fingers against her leg.

  Idiot man.

  She caught Lachlan’s eye again and saw that his smile had widened. Callum’s too. Aye, maybe her betrothed did want her to be herself.

  “Come here, giant,” she said to Kerr, pointing to where she wanted him to stand. He came forward as she continued her descent until he stood beside the staircase, the top of his head reaching her shoulder. She stopped and flicked him hard with her finger in the middle of his forehead.

  He slapped a palm to his forehead and stepped back. “Och, that hurt!”

  The men watching burst out laughing.

  “It was supposed to. Ne’er tell a woman she shouldnae know how to protect herself. An attack could come from anywhere at any time, and you might not be there to protect her.”

  He stared at her belligerently, and she stared back. “We would punish the transgressors.”

  “Good for you. You can do that after I escape.”

  “What do you think you could do to a man my size?” he asked. Not in a menacing way, just disbelief. “My father was a cruel bastard, and I saw him hurt many people, including women. It took a man as big as me to put him down for good. That’s how I became laird, lass. And then I put down a few cruel cousins and uncles too.”

  “I didn’t say I would put him down for good. Just long enough so I could escape.”

  “And how will you do that? Smash a knee in my groin? That’s the first move I’d expect from you.”

  “That’s what she did to Earc,” Adaira said eagerly. “He didn’t get up for at least five minutes after she got away.”

  “Then Earc wasn’t paying close enough attention.”

  “Aye, he was. He listened with his eyes closed as she whispered something in his ear.”

  The men laughed again, and Amber narrowed her eyes, hands on her hips as she looked at them. They enjoyed the show but none of them, including Lachlan, believed she could take Kerr down. Aye, it would be hard, especially as he was waiting for her to try something. But if she could get close enough, she might be able to do it. She hadn’t been able to escape Lachlan when they’d first met, but he’d surprised her.

  Could she surprise Kerr?

  “I see I’ve made you mad, lass,” he said. “Your cheeks are flushed, your eyes sparkling, and God’s truth you are a vision—almost as lovely as my Isobel—but attacking someone you canna beat will only anger them, and they may kill you for it.”

  “So a woman should do naught? Let a man do whate’er he wants to her?”

  “Amber, you will be protected. Trust me. Lachlan will ne’er let anything happen to you or Adaira. We protect our loved ones.”

  “Aye, sweetling. I’ll keep you safe,” Lachlan said, coming toward them.

  She reached out her hand to him as she stepped down, but then her foot caught in her skirt. With a wee yelp, she tumbled sideways off the stairs. Lachlan ran to catch her, but Kerr got there first, and she fell safely into his arms.

  She didn’t want to draw blood or do permanent damage, so she went for his nerves first, digging her thumbs in just above his elbow as hard as she could. His arms fell away from her, and she crashed with him to the ground, then caught him hard through his plaid, her nails digging in.

  “Amber!” Lachlan yelled, running to her. The others followed. She gave Lachlan a hard glare, and he stopped a few paces back. “Kerr, doona hurt her,” he ordered.

  “Me, hurt her?” Kerr groaned, flat on his back, his face scrunched up in pain as she kneeled over him. “Christ Almighty, she’s got my stones.”

  “Doona move, Laird MacAlister,” she warned him. “If you e’er want your lovely Isobel to birth your bairns, you’ll hold absolutely still.”

  He huffed out a pained breath, almost a laugh. “Doona call me laird, Amber. You are to marry my brother. Welcome to the family, Sister.”

  There was silence for a beat, then the men fell into hysterics. Callum bent over at the waist, hands on his knees, sucking back great gulps of air. Gregor and Darach leaned on each other, unable to stand on their own, and Gavin stood wide-eyed, his grim face cracking a smile.

  All except Lachlan, who waited tensely by her side. “Amber, take your hands off his cock before I have to kill him.”

  The men burst out laughing again. Callum fell to his knees while Gregor and Darach hit the clean rushes on the floor with their arses. Gavin actually laughed.

  “By the love of God, she’s perfect, Lachlan!” Gregor said.

  “And she can lance that boil on your arse too!” Darach said.

  “She’ll not be looking anywhere near your arse,” Lachlan growled.

  “Well, maybe someday,” Amber said. “But for now, I have an assistant. She’s fourteen. She lances all the boils.”

  She held back a laugh as Gregor’s glee faded. Releasing Kerr, she stepped back. He rolled onto his side and groaned.

  Lachlan pulled her against his chest and wrapped his arm around her waist from behind.

  “Whate’er you do,” Kerr said to Lachlan, “doona introduce her to Isobel. At least not until we’re married.”

  Amber wanted to stamp her foot like Adaira had done earlier. “Your loved ones deserve to know how to defend themselves, Kerr—male or female. You do them a disservice by not teaching them. If my father hadn’t taught me, I canna say what would have happened. Once he died, I had no one to protect me but myself.”

  Callum stood up. “My Maggie can throw knives, and she’s better than anyone with an arrow, but I doona think she knows how to fight in close quarters.”

  “Then you should teach her.”

