Bound to a Warrior Page 24

  “It’s that obvious?” Mercy asked, not a bit sorry that she and Duncan wore their love so openly and so proudly.

  “From the first,” Mara said. “I don’t believe you could have hidden it if you wanted to.”

  “I didn’t want to.”

  “It is good you feel so sure about your love for my son,” Mara said.

  “I have not a speck of doubt that I love Duncan.”

  “No matter what?” Mara asked.

  Mercy thought her question odd but answered it without hesitation and with more truth than Mara would realize. “If I should have to leave here tomorrow, my love for Duncan would remain strong in my heart always. And no one or anything could change that.”

  “You are strong. You will survive this.”

  Mercy wondered if Mara realized that perhaps she was speaking the truth and encouraging her, but that wasn’t possible. No one knew of her morning departure, though she wondered if Mara knew more that went on in and around the keep than she let anyone know.

  The two women sat in silence for several moments before resuming the conversation.

  “Loving someone can be difficult,” Mara said.

  “Loving someone is easy,” Reeve said rounding his mother’s chair and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

  “Shame on you for sneaking up on us like that, be gone with you now,” Mara scolded, shooing him away. “Besides what do you know about love?”

  “All I need to know to stay away from it.” He grinned and hurried off, out of reach of his mother’s swatting hand.

  “I fear Reeve will have the most difficult time with love since he takes it so lightly,” Mara confessed.

  “I never thought much of love,” Mercy admitted.

  “Why?”

  “My mother raised me to believe it served no true purpose and that in the end it brings nothing but tears and heartache,” Mercy said. “I’ve often wondered if perhaps my mother had been deeply hurt by love and that was why she felt the way she did. But I never got the chance to ask her.”

  “Love can leave scars,” Mara said.

  “That never heal,” Trey said as he walked passed them, though never stopped.

  When Trey was out of sight, Mara said, “He loved and lost and has yet to heal.”

  “I’m so sorry. How terrible for him,” Mercy said, her stomach quivering from the thought. Leaving Duncan of her own free will was one thing, but having him taken away from her, knowing she would never see him again was something she didn’t know if she could live with.

  “Time is the only thing that will help him,” Mara said, shaking her head. “Sometimes the wound is too deep to ever heal.”

  Mercy wondered if that was what happened to her mother. Had she been wounded so badly by love that it never healed? She wished she had asked her mother about her past when she was alive. Now she would never know.

  “Though sometimes love can heal any wound as long as the heart is willing to take another chance,” Mara said.

  “You know your sons well,” Mercy said. “Am I what you expected for Duncan?”

  Mara shook her head, though smiled. “You are so much more. I knew Duncan would be the first to fall in love. He has known for sometime what he wanted.”

  “Which was?” Mercy asked eagerly.

  “To fall in love, marry and raise a family. He may have enjoyed the favors of women now and again, and probably be horrified that I said so, but he knew once the right woman appeared he would know and never let her go. It seems his dreams have come true.”

  “Mine certainly have,” Mercy admittedly happily.

  “I’m the fulfiller of dreams,” Duncan sang out and came up behind Mercy, leaned around and kissed her cheek.

  “Mercy’s just being nice,” Bryce teased and slapped his brother on the back. “Come, we have more work to do. You can fulfill dreams later.”

  Duncan kissed her cheek again and whispered, “Later.”

  Mercy smiled and watched the two men laughing and bantering as they left the keep. “What of Bryce? How does he feel about love?”

  Mara shook her head. “In some ways he’s the easiest of my sons to understand and in other ways he is the most difficult. I can only pray that he will find a woman who understands him.” Her smile grew wider. “But the most important part is that all four of them make certain that they give me lots of grandbabies to spoil.”

  Mercy laughed and prayed that she would eventually be part of this loving family. She would miss them all and would be relieved when she finally returned. She had to keep telling herself that she would return. No matter what happened, she had to find her way back here—her way back home.

  Supper was a delightful affair, but then perhaps it was because this was her last night here and she wanted to enjoy every moment of it. The brothers laughed and teased and Carmag regaled everyone with Scottish tales until finally one by one they began drifting off, Reeve first and then Trey.

  Then Bryce turned to Duncan and said, “I thought you were the fulfiller of dreams.”

  “You knew what I was thinking,” Duncan said and took Mercy’s hand and bid everyone good-night.

  She giggled when he scooped her up in his arms and carted her up the stairs. Her heart swelled with love and sadness. She looked forward to this night with Duncan, but knowing she was leaving afterward made it bittersweet.

  Once inside their bedchamber he fell down on the bed with her, smothering her face with kisses. She laughed, though it faded to sighs when he began kissing her in earnest.

  The sighs soon turned to moans as his hands explored beneath her skirt with such erotic tenderness that she thought she would climax. But his hand slipped away before she did.

  “No,” she whispered in his ear. “That felt so good.”

  He kissed her quick. “I’m about to make it feel even better.”

  He sat up and shed his shirt, and before he shed his plaid, his hand once again dipped beneath her skirt and favored her with gentle strokes that ignited her already burning passion.

