Terri Brisbin - The Highlander's Runaway Bride

And so he walked.

As he passed the door of the cottage, he noticed the young woman approaching along the road. The miller’s daughter had been a godsend to him, seeing to Eva’s more personal needs and care each day.

‘Good morrow, Brita,’ he said. ‘I thank you again for your help.’

‘Good morn, sir,’ she replied with a slight curtsy. ‘I am glad to help the lady. And my father thanks you for your coins.’

‘She was awake for a short while just now. I gave her some ale.’ He walked along with the woman.

‘A good sign, then. The fever has broken. My mam said she will be calling for food very soon now.’ Brita lifted the basket she carried so he could see in it. ‘She said to begin with the broth and then the stew if she keeps it down. There is bread, as well.’

Rob reached out to take the basket for her. She smiled at his offer but shook her head.

‘I can carry it, sir.’

‘I will leave you to your ministrations then, lass,’ he said, stepping out of her way. ‘Call if you have need of help.’

Brita reached the doorway and turned to face him.

‘My mam also sent something more filling along for you, sir. She said a man cannot survive on broth and bread.’

The miller and his wife had been most helpful. Aye, he had paid them well, but they seemed to genuinely want to. With a few exceptions that he needed to send to the village for, they’d provided the food and ale and blankets for the lady. Once they knew she was the MacKay’s daughter, they did whatever he’d asked them to do. Even if they did look askew at a man seeing to her care.

Deciding that a ride might do them both good, Rob told Brita he would return shortly and went to get the horse. He wanted to see the cave in the light of day and see if she’d left anything behind. When she woke next, he had questions for her.

Such as who was the Mairead that she called out for in her fevered state.

* * *

The young woman’s arrival both answered a question that loomed in her mind and allowed her to see to her personal needs without having to ask...him. Brita, as she was called, was the miller’s daughter and had apparently been helping her each day during her illness. The girl had a pleasant way about her and her quiet chatter made things much less embarrassing than they might have been.

Within a short time of waking, Eva found herself washed and in a clean shift. The miller’s wife had sent some broth for her when she felt ready to try it. And a loaf of bread. But Eva had more questions than hunger at this point, so she asked about the man who’d rescued her from the cave and stood as her guard and caretaker these last days.

‘Do you know Rob?’ she asked as Brita helped her to sit. The girl wanted to see to her hair.

‘Nay, lady,’ Brita said as she took the braid and loosened the ties holding it. ‘He is from the MacKay, your father, and brought you here.’

‘So, you’ve not seen him before? Not when my father visits here?’ Eva could not remember even seeing him.

‘Nay, lady. Just when he came to our house a sennight ago.’

‘Last week? He has been here a week?’ Eva found it exhausting just to sit up, so trying to figure out his identity tired her even more.

‘Aye,’ Brita said. ‘He asked to rent this cottage. Said the laird set him to the task of finding you.’

She sat in silence as the girl tended to her hair. She desperately needed to wash it, but just having it brushed was a pleasure. Brita finished the tasks she’d been sent to carry out and curtsied when she was leaving. She stopped at the door, just before opening it.

‘My mam said you should know that your bleeding stopped two days ago. She was the first one to tend to you, lady.’ The girl’s face filled with a blush as she said such a thing. ‘She said she thought you would want to know.’

Eva smiled and nodded, feeling both relief and sorrow. The fever and bleeding had been happening together since she’d given birth. Fearing childbed fever and death, Eva knew it had continued too long. But her mother had refused to speak of the birth at all, so there had been no one she could seek advice from. Everyone at Castle Varrich had been forbidden to speak to her about those months she’d spent away, visiting kin in the west was the explanation.

Brita left, and Eva remained sitting up, leaning against the wall with several blankets behind her. Rob would return shortly, according to the girl, and it would do her good to move a bit. But, she feared the first time she would put her weight on her injured ankle. Even now, wrapped tightly, it throbbed from just moving it around as she washed and dressed.

A few minutes later, the door opened and he walked in.

The first thing she noticed was that his auburn hair was windblown and wild. She must be feeling better if she was taking in such details now. He seemed more alive than when he’d left. He pushed the door, and she heard the latch catch.

‘I found this in the cave,’ he said, tossing the small bag to her. He was angry. Again.

She opened it and found the few things she’d managed to take with her when she’d run off in the middle of the night. A small purse filled with coins. A small sgian dubh made to fit a woman’s hand. A comb. An extra shift. Her prayer beads. And the skin of water she carried.

‘You left the safety of your father’s keep with only this?’ he asked. ‘What was so terrible that you would risk your life to get away?’ His hands fisted and released, and she could feel waves of ire pouring off him. ‘Why did you run?’

Something was terribly wrong here. If she’d suspected it before, Eva knew it now. This man had no right to speak to her like this. Or to be in the same chamber as she. Or to demand help and supplies on behalf of her father. Who was he?

A sick feeling roiled through her stomach then. It had nothing to do with her illness and everything to do with the man standing before her.

If he’d been paid to do this by her father, he would have sent word for someone to come for her in her condition. A mercenary would not even worry over her illness, he would be paid for finding her.

A mercenary would not give a moment’s thought to why she’d run or what she’d taken. He would not have done most of the things this man had in caring for her.

A sinking feeling filled her, and she could feel the blood draining from her face and head. It took all of her courage to ask the question that now spun out in the space between them, but she must. The answer, which she suspected she already knew, would explain so much.

‘You are not my father’s man.’ She asked, her voice trembling with each word, ‘You are the Mackintosh’s counsellor and cousin, are you not?’

He crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. If his face grew any darker with anger, it would explode.

‘Robert Mackintosh,’ he said as though introducing himself to her for the first time. ‘Your betrothed husband.’

She gasped at his declaration. ‘Betrothed?’ she asked, shaking her head wildly. ‘We were not betrothed.’

‘Aye, lady, we were. Your father and I signed the documents before he gave me his blessing and sent me off to look for his runaway daughter.’

‘Nay!’ she cried out, trying to get to her feet in spite of her injuries and continued weakness. ‘I cannot marry you. You cannot force this on me!’

He took her by her arms and pulled her up to him, their faces but inches apart. He stared at her, searching there for something.

‘In the eyes of the Church and by the laws of this land, we are married, lady. The vows can be spoken when we return to Castle Varrich. The rest can wait until we arrive in Glenlui.’

The rest? The rest! Eva would never share with any man what she’d given to Eirik.