  Callum shrugged, his resistance obvious in the set of his shoulders and the downward tilt of his mouth. Amber rolled her eyes.

  “She’s right,” Gregor said. “I taught Kellie some moves. Lucky thing I did, as she was attacked in our own keep by one of our guests.”

  “My father?” Kerr grunted as he rolled to his knees.

  “Nay, your uncle. I killed him that night. Which was the start of the feud with your father.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Gregor gave Kerr a hand and helped him up. “Doona be. You’re not responsible for the acts of evil men.”

  He turned to Amber and pulled her into a tight hug, actually lifting her off the ground. “Welcome to the family, Amber. I couldnae be happier.”

  “Didn’t I tell you he would love you?” Lachlan said, wrapping his other arm around her waist and kissing the side of her neck.

  She shivered and closed her eyes. When she opened them, all the men were smiling at her like sappy old women. “God’s Blood, you look like a bunch of fourteen-year-old lasses, listening to some romantic ballad.”

  “I love romance,” Gregor sighed.

  Amber laughed, feeling a joyous bubbling in her veins. “Seems I’m joining the family just in time, then. I can spice things up
with a wee wickedness.”

  Adaira bounded up to her. “Teach me how to do that move!”

  “Not yet, lass. You’re a long way from learning anything so difficult. Keep practicing your head butts and heel stomps.”

  The girl darted at Kerr, head lowered, and he quickly flipped her up over his shoulder. She shrieked in delight. But Amber had seen Kerr’s wince and knew he was hurting. Regret washed through her. What if she had squeezed too hard and damaged his stones permanently?

  She pulled out of Lachlan’s embrace and hurried to the big, dark-haired warrior. “I have a salve we can apply to the skin that should help. It’ll take down the swelling. Come to my room and I’ll take a look.”

  “Nay!” both Kerr and Lachlan yelled at once.

  The others burst out laughing again as they crowded around Amber and Lachlan with good wishes for a happy future.

  Sixteen

  “Amber,” someone whispered beside her.

  Amber squeezed her eyes tight. She didn’t want to leave the warm nest of her quilts. For the last week—e’er since she could rise from her sickbed and make the journey to the castle—she’d been staying at the keep. Verily, ’twas much cooler here in the mornings than in her cottage.

  She’d resisted the move, of course, but Lachlan had said she either moved to the keep and her own bedchamber until the wedding, or he would move in with her at the cottage. And into her bed.

  Niall also had an opinion. ’Twas her duty, he said. She was to be lady at Castle MacPherson, and the clan expected to see her there.

  Sighing, she opened her eyes. The light coming from the cracks around the shutters was thin, making it just past daybreak. Ian hovered near the side of her bed.

  This was her duty too. She pushed up on her elbow. “Is someone sick?”

  Ian had a funny look on his face, and she frowned, fully awake now. She sat up and swung her legs over the edge. “Ian, what is it? Is it Breanna?”

  “Nay, it’s Father Odhran.”

  Her brows rose. No one had seen Father Odhran since he’d locked himself in the chapel the day Murray shot his arrow into her.

  “What does he want?” she asked, praying he wasn’t sick. She’d have to tend him, and he would resist. She didn’t want Gregor or Lachlan’s foster brothers to hear the names he’d call her.

  “I didn’t speak to him. I was up early helping Osgar with the birth of the foal.”

  “Oh, has it arrived already?”

  “Nay, not yet. Osgar thinks maybe in a few more hours. But I was getting water from the well, so we’d have lots on hand if we needed it, and I saw Father Odhran in the bailey. ’Twas still dark.”

  “Well, maybe he was tending someone?” He was still the MacPherson’s priest, even though the clan had turned their backs on him.

  “I doona think so. Amber, he had someone with him.”

  A chill ran down her spine. “Did you see who it was?”

  “Nay, I stayed hidden, but I could see he carried a bow.”

  Amber rose slowly from the bed, her heart pounding. Lots of men carried bows.

  When Ian squawked and turned away from her, she remembered she wore only her shift. “Och, sorry,” she said, grabbing the blanket from her bed and wrapping it around herself.

  “We should tell the laird.” He peeked over his shoulder to make sure she was covered.

  “Aye. They’re planning to start the sweep today with all the clans, looking for Machar Murray. They may already be up.”

  She slipped on shoes before crossing to her door. When she pushed through into the candle-lit hall, she walked straight into Lachlan and Gregor. Lachlan steadied her and pulled her close. Amber couldn’t help closing her eyes and breathing him in. He smelled fresh, with a hint of the lavender that was pressed into the soap.

  “I thought I heard voices. What’s the matter?” he asked, his warmth seeping into her. She liked being wrapped tight in his embrace. It was too easy to let herself lean on him.

  “It may be naught,” she said, “but Ian was up early to help with the mare, and he saw Father Odhran. Lachlan, he wasn’t alone. I doona know anyone who would spend time with the priest after what he did, let alone in the middle of the night.”

  “Would he have been called out to give last rites?” Gregor asked, wrapping a second blanket around Ian’s shivering shoulders.

