Her Highland Devil (Scottish Highlander Romance), page 4
He smiled and brushed her hair with his hand. “Your hesitation is natural. I should expect that in someone as modest as yourself.”
She heaved a sigh of relief when she heard that. Once again, he was making excuses for her reluctance. He was as understanding as she was uninterested.
“In three days’ time, I am certain that you would have gotten over this modesty.”
She couldn’t help but blush at the thought of spending the night with him, as her husband. The thought was disturbing in itself and she found herself resenting it.
“Maybe the fuss about first kiss is not really worth it. You should not be too disappointed,” she finally said, trying to make things better.
“Yea, I suppose,” he replied, his face hardening. “You should stop thinking too much about those love stories. Most of them are not real, besides, once you become my wife, I would not be allowing such. You will have lots of things to be responsible for and teaching our children some of that will be unacceptable.”
Gabby was surprised. She turned to respond but she stopped. In that moment, she realized she had lost her best friend.
Chapter 4
The day had finally arrived, and Gabby found herself nervous beyond her imagination. She was dressed in a dark blue silky gown and was sitting down while Sophie braided her hair.
The door to her chambers opened to reveal her sisters. They both had their hands behind them, meaning they were hiding something from her. They also had a wide grin plastered on their lips.
“What are you two hiding?” Sophie asked before Gabby could ask.
Slowly, they presented their gifts. While Brooke had a silver belt, Berthie had a silver band.
“We want you to wear them,” they both said at the same time, handing the treasures to Gabby who couldn’t hide her tears. She was really touched.
Sophie collected the two items. She placed the silver band around Gabby’s head before latching the belt around her waist.
“You look so beautiful,” Brooke said admiringly,
Gabby, unable to say more drew the two girls to herself and held them tightly. After this, the twins left, they needed to get dressed as well.
“You look so beautiful, my daughter,” her father said as he entered with Lady Dianne. He placed his two hands on her shoulders as he stared at his beautiful daughter. “You remind me of your mother, she looked exactly this same way on our wedding day.”
“That means she must have been so nervous as well,” Gabby joked.
“Of course, I was,” said her mother, who was already halfway into the door.
Gabby smiled as her mother came closer. She was also dressed in a long flowing deep red gown to match her father’s outfit. A silver band was around her head, bearing a resemblance to the one on Gabby’s head.
“I am so proud of you,” her mother said, kissing her on both cheeks. “I shall greatly miss you.”
Gabby could see the sadness behind her mother’s smile, but she was not certain.
“We shall see you in the threshold,” her mother said as she left with her father.
After they left, she looked at herself in the mirror in mixed admiration.
***
Gabby gracefully entered the hall. There were many people present, filling the hall with chatter while her father sat in his special seat, on the far end of the threshold. She was accompanied by her two sisters who stood before their father, greeted and then took their place beside their mother.
Gabby had hoped that Ronnie would be there by now, but he wasn’t. The door opened immediately, and several servants rushed in. Fear was written all over their faces.
Gabby couldn’t understand but she knew something was wrong. Her parents were no longer in their seat, everyone was now standing, and people seemed to be panicking.
The only thing that came to her mind was hope that Ronnie would be alright. While all this was going on, she heard the noise of a bell ringing. She knew the sound very well. This meant that an invasion was in progress. The Highlanders had come!
***
In an instant, Gabby’s mother was hurriedly ushering them out of threshold. People were running about in the chaos, preparing themselves to defend their land.
“Gabby,” her mother blurted as they ran. “Take the satchels we have prepared with your sisters along the passage. Stay hidden! Do not come out unless I or your father calls out for you.”
Gabby nodded quickly. “What about you?”
“My place is by your father,” said her mother, kissing them on the cheeks. “I shall help defend my home, now go!”
Gabby grabbed the hands of both her sisters and pulled them from their mother. Then they watched as their mother ran the same route they had come. Quickly, Gabby ran to the kitchen to grab as many foods she could carry and put into the sack. Then she instructed Brooke to fill the two pitchers with water.
“Try not to drip the water,” she instructed. “The enemy could use it to trail us.”
Brooke nodded and Berth also helped.
While they did this, Gabby slipped to the east wing of the house where her father had his study. She found a hidden door behind a tapestry which she pulled away. Then she led the twins down the entrance, taking the fire touch from its holder. She followed them.
The secret room led to a dark tunnel which was illuminated by the yellow glow of the torch in her hand. Her sisters stumbled over one another before they finally got to a wider room. Here, Gabby found three large satchels that were stacked on top of each other. They each took one satchel before Gabby led them down some steep stairs which led them underground – to the dungeons.
