Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
S he was left tied to a tree, which, she supposed, was better than death. Not that she felt any sort of relief after the laird’s decision. While the men sat around the campfire a little distance away congratulating themselves on the fact that they had escaped from the chapel and managed to kidnap his bride right from under Laird Gunn’s nose, she was left to mull over her fate.
She was alive, and she ought to at least be grateful for that. But her uncertain future still angered her greatly. Taken from one man only to be used by another was hardly something to rejoice about. But she ought to have become accustomed to it, ought she not? It wasn’t as though she was seen as anything other than a bargaining chip. In fact, she never had been.
A little time later, Laird Mackay stood and announced that he was going to retire.
“We have a long journey ahead o’ us,” he continued, looking down at his men. “I suggest ye dae the same.”
At that, the men began shifting, each moving to their allocated places where they had already set up makeshift sleeping arrangements.
Turning from the fire, the laird made his way over to her. At each step, Elsie could feel her fear rising once more.
“Ye will sleep beside me,” he said, once he reached her.
“I certainly willnae,” she retorted.
“Ye think, after all the effort and planning, that I’m going tae be foolish enough tae give ye a chance tae escape in the middle o’ the night,” he growled. “Nae a chance. Stand.”
She did as she was bid, more out of fear of what he might do if she didn’t. Suddenly, he took a step forward and leaned in closely. Elsie gasped and turned her head away.
He chuckled at her reaction, and she flushed with embarrassment, for while she had imagined he was going to force her to kiss him, she instead, felt the rope being wrapped around her waist.
“Dinnae flatter yersel’,” he growled.
Yanking her past the fire, he brought her to a place where a blanket already lay on the ground. He nodded abruptly at it, and Elsie knelt down, and then lay on the blanket.
“If ye dinnae want tae freeze tae death, I’d get a little closer,” he said, lying down beside her. “I can keep ye warm.”
“I’d sooner freeze,” she snapped.
“Suit yersel’.”
But Elsie had never spent a night out of bed, and as the hours went by, she found herself shivering under the star lit sky. At some point, her shivering must have disturbed the laird, for half asleep, he reached out his arm to pull her into him, but she stubbornly pulled away.
“Silly woman,” he murmured, turning from her and slipping back to sleep with ease.
Her teeth chattered, her body quivered, and as tempted as she was to turn towards him, she battled the desire and continued to suffer. The hours wiled away and, hardly getting a wink of sleep and completely exhausted, Elsie’s eyes could stay open no longer. Overriding the discomfort of the cold, they finally closed just as the dawn broke.
Enjoying the depth of slumber, she could hear a distant voice calling her name, but she was too comfortable to pay any heed to it. Automatically pulling her arms into her body, she held onto her sleep as tightly as she could.
Suddenly, she gasped, for her face felt cold and wet. Panting as she opened her eyes, she saw the laird standing above her, trickling water on her face.
“What the devil are ye daeing?” she cried, swiping it away with her hands.
Laughing down at her abrupt awakening, the laird said, “We need tae get going if we want tae get married this day.”
Elsie sat up, feeling the aches of her body from lying on the hard floor and, still wiping the water from her face, she glared up at him. Through gritted teeth, she hissed. “I dinnae want tae marry ye.”
“Aye, well,” he quipped back, “we cannae always get what we want, can we, Elspeth?”
“I prefer Elsie,” she snarled, but he didn’t pay her any attention.
She hated the name Elspeth. No one called her that apart from her father, a cold man who had not once shown her any affection. In fact, Laird Munro had better relationships with his men than he did with her.
When she was a child she had not understood it, but the older she got, the more the reason became glaringly obvious, mainly because of the remarks he aimed at her.
“What a shame ye were nae born a male. At least I would have someone tae teach, tae spar with, someone who could match me intellect. It is a shame I never produced an heir.”
Or, “What would ye ken? Ye’re just a lass.”
And, “This clan will have nae savior unless ye marry a decent laird.”
When he did speak to her, on occasions that were few and far between, his comments were derogatory and denigrating at best, all delivered with a snarl of disappointment. The only time he had ever said anything positive, and even that was a stretch, had been a remark he had made about her usefulness in forming an alliance with Laird Gunn.
In short, her father did not love her, and never had, simply because she had been born the wrong sex. As though she had had any choice in the matter. She was a useful asset only, that was all she would ever be to him.