  “Possibly. But if someone was sick or hurt, why wouldnae they have woken me? The clan knows I’m available anytime.”

  “How long ago was this?” Lachlan asked.

  “Maybe an hour,” Ian said. “I would have come sooner, but Osgar needed my help with the mare.”

  “Did you see who it was?”

  Ian shifted his feet. “Nay, it was dark and…for some reason I hid behind the well. Something was wrong. All I know is it was a man with a bow, and he seemed to be in charge.”

  Lachlan tensed against her. “In what way?”

  “Well, the father looked hesitant, like he was nervous, and the other man didn’t. The father had to run several times to catch up.”

  “What direction were they headed?”

  “Toward the chapel. I didn’t see them go inside, but I heard the door shut.”

  Lachlan squeezed the boy’s shoulder. “You did well, lad. Thank you for telling us. You can go back to the stables now, but make sure the door is barred just in case, aye?”

  “Aye.” He returned the blanket to Gregor before leaving.

  Amber watched Ian go, then turned to Lachlan. “I’m coming with you.”

  “Nay. ’Tis safer in here.”

  “How do you know? You thought the castle was safe too. If that was Machar Murray, it means he’s been hiding next to us this entire time. He could have come into the keep whene’er he wanted.”

  “I have men at the entrance to the keep and in the great hall at night. I doona take your protection lightly.”

  Her eyes widened. “Do you have them outside my door too?”

  “Nay, but that’s a good idea.”

  She pulled out of his embrace and scowled at him. “I’m coming with you. If someone gets hurt, I should be there.”

  “Be where?” Callum asked, walking toward them down the passageway.

  Darach, Kerr, and Gavin came through the stone archway at the end of the hall that led to the stairs going up to the next level.

  So, it would be her versus all six of them. She balled her hands into fists and set them on her hips, ready to do battle.

  “Ian spotted Father Odhran with someone who carried a bow,” Lachlan said. “’Twas still dark, but he thinks they went into the chapel.”

  “You blocked the tunnel from there, aye?” Darach asked.

  “Aye, but maybe Murray dug more than one. He’s tricky and thorough. He had two tunnels running from the barracks.”

  “If they’re inside already, we canna get to him easily. They willna let us in,” Callum added.

  “They’ll let me in,” Amber said.

  “Nay!” Lachlan wrapped a tight arm around her waist.

  She pushed against his chest. “You canna tell me what to do, Lachlan.”

  “Aye, I can. I’m your laird and about to be your husband.”

  “You told me not to call you laird, and I can still change my mind about being your wife.”

  He shoved a hand through his hair. “Amber, I’m not putting you in danger again. I canna. He almost killed you last time. You didn’t see how close the arrows were to your head.” He gently touched the bandage she still wore beneath her shift and blanket. “Or this one to your lungs and heart.”

  “You need me.”

  “Aye, I do.” He cupped her cheek. “I need you alive.”

  “Get Father Lundie,” Gregor said. “Say that he wants to talk to Father Odhran—priest to priest. He should be there to witness
what happens, so he can send a first-hand account back to Rome. We doona want the Church siding with Odhran against Amber. Father Lundie must see that he’s addled.”

  “I’ll go in with Father Lundie,” she said, then quickly added, “we all will. Father Odhran willna be able to resist telling Father Lundie, telling all of you, how foul I am.”

  “Amber, I’ll not put you in—”

  “You’d rather leave me here?” she asked Lachlan, stepping back from him. “Who knows what other secret tunnels into the keep we’ve missed? At least if I’m with you, you can keep me safe.”

  “She sounds like Isobel,” Kerr said with a sigh and shake of his head.

  Gavin put his hand on Lachlan’s shoulder. “Aye, she does. But what she said makes sense, Brother.”

  Amber lifted her chin and met Lachlan’s frosty blue eyes. “You can wait for me to dress, or I’ll come in my shift. It’s up to you.”

  His nostrils flared, and he stared at her, his face grim. “Go get dressed.”

  * * *

  Lachlan walked quickly through the bailey, which had been slowly and quietly emptied on his orders. Warriors had taken the villagers’ places, and the dogs were standing by. He held Amber’s hand in a tight grip and scanned their surroundings. Without needing to be asked, his foster brothers and Gregor, all armed with their weapons and shields, had formed a protective circle around them. Father Lundie lagged behind the group, struggling to keep up.

  They’d discussed the plan in the great hall before Father Lundie arrived. While he was integral to their success, they didn’t want him to be in conflict over what might happen. His job was to assess Father Odhran, and get him talking—which meant having to hear all the horrible things he’d say about Amber—and get them inside the chapel without a fight.

  They would take it from there.

  They slowed as they neared the chapel, and Father Lundie caught up. Lachlan felt a twinge of remorse as the older man huffed and puffed. Amber slipped a supportive arm around his back and clucked with concern.

  “Doona worry yourself, lass,” Father Lundie said. “’Tis good for me to get my heart pumping once in a while. I spend too much time sitting on my backside nowadays.”