***
Many hours later in the dead of the night, the English men noticed that the Highlanders were no longer in sight. They had locked the gate of the castle to protect themselves. The attackers couldn’t survive a siege, or so it seemed.
Three days had passed since the siege. Their fortress and men had fought off several invasion attempts. The number of soldiers stationed at such a castle was unusually small, so everyone had to be on the watch. This made the men really exhausted from constant vigilance and lack of sleep. Several foot soldiers prowled the bailey and the battlement, waiting for any order.
“Sir,” one of the men said to their leader. “There are no Highlanders afore the gates and at the sides of the gates. Perhaps some of us should go to the villages and see to the welfare of our families.”
“Do you say that not even a single Highlander is out there?” Asked the leader.
“None, sir,” the man replied.
“How is that possible?” The leader asked, riding on his horse and looking from one soldier to another.
“We merely blinked an eye and the highlanders were gone,” the man said.
“You blinked an eye and they were gone!” asked the leader, who was the Chief-In-Command, his name was Peter. His voice was filled with disgust.
“How is it possible that an entire Highlander troop would disappear with their artillery?”
“I do not know, sir,” said the man, looking frightened.
“What I know is that, you have not been vigilant enough!’ Shouted Peter. “I hope they have left for good having seen that we have more resources and men. Have you sent words to Edinburgh and Hemptonshire for reinforcements?”
“All exits were blocked, sir,” said the man. “However, our neighbors will soon realize our absence.”
Suddenly, a yell came from the main gate and the men on the battlements rushed to see the cause of the chaos.
Several flickering torches at the gate revealed a figure dressed in rags.
“Help,” she cried. “In the name of the Earl, please help us.”
“State your mission!” Shouted one of the soldiers.
“I have treated the McKenzie family, all my life,” she cried on.
“State your name and your mission!” Another soldier bellowed.
“Aby-Abigail Goldstein,” she cried. “I am injured, please help.”
The woman fell to the ground and the flickering of lights illuminated the blood that poured from her arms.
“It is John’s mother!” Said a foot soldier close to Peter.
“It is an ambush!” Shouted a soldier.
Before Peter could give an order, John, who was also one of his men and who must have seen his mother was now rushing towards her. He opened the gate.
“Close the gates! Close it immediately!” Peter shouted but it was too late.
Several men covered in bloody apparels appeared suddenly, their forms visible in front of the gates. Screams of horror filled the night. The English soldiers at the gate started falling over one another as the Highlanders appeared before them. To Peter’s horror, music was coming from a bagpipe somewhere as if murder was only a dance to them. These people were truly savages, why would they be playing music at such a time?
This music instilled more fear into the hearts of the English men, some surrendered while others fled into the castle. Peter realized that the music seemed to be increasing the fervor of fight amongst the Barbarians, their swords slashing and gleaming almost in accordance with the sound of music. His brows were raised as he identified the music. He thought the song was a myth. He had heard of it before.
Peter’s eyes widened in horror as he saw ten gigantic Highland men making their way through the gate with a smile. They wore nothing but plaids as they slashed their swords against his men who dropped like old fruits from a dry tree. He descended the stairs of the battlements to face the enemy.
Almost at the same time, more Highlanders emerged through the open gates, riding horses larger than any horses they bred in Hawkshire. The men arranged themselves around the tallest barbarian who seemed to the leader.
“Call your leader, for me,” he said in perfect English. “We have matters at hand to discuss.
Peter swallowed, trying to suppress the shiver down his spine.
“Who do I say calls upon him?” He asked.
“The Chief Lachlan Ridell of the Ridell clan,” the chief said.
When Peter got to the main hall of the castle, he found the earl sitting beside the countess, his face creased in trepidation.
“My Lord,” he said uneasily.
“Have we been defeated?” The earl asked briskly.
“It appears so, my Lord,” Peter replied.
“If so, what are they waiting for? Why have they not marched inside the hall yet?” Lady Dianne asked.
“Their leader, Chief Lachlan Ridell would like to speak to you,” Peter informed him.
“Take me to them.” His jaw tightened.
***
Lachlan studied the structure of the McKenzie castle, grimacing in disgust as to how much must have been spent on the decoration and painting alone. The walls were straight and there were balconies on each floor which made it easy for intruders to climb in.
The number of men who guarded the bailey and battlements were preposterous. More than half of the English men had been killed and the rest had surrendered. It was really a shameful thing, something the Highlanders would never treat calmly. If any fighter were to desert a battle in Scotland, such a person would suffer a fate worse than dying.
