Page 9 of The Highlander’s Gypsy Temptation

The canvas around her was made of animal skin, what type she was uncertain, but she suspected seal. The boat appeared to be a birlinn, a galley-style used mostly by western highlanders and islanders, similar to the ships of the Viking raiders who came before. Such boats were manned by oarsmen and had been used for centuries in warfare, trade, and transport. Many of them had been destroyed when the Scottish Crown had put down the uprising of the Lords of the Isles, but some had survived. Idalia knew from her brother-in-law, Dunn, that there was always an armed man aboard a birlinn to defend against attackers. If she jumped ship, there was no way to be certain he would not have her killed the moment she hit the water.

Another problem were the oars. How am I to jump free of the oarsmen? I cannot slip quietly into the water without being hit by an oar. Idalia did not know what she was going to do. Had it been a simple fishing boat, she might have stood a chance, but with a birlinn she had very little chance if any to mount an effective escape. Wriggling around she continued to search for anything sharp she could use to cut her bindings. Finding nothing, she used her teeth in an attempt to gnaw her way through them. Unfortunately, her efforts resulted in nothing more than a sore mouth and bleeding gums.

Peeking through the canvas slit that served for a doorway, Idalia surveyed the oarsmen. They were tough, strong looking men. She did not recognize any of them. There were more men than she had originally thought with three men per each oar. With twelve oars that she could count from her position, that made thirty-six men, not counting Bran or the boat’s captain. It was possible there were even more men behind her as a birlinn could hold up to eighteen oars. Bran stood with the captain. They spoke as if they were familiar with each other. Idalia wondered if the captain was one of Raymond’s men, or if Bran had done business with him before.

Can he be bribed?. If he is August Raymond’s man, fear alone would make him loyal. If he is Bran’s man, perhaps he could be made to see reason and let me go. She watched the two men carefully for any signs of weakness. They were strong men, muscular in build. Bran was taller than the captain, younger, and more attractive overall. Idalia felt herself blush at the thought and shook her head in frustration at her own weakness. The only imperfection Idalia could see on Bran was that his wounded arm appeared not to have healed quite right, causing him to avoid using it. The captain had a scar over his left eye, but also seemed otherwise unimpaired.

Sighing, Idalia moved away from the tent flap to think. She could not directly take on any of the men she had seen. Her best chance was to slip off of the boat into the water, swim down far enough that the oars would not hit her, and swim out away from the boat before surfacing. However, she could not do any of that with her hands and feet tied. Using the edge of the hull, she ran her bindings over it repeatedly in an attempt to use friction to weaken them.

Idalia had no notion how long she had been at it when her bindings finally snagged on a piece of splintered wood and gave way. She stifled a shriek of exaltation and untied the bindings holding her feet together. Lifting the edge of the animal skin canvas, she peered out at the sea. She had no way of knowing where she was or how far they were from Orkney. She had no notion of how she was to find her way back home. She only knew that she must try. Her sisters had lost entirely too much family at the hands of evil men. They did not need to lose her too.

God in heaven, help me! She sent a prayer out to the sky, then poked her head out of the canvas. She made it as far as her hips before someone noticed her and let out a cry of alarm.

“Lass overboard!” one of the oarsmen bellowed.

Idalia was still wearing men’s clothing, but her long wild hair had broken free of its confines and was whipping about in the wind like a flag advertising her femininity. Idalia tried to scramble the rest of the way out of the boat and into the water but was jerked back inside by her feet. Her chin hit the side of the boat as she was roughly yanked back under the canvas. She cried out in pain as it jolted through her face. “Unhand me!”

Back under the canvas she found Bran with her feet still in his hands, glaring down at her angrily. “Ye would risk yer life tae the sea after all o’ yer talk about remaining alive for yer family’s sake?!” He was seething with rage, all signs of caring or compassion gone. “Ye are nothing like yer sister. She risked everything tae save ye, and here ye are, trying to throw it all away.”

Idalia glared right back at him, his every word stinging like nettles to the heart. “You have no right to take me against my will! It is my duty to my family to return to Orkney. They have lost everything to evil men such as the Laird Morgan and August Raymond. I will not be the next person they lose. How dare you put such an undeserved burden upon me!” She breathed heavily, attempting to wrench her feet away from him. “I am perfectly capable of swimming to shore. I have no intention of taking my own life, just as I will not sacrifice my life to the hands of August Raymond.”

“Ye are nae seeing reason. There is nae possible way that ye would have survived the oars.”

“You are the only one here who is failing to see reason. How dare you take me against my will! How dare you speak to me of my life!” She threw his words back at him with vehement force. “You are the one who is taking it from me!”

