Page 35 of The Cursed Highland Bride

Standing on the rocks, she clenched her dress in her fists until her knuckles cracked from the pressure. The wind was intense, blowing her dress and hair all around her. Katarina closed her eyes and let it take her over. Air rushed over every contour of her face and body.

This must be what birds feel like. It is pure freedom, nothing but the wind beneath their wings, the land and its troubles below becoming insignificant.

Her heart missed the freedom of the traveling life. She ached to be rejoined with her people, but they were all gone. Nothing would be the same now. Her parents had been the heart and soul of their clan. No one would be able to take their place in Katarina’s heart or among the Romani.

Releasing her dress, she spread her arms and let the wind take her. Let my soul fly free to rejoin those who hold my heart.

Thunder rolled across the sea, and she opened her eyes to find darkened storm clouds moving swiftly toward the islands. Katarina watched as the sea began to change, chaffing, spiking, and crashing in extraordinary power. Lightning cracked the sky with a brilliant white fire, the thunderous boom that followed shaking the land beneath her feet and vibrating up her bones into her teeth. When another lightning bolt flashed across the waters, she threw her head back and let out a cry of pain, rage, and loneliness, using the thunder to mask the sound from anyone that might hear it.

When the rain reached land, it was like a curtain of water moving across the face of the sea to encircle all it passed. Cold water splashed down upon her skin, causing gooseflesh to break out along her arms and breasts. Lightning flashed once more, this time closer. Closing her eyes, she let the rain wash over her. It was a baptism of nature that matched the fight within her own soul. She screamed again into the thunder as it shook the earth beneath her. Throwing all caution to the wind, she lifted her voice in a prayer from her mother’s tongue.

“Te vas del o Del amengue! Te n’avel man pascotia ando drom, te na hoden pen mandar.” She unleashed the prayer from her very soul, pushing it toward her sisters across the storm-tossed sea that surrounded her. In a whisper, she repeated it for herself alone. “May God help us! May no misfortune happen to me in the road, and may no one steal anything from me.” Her mother had prayed those words every day before they broke camp and traveled together. Now, those words meant so much more to Katarina than they ever had before. She altered the prayer to fit her current circumstance. “May God help us! Protect us on the road, and may no one take my sisters from me ever again.”

* * *

“Have ye seen my wife?” Dunn asked his sister as he entered the great hall. When the storm had blown in so quickly, everyone had been forced to find shelter.

“Nae,” Adamina shook her head. “I have nae seen her since this morning.”

Tor entered the hall after Dunn, soaking wet. He slapped the rain from his clothes, sprinkling water around himself. “Have ye seen my wife?”

Tor frowned and looked around the hall. “Nae since this morning. She came tae me for training but was somewhat distressed and left the lesson earlier than usual. Last I saw her, she was running back this direction.”

“When was this?”

“Midday.”

“Why was she distressed?”

“She did nae say.”

Dunn’s frown deepened. “Search the castle for her. If she is caught out in the storm, she may nae ken the danger. She is nae born tae these islands.”

Tor nodded. “I will enquire o’ the steward. He kens most things that occur within these walls.”

Dunn agreed. “Aye, I will search the courtyard and stables. Adamina, look for her in the kitchens and elsewhere within the castle.”

“Was it ye that distressed her?” Adamina asked accusingly.

Dunn stopped long enough to meet her eyes. “I dinnae ken, but let us wait for recriminations until after she is found.”

Nodding, they parted ways, and Dunn walked back out into the rain, his freshly donned clothing soaked through in minutes. Scanning the courtyard, he saw servants and clansmen bustling to and fro, battening down things that might blow away in the storm. He walked over to the stables and asked the stable hand if he had seen Katarina but to no avail.

“Nae, my laird. I have nae seen her ladyship.”

Sighing, Dunn ran his hand down the scarred side of his face. “Where could she be?” he asked under his breath. He stepped back out into the storm and climbed the battlements to search the grounds beyond, yet it was almost impossible to see anything through the deluge.

“Dunn,” Tor shouted from the courtyard below. “Anything?”

Dunn turned and shook his head. “Nae. Ye?”

“Nae.”

“Where could she be?” he asked again, praying with all of his heart that she was safe. The mere thought of having something befall her was maddening.

The brothers reentered the hall as Adamina returned. “She is nae in the castle,” she assured them. “I have searched every room and stair.”

“She could be anywhere by now,” Tor murmured in concern. “She left our lessons hours ago.” An idea seemed to occur to him, and dread crossed his face, causing Dunn’s heart to seize in his chest. “She would nae be so foolish as tae run, would she?”