Angus did not see the point in arguing any longer. His father made pretty speeches that sounded clear, but real life became much blurrier when innocent lives were at stake. “I must see to the rudder,” he said, and stood. “Graham will land us in Ireland if I do not watch him.”
Angus thought about what his father had said. If only life could be as simple as he described. He longed for a world where peace was the norm, rather than plots and schemes for the next battle or raid. He was tired of it all, and would give anything to be able to settle down with a loving woman and a dozen fat bairns.
He took the rudder from Graham and steered the ship into a crashing wave. It seemed that was all his life consisted of these days: one wave after another. The question was, would he weather the storm, or splinter on the rocks?
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Annabella had barely opened her eyes when a pounding erupted at her door.
She shifted until she achieved a sitting position, but her body did not want to cooperate. The days of travel and the night spent crouched in the woods had taken their toll.
“You may enter, cousin,” she said, loud enough so he could hear her over the noise he was making. James had obviously just been informed of her presence. She did not look forward to the questions that would follow, but now was as good a time as any.
He entered and, though she had always considered him to be an attractive man, the dark circles under his eyes gave him a haggard appearance.
He rushed to her bedside. “Oh, thank God you are alive!” he said. What she did not expect was her father tight to his heels.
Beaufort sat on the bed beside her and pulled her into an embrace. “I knew I should have never let you come to this savage land. I have been telling His Majesty just this for the last few days. Haven’t I, Your Majesty? Tell her what I have been telling you.”
James looked at her and grinned. “He told me he should have never allowed you to visit this savage place.”
“Father, I am well, just a little tired from my travels.”
“You must tell us everything. His Majesty assures me he will punish your captors to the full extent of the law, and if that is not good enough he will make up new laws just to satisfy the punishment they deserve.”
Annabella pulled away from the embrace. “What of my cousin and the babe?”
“My wife has given birth to a healthy girl child,” James said.
Annabella smiled and let out a big sigh of relief. She was certain that if there had been any existing problem, James would be by his wife and the babe’s side and not here.
“Can you travel, Lady Annabella?”
“Yes, I am well enough to travel, but I would like to break my fast first.”
“We can do better than that,” her father said. “I will fetch the maids to bring up some water for a bath. You cannot be seen in these tatters, and your hair must be properly fixed.”
“It is not necessary. I can fix my own hair, and would not wish to burden the servants to lug water up over all those stairs for the sake of my comfort.”
“No daughter of mine will be seen dressed as you are right now. I will go speak to the innkeeper and find you a proper gown somewhere in this godforsaken village.”
Once he was gone and only she and James remained, she sensed a shift in the man. His demeanour turned dark and his lips pressed into a thin line.
“Did MacDonald harm you?”
“No, I was not harmed by him or anyone else while in their care.”
“In their care? An interesting way to phrase it, Lady Annabella. You sound as though you had been visiting friends, as opposed to being abducted and held as prisoner for these last few weeks.”
“I assure you, my safety was never in question.” Her heart was another matter. “Then how is it you are wearing torn servants’ clothes? And your hair tousled and full of twigs?”
Annabella smiled at the look of disapproval on his face. She had not realized how much he looked down on those beneath the nobility and gentry class. She was beginning to see a portion of what Angus had said about this man.
“Angus insisted I dress below my station so as to not draw attention. He was returning me to Linlithgow himself when we were set upon by what seemed like highwaymen at first, but turned out to be the men who held his father captive.”
“You call the man by his given name? Lady Annabella, I do not know what transpired between you two, but I assure you that man is a monster capable of much cruelty to his people. He has plotted attacks against me on numerous occasions. Why do you think his father was in my dungeon?”
“I do not know the ways of such things, Your Majesty,” she said. Annabella was not about to debate over the history between him and the Lords of the Isles. “All I can tell you is that he abducted me in order to force your hand at releasing his father. Once he received your message, he decided to return me to avoid bloodshed among his people.” She hoped that by revealing that much, she would earn James’s trust somewhat. Perhaps he would even let something slip about his own plans to claim MacDonald lands.