  “I like that you melt to my touch so easily.”

  “How can I not when it is such a loving touch,” she said. “Now hurry and please me so that I may do the same for you.”

  He worked fast at his plaid. “And then—” He grinned. “We’ll start all over again and I will ride you slow and easy until you cannot stand it a moment longer.”

  “I already cannot stand it.” She laughed softly. “You must hurry.”

  The solid rap at the door sounded just before Duncan was about to toss his plaid aside.

  “This better be important,” he shouted aloud.

  “It is,” Reeve shouted back. “We’re all needed in the solar.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  “Don’t dally,” Reeve warned.

  Duncan grumbled while he quickly dressed. “One day I’m going to beat him.”

  Mercy smiled. “No you won’t.”

  “But he deserves it.”

  She shook her head. “He does what he must do as do you.”

  “I’ll be back soon,” he said and kissed her quickly. When he reached the door, he looked back. “I hope to be back soon.”

  “I’ll be waiting,” she said and as the door closed behind him, she prayed that it would be so. That he would return shortly and they would have this night together, all of it, not merely an hour or two, but the whole of it.

  Please. Oh please. Let me have this night with him.

  She had thought about this night all day and how the memory of it would help sustain her in the coming days, weeks, months. She didn’t know how long it would be before she and Duncan were reunited.

  What if they never were?

  No. She would not let herself think that way. Duncan was her destiny and she would have it no other way. She would believe no other way.

  She would stay strong for them both. He had his mission for the true king of Scotland and she had her mission. Once done, their lives would be theirs.

&nb
sp; But for now she simply wanted this one night.

  She had until just before dawn and then she’d have to leave. She laid there awake, sleep unable to tempt her and the hours ticked away.

  Chapter 32

  Duncan stood with his brothers and father on the battlements and watched the flickering lights in the woods.

  “What do you think the soldiers are about?” Duncan asked.

  “We don’t know,” Reeve said. “We’ve watched them for the last hour, since a sentinel reported their obvious movement, but we’ve still to figure it out.”

  “Their movement makes no sense,” Trey said. “It’s as if they move from here to there for no apparent reason.”

  “They do it to distract,” Bryce said and the others stared at him. “It’s the only sensible reason. They want our attention focused on their actions while something takes place elsewhere.”

  “But where?” Carmag asked.

  “That’s just it,” Bryce said. “With all the activity, where is the spot that we should know about.”

  “We’ll need to send men—”

  Bryce interrupted Reeve before he could finish. “Where? Where do we send them? “He pointed at the woods. “They look as busy and numerous as bees.”

  “Keeping anyone from discovering their hive,” Duncan said.

  “Then what do we do?” Trey asked. “There certainly aren’t enough sentinels to keep watch over all of them.”

  “We wait,” Duncan said. “We know they haven’t the men to wage a successful attack against us. Besides, the king isn’t foolish enough to attack us just yet. He’s gathering support and warriors just as we are.”

  “So we hold firm, wait and be ready?” Reeve asked.

  “It seems the wisest choice for the moment,” Duncan said, a feeling of unrest churning in his gut. Something wasn’t right, he could feel it. He stood with his brothers and watched the woods sparkle with light as though hundreds of stars had dropped out of the heaven and sprinkled across the forest.

  It was a strange sight to look upon and even more so because he knew it wasn’t an attacking army that approached. It was a diversion. And he worried over the reason for it.

  After several hours past, Mercy left the bed and dressed quickly. She sensed that Duncan wouldn’t be returning to bed this night. And she intended to find him and at least kiss him good-bye.

  As soon as she entered the great hall she knew something was amiss. Warriors were coming and going after filling themselves with food and drink that the women kept rapidly replenishing.

  Mara burst into the hall directing the women behind her to keep the warriors’ tankards full. When she spotted Mercy she hurried forward as did Mercy.

  “There is much movement amongst the soldiers in the woods. We don’t know what is afoot, a diversion of sorts or so it is believed, and we must remain alert for any possibilities. Everyone is on guard and prepared to fight if necessary.”

  “Where is Duncan?” Mercy asked.

  “On the battlements with his brothers.” Mara took hold of her hand. “Do not disturb him now. He needs his wits about him.”

  Mercy felt her heart plummet. She had so wanted to see him one more time.

  “Later, child,” Mara said. “He will need you later, be there for him.”

  Mercy knew her disappointment was obvious and that Mara tried to ease it for her.

  Someone called out to Mara and the woman turned and hurried off. Mercy stood there for a moment. All this distraction and worry, she assumed, was because of her and that disturbed her just as much as not being able to see Duncan again.

  But there was nothing she could do but carry out her plan. She rushed up the spiral staircase to her bedchamber and quickly gathered what she needed, tucking the dagger Harry had given her into her boot. She added an extra blouse over the one she wore and slipped a vest on over that. With autumn’s chill baring down on them and no Duncan to keep her warm this time, she wanted to make certain that she was prepared for her journey.

