“Aye, Angus. I can.”
“Do it then, man.” He stood at the base of the stairs and swept his hand toward the narrow cobblestone walkway leading out through the gates and onto the esplanade of the castle grounds. “Graham and I will accompany you out through the gates.”
Annabella nodded and linked arms with her cousin, helping her along as swiftly as possible. Someone needed to teach these men some manners. They were in the presence of a queen and yet had not bowed to her. Had she not been so concerned for Joan’s wellbeing, she would have taken the time to chastise them.
“Did you help overpower the filthy Highlanders?” she asked, hoping the answer would be a resounding ‘aye’. It was an affirmation to which she was not well accustomed, though this part of the kingdom used it frequently.
The two men exchanged a glance and grinned. “Aye, we have dealt with the filthy Highlanders. They will not be bothering anyone here again,” the one called Angus said.
“I am relieved to hear it. Do you know what they wanted?”
“They wanted their laird returned.”
“Their laird? Is he imprisoned here?”
“Aye, he was.”
“He was released, then?” Talking to him was like pulling teeth! He did not appear to want to offer up any information freely.
When they were almost through the gates, Annabella risked a glance behind her.
It was very odd that there were no other guards about.
The sound of two horses and a carriage drew her attention back to the esplanade.
“How did you manage that so quickly?” Angus asked.
“Her carriage was already waiting for her. I relieved the drivers and told them we would see her safely to the palace ourselves.”
Annabella could not imagine why the guard, Angus, found this funny. But laugh he did as he lifted the canvas flap at the back and pulled out the stepping stool to help them inside.
Once she settled Joan onto the long padded bench and wrapped her legs in blankets, Annabella turned to the man.
“Thank you for assisting us. Please make haste, but have a care. That is, unless you want to bring a babe into the world with your own hands.”
His eyes grew wide for a moment, then he nodded and let the canvas flap fall back into place. A few moments later, the carriage rattled along the muddy streets. It would take them a few hours to return to the palace this way, but as long as the babe stayed put in his mama’s belly, Annabella was happy enough to leave Edinburgh Castle behind her.
* * *
Angus MacDonald held the reins and guided the horses away from Edinburgh Castle, instructing Hamish to lose his guard uniform and make haste to Oban. He was almost afraid to breathe for fear that his good fortune would vanish, and at some point the real king’s guard would come rushing after them, having realized that he had just abducted the queen and her cousin.
“Are we really doing this?” Graham asked, sitting beside him.
“What choice do we have?” Angus lowered his voice to a whisper. “The king will not be reasoned with, and has left us with no choice but to resort to extreme measures.”
“Aye, but abducting his wife, who is about to give birth, does not seem very sensible. Are you prepared to be her midwife when the time comes? By the sounds of her cries back there, that time might not be too far away.”
Graham was right. There was no way the woman could cross the Highlands in her condition, and Angus would not be responsible for the health of an innocent bairn.
The cousin was another matter altogether. She had seemed pleasant enough and was more than comely, with her firm breasts and pouty little mouth. Her dark brown hair was curly and hung to her waist, bouncing as she walked along. Aye, she just might prove a fair exchange for his father.
“Very well then, we will set her at Linlithgow and continue on with the other lass. Surely there is enough value in the cousin of the queen to force the king to release my father.”
“One would hope so. She is very beautiful.”
Angus turned his head to regard his war chief and friend. “Are you developing designs on her already? That is not like you,” Angus said with a grin. In truth, it was very much like him, but Angus did not like the thought of the comely lass with his friend.
“Do you care if I am? Surely you do not have designs for her.”
