Chapter 14
“Nay!” Elspeth woke up with a shriek, flailing her arms. Her head throbbed as she shot up and then immediately fell back onto the bed, curling her body up tightly, ready to defend herself from anyone who might attack her.
Fear still blazed within her mind. She looked around with a fervent gaze at her surroundings.
She blinked and started to calm down when she realized that she was no longer in the cellar, and instead of Angus being in front of her, she was with Abigail.
“Don’t worry, ye are safe now,” Abigail said softly.
She smiled kindly and reached out towards Elspeth, gently caressing her arm.
Elspeth smiled but still looked around nervously, afraid that Angus was lurking nearby.
Abigail reached across to a small table and picked up a mug, pressing it into Elspeth’s hands.
“Drink this. It’ll make ye feel better. It’s an old remedy,” she said.
Elspeth breathed in the bitter aroma and sipped the thick liquid, wincing as it oozed down her throat, as thick as tar.
“Are ye sure this will make me feel better? It tastes like death.” Elspeth puckered her lips and forced herself to swallow when all she wanted to do was spit it out.
Abigail chuckled. “Aye, it may nae taste like it, but sometimes the things that are good for us are nae what we’d like. It’ll get ye right and settled before tae long. How are ye feeling? Ye hae been through some ordeal.”
Elspeth took another small sip, hoping that it would taste better the second time around, but it was a forlorn hope.
“Aye, that I hae. What happened? The last thing I remember was the door opening and Angus coming at me with a knife. I just jumped out of the way.”
Abigail nodded. “Ye seemed sae desperate tae avoid the attack that ye knocked yerself out. Finlay carried ye back here.”
“Finlay?”
“Aye. When he realized ye didnae return, he took Alan and Ian out looking for ye. I mentioned that ye were gaeing tae get a new dress, sae they started with the seamstress and went from there. It didnae take them tae long tae find out that Angus was the one with a grudge against the laird. Ye should hae seen him, Elspeth. Finlay was like a storm charging through town, roaring tae find ye. I dinnae think the devil himself could hae stopped him.”
Elspeth looked up and smiled widely. Her heart was warmed by this.
If there had been any doubt that Finlay cared for her, then it had just been erased.
She only wished that she had been conscious so that she could remember what it was like being carried away by him.
To think that he would be so roused to passion, he would save her like that.
She thought she had been doomed, but she should have known better with Finlay as her husband.
Her heart swelled with love. It almost made all the trauma worth it.
“What happened tae Angus and the others?” Elspeth asked. “Is Finlay unharmed?”
Abigail waved a hand dismissively, as though it was silly to think that Finlay could ever be harmed in a duel. “Angus tried tae attack him, but Finlay made short work of him. I think he would hae killed him if he haed nae been sae desperate tae get ye tae safety.”
“Where is Angus now?”
“In the dungeons at the castle. Finlay is deciding what tae dae with him. He should be back soon,” Abigail said, and Elspeth breathed a huge sigh of relief.
She sank into the bed and let the tension ooze out of her body.
She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, opening them when Ian entered the room.
He came in and stood beside Abigail, kissing her on the head.
His hands fell to her shoulders, and Abigail smiled at him.
“How is our lady?” Ian asked with a smile on his face. He was in good spirits.
“Much better thanks tae ye, Finlay, and Alan,” Elspeth said. “Thank ye, Ian. I appreciate ye coming tae rescue me.”
“Ah, think naething of it, lass. Once we heard ye were in danger, we weren’t gaeing ta let ye suffer.
Ye are one of us,” he said. It was such a simple turn of phrase, and it didn’t seem to mean much to him, but it meant everything to her.
She had been struggling with feelings of belonging ever since she had arrived in this new place, but after hearing of the efforts Finlay went through to rescue her and being taken care of by Abigail and Ian, she was finally beginning to feel like she was a part of the clan.
“That means a lot tae me,” she admitted.
Ian smiled at her. “I cannae believe the gall of those men, though. What did they think was gaeing tae happen by kidnapping the laird’s wife?” He shook his head in disbelief.
“They didnae know I was the laird’s wife when they took me,” she said.
“Who did they think ye were?” Abigail asked.
Elspeth shrugged. “Just a maid. I was tae afraid tae tell them the truth.”
“A maid? What would they want a maid for?”
“They wanted information on the castle.” Her head dropped. “I haed tae tell them. I couldnae keep it a secret. They threatened tae hurt me, tae keep me there. I hope Finlay can forgive me.” She choked on her words and averted her gaze, worried that she had let Finlay down.
“Ye dinnae hae anything tae worry about. Ye did naething wrong. Ye did what ye haed tae in order tae survive. Everything haes worked out for the best. Ye arenae in danger any longer, and ye dinnae hae tae worry about Finlay.” She squeezed Elspeth’s arm again and smiled kindly.
Ian backed up her sentiment with a smile of his own.
Elspeth took a third, smaller sip from the concoction that Abigail had given her, but she was unable to manage anymore, and she put the mug down, glad that Abigail didn’t tell her to drink anymore.
There was a thought that troubled her mind, though.
“What’s going tae happen tae the men now?” she asked.
Abigail and Ian glanced at each other.
“That’s for Finlay tae decide,” Abigail began.
“I wouldnae be surprised if he decided tae kill the lot of them. They deserve naething less, the treasonous swine.” Ian said.
Elspeth gulped. “Dae ye think he will?”
“We need tae send a message. Daeing something like this cannae be tolerated. If we show them any mercy, it will only encourage them tae try again. Finlay isn’t a man prone tae showing any weakness,” Ian said.
Elspeth knew that better than anyone, but she didn’t like the fact that men could die just because they had captured her.
Angus had been the ringleader, and the other men didn’t seem to have the same anger as him.
Even though she hated what she had been through, she didn’t have it in her heart to want them to die.
It wasn’t long after this when Finlay showed. He strode into Abigail and Ian’s house, looking stern and troubled. They greeted him kindly, but he said little to them.
“Would ye mind giving my wife and I a wee moment taegether?” he said. From his lips, it sounded more like an order than a request. Abigail and Ian nodded, while Finlay stood there, looking resolute and stoic.