“Laird, we can see flames from the direction of the fishing village tae the north! Screams, too, carrying tae us in the night’s stillness. An attack by the Sutherlands?”
Alec didn’t answer them, but roared instead for his warriors to join him outside—a wild scramble and the slam of benches hitting the floor coming from the great hall in his men’s haste to oblige him.
Why not a surprise attack by that wretched clan?
Mayhap those stones slung at his horse were only the first volley in some larger plan, Alec cursing himself doubly for a fool as he tamped down—again!—what had overwhelmed him when he’d first kissed Rowen…Gaira and her crazed talk of love be damned!
CHAPTER13
“Did Laird Mackay hurt you, sweeting?”
Rowen refused again to answer Gaira’s query; instead, she focused upon the half-filled tub of water that her lady’s maid had ordered within moments of entering the bedchamber to find Rowen sitting upon the floor.
She hadn’t moved since Alec had left her, his harsh words echoing in her mind and flooding her with desolation even as Gaira had helped her to her feet.
Rowen hadn’t said a word, but one glance at the rumpled bedspread and the smear of blood had told Gaira what Rowen couldn’t bring herself to utter.
No lovemaking between a husband and wife had taken place, only a heartless consummation that had seemed so much more to her until Alec had proved how much he despised her?—
“Och, Gaira, the water is barely tepid!” Rowen blurted as she stepped into the tub, her teeth starting to chatter before she had even sat down.
“Aye, it doesna surprise me given the uproar downstairs. I managed tae grab a servant in the foyer tae request he send up hot water for a bath, but he hurried away before I could ask what was amiss and I came back straightaway tae you. I told the serving maids tae empty their buckets quickly and then leave us, and they seemed anxious, too, one of them telling me just outside the door that there was trouble in a nearby fishing village.”
“Trouble?”
“Aye, and the laird has ridden out with some of his men?—”
“Ah, God.” Rowen felt the blood drain from her face and she stood up in a spray of droplets to stare at Gaira. “Mayhap Errol somehow discovered Alec survived our clansman’s attack and he’s trying another way?—”
“Does it matter tae you after what happened here?” Gaira cut her off with uncharacteristic anger, glancing at the bed. “Your husband was the one who told me tae find you and see how esteemed he was in your eyes, the man’s very words, so clearly he ravished you.”
“No, it wasna that way at all,” Rowen murmured, not sure what she should do first as she reached for a towel, only for Gaira to snatch it away.
“Mayhap not, but he must have done something tae make you look so pale and unhappy. He told me himself right before I came tae find you that he’s sending a messenger tae King Robert tae bring censure upon our clan, and I said it was only Errol’s doing that felled him—just as you admitted tae me amidst your prayers and weeping?—”
“Oh, Gaira, now that’s two of us condemning my brother.” Her legs suddenly feeling shaky, Rowen sank into the tub, paying no heed now to the lukewarm water. “What will the king do tae him?”
Gaira didn’t answer, but focused instead upon rubbing a cloth with a sliver of soap and then running it across Rowen’s shoulders.
Not gently as she usually did, but so rough that Rowen gave a gasp, her lady’s maid clearly upset.
“Here I had hoped you and Laird Mackay might grow tae love each other with time—och, I even told the man that you care deeply for him, but what did he say? There was no love at all between you and I had imagined it…as if you hadn’t told me how you felt when he kissed you and what you saw when you looked into his eyes. If you didna love him, you wouldna have wept and prayed so hard for his healing?—”
“It’s gone now, Gaira, whatever I saw there before,” Rowen interjected with a hard lump in her throat that she couldn’t swallow down. “He hates me and—and I hate him, too!”
“Och, so that’s why you were ready tae jump out of the tub as if you intended tae try and warn him? Do you think I’m blind, sweeting? A fool?”
Rowen shook her head as Gaira scrubbed all the harder, never having heard her lady’s maid speak so sharply to her.
“Laird Mackay is a warrior and will face whatever he finds in that village, whether it’s Errol or no. We canna stop whatever will occur this night or the coming days?—”
“Oh, Gaira, but you could help tae stop it! You could take my horse and ride tae my father and tell him about Errol’s plan—och,ourplan when I didna know better?—”
“So you dinna hate the man after all,” came Gaira’s terse reply, the cloth plopping into the tub as she sighed heavily. “Even if I agreed tae ride out into the cold and snow, the laird’s men will never allow me tae leave the castle.”
“Mayhap the gates are still open tae await Alec’s return—no, no, I canna ask you tae do such a dangerous thing. I will go. It’s only a half day’s ride tae the south and the moon is bright and full?—”
“Enough, sweeting! Do you want tae bring more of your husband’s wrath down upon your head? You will only widen the chasm between you if he returns tae find you gone.Iwill go—God help me.”