Bran stood staring at her as if she had gut punched him. He gripped her feet harder as if to steady himself. Idalia cried out in pain, flailing about, and kicked him square in the ballocks. He coughed, dropping her feet to protect himself from another blow. His face paled, then reddened as he gasped for air. Idalia used the moment to attempt to slither back through the gap in the canvas, but he was too quick for her and he flipped her over on her back, straddling her so that she was pinned to the bottom of the boat by the weight of his body.

“Ye are nae going tae escape from me. I will take ye tae August Raymond. I dinnae care in what condition ye arrive. I suggest ye remember that,” he warned, his eyes hard as steel. Taking up her broken bonds, he tied her hands and feet anew, this time even tighter than before, to the point of almost cutting off her blood supply. Once he had her tied, he turned to leave, any evidence of the man he had once been gone.

“You are a monster!” she cried out to his retreating back.

He paused in the entryway, but did not look back over his shoulder. “Aye, that I am, lass. That I am. It is best that ye nae forget that.” Then, he disappeared from view, leaving Idalia alone to mourn her failed escape attempt.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as the truth of her situation sank in. If I cannot escape this man, I will never see home again.

CHAPTER FOUR

Bran stood outside of the canvas and turned his face up to the sky. The wind was blowing, causing sea spray to fly up into the boat. His nether regions ached, and he winced as he attempted to shift into a more comfortable position. As much as she had hurt his lower anatomy with her well-aimed kick, she had hurt his heart and soul even more with her brutally accurate words. She is right about me. I am a monster. After all that I have done in the name o’ August Raymond, I am nae good for anyone, but that does nae change the fact that I must save me daughter. She must come above all else, even unfortunate, defenseless lassies such as Idalia Buckland.

Bran wished there was another way, but every plan he attempted to come up with failed in his mind before its completion. It always came down to the fact that August held Mahala hostage. He had spies everywhere, so he would know the moment Bran stepped out of line. Even if Bran managed to kill August’s spies, and that could only happen if he actually knew who and where they were, he would still have to somehow get to Mahala and free her from Raymond’s encampment before anyone noticed. It is impossible! His heart broke twice over at the thought of what he must do. Idalia does nae deserve her fate, but I dinnae ken any other way. To save me daughter, Idalia Buckland must pay the price.

Not knowing what else to do, Bran retrieved them both some food and returned to the canvas enclosure. He found her sitting against the hull of the ship, tears still wet on her cheeks. Blood dripped down the side of her hand, and he frowned in confusion. It had not been there earlier. He moved over to her side to investigate and found she had been trying to remove her ties by rubbing them against a splintered piece of wood on the ship’s hull. The tip of the splintered piece of wood was red with her blood. Shaking his head, he set their food down and using his dirk, he removed the offending piece of wood from the side of the boat.

“Ye attempted tae escape again,” he noted, handing her a bannock. “How far do ye think that ye would get ’afore ye drown? Or I or one o’ August’s spies would find ye? There is nae way out o’ this for ye, lass. Yer life is nae longer yer own.”

Idalia glared at him, refusing the bannock. She turned on her side away from him without a word.

“Ye must eat, lass, tae keep up yer strength.” He attempted to give her the bannock once more, but she ignored him. Sighing, he set the bread down beside her and left it there. He sat next to her, eating his own supper in silence. When night began to fall, before he could no longer see her in the dark, he tied a rope around her waist, then tied it around his own. He did not want to risk losing her in the night as he slept.

As he tied them together, she squirmed and shrieked in protest. Her shirt wriggled up and his cold hands landed on the warm soft flesh of her abdomen. “Do not touch me!” she protested loudly.

Bran placed a warning hand over her mouth and leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I will nae harm ye in any way, but I cannae say the same o’ the men out there. This is as much for yer protection as it is tae keep ye from escaping.”

Her eyes widened at his implied warning, and she stopped squirming. She looked at him with disbelief.

“Aye,” he nodded solemnly. “I mean what I say lass. Now, hold still so I can finish tying us together. He returned to the task at hand, but his eyes were suddenly drawn to the birthmark that was currently visible where her shirt had ridden up while she squirmed. “What does the mark mean?” he asked her, tracing the shape with his finger without thinking. He was mesmerized by it and all thoughts of her embarrassment had completely left him.

Idalia blushed and moved her hips in an attempt to move away from his gaze. “It is a family mark. Katarina has one on her shoulder. Lady Katherine has one on the inside of her thigh.” Idalia blushed deeper at the mention of something so intimate. “I should not have told you that.”