Boyd wore the leather necklace beneath his shirt.Bella wore her silver chain openly, the half-sun catching the light as she moved.
"I need to meet with Donahue about the guard rotations," Boyd said as they descended the main staircase."Will ye join me for the midday meal?"
"Aye, husband.I would not miss it."
Boyd kissed her."Dinnae start a brawl at any taverns."
Bella laughed."I promise."
They parted ways.Boyd toward the barracks, Bella toward the stillroom where Mrs.Anders waited.Bella's heart was light, her fingers absently touching the pendant at her throat.
Little did she know that peace was about to shatter.
***
BELLA SPENT THE MORNINGcataloging herbs with Mrs.Anders.As the sun reached its zenith, she decided to head to the loch before meeting Boyd for their meal.
"I'm just going to the bothy for a moment," Bella told Mrs.Anders.
"Take a guard with ye, mistress."
"Aye, I'll find them in the courtyard."
But when Bella emerged from the Keep, the courtyard was strangely quiet.No sign of her usual guards.She hesitated.The loch was barely five minutes away, and she'd be visible from the Keep's walls the entire time.
The decision made, Bella headed down the familiar path.
Suddenly a hand clamped over her mouth.
Bella's training kicked in instantly.She drove her elbow back hard into her attacker's stomach.But before she could break free, more hands grabbed her, too many, coming from all sides.
She fought viciously, managing to land a solid punch on one man's jaw.But there were four of them.Rough fabric was shoved between her teeth, gagging her.They bound her wrists.
Then she heard a voice that made her blood run cold.
"Well, well.My dear sister.How lovely to see ye again."
Bryce Sutherland stepped out from behind a tree, and Bella's eyes widened with shock.
He looked nothing like the laird she remembered.His clothes were torn and filthy, his face gaunt and unshaven, his eyes wild with desperation.
"I ken what ye're thinking," Bryce said, moving closer."How did poor Bryce get free?Well, let's just say even the king's dungeons has flaws."
Bella made a muffled sound of fury behind the gag.
"Ye've taken what's mine, Bella.That inheritance from Grandda, it should have been mine.But ye had to go and marry that bastard blacksmith and ruin everything."
He grabbed her face, his fingers digging painfully."Do ye ken what I've lost because of ye?Everything.All because ye could not stay hidden in that abbey where ye belonged."
Bella's eyes darted past him, searching desperately for help.
Bryce laughed."Yer guards?They're taking a wee nap.Now, ye're coming with me.Ye'll petition the king for an annulment, and once the marriage is dissolved—"
"No one is dissolving our marriage," a new voice laced with steel said.
Everyone turned.
Boyd stood at the edge of the clearing, and Bella had never seen him look more dangerous.His face was a mask of cold fury, his hand on the hilt of his sword, his entire body coiled like a spring.
