She would not fight Alex in this. The Grant warriors were here, and Aedan needed them most.
She had gotten this far, now she would just have to wait.
Chapter Nineteen
And when Jennie thought her husband was dead, Alex was there for her too.
Jennie vomited twice before she cleaned her mouth and climbed onto Drew’s horse. He had to be lying, he just had to be. As they rode toward the castle, Drew continued.
“Fletcher ran him through. We were wrong. We all thought the traitor was Hamish, and we left Irvine to guard Aedan at the rear. Only Irvine turned on him and drove his sword through his belly. He died instantly. I’m sorry, Jennie.”
She clung to Drew from behind and leaned her head into his back, sobbing and wailing uncontrollably.
But it didn’t make sense. If he were truly dead, where were they going?
“Where are you taking me?” she asked through tears. “If he’s dead, I do not want to see him. Have Fletcher and the Englishmen taken over the castle?”
“Aye, they have taken over, but your brother is here with his men and they guard Cameron’s body for burial. Fletcher’s men tried to take him so they could put his body on display for all to see, but your brothers got him back.”
She refused to believe it. The Lord would not do such a thing to her. He would not take her husband from her within a few days of their marriage, would he? Her stomach churned even though there was naught inside. She would never eat again, never. How could her intuition have been so wrong? She had come, just as she had been told to do. The Lord had told her shewas needed by her husband, and here she was. She had trusted in God just as the abbess had told her to do. Had he lied to her?
Trying her best to hold everything together, she slipped into the same inner zone that helped protect her heart and her soul when she treated wailing men, torn and slashed and bloody from battle, though it had failed her of late. Drew helped her to dismount, and she glanced to the center of the gathering, where a man lay unmoving on a Cameron plaid. Brodie ran toward her.
“Jennie, nay. Do not come any further. We wanted you here safe, but please do not look at him.” Brodie held her back. “‘Tis not a memory you wish to keep.”
She glanced toward the body, her eyes taking in the blood that covered it from head to toe. Something swelled in her body, something from deep in her belly, and she couldn’t control it. Aedan. It was Aedan, she would know him anywhere. Aedan lay dead on the ground in front of her. All thoughts of it being a lie fled, and reality set in—a horrible reality of which she wanted to part.
“Nay!” She screamed over and over again, pushing and shoving against Brodie, raking her nails down his skin. He held fast. “Nay, he’s my husband, let me be. Brodie, let me hold him, please. I love him.”
She sobbed hysterically for what seemed like an eternity while ironclad arms held her back. “Please, let me hold him one more time. I did not have enough time with him. I need to hold him…once more is all I ask.” She crumpled against her brother, clinging to him. “Let me be, please, Brodie.”
She fought against Brodie, kicking and screaming, until he finally let her go. But before she could make it to her husband’s dead body, someone grabbed her from behind. Alex picked her up and cradled her like a babe, carrying her away from her husband. “Nay, Alex,” she screamed, “let me love him once more. Nay, nay, nay.”
“Shush, Jennie.” The same calm voice that had soothed her after the loss of her parents settled her just a touch. She turned into Alex’s chest and cried until she had no more tears, allowing his familiar voice to wrap around her like a blanket once again. She thought of the day her mother had died and how she had listened to her father cry at the ceremony, of the day her father had died six moons later. Now her husband was dead, too, and her brother still held her as he had done before, allowing her to grieve but holding firm.
Alex carried her over to Logan, kissed her forehead, and said, “I’m sorry, Jennie.” Then he settled her on the other man’s horse. “Get her out of here.” Logan grabbed onto her and spurred his horse.
Jennie collapsed against Logan, sobbing her heart out, still unable to accept the horrible truth. As soon as they were a distance away, Logan whispered, “Shush, lass. ‘Tis a ruse.”
Jennie stilled instantly. “What?”
She pulled back and stared at Logan.
“Nay, do not stop your crying. ‘Tis important no one knows,” he whispered.
She leaned against him and cried again, wondering if she had heard him wrong. Was it possible? Could her husband be alive after all?
He brought her to the abbey, then carried her inside. Once they had arrived, she said, “Repeat what you said, Logan Ramsay.”
He tugged her inside a chamber and said, “Aye, ‘tis a ruse. We need Irvine to think Aedan is dead. We must wait here one hour, then Gwyneth will take you to him while we distract the traitors.”
“Truly?” She swiped at her eyes, her breath hitching so much that she started coughing and could not stop.
Logan fetched a cup of ale and brought it over to her. “Here, drink, lass.” He set the cup down and clasped her shoulders. “Gwynie will come to you within the hour and take you to Aedan. You must dress as a poor lad. You are to wait here and speak to no one except the abbess. She will assist you. I must return as part of the ruse. Trust me, we are being watched.”
She gulped and nodded. “He is well?”
“He has only a small injury, I think to his left arm. I came upon him just as Irvine was about to spear him, but the traitor turned tail at the last minute. Our plan ‘twas the only way to discover the true traitor. Aedan’s small injury helped us in two ways. It revealed Fletcher, and it also fooled the blackguard into thinking Aedan was much more severely injured than he is. He rolled when he hit the ground, so Fletcher knew not where he struck him. Take what you need to tend his arm.” He kissed her forehead. “My apologies, but we had to do it this way to be safe for all.”
