Part 4 (2/2)
”A captain has no authority to keep his entire regiment holed up at an abbey to protect a la.s.s whether he loves her or no',” Rob told them both with a bit of a bite in his words. Davina felt him inhale deeply, as if he was trying to rein in whatever it was he was feeling. ”I've let ye evade my questions long enough. I would know the truth of all this now, Davina.”
He was angry. He wanted answers and he wasn't getting them. Still, her name on his lips sounded tender, oddly profound. How long had it been since a man had spoken it? The last was Captain Geoffries when he was leaving her. Before that, mayhap her father...
”If I'm to bring war to my clan fer aidin' ye, I would know why.”
At his words, Will, riding slightly ahead of them, turned on his mount and cast his cousin a curious look of his own. Rob ignored it and lowered his voice so that only she, and Finn riding so close, could hear.
”Tell me why ye were cloistered away as if fergotten, but protected like a queen?”
As if forgotten. His words dug deep into the core of Davina's sorrow. Her true family knew she existed, and though a legion of the king's best men had helped raise her, the truth remained that she'd been abandoned. Her childhood was lonely, and her future, if she lived to see it, was crowded with cold smiles and false affection.
But she had also been given so much by G.o.d, sisters who loved her and men who had given their lives for her. She had no right to mumble and complain about things not meant to be hers, and she never did. But being in this man's arms, riding with his men across heather-lined hills, as if she were naught but a Highland la.s.s returning home with her husband, stirred her longings more than ever before.
”What have ye to do with the king, Davina? Why does Argyll or Monmouth want ye dead?”
She turned to him, wanting him to see the truth in her eyes, and to look for it in his.
”Do you truly not know, Rob MacGregor?”
”Nae la.s.s, I truly dinna' know.”
His answer didn't make her as happy as she'd hoped it would. If he didn't know, then there was still time to keep him out of this-and her selfish longings in check. She could never belong to him, or any man like him. The life she dreamed of was simply that-a dream. She'd known it since she was a child and she wasn't about to awaken that lonely little girl.
”Then please understand,” she said, turning forward between his thighs. ”I would prefer you know nothing more. I am grateful for your aid and ask no more of you but your release when we reach Courlochcraig.”
He didn't move behind her. In fact, Davina was sure he didn't breathe. Then, with a snap of his reins that urged his mount to move faster, he straightened away from her ear and growled. ”As ye wish.”
Every moment spent between them in silence echoed like a drum in Rob's ears. Whatever secrets Davina knew, she'd made it clear that she was not going to tell them to him. He knew she couldn't be happy about going to another convent, one without an army, but she would rather see him off than tell him the truth. He would have found such courage admirable if he wasn't so offended. At the campsite, he'd found it endearing that she lied to him for his ”safety.” But the truth was always right there in her eyes-always present when she spoke to him. She didn't trust him, even though he'd risked his life to save her. He was surprised that it should p.r.i.c.k his anger so. She had no reason to trust him, but he wanted her to.
Still, how could she when he was delivering her to more nuns instead of taking her to the only place she would be truly safe? h.e.l.l, he couldn't bring her to Camlochlin. Doing so would likely lead her enemies there.
He gritted his teeth against the bracing wind and all the uncertainties roiling within him. He knew what he should do-drop her off and get the h.e.l.l away from her before there was an army on his a.r.s.e. But how could he run and still claim the right to be called Chief someday? Fleeing from the unknown was cowardly. But more than that, Rob didn't want to leave her. The thought of it, her suggestion of it, made him want to wrap her in his plaid and head for Camlochlin.
Had Asher loved her? G.o.d help the man if he had, for losing one's heart to this la.s.s would cost a man much. Did she love him in return?
Why the h.e.l.l should he care? The man was dead, after all. Besides that, even if two armies hadn't fought over her-even if she hadn't promised her life to G.o.d-which he now believed she had-the last thing Rob needed in his life right now was a la.s.s. He worked all day with his father and practiced his fighting skills at night. He had no time for wooing, and even less inclination to do so. But d.a.m.n him, the way her expression softened with affection when she spoke of the captain made Rob's jaw clench. Jealousy was a useless emotion and one that Rob had never wasted his time on. He might as well be jealous of G.o.d for binding Davina to Him. May the Almighty strike him dead if he ever became that pathetic.
Asher was a fool to fall in love with her, and had paid the price for it. Rob would not make the same error.
Chapter Eight.
The cross above the bell tower of Courlochcraig Abbey rose high over the old town of Ayr, casting shadows on the five faces looking up at it.
