Highland Menage: A Perfect Wife Part 13

"Laddie, no son could do more for his mother than you have done for me today. When we get out of here, and we will!" She stopped to emphasize that to him. "You, me, Laird Malcolm, and Master Duff will sit together and talk about us becoming a family."

He said nothing for so long she wondered if she'd done something wrong.

"Do you nay wish to be my son?"

"Ye mean, sit in yer lap like now? Not when the lads are near, but if I have the fever?"

"Aye, hugs are one thing a mother gives her son."

Another long silence.

"What if the laird doesna say aye to wanting me?" he whispered.

"Have ye heard how much my husbands care for me?"

"The women say Laird Malcolm and Master Duff love ye, but I canna see a man speakin' of it."

Neither could she.

"And the men? What do they say?"

"They say the way the laird and Master Duff look at ye when they think ye canna see, and how ye look back when they turn their back, shows ye are a good wife." He paused. "They said sommat else about buglin' like a bull elk in full rut, but I dinna ken that."

She barely held back a laugh. If she let it out, she'd have to explain and that was something a father should do. It was interesting that the women thought Malcolm and Duff loved her. Bessie had said so, but Kiera thought it was wishful thinking. Of course the men would make a comment about her husbands bellowing.

"Ye wouldna be kissing me, aye?"

Camden's question pulled away from thoughts of the last time Malcolm bugled. She'd have to tell him that term. When they were all safe!

"I promise not to kiss you unless you have a fever, and the lads aren't near."

"Then, if the laird and master want me when we escape, I would say aye."

Camden said when, but her thought was if.

If they escaped this cave. If Malcolm and Duff were still alive.

No, she would not think that way. They would escape, her husbands would be safe, and she would tell them she loved them even if she had to tie them down to listen!

"When could I call ye mama?"

Camden had barely whispered it. She snuggled closer, smiling.

"Why dinna ye start now?"

Chapter Fourteen.

"Ye canna risk it, Laird Malcolm. All they must do is kill ye while holding Lady Kiera. They'll marry her off and Kinrowan will be under the hands of that d.a.m.ned Ross! He'll-"

"I'll go," said Duff, interrupting Ramsay. He met Malcolm's eyes across the width of Fergus's room.

"Nay!" Malcolm paced like a caged beast across Fergus's lair, his usual calm nowhere to be seen. "The parchment stabbed to the door to the bailey said the laird was to be exchanged for the lady. That's me."

Duff had always played the fool. He'd enjoyed his life while Malcolm strived to be the best he could be at everything. Not to boast of it, but with a quiet determination to be the best with what he had available. Until they met Laird MacKenzie there'd been little to work with. Now Malcolm was a laird himself, responsible for the lives of dozens of people. He, on the other hand, was not necessary to Kinrowan. If he was killed by Ross someone else would take over as steward.

"Kinrowan needs you alive, Laird Malcolm. I am more easily replaced."

The keeper scratched at his cheek, which Duff took to draw attention to the leather mask hiding his face. He nodded. Malcolm and Ramsay knew of the deception. Todd, the marshall, and Fergus thought he was scarred.

He had scars, but most were invisible. A new one had been gouged deep into him when he'd discovered Kiera had been taken. Why did he not realize how precious Kiera was until after she was gone? He and Malcolm had scoffed at the whole idea of love. He now knew what it meant. Loving a person meant their life was more important than your own. Not because of duty and responsibility, but because without them you had little to live for.

He loved Kiera and would easily give his life for her. The three local men thought Kiera and Camden were likely in a nearby cave. The small boat hadn't had time to go far. The thought of her in a dark cave with waves cras.h.i.+ng near made him almost explode.

"Duff," said Malcolm in a commanding voice that sounded suspiciously like Somerled, "Kiera is my wife. You jumped a stick with her in a meadow. I went to my knees afore a priest, vowing to be faithfully loving and caring. I canna do that if I'm sitting here on my a.r.s.e while my wife huddles in a cave!"

"We canna get her from Drooping Cave afore first light," said Todd, patiently repeating what they didn't want to hear. "And if it storms..."

