Chapter Nineteen #2
“Brody? Brody, are you in there?”
Lilia’s head shot up so fast that she clipped him in the chin. “It’s Lady Currie!”
Terror filled the air. Brody was on his feet in a flash, pulling her off the bed. “Get under the bed,” he whispered urgently. “Hurry!”
Lilia dropped to her knees, rolling under the small bed as Brody shoved a coverlet in after her. But he was mindful to reply to the woman just outside his door.
“What do ye want?” he boomed.
There was a pause as he tucked the coverlet in and around Lilia to shield her from all angles. “I want to speak with you, please,” Lady Currie said, muffled.
With Lilia covered, Brody moved for the door but he realized he was stark naked. Quickly, he grabbed his breeches from the bottom of the bed where he’d kicked them off and yanked them onto his body. He was fastening the ties as he unbolted the door and opened it.
The door cracked open to reveal Lady Currie standing there, wrapped up in her finery and smiling politely at him. He looked around outside to see if anyone had accompanied her, but she appeared quite alone.
“How did ye find my cottage?” he asked warily.
She maintained her polite smile. “I gave one of the camp guards a coin and he told me,” she said. “May I come in?”
“Nay. State yer business, please.”
She struggled to keep the smile on her face. “I was hoping we could… speak.”
That’s not what she wanted from him. Brody could see that from the look on her face. She was trying very hard to throw an alluring look in his direction, saying she wanted to speak with him but meaning she wanted something far more.
“I thought ye were speaking with Sir Clegg,” he said.
She shook her head. “As strange as it sounds, he would not take my money for you,” she said. “He told me he would stand by your decision. I am, therefore, appealing to you directly. Won’t you let me in?”
“It is late and I am weary, m’lady.”
“Please?”
He sighed faintly. What was it he’d told Lilia? The woman is going to hound me.
Already, it was starting.
“M’lady, I dunna know how much plainer I can be,” he said.
“I am not trying tae insult ye, but I have a wife and I am faithful only tae her. I dunna want yer company but I am sure there are a dozen other men who would gladly entertain ye. Even if ye dunna understand, I would ask that ye respect my decision. I willna change my mind.”
The smile on her face vanished. “Then you are a fool,” she hissed. “Do you have any idea how much money I have at my disposal? I could make you a very wealthy man, Brody.”
“My honor is worth more than money, m’lady. Please go.”
Embarrassed and angry, she backed away from the door. “This is not over,” she said defiantly. “I always get what I want, Brody. Do not forget that.”
“In this case, m’lady, ye shall not get me.”
She growled unhappily and turned on her heel, marching back the way she had come. Brody watched her until he was certain she wasn’t going to turn around and charge back to him. Closing the door, he threw the bolt again before heading to the bed.
“Ye can come out now,” he said, pulling out the coverlet he’d stuffed around her. “Did ye hear that?”
Lilia poked her head out, holding out her hand so he could pull her all the way out. Standing up, she brushed the dirt off her leg and arm, grasping at her shift on the ground where Brody had tossed it.
“I heard,” she said unhappily, pulling her clothing on. “I’ve seen her do this, Brody. She’ll pick at ye and hope tae break ye down.”
“Then she’s in for a big disappointment.”
Lilia smiled sadly at him, sad for the entire situation. Theirs would have been such a happy circumstance were it not for Lady Currie’s interference.
Something told Lilia that it was only going to get worse.
“I must go,” she said. “If she’s in a state, she’ll probably want tae leave early, so I must be ready tae leave, too.”
He knew that but he was still disappointed that she had to leave at all. “Someday, ye’ll not have tae leave me,” he said, helping her secure the ties on the back of her dress. “There will be a day when we willna have tae worry over Lady Currie and her tantrums.”
“I know,” she said, turning to face him. “But that time is not now. But someday.”
Reaching out, he smoothed at her mussed hair. There was so much he wanted to say to her but he wasn’t sure where to even start.
“I’m going tae beg or borrow those two pounds,” he finally said, cupping her face in his big hands.
“I canna stand that ye must live with that… that woman and her nurse who beats ye. I canna stomach any of it, Lilia. I want ye tae come here and live with me. That’s the only thing in the world I want right now. ”
She could see the turmoil in his face. “As do I,” she said, her hands on his. “Somehow, I dunna feel whole knowing I have tae leave ye. I feel as if something is missing in me.”
He smiled faintly. “I’m missing. But not for long, I swear it.”
“I believe ye,” she said, standing on her toes to kiss him sweetly. “And I look forward tae that time more than ye know. But for now… I must go.”
He was reluctant to let her go and Lilia had to pull herself away from him, as difficult as it was. He grabbed her and kissed her one final time before finally releasing her, and she headed out into the icy night, leaving behind a man that she was aching for.
As she’d told him, she felt as if she were leaving a piece of herself behind.
But for now, they had little choice.
Fortunately for Lilia, she made it back to Lady Currie’s carriage about five minutes before Lady Currie herself joined her, upset and frustrated that the warrior she wanted as a companion didn’t want her.
As the carriage lurched along the darkened road home, Lady Currie abruptly fell silent. When she spoke again, it was without the recent agitation.
There was a frightening amount of calm.
“Lilia,” she said thoughtfully. “Brody McKay thinks he has beaten me, but that is not true. I told him I always get my way and I shall.”
“Aye, m’lady,” Lilia said.
Lady Currie turned to her. “Do you know how?”
Lilia shook her head. In truth, she was terrified to hear it. “Nay, m’lady.”
Lady Currie smiled. To Lilia, it looked like a horrific, nasty gesture. There was no warmth to it, only evil.
“Warriors at The Cal are purchased to lead armies,” she said. “If Brody will not allow me to purchase him for my pleasure, then I will purchase him for Hawkhill’s insignificant little army.”
Lilia didn’t understand what she meant and wasn’t sure she wanted to. “M’lady?”
Lady Currie’s face lit up. “Don’t you see?” she said excitedly. “If he serves Hawkhill’s army, then he serves me.”
Lilia still wasn’t clear. “He would answer tae ye and Laird Currie.”
Lady Currie began to laugh. Peals of sweet and sinister laughter.
“Nay, Lilia, you don’t understand,” she said.
“If he serves me, then I can command him to do whatever I wish him to do. If I want to command him into my bed, then he cannot refuse. He is bound by his oath to obey and a man of honor would never break his oath. Now do you understand?”
Lilia did and she was horrified. It was worse than she could have imagined. “I… I think so, m’lady.”
Lady Currie was still cackling over what she perceived as a coming victory. She pulled out her personal flask, which was empty, before digging around in a basket that Colly had sent along, which had more wine in it. She drank deeply.
“We shall return tomorrow and I shall make an offer that Clegg cannot refuse,” she said. “By tomorrow night, Brody McKay will be mine.”
Lilia didn’t know what to say. In truth, she was afraid to speak. She turned her attention to the small window in the cab of the carriage, watching the dark landscape pass and feeling an inordinate amount of apprehension.
A man of honor would never break his oath.
It was very possible that, on that technicality, Lady Currie could very well back Brody into a corner.
Would he be forced to obey?
A bad situation that was about to get worse.