Chapter Nineteen
Gregory and Daniel watched from the ramparts as the warriors from the Gunn and Sinclair clans retreated. From what they’d seen, there had been a few injuries on their sides, nothing on the Mackenzies. Daniel had allowed the injured to visit with Emma.
“That was verra strange,” Daniel said, shaking his head.
Gregory nodded. “Aye. They dinna last verra long. Almost as if they expected to lose.”
Daniel slapped Gregory’s back. “Well, for whatever reason they’re gone, as far as I know we had no injuries, and hopefully they are gone for good.”
They went to the great hall where they ordered whatever food that was in the kitchen and ale. The servants were slowly returning to their duties since the battle was over.
One of the maids placed a platter of apples, cheese, bread and butter on the table in front of them. They enjoyed the limited feast and within minutes, it seemed, Evan returned from the battle.
“How did it go, Evan?” Daniel asked. “Based on what we saw, we dinna think it was necessary for myself and Daniel to join in the fray.”
Evan settled himself on the bench and reached over to take some of the offerings on the platter. “It was, by far, the strangest attack on a castle I have ever seen, or heard of.”
“’Twas obvious they had no chance of getting into the castle to grab Megan, so why did they even try?” Gregory asked.
“Well, since we still have a couple of hours until evening meal, I’m going to check with Emma and see about the injuries she’s treating.”
Gregory thought about going with Daniel to check on Megan, but knowing she was busy with Emma, he decided instead to join the men who had fought in the battle to get some ideas from them about how it went. He left the great hall and headed to the lists.
*
Megan struggled and at one point even bit the hand of the man who was keeping her mouth covered. “Stop lass, or I will cause ye some injuries. ’Twill be easy for me to convince The Gunn that ye injured yerself.”
Tired from the struggle, anyway, Megan stopped wiggling and took a deep breath. The man who’d originally grabbed her trotted over to two horses standing quietly near a large tree. He jumped up on one of the horses and reached down for Megan.
The other man released her and she opened her mouth to scream, but was immediately silenced by a smack on the back of her head.
*
She had no idea how long she’d been out, but the jostling of her body on the horse made the pain in her head excruciating. Her mouth was now free, but she knew she was far enough from the castle that she could scream her head off—which would hurt her head even more—and no one would hear her.
“Why are ye doing this?” she asked, softly. Even that caused the pain to radiate through her skull.
“’Tis none of yer business, lass. We were sent by The Gunn and The Sinclair to bring ye to them.”
“If ye are bringing me to the devils, ’tis certainly my business.” Not wishing to increase her pain, she remained silent for the remainder of the trip, which lasted less time than she’d expected.
The sound of men talking awoke her from a deep sleep. Her head didn’t hurt quite as much, but still hurt like the devil.
Anthony and The Gunn walked up to where her rider came to a stop. “Well, look who’s here,” Anthony said. “My favorite niece and yer betrothed.”
“I am no’ yer niece and I am not his betrothed.”
Anthony lips tightened. “Aye, ye are and we are headed to Edinburgh to have yer fake marriage to Gregory Mackenize annulled.”
“Ye are no’ making sense. I hope ye’re no’ planning on using that pretend order from the king. Ye ken Gregory—my husband—and I have a marriage certificate signed by the priest who performed the ceremony. If ye plan to petition the king for an annulment, ye will be breaking the laws of the church.”
Anthony looked at The Gunn and they both smirked. “Well, I guess ye will have to wait until we arrive in Edinburgh.”
She didn’t like the sound of that.
*
Gregory sat at the dais with Daniel and Beth awaiting the evening meal. His visits with the various warriors who had chased off The Gunn and The Sinclair came up with no other information that would help to explain what the men had been trying to do.
“Emma must have been busier than I thought,” Gregory said. “I dinna realize the Gunn men had so many injuries.”
Just then Emma walked down the steps from the first floor and headed toward the kitchen.
Gregory frowned at seeing Emma, since he assumed she was with Megan. He stood and walked through the great hall and caught up with her in the kitchen. “Did ye leave Megan to watch the injured?”
Emma looked up at him, confusion on her face. “Megan left me a few hours ago.”
Gregory’s stomach muscles tightened. “What do ye mean? I thought she was with ye helping out?”
“Aye, she was, but she left when ye sent the warrior to bring her to ye.”
He frowned. “I dinna ken what ye mean. I dinna send anyone for her. Who was this warrior?”
Emma shrugged. “I doona ken. There are so many warriors. I doona ken them all.”
“What did this warrior say?”
“He approached Megan and said ye wanted him to bring her where ye were.”
His heart began to pound. “How long ago was this?”
Beginning look very nervous, Emma said, “Right after the Gunn and the Sinclair left.”