His voice trailed off. They all knew boats could not get close to the cliffs in high seas. At least if the cave faced directly across the strait it should not get flooded by high waves combined with the tide.

Ramsay had described the cave. It wasn't that far past where the beach ended. The almost sheer cliff face rising a hundred feet above meant the only way in or out was by boat. While it was a short scramble up from the water for an experienced man, it would be difficult for a woman and lad, especially one terrified of the sea. And if Kiera's ankle was bad and she fell into the water... At least someone on sh.o.r.e had spotted a boat with two figures in it returning. As expected, it crossed Cromarty Strait to the Ross side.

"We both wish to go after Kiera," said Malcolm. Duff could feel his pain as well as see it on his face. "Not only am I her husband, I am her laird." His voice broke. "I have asked ye for little, brother. Let me go to her!"

"Ross demanded Malcolm, Laird of Kinrowan," said Todd. "Ye canna go, Master Duff. He'll see ye are nay the laird."

Duff exhaled. He wanted to rescue Kiera but Malcolm was right. He was their laird and legal husband. Duff had been practicing, hoping he wouldn't have to do this. He closed his eyes, thinking of all the things Fergus said about his brother. He straightened his spine, pushed his shoulders back and down, and lifted his chin. He breathed deep, thinking of how Kiera needed him to be strong. He opened his eyes.

"What you are about to see may keep Kinrowan, and Kiera alive," he announced. "Malcolm will go as the letter demanded, with Ramsay."

Fergus tilted his head, appraising Duff. His keen eyes narrowed.

"The note said I was to come alone," said Malcolm.

"Aye, and ye will go forward alone once ye see them. Ye'll take off yer sword and yer dirk and all, and ye will hand them to Ramsay."

"I dinna trust the man to go in without weapons."

"He will see ye hand yer blades to Ramsay but ye'll have the whips Laird MacKenzie gifted ye with. He'll not expect that."

After their older brother Torquil was so badly whipped by the Campbells many of the MacDougals had learned to use the weapon. Malcolm had taken it further. He was not one to spend time dicing or boasting. Instead he'd quietly worked away at his skills. It took years to perfect the placing of the tip of the whip. Malcolm could use two at once in battle.

MacKenzie had heard about it and asked for a demonstration as he'd not heard of anyone else with such a skill. He'd given Malcolm a matched pair of six foot whips. Because Kinrowan was so large there were rooms with empty s.p.a.ce. One of them was on the first floor. It had a vaulted ceiling and a trapdoor to the pit. Malcolm had gone in there, sometimes with Duff, and practiced.

Malcolm pursed his lips as he looked up, thinking. "Aye, it might work."

"My brother will wear my mask until he is far enough from Kinrowan Castle. Then he will give it to Ramsay to hide. Malcolm will watch Duff leave Kinrowan."

"How can that be, laddie?" asked Fergus.

Duff turned his back and reached for the leather tie. He lifted it off his face and rubbed his skin. Neither he nor Malcolm had shaved since the morning before. His dark stubble would cover his chin scars. He took a moment and turned to face them.

"Satan's toenails!" Fergus peered at him, face white. "There's two of ye!"

"I will be Malcolm of Kinrowan," said Duff. "My brother will be Malcolm, Kiera's husband."

Fergus, Todd, and even Ramsay looked from Duff to Malcolm and back. Ramsay knew they were identical but had not seen them together, unmasked.

"How do I look, Fergus?" Duff strode across the room to Malcolm. They stared, eye to eye, and then turned to face the room.

"None will ken it," said Ramsay.

"If we can get Kiera and the lad away ye mayna need to do this," said Todd.

"I dinna wish to spend the rest of my days thinkin' of Ross kidnapping my wife," said Malcolm. "He must be shown up badly enough that King James will finally stop him."

"Stuffing the Lord of Kintail's daughter in a cave is nay bad enough?" asked Fergus with enough sarcasm to sink a boat.

"Ross is married to Kiera's older sister," said Duff. "That was by the king's order, to stop attacks between the two clans. It hasn't worked. This might."