  She intended to snatch some food off the tables in the great hall before leaving and grab her warm cloak that hung by the door. With one last look around the bedchamber and tears gathering in her eyes, she hurried out of the room.

  No one paid her heed as she made her way through the great hall, grabbing what she needed as she went. They were much too concerned with their own duties and the uncertainty of the situation.

  Once outside, she flipped the hood of her cloak up and over her head, pulling it down far enough so that it and the night helped conceal her identity. With rushed steps she hurried through the village and into the woods.

  She didn’t stop, didn’t look back, couldn’t look back. Somewhere high on the battlements Duncan stood looking out over the land, worried for his people, worried over his mission, and she was sure he was missing her just as much as she missed him.

  “Mercy.”

  The whisper made her jump and her rapid heartbeat settled, though just a little when she saw that it was Bailey.

  “Dawn is hours away,” Bailey said.

  “So why are you here now?” she asked of him what he wondered of her.

  “I thought it wise with all the commotion that I leave,” he explained. “And I worried that perhaps the soldiers were forcing our hand.”

  Mercy nodded. “A diversion to keep the sentinels and all eyes busy, giving us an easier chance to escape. And of course, avoiding any possible traps that we may have had planned.”

  “You think like a warrior.”

  Mercy smiled, thinking how often Duncan had called her a warrior woman. “A necessity forced upon me.”

  “Warriors are often conceived in battle,” Bailey said.

  “If that is so, then I am nothing more than a toddling warrior.”

  Bailey disagreed. “No. You are a mighty warrior for only a mighty warrior enters battle knowing he may not come out alive, but enters anyway.”

  Mercy placed a sturdy hand on his arm. “No, Bailey, a mighty warrior knows he’ll come out alive. Now we must hurry, since I assume they wait for us.”

  They hastened their pace as best they could as they made their way through the dark.

  “I need you to give Duncan that message as soon as you return,” she said, “since I fear he may discover my absence sooner than I anticipated. And please, Bailey, please, convince him to pay heed to it.”

  “I will,” Bailey said adamantly to Mercy’s relief.

  They no sooner reached the designated spot than the soldiers appeared, Kate tucked in the middle of them.

  Bailey looked ready to call out to her, but Mercy silenced him with a strong grip to his arm and moved closer to him.

  Mercy raised her voice and with confidence commanded, “Let the woman and her husband go and when they are on safe soil, I will be yours.”

  Laughter circled the group and she felt Bailey tense. She was quick with her reply.

  “Be foolish and this man who wants nothing more than the safe return of his wife will see me dead.”

  Thankfully, Bailey went along with her ruse.

  “Send my wife to me and after we are safe, I will set the woman free.”

  The soldiers hadn’t expected the husband’s bravery and there was muffled chatter before one spoke.

  “The king’s daughter is given to us first and then your wife is returned.”

  “Fool!” Mercy shouted. “You think my father would have you taking a chance with my life?”

  Rumblings circled the soldiers once again.

  “What will you have us do?” a soldier asked.

  “As you have been directed,” she commanded. “Or suffer my father’s wrath.”

  One of the soldiers gave Kate a shove and she stumbled forward into her husband’s arms.

  “Be quick about it,” the soldier ordered. “We will be on your heels.”

  Bailey hugged his wife and Mercy heard him whisper, “She helps us.”

  Kate reached out and squeezed her hand gratefully.
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  Mercy returned the squeeze as she called out for the benefit of the soldiers, “Let’s go, I’m anxious to return to my father.”

  It wasn’t long before Mercy watched as Bailey and his wife disappeared into the safety of the village, clinging to each other as if they would never let go. She turned then and joined the soldiers who treated her differently this time. She wasn’t chained and she was shown respect. Obviously her father had sent orders that she be brought to him unharmed. It told her that he considered her no threat, and while he was not foolish when it came to his enemy, he was when it came to her. He would think her frightened and incapable of taking care of herself, and so he would play on her weaknesses until he got what he wanted from her and then he would rid himself of her.

  That he underestimated her was to her advantage, and it would help her in her plan to escape. She hurried along with the soldiers, knowing that their torches mingled with the other torches, creating confusion. No one knew what truly went on and that was all right with Mercy.

  It gave Bailey time to talk with Duncan and gave her time to escape. She would need to do it soon, before the sun rose high and before they traveled too far away from Pict territory. She would need to time it just right if she was to succeed and she prayed all would go well and that Duncan would heed her message.

  If so, then there was a chance, a good chance, that one day they could be together again.

  Duncan grew restless watching the torch lights wander aimlessly about the forest when he knew there was a reason to their madness. It was perplexing. What were they up to? What did they want?

  Mercy? Could they possibly want Mercy?

  Duncan shook his head trying to make sense of the sudden thought. The king wasn’t a fool. He wouldn’t attack this far north without support from ruling chieftains, and a far vaster army than these troops.

  “What’s wrong?” Bryce asked.

  “Mercy,” Duncan said as if breathless. “They want Mercy.”

  “Roaming with torches in the woods isn’t going to do that for them,” Reeve said.