Terri Brisbin - Stolen by the Highlander

‘I thank you for thinking of such concerns, Caelan,’ she said, nodding.

‘Are you anxious?’ he asked.

‘Aye,’ Arabella admitted to him. ‘But my aunt Gillie told me that it is customary for the bride to be a bit nervous the day before her wedding.’

She did not want him to think she was not willing to fulfil her part of this treaty. She would do her duty even as he did his, in the midst of sorrow and loss, but with a hope for peace between their families. So, in the long view of this situation, she was glad it was him she would marry. He was kind and polite and even caring towards her and she would do whatever she needed to do to make this a good marriage.

‘Ah, and so comes your aunt to claim you,’ he said, standing at her aunt’s approach to greet her. ‘Is it time then?’ he asked.

‘Aye, my lord,’ Aunt Gillie did her best curtsy before them. ‘You will see her on the morrow.’

‘Sleep well, Arabella. I will see you at the church.’

He leaned over and kissed her, on her mouth, much to the delight of those watching. They clamoured for more so he took her in his arms and kissed her again. Arabella tried to relax in his arms, knowing most of this was simply to demonstrate his willingness to accept her as his bride. He eased his embrace but held her close for a moment more before letting her go with her aunt.

‘That bodes well,’ Aunt Gillie whispered as they left the hall. ‘I worried that this time apart would sour things between you.’

It took little time to ready herself for bed, but nothing she did seemed to bring on the sleep she needed that night. The morrow promised to be a long, emotional day and Arabella wished to greet it in good humour and without the dark smudges of sleeplessness that appeared under her eyes when she did not rest well.

* * *

As the sun’s first light tried to chase away the fog, she yet stood by the window, staring across the yard and into the distance. Unable to sleep, she’d climbed from the bed some time ago and pulled on an old tunic and gown against the morning chill. This time of day was her favourite, just before dawn while quiet still ruled the land and the people. Stiff-limbed now from standing too long in one position, Arabella was about to turn away when one single ray of sunlight broke through the clouds and illuminated a spot on the hillside she could see.

The clearing.

The place Brodie had taken her to show her the extent of the lands that she would claim as wife to the next Mackintosh chieftain. She began to shudder before she knew it—her mind recognising the person who stood there now, outlined by the sun’s light. Her breath froze and she squinted to be certain.

It could only be him. Standing there, so close to justice and yet no one knew. If she called a warning, he would flee before... Another shiver, this one bone-deep, shook her.

Even knowing he’d killed Malcolm, there was a part of her that did not want to see him dead. At least not until she learned his motives for taking her brother’s life. At least until she knew the part she’d played by sending her brother to that gathering of men. She wanted to hear his explanation.

She moved around the chamber in silence, finished dressing and then crossed the outer chamber, passing the sleeping figures of her aunt and cousin. She was careful going down the stairs and through the keep and made her way to the stables. With a quiet word to a young boy there, she readied her horse as she usually did and climbed up on his back. Arabella was at the gate when it opened for the day and rode through it without a word, her cloak and hood pulled tightly around her.

Urging her horse faster, she leaned down low and pressed her knees to his sides. They covered the ground quickly as the horse’s strides lengthened and his speed increased. With barely a tug on the reins, she guided him away from the keep and up the road that would curve around the mountainside to where he was.

She would finally get the answers that would allow her own guilt to ease. She would get the opportunity to confront the man who had killed her brother. She would...

Empty.

As she rode through the final line of trees into the clearing, she found no one there. Searching the area, she saw and heard nothing in the stillness of the early morning to indicate that anyone had been there.

Letting out the breath she’d been holding, she walked the horse around the level place, allowing him to cool down from their strenuous ride here. Keeping her gaze on the path, Arabella waited and listened.

The ride back was slower as she faced the truth that it was not Brodie’s guilt but her own that had sent her on this mad quest for the truth. Her heart hurt as she knew that she had sent her brother to his death. She had been the catalyst for the chain of events that caused him to die. If she had not asked him to find out more about Brodie and Caelan, to take their measure, there would have been no fight, no words, no altercation that ended with a dagger in his chest.

Somehow the horse found its own way back to the keep and she rode through the gates to the stable. And she had no idea when the two guards that rode at her side had appeared.

The only thing she could do now to honour her brother’s death was to fulfil the purpose of their visit—to seal the bargain and end the feud. And she would.

No one could give her absolution for her part in sending him to his death.

* * *

‘Get back!’ Rob whispered harshly. His friend grabbed the back of his leather jack and pulled him deeper into the cover of the thick trees there. ‘Are you daft?’

‘They did not see me,’ Brodie said, tugging free.

He could not believe the sight of Arabella, riding at a full gallop on that beast of a horse up the road on the mountainside. She rode right into the clearing and he almost, almost, walked out to see her. A few minutes passed in the grey silence before she travelled back down towards the road to the keep. This time her mount walked and she stared off into the distance as they went by the copse of trees that hid him and Rob from view. He might have grabbed her then but for the two armed guards who rode up to meet her. And he knew that others would follow too closely now.

‘Have you changed your mind then? You’ve given up your mad plan?’

‘Not at all,’ he said, pushing through the branches and walking away from the road. He made his way back to where three others waited for them. ‘We stay true to the plan and do not let ourselves be distracted by surprises.’

‘And the lady? Is she not simply a distraction in all this?’ Rob asked from behind.

They’d argued this point many times over the past two weeks as the wedding date approached. Brodie would not be swayed from his intention—kidnapping Arabella to prevent the marriage. He turned so quickly that Rob nearly ran him down.

‘Aye, she is the distraction. Caelan uses this wedding to disguise his true intentions. Everyone is so very busy looking at the beautiful bride that no one sees his true motives or actions.’

Rob ran his hands through his hair and shook his head, a familiar gesture his friend did without even noticing it. ‘You are certain?’

He’d learned much during his past four months of exile and every bit of it pointed to his cousin’s very comprehensive and long-planned plot not only to take over the chieftain’s chair but to destroy the Camerons. Caelan’s goal was not peace and compromise, but complete destruction of the other clan.

And though he loved power and control as much as most men, the other clan had much to offer both in terms of goods and trade and stability in the area. He saw no reason to destroy an entire clan when there was gain to be had in letting them live.