"So ye'll be sending the real laird to meet with Ross," said Todd. "Duff will be Laird Malcolm here so all will think their laird allowed his brother to go."

"They will learn the truth when we stand side by side with Kiera after Ross is vanquished. And Camden," added Malcolm. "He is an orphan, aye?" He waited for the keeper's nod. "He is now my foster son."

"Our foster son," said Duff.

"How will we get Malcolm, the real one, back from Ross's men?"

"You ask the d.a.m.nedest questions, marshall," said Ramsay.

"And what is the d.a.m.nedest answer?" demanded Todd.

They all turned to Malcolm. He sighed heavily. "I will find that out when I see Ross face-to-face."

"Do ye think he'll come?" asked Duff.

Malcolm nodded. "I canna see him missing the chance to walk into Kinrowan with Kiera." He ran his hands through his hair, then clutched it with his fingers and scowled. "What will we do to get through the night?"

"I'll get out my chessboard," said Fergus. "Losing a few games will tire ye out so ye can sleep."

"Lady Kiera!"

Thinking the voice was from another dream of rescue, and having finally found an almost comfortable position, she didn't move. The warm body beside her, did. Camden scrambled over her, b.u.mping her ankle.

She inhaled a hiss as pain shot through her. She was awake. Far too awake for this early in the day. The cave was dark, but not black.

"My lady, 'tis the marshall! We must get out now, afore those toads come for us."

Camden had started out calling the Rosses another word, one she'd heard her father use when his whittling blade slipped. She'd suggested 'toads' was better for mixed company. She turned around and crawled to the entrance on her sore knees. A boat with familiar faces bobbed below.

"Thank G.o.d, ye're safe!" said Kinrowan's marshall.

She didn't know the man as he spent the day with the men and in the stables, and she spent her time with the women in the castle. But he had been pointed out to her. The guard with him also looked familiar.

"Can ye climb down, my lady?"

"Climb?" Her laugh sounded close to frantic, even to her own ears. "Nay, I canna climb down. But I shall scramble if you'll try to catch me if I fall. I twisted my ankle last night and climbing up here made it worse." She peered down. "The sea seemed far lower last night."

The two men shared a chuckle. "'Tis called the tide, la.s.s. 'Tis high now, so closer to ye. Can ye lower yerself, feet first?"

"I'll stay here and have ye hold on to me," said Camden.

The lad was half her height and less than half her weight. It was chivalrous, but not smart.

"Can you gather everything?" she asked Camden. "If it looks like we havena been here, and someone different is sent to fetch us, they may think they have the wrong cave."

Camden beamed at her. "Ye are thinking well, my lady."

"Aye, well," she muttered to herself, "the foot's not working but the other end is."

She did not wish to recall the next while. Climbing down, looking at the sea and hoping she'd not fall into it while using an excruciatingly painful ankle, was best forgotten. So was having to remove her gown and put on the rough clothes of a fisherman. Her beautiful gown was stuffed under nets, no longer beautiful. But she was alive.

She sat at the back, s.h.i.+vering, the canvas clothes sc.r.a.ping her skin. The marshall sat beside her. Though he didn't put his arm around her, he blocked the wind and the side touching her was less chilled. Camden sat on the nets while the guard rowed. They'd told her she'd be taken to a cottage near the beach, dressed in a servant's garb, and brought to the castle in a cart with the other female servants who went there daily to work.

"My lady, ye must ken sommat afore ye get to land," murmured the marshall. "Laird Malcolm has gone to rescue ye, but Laird Malcolm will greet ye at Kinrowan." He winked and touched his face as she'd seen Duff do to adjust her mask.

"Duff is Malcolm?" she whispered back.

"Aye, my lady. Ye need to ken it so ye'll say aught."

"But if I'm rescued from the cave why would the laird need to rescue me?"

"We ken ye're safe, and the laird will ken it, but Ross will not."

"Ross?"

"Aye. This was done by Alexander Ross of Balnagowan. The laird and steward, as well as me, the keeper, and Fergus, agreed he must have something done to stop him from doing this again to ye."

"You mean to kill him?"