Oh no. Gregory turned on his heel and strode back to the great hall. He stepped up to Daniel. “They took her.”
Daniel jumped up, spilling his ale all over the table. There was no reason to ask who. “When?”
Gregory waved his hand. “Hours ago. Emma said a warrior—who, she dinna ken—came to her bothy with orders to bring Megan to me.”
“Search the keep and castle,” Daniel shouted to everyone in the great hall. “Megan Mackenzie is missing.”
“I doona ken how they got her out.”
Daniel placed his hand on Gregory’s shoulder. “She may still be here. Perhaps they hid her and are waiting for the keep to settle down before taking her away.”
The laird shook his head. “That sounds ridiculous even to me.”
Men scattered from the great hall. The search was on.
*
Megan had been tied to a tree near where Anthony and the hated Gunn had made camp. Thankfully, the pain in her head had subsided so she could at least think about her dilemma.
Obviously, the warrior who came for her in Emma’s bothy was not one of the Makenzie men. Since she was not familiar with them all, she didn’t know he was not one of them.
She also thought about the hole in the castle wall. She’d walked around the castle many times, both with Gregory and Beth, and never saw a hole before. Had it been dug out of the wall recently, and for the purpose of dragging her away?
She’d also come to the conclusion that the so-called attack was to allow a distraction while they dragged her off.
She and Emma had questioned the indifference of the battle.
No Mackenzie injuries, which was good, and only a few Gunn injuries, with one somewhat serious warrior who was giving Emma a hard time.
Sinclair walked over to her and squatted in front of her. “Ye shouldn’t have run from me, lass. Ye were promised to The Gunn and our trip to Edinburgh to see the king will straighten it all out.”
“Ye can make all the betrothal agreements ye want to, Anthony, but Gregory and I are legally married by the church. This is a waste of time.”
Anthony’s face softened for a minute. “Did they hurt ye lass? They were told no’ to cause ye any harm.”
Megan shifted. “Well if ye consider being dragged through a brick wall and then hit o’er the head with something strong enough to knock ye out, then yer men dinna obey yer orders.”
Ignoring her remarks, he stood. “We’ll be cooking rabbits that my men have caught. I will see that ye get some food.”
She sighed. “Am I going to be allowed to take care of my needs and clean myself up?”
He nodded. “Aye. We doona mean to make this hard on ye.”
Megan gave a brittle laugh. “Perhaps ye can have someone clean up the back of my head. ’Tis sure I am that there is dried blood there.”
Anthony stood and walked over to one of the warriors. It might have been the one who took her, she wasn’t sure since by the time she got to the point where she might have been able to identify her captors, they knocked her out.
He waved his hands around, shouting at the man, turning and pointing at Megan. He then walked off and pulled a warrior aside and spoke with him. The warrior looked in Megan’s direction. He nodded at Sinclair and walked over to her.
He also squatted in front of her. “I’m to take ye to the nearby creek so ye can do what ye need to do.”
“I will need a cloth to clean myself up.”
The warrior, no more than a lad, nodded, left her, spoke with Sinclair and returned to her with a piece of linen. He untied her from the tree and helped her up.
They walked in silence away from the camp. She was dizzy, whether from the smack on the head, or what had happened to her in the last few hours she didn’t know.
Now that she was able to think clearly, she wondered how soon after she was taken that Gregory found her missing. If he thought she was still working with Emma, he would have no reason to seek her out until it was time for the evening meal.
She looked up, assuming from the position of the sun that it was getting close to that time. Would he come after her? Would he be glad to be rid of a wife who was only a duty? Her heart said no, but her aching head had its doubts.
She felt better after taking care of her needs and then washing in the creek. After cleaning herself, she dipped the cloth in the creek and handed it to the warrior. “Can ye please clean the injury on my head?”
The young warrior stepped back, his eyes wide. “I doona ken how to do that.”
Megan sighed. “All I need ye to do is place this on my head and see that all the dried blood is off. I tried the best I could, but I need someone else to finish it up.”
He reluctantly took the cloth from her and patted the area. She wasn’t convinced that he got rid of all the blood, but it would have to do.
They walked back to the camp. He settled her down in front of the tree and tied her. It wasn’t as secure as it had been before, but any likelihood of her escaping was slim. She had no idea where she was and wandering around by herself was more dangerous than the situation she was in.
She dozed for a short time, it seemed, based on the position of the sun once again. Hopefully, the knock she took on her head was not something serious. She knew from working with Emma that head injuries could be dangerous.
The Gunn squatted down in front of her with a flat piece of wood holding some roasted rabbit. Although she would have liked to push it away, her stomach reminded her it needed food if she was to remain strong through this.
He held out the meat. “I am happy to offer food to my soon-to-be wife.”
“I am no’ yer soon-to-be anything.” Still, she took the food.