As he lay there shivering, pain his only companion in the darkness, he closed his eyes and conjured an image of Rionna’s smiling face. He imagined he was home, in the privacy of their chamber, as she thought up some new way to drive him mad with lust.
He imagined tracing the swell of her belly and talking with her long into the night of their hopes and dreams for their child.
“Protect her well, Ewan,” he whispered. “For I have failed her. And you.”
* * *
Rionna was near collapse when she ordered her clan to surround Duncan Cameron’s holding and remain in hiding until she gave the order to attack. If God was with them, Ewan McCabe would arrive with reinforcements before her clan was forced to take action. But if not, she and every one of the McDonald warriors would go down fighting.
She prayed for strength. She prayed for God’s guidance for what she was about to do. She had to be convincing or she and Caelen would both die.
Gathering the reins of her tired horse, she started forward, her heart pounding as she broke from the cover of the forest, and rode down toward the gate of Cameron’s fortress.
’Twas an imposing sight of stone, wood, and metal. The walls were tall and she only prayed that her men could scale them rapidly enough to avoid detection.
Her plan had to work. If God truly sided with the righteous, her clan would win the day and she would return home with her husband.
Still, she prayed, for perhaps God needed convincing on the matter.
When she reached the gate, the watchman called down to her. Rionna surveyed the top of the wall and found at least three crossbows aimed in her direction.
She pushed down the hood of her cloak and then called up. “I am Rionna McDonald and I wish to see my father, Gregor McDonald.”
There was a long wait and then Duncan Cameron appeared at the top of the wall, her father beside him.
“Tell me, Rionna, have you come to beg for your husband’s life?” Cameron called down.
She fixed him with a haughty stare and twisted her lips in scorn. “I’ve come to see if what my men have told me is true. And if ’tis true, and my father has felled the McCabe warrior, I want to claim the right to kill him if the task is not already done.”
Cameron arched his eyebrow in surprise and Rionna held her breath until she nearly swayed from the horse. Oh God, let him still be alive. They couldn’t have arrived with Caelen too awfully long ago. She and her men had ridden without stop and they’d picked up a fresh trail halfway here and followed it until they reached the keep.
“Open the gate,” Cameron shouted.
A few moments later, the wood creaked and groaned and the heavy gate began to swing open. She remained atop her horse and waited for permission to enter.
Soon enough, Cameron and her father appeared at the entryway and one of Cameron’s men came forward to assist her from her horse. When her feet hit the ground, her knees nearly buckled, but by sheer force of will she remained standing and allowed her horse to be led away.
“ ’Tis an interesting tale you spin, mistress,” Cameron said as he stared at her. “You have my attention.”
Rionna looked at her father, wondering if he was too cowed by Cameron to offer words of his own. He stared back, his expression flat, and his eyes glittered with suspicion.
“Is he dead yet?” she demanded.
Finally Cameron shook his head and she went weak with relief. “Nay, not yet. He’s only just arrived. Tell me, how did you come so quickly?”
“When my men bore me the tale of what occurred, I refused to believe my good fortune until I laid eyes on him myself. If ’tis true that my father captured Caelen McCabe, then ’tis my thanks I must offer.”
“What is this nonsense, daughter?” Gregor finally demanded.
Cameron held up his hand. “ ’Tis only one way to solve this riddle. Come, my lady. ’Tis cold and you’ve traveled a great distance.”
Rionna slid her hand through Cameron’s outstretched arm and smiled gratefully up at him. “My thanks, Laird Cameron. ’Tis the truth I’m weary, but my relief was so great, I would not stop until I begged sanctuary at your door.”
“Sanctuary? My dear lady, what would make you cry sanctuary?” he asked, as he guided her through the courtyard and up the steps to the keep.
A warm blast of air hit her as did the stench. Her nose curled and it took everything she had to keep her stomach from rebelling.
The tunic she wore disguised the swell of her belly and she wasn’t far gone enough for her condition to be evident. The last thing she wanted was to reveal that she was carrying Caelen’s child.
“Aye, sanctuary. Think you that I would be safe from Ewan McCabe once it was learned a McDonald took his brother?”
“Why do you want to kill your husband?” Cameron asked bluntly.
He gestured for her to sit in one of the chairs in front of the fire, and it was with great relief she did so. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could remain standing.
“Does it matter?” she asked in a level voice.
“I find it hard to believe you left the protection of your clan in the dead of winter so that you could be the one to kill a man who is for all practical purposes already a dead man.”
“I hate him,” Rionna spat. “I hate all of the McCabes. They have run roughshod over my clan. ’Tis the truth, I had no great love for the leadership of my father, but at least he was a McDonald. I have been humiliated by the McCabes at every turn. If you won’t allow me to do the killing, I would at least like to witness it. And I would seek your protection until this matter with the McCabes is done.”