Chapter Three
Gregory read the panic in Lady Sinclair’s eyes. He had no intention of leaving the lass here to be shuffled off to an old man. His honor was at stake as well as his care for the lass.
The six warriors who came with him were still down in the great hall. Trying to grab her now and making an escape was not a good idea. The lass could be hurt in the battle that would erupt.
“I’m no’ going to fight ye,” he said. When he heard Megan’s sharp intake of breath, he turned and winked at her. Hoping she was a bright woman, and had already sensed his honor, she would understand this was not finished.
Gregory turned and left the room and headed downstairs. He waved at his men with him and they followed him out the door.
“What about the lass?”
“We will get her, but we have to make some plans.” He led them to the stables and, making sure the grooms heard them, he talked to the men about the best way to return to Castle Leod.
They fetched their horses and rode off. After a few miles, Gregory held up his hand, and the men stopped. “What’s going on, mon?” Francis, one of the men with them asked. “I thought we were bringing the lass back with us.”
Gregory swung off his horse, Apex, and led him to a small creek. The men followed him and once the horses were watered and hobbled, they all sat in a circle.
“’Tis not going to be as easy as I would like.”
Francis huffed and pulled a blade of grass and bit into it. “Most things are no’ easy.”
“There is an uncle there. The new Laird Sinclair. He has plans for the lass to marry the head of the Gunn clan. I ken the mon myself. He’s old, never misses a meal, and I canno’ imagine, nor allow, The Gunn to climb into bed with Megan Sinclair.”
“Robert’s widow?” John asked.
Gregory nodded.
“But ye can imagine yerself crawling into bed with the lass?” Callum, another warrior on the journey, said with a grin on his face.
Gregory smacked him in the back of his head and frowned. “We need a plan. The Sinclair is leaving at first light tomorrow to bring the lass to Clyth Castle. For as anxious as The Sinclair is to marry the lass off, I imagine they will perform the ceremony the minute they arrive.”
“So we must get her out of there as quickly as possible,” Alexander said.
“Aye. It’s either that or try to take her on the road, to Clyth Castle where there would be a chance of her being hurt. After seeing Robert’s uncle’s determination, and how quickly after his nephew’s demise this is all happening, there must be something big in it for him.”
“Do ye think he had something to do with Robert’s death?”
Gregory shrugged. “Unfortunately, we won’t have time to dwell on that. After Lady Sinclair and I are married, I might look into it, but no’ until the lass is safe from the uncle.”
After Lady Sinclair and I are married.
It amazed him how smoothly and quickly that statement came out. He’d never thought to be a married man.
*
Once Gregory left the castle, Uncle Anthony ordered Megan to her bedchamber. He followed her and stood in the middle of the room with his hands on his hips, scowling. “I doona believe that message for one minute. The man is an outsider opportunist. And, how did he even get that piece of parchment?”
Megan hadn’t given that thought any consideration. She had heard Robert speak of Gregory Mackenize, but since she’d never met him, this man could be an imposter who just made this up.
Now neither one of her choices seemed safe. Be hauled off to Clyth Castle and married to an old, smelly man, or rescued by a man she’d never met before, and had no reason to trust.
Even if he was the handsomest man she’d ever met.
In between bouts of anger, she’d been taken by his wavy, dark brown hair, deep blue eyes, and warrior’s body.
Anthony turned toward the door. “Pack yer belongings, lass. Ye will remain here until morning when we leave. I will have one of the maids bring yer supper.”
He and his two warriors left the room, slamming and locking the door.
Megan sat on her bed and hugged her stomach. There was no one to trust. Aye, Robert had mentioned Gregory a few times before and told her stories of their antics when they were training at Dornoch Castle. But was the message he brought with him real? Why hadn’t Robert mentioned it to her?
She eyed the window in her bedchamber again. If she waited until her supper was brought, no one would enter her bedchamber again until they came for her the next morning.
She walked to the window and looked down. It was quite a drop, but she could do it. The question was, what would she do once she was on the ground?
’Twas possible she could steal a horse from the stable, but go where? Plus, the dangers on the road were worse than what she could face with either Gregory Mackenzie or The Gunn.
With a deep sigh, she laid on the bed and stared at the canopy over her head. ’Twas not like her to give up, but she had no idea how to avoid her fate.
She rolled to one side and remembered Gregory winking at her when he’d left. For a warrior, she’d thought he’d given up too easily. Was that a sort of signal from him that he would not leave her to the fate Anthony planned?
Many sleepless nights caught up with her and she was sound asleep when the click of her bedchamber door lock woke her up. A maid entered with a supper tray. She placed it on the table by her bed and left, re-locking the door without saying a word. Most likely under orders from Anthony.
She had to force herself to eat, but with no idea what her fate was, she needed her strength. If she decided to escape, it might very well be the last meal she ate for a while.
*
“How well-guarded do ye think the lass is?” Francis asked as the six warriors and Gregory sat around the small fire they’d made, eating the few rabbits and fish they’d caught earlier. It was growing past gloaming and they would soon have to make their move to rescue Megan.
“I’m sure she’s locked in her bedchamber,” Gregory said.
Malcolm looked over at Gregory. “They might have one of his men in her room.”
Gregory shook his head. “First, he has no reason to believe she will try to escape with her door being locked. Then we made sure they think we’re on our way back to Castle Leod.
“And it doesn’t seem likely to have a mon in her room all night if they plan to pass her off to The Gunn tomorrow, looking as though she’d been raped,” Gregory said as he stabbed another piece of meat.
“Aye, I doubt he would be happy to know that the woman he’s marrying could be pregnant by another man,” Peter added.
“Or, given his age and lack of an heir he might verra well be happy about it,” Peter said with a grin.
They seven men remained silent, considering what Peter had just said.
“What is the plan, then?” John asked.
“The keep, or even the castle, doesn’t seem well guarded and since about half the men in the great hall were busy fondling the maids and drinking in the middle of the day, I think by the time it’s dark one of us could easily slip in and get the information from a very cooperative maid,” Gregory said with a grin, “about where Lady Sinclair bedchamber is located and if her door is locked, or if a mon stands guard.”
He stood and stretched. “But no’ me,” he added. “I’m sure anyone would remember me since I met with Lady Sinclair and the uncle in the great hall, while any one of you would not necessarily be noticed.”
“What do ye plan to do with the information then, break into her room?” Alexander asked.
“That will be decided once we find out where the lass is and what sort of guard she has.” He placed his hands on his hips and stared out at the beauty of the Highlands. “If we can’t get her tonight, we’ll have to grab her tomorrow on their way to Clyth Castle which I doona want to do.”
“So who will go to the great hall and get the information?” Peter asked.
“I will,” all six men quickly answered.
Gregory burst out laughing. “Ye forget whoever goes on the mission is not only there for some drink and tupping.”
A few hours later, Francis, the most ordinary looking of the men, left for the castle.
The rest of them sat around the fire, Gregory mostly planning in his mind how they would get the lass out with the information Francis would hopefully return with. He did not want to try to snatch the lass back while they traveled. That was too risky.
“Ye ne’er mentioned marriage before, Gregory. Are ye sure ye want to do this?” John asked. “And what if his widow doesn’t want ye?”
“I wouldn’t blame her, and she’s already said so,” Gregory replied with a soft laugh. “I’m not the man most lasses dream of. I have no idea how to offer sweet words. But I can keep her safe. I can keep her free from men like the one her uncle’s chosen.”
A long pause followed as Gregory thought once again about how his life would change. Then, quieter he added: “But if she asks me to leave her be, I will. I’ll protect her from other men even if I can’t call her mine.”