Page 7 of Kilted Seduction
Luck, or fate, however, were with her. She’d only just finished her drink when Aedan blinked and wavered on his feet.
Thora moved to his side at once, her expression of worry entirely unfeigned. “Me laird? Are ye well? Are ye fevered? Ye look flushed.”
“I…” Aedan blinked, shaking his head as if he were a dog trying to shake water from his coat. “I dinnae ken… the world ‘tis spinning…” He tried to walk forward, but staggered. Thora caught him, wincing slightly at his weight. “I dinnae understand…”
“Och, ye must be ill. Or else… I’m terribly sorry, me laird. If I had kent the potion would be so strong, I wouldnae have poured so much!”
“I… it shouldnae…” His eyes were turning glassy, his speech less distinct by the moment. If she didn’t move soon, he would be unconscious, and she would be unable to shift him from his quarters.
“Come, me laird. I’ll tak’ ye tae the healer. She’ll soon ken what ails ye, and have ye on the mend.” Thora collected his shoes and urged him to sit in the chair so she could put them on his feet. A cloak against the weather went over his clothing, and then she helped him to his feet.
“Come, me laird. Come. The sooner we see the healer, the sooner ye’ll be well again.”
Drugged and dazed as he was, Aedan needed no more urging to stumble toward the door and stagger through it, then down the hall toward the main entry. He seemed not to remember that he was the laird, and could call the healer to attend to him, which was a blessing. Thora kept him upright and moving with a shoulder under his arm, and a steady stream of soothing words.
On the way, they encountered a servant who stopped and looked at them, rather startled.
“Me lord is feeling a little unwell and needs a breath of fresh air. He had a little too much of the whisky, if ye ken what I mean,” she smiled, gesturing bringing a cup to her mouth and winkingher eye. “Could ye be so kind as tae help me tae the courtyard, and if necessary, I will take him tae the healer if the air isnae enough?” The servant chuckled, nodded and helped them down the stairs. If Aedan noticed her lie, he didn’t have enough wits about him to comment on it as they descended the stairs, stopped briefly to collect a cloak and shoes for Thora - and her travel pack - and made their way out into the courtyard. She told the same story tae the guards at the door and they moved to the side to let her and the servant pass.
The worst of the rain and wind had passed, though the rain still fell steadily, and the air was damp and chill. Thora pulled the hood of the cloak over Aedan’s head and told the servant she was fine to take him from there. The cool air had revived him a little, but he was still weaving like a man blind drunk as they made their way across the open expanse, and he didn’t notice when she carefully diverted their steps from the healer’s cottage to the stable.
He did, however, notice when they entered the stable. Thora supposed it was unsurprising that he might be roused by the sound of horses and the scent of hay, when he’d been expecting the herb-perfumed air of the healer’s hut.
Aedan blinked and looked around, trying to get his feet steady under him without much success. “Why… stables… what’re ye…?”
His words were slurred, his movements completely uncoordinated. Thora judged he was only minutes away from complete unconsciousness.
“Dinnae fret. ‘Tis naething tae worry about.” She soothed him gently and guided him toward the roan she’d chosen earlier. The stable boy was waiting, and the horse was saddled and bridled, as promised. The lad blinked as she led Aedan over. “Is he alright?”
“Me husband’s had too much tae drink again, like I said…” Thora eyed the saddle. She wasn’t tall enough to sling Aedan over it or into it. “Help me get him intae the saddle, me lad.”
The lad giggled, then nodded. “All right, but remember what I said about the horse.” He reached out and helped Thora push Aedan’s limp body into the saddle and in the low light luckily did not notice it was his laird.
Sometime during their discussion, Aedan had passed out, or was so close to it that it didn’t matter. Together, Thora and the stable hand got him more or less seated in the saddle, then the boy held him braced while Thora mounted, and helped her tie him in place so he wouldn’t fall. It wasn’t the most comfortable arrangement by far, but it would serve for the time being.
Thora adjusted the hood of her and Aedan’s cloak, so their faces were hidden in shadow, then guided the horse out of the stables to the gate. No one stopped her, for which she was grateful. Anyone looking too close would have realized what she was doing, and then she’d have been in the dungeons for sure. However, the guards seemed to recognize her cloak, and one of them even chuckled as she went past. “Merrick be drunk again? I dinnae envy ye, lass.”
Her ruse had worked, and better than she’d anticipated. By sheer good fortune - or perhaps the kindness and whim of Fate - they made it through the gates and the town beyond without a single person making any effort to stop them. Most were inside, out of the weather, but even those few brave souls who were going about their errands ignored them completely.
During her journey to the castle, Thora had happened upon an abandoned woodsman’s hut. Once they were past the village, she turned the horse in that direction. The hut would be a good place for the discussion she needed to have with Aedan, and she was fairly certain there was a chair or a cot she could bind him to. Otherwise, he’d find it far too easy to overpower her and make his escape.
She wasn’t looking forward to the confrontation she knew was coming. However, shewasdetermined that Aedan Cameron would listen to her and do as she asked, no matter what measures it took to convince him.
CHAPTER FIVE
Aedan woke with a pounding head and sore limbs, and the feeling that he’d been dragged over half the countryside by wild horses. There was a foul taste in his mouth as well, and his thoughts were slow, as if his head were stuffed with cotton.
He forced himself to think. He’d been in a meeting with Mac. The woman had arrived, spouting some nonsense about visions and impending doom unless he went to Ross’s Yule. Then he’d gone to his chambers, and she’d come to him. They’d kissed, and then…
The haze in his thoughts fled as he recalled what had happened, fury filling him as he realized how he’d been duped. The girl had drugged him.
He tried to rise, only to realize that he was in a wooden chair, bound hand, foot, and chest with sturdy ropes. The last of the fog cleared from his mind.
He was in a small room - what appeared to be a cottage of some sort. There was an air about the place that suggested it wasn’t inhabited, and a stillness in the air that suggested they were a decent distance from any village. The storm had blown itself out and all he could hear was the soft whisper of wind in the trees, and the crackle of the fire that had been inexpertly laid in the hearth.
The door creaked open, and all Aedan’s curiosity turned to a mixture of amazement and fury as Thora MacTavish walked in, her arms full of wood for the fire. “What have ye done?”
“Kidnapped ye.” Her reply was straightforward as she bent to set the wood by the blaze.