Rob surveyed the perimeter carefully while Colin dismounted and swung open the heavy iron gate that barred their entrance. The Abbey sat perched atop an old motte and bailey foundation, probably built in the days before the Norman invasion. From the vantage point along the tower, one could see in every direction, from the majestic peaks of Arran to the Mull of Kintyre behind. There were few trees to obscure the presence of an enemy, and the Auld Brig, being the main crossing into the port town, was well in sight. He had no army, but at least he could see one coming for leagues.
”Rob?”
He cut his sharp gaze to his brother standing beside the gate, waiting for him to bring Davina through.
”The Abbess approaches.” Colin gestured toward a tall, thin woman exiting the convent with four other nuns hurrying to keep up. All were garbed from foot to crown in gray and white habit, arms folded across their waists, hands tucked into their wide sleeves.
Women, Rob reminded himself glumly. Who would protect them if Davina's enemies found her here?
”Good day, Mother,” Colin greeted with a reverential bow.
The Abbess stepped past the young Highlander without a glance in his direction. Her gray eyes were as pale and as cool as the stone walls behind her, and they were fixed on Davina while Rob helped her dismount. Encased in stiff white wool, the Abbess's thin face remained impa.s.sive while her gaze skimmed Davina's robes, her unveiled head, and her hand clutching the arm of the giant Highlander beside her. Her eyes lingered on their touch long enough for Davina to let him go.
”Lady Montgomery,” the Abbess said without even the subtlest s.h.i.+ft in her tone to suggest she knew Davina in any way other than that she was already expecting her.
At the mention of her surname, Rob felt Davina go rigid at his side before she nodded her head. He looked down at her in time to catch the cautious glance she cast the Abbess.
”Where is Captain Asher?” the Abbess asked, turning her attention to Rob for the first time and validating his first a.s.sumption. ”I was under the belief that he would be escorting my guest to Courlochcraig.”
”St. Christopher's was attacked, Reverend Mother. Captain Asher has perished.”
Only a hint of the pain he had just caused her flashed across her eyes before she lowered them to the ground. ”And the sisters?”
”I regret to inform ye that they have also perished.” Rob gentled his voice for Davina's sake, as well as the Abbess's.
The Abbess crossed herself, paused, most likely in prayer, and then raised her dried gaze to Rob's. ”Who are you?”
”I am Robert MacGregor of the clan MacGregor. These men are-”
He did not get the chance to finish his introduction. The Abbess, holding up her palm, stopped him. ”MacGregors. G.o.d be with us.” If she meant to insult them further, she must have decided to do so later, for her face finally softened when she reached for Davina. ”Come inside, child. You will find refuge here.” She gathered Davina in her arms then turned to Rob. ”There is food and drink inside. You and your men may take your rest before you tell me how she came into your possession.”
The Abbess had been expecting Davina, Rob thought as he took up his steps behind the women. Asher or the Abbess at St. Christopher's must have penned her a missive. That would mean they knew her enemies were on the way. But how could they have known, and why hadn't they all fled before it was too late? Who the h.e.l.l was Davina Montgomery that she should be protected by not only the Royal army, but by the Church as well? Whatever the answers were, she was in great danger. How could he leave her here, defenseless? When she turned to look at him over her shoulder, as if to make certain he was still with her, Rob knew he wasn't going anywhere.
Captain Edward Asher was a resourceful man. If Davina was still alive, he had to find her before Gilles did. And the Admiral would find her... eventually. Finally exposed to the world, people were going to take notice of Davina Montgomery. They would question why a woman of such radiance was clothed in nun's robes. Though she would never tell the world her secrets, she was kind and outgoing, and those who met her would remember her, mayhap enough to describe for Gilles, should he question them.
Edward had to find her. He had to warn her-and MacGregor if she was with him-that her enemies did not think her dead and were now, in fact, hunting her.
He couldn't do that on foot, and since the stable as well as the Abbey had been burned to the ground, he had to find a horse and a stream to cleanse himself of the blood of battle before he went searching through towns and villages for her.
It didn't take him long to find both when he came upon a small bothy nestled within a stand of trees. The well provided fresh water, and the steed tethered to the low front gate would provide speed. He washed quickly, filling the well's bucket and dunking his head twice. He leaped upon the horse just as the door of the bothy swung open. The shouting man rus.h.i.+ng through it gave Edward pause only long enough to slip the heavy ring from his left index finger and toss it to the tenant.
”Payment for your horse, good man.”
He was not worthy to wear the royal signet anyway. Everyone at the Abbey was dead. His men... the sisters. He prayed Davina would forgive him. He prayed for just one more chance to prove his devotion to her.
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