Now, as she brushed herself down surrounded by strange men, Elsie was once more being used for someone else’s gain. Another useful asset, only to a different end.
“I would like tae bathe,” she demanded.
Laird Mackay had his back to her when she spoke, and turning to look at her, he shook his head. “Nae a chance.”
“Are we nae tae get married today?” she countered. “Ye would like me tae present mesel’ tae the priest unkempt, would ye?”
His brows furrowed as he considered her point. Of course, she could not care less about the priest, or looking unkempt in front of the cleric. It only served as an excuse to have the opportunity to freshen herself.
“Fine,” the laird said eventually. “But I will come with ye.”
Elsie’s eyes flew wide. “Certainly nae,” she balked, feeling embarrassed at the very idea of it. “I am a lady, and as such, I need me privacy.”
For another minute, the laird didn’t answer, and then, with a slight smirk, he nodded. “All right.”
But his expression quickly made Elsie suspicious, and staring at him, she said, “Ye swear, ye willnae look?”
Raising his right hand, he smirked. “I swear.”
How much she was supposed to trust him, Elsie had no idea. How much could one trust a man who had just snatched a lady from a chapel moments before her vows?
Narrowing her eyes, she continued to stare at him.
“Me word is me bond,” he added, as though that ought to fill her with confidence.
“Fine,” she hissed.
Taking her by the arm, the laird and his companion, that she had since discovered to be named Alisdair, walked with her down to the river that was situated a little way from their camp.
Nearing the river, he pulled her towards him, untying the rope that remained at her waist.
“Dinnae even think o’ trying anything,” he growled, his eyes dark as he looked down at her.
Where exactly would I go, me laird?!
Keeping her angry thoughts to herself, she glared back at him.
“Remove the rope only tae undress, and then, wrap it back around yer waist. Dinnae mak’ me come tae check if ye’ve done as I ask.”
Nodding abruptly, she turned away from him and stormed toward a thick tree near the water’s edge. She didn’t trust that he would not try and look, and thus, the tree would provide adequate cover.
Nervously, she removed one item of clothing at a time, sneaking peaks around the tree, only to find the laird and Alisdair with their backs to her, in fairness keeping to his word.
Finally, dressed only in her chemise, she fixed the rope back around her waist. There was no point in tempting fate. The last thing she needed was him seeing her in such a state of undress.
Just as Elsie began walking to the water’s edge, she heard a rowdy racket, and turning to look just beyond a thin group of trees to her left, her mouth fell open when she saw the laird’s men, naked as the day they were born, frolicking in the water and washing themselves.
“Och, me God,” she gasped.
Her words caught their attention, and spinning to look, the men began cheering, beckoning her into the water to join them.
Throwing her arms around herself, for she had never been so naked in front of any man, she spun on her heels to retreat, only to see Laird Mackay and his companion laughing heartily at her plight.
“Ye did that on purpose,” she spat.
“The laird chuckled.
With her teeth clenched, she spat. “I swear, there will come a time that ye will feel far more humiliated than I in this moment.”
She then turned to storm off, but suddenly, the rope tugged her hard, and she tumbled backwards.
“Argh,” she cried, as her arms and legs flew in all directions.
Her face now flamed with even more anger and mortification. As though being naked in front of all the laird’s men was not dreadful enough, she was now rolling around on the ground like some imbecile.
“What is wrong with ye?” she screamed, struggling to swallow down the tears of embarrassment.
She noticed a slight flicker of regret cross his face, and then, he was beside her. Taking her by the arm, he helped her to her feet.
“Ye need tae ken one thing, Lady Elspeth,” he whispered close to her ear. “I couldnae care less about yer feelings. Now, get dressed.”
I despise ye. I have never despised anything or anyone in me life as much as I despise ye in this moment.
He smirked down at her before releasing her, leaving Elsie to hurry off back to where her clothes lay.
Once she was dressed again, with the rope back at her waist, she stormed back towards the men, still seething with anger.
“Now what?” she demanded.
The laird regarded her with a side-ways glance. “We travel tae the first village on me clan lands. Once I find the priest, we’ll marry immediately, then the deed will be done.”
“I’ll never be yers,” she spat.
But he only smirked down at her. “Aye, so ye keep saying.”