“Ridell!” A voice boomed.
Lachlan turned around and his eyes fell upon the aristocratic English Earl who walked out of the castle doors. The Earl has his hair covered in the absurd powdered wig that the English men were known for. Lachlan thought it made them look ridiculous. The man was dressed in their usual attire of expensive leather shoes, stockinged legs, a cravat, brocade waist coat and a long brown coat. Lachlan spat in disgust. The Englishmen would spend unnecessarily on clothing.
“Why have you summoned me?” The Earl asked on getting to him.
Lachlan dismounted the horse.
“I seek an audience with ye. For as ye can see, we have taken over yer land and castle, Sassenach.” He said trying to adjust his accent.
The Earl chuckled. “It is quite obvious. Why is it, that you seek an audience with me?”
“Relax. Ye will hear of my demands soon enough,” said Lachlan, walking closer to the Earl. “Ye have two options. Either we kill every one of ye that remains and then burn yer castle after we take everything that we want, or, we come tae an agreement and prevent more bloodshed and loss.” He pointed to the distant smoke.
“What do you want?” The Earl demanded, raising his voice. “I have grains, I have gold and silver. You can take as much as you want. You can take them and leave us alone.”
“I believe ye have a daughter.”
Immediately the English man heard this, he turned white but immediately regained his composure. This impressed Lachlan. Maybe he wasn’t as weak as the rest of his people.
“She is not here. The king has summoned her,” the Earl said.
Lachlan’s brow tightened as he took several steps threateningly towards the man who stood his ground.
“Have ye ever heard of how the Highlanders treat liars? Especially those who lie tae the chief?”
McKenzie said nothing but remained silent.
“We gut them alive and feed their remains tae the dogs,” Lachlan said calmly. “I will forgive ye for lying tae me this once.”
Rory chuckled behind Lachlan as droplets of sweats began to form on the gentleman’s forehead.
“My daughter is to be married to a man whose family is in a right standing with the king,” the Earl explained. “If you take her, the king will be mostly displeased.”
“I dae nae care what the bastard thinks!” shouted Lachlan. “A man who cannae send his people reinforcements, a man who cannae defend his subjects is nae fit tae be called a king!’
The Earl swallowed. “What about a man who desires to steal another man’s wife?”
“We must take what we came for!” Rory said behind Lachlan. “The chief has spoken!”
“He is not a chief here!” Shouted the Earl.
Angrily, one of the Highlanders came forward and grabbed the Earl by the neck, lifting him several inches above the ground.
“Ye dare tae gab back to our Chief!” the man spat angrily. “We hae conquered yer lain! We can dae whatever we want with ye and yer folk. We shall take all yer gold and all yer silver, burn yer castle and leave no trace of yer name behind.”
“Darach! Leave him be!” Lachlan ordered his man who let go of the Earl’s neck before returning to his former position.
Then Lachlan marched forward to the Earl. “Ye will do as I say,” he said in a furious tone. “Ye shall give me yer first daughter. Ye will also give me whatsoever coin I ask of ye. In return, we willnae plunder yer village, rape or kill yer women anymore. We will leave ye in peace.”
McKenzie gritted his teeth. “Alright. Give me time to decide.”
“Ye have ten minutes,” Lachlan stated.
Plundering wasn’t what Lachlan wanted. He only needed something for the future of his clan and to make things easy for his son when he would finally become the Laird. Getting the daughter of the Earl was the best step to take for now. This would not only give him a binding control of some of the English land, but it would also grant him the fulfillment of his heart desire for his son to be married. If such happens, continuous war between Scotland and England could finally come to an end.
***
Gabby stirred a little before opening her eyes. Her legs were numbed from her sister’s head, which was lying on her thighs as she slept. For the past three days, their mother had been giving them provisions while making sure that none of the servants knew where they were hiding.
She had tried to ask of Ronnie from her mother but for now, she said she hasn’t heard from him or her father. There was a high chance that he was dead. Still, she promised that once everything returned to normalcy, there would be a search party sent to find him.
“Gabby!” her mother’s sweet voice came through and Gabby released a breath she had been holding.
“Mother?” she asked. “What is the matter?”
Lady Dianne came into view in a pool of light she held in her hand. She looked frightened and even thinner.
The twins were all on their feet as they waited to hear what the matter was.
“What is the matter?” Gabby asked again.
“The Highlanders,” her mother said in a whisper. She looked like something worse had happened.
“Oh! God! Is father dead?” Gabby asked, unable to breathe out of terror.
