Page 126 of Tempted
Ram reached out a hand to touch her fiery curls. “Tae hell wi’ the king’s business. Douglas business comes first— always has, always will. But ye are so right. I’ve never learned tae trust anyone. Not the queen nor even the king. I wouldn’t trust Angus as far as I could throw him. Only look how David and Colin betrayed us, and they share our blood. I’ve gone through life trusting only myself. I tell ye I love ye, and yet my actions prove I don’t trust ye.” He shook his head at the riddle.
Tina went to stand at his side and leaned her head into his shoulder “Ram, I think we love each other, but we haven’t learned to like each other yet. We became lovers without first becoming friends. The basis for any friendship has to be trust.”
They curled up in the big chair together and talked for hours. They had never known this kind of closeness before, not even in their most intimate moments. One by one the barriers came down between them as they shared their fears and emotions, as well as their hopes, feelings, and ideas. They had started to do this once before, but circumstances had intervened and driven them apart. This time Valentina was determined that nothing would ever interfere with their personal lives again. She vowed never to oppose him again. She would stand with him against family, against king and country, against the Devil himself. From this moment on, they would be one mind, one heart, one soul She would be Black Ram Douglas’s woman and damned proud of it.
Ram stayed two more days so he could be certain she didn’t suffer any ill effects from the shock she had received. The only time they left their chamber was to take an occasional walk by moonlight in the crisp snow. He would wrap her in one of her soft furs, and handclasped they would wander out, sometimes as far as the frozen river. They stopped once at the place beneath a copper beech where Damaris and Alexander were buried.
“I used tae think she was restless because her grave was next to Alexander’s, but now I think it right that they are together. If ye agree, I’ll get the bishop tae consecrate the ground—or do ye think we should move him tae Castle Douglas tae lie with his ancestors?”
“I think they should stay together through eternity,” whispered Tina, brushing away a tear.
They hurried back to their chamber, where a roaring fire and sinfully sensuous dishes prepared by Mr. Burque awaited them. When Ram finally departed it was the hardest thing he’d ever done in his life. As he kissed her goodbye he whispered, “Will ye marry me?”
She clung to him whispering, “Mmm, perhaps. Ask me when you return, you devil—not when you’re departing.”
Chapter 38
Ramsay Douglas gave his all when he recruited for the king He traveled farther and faster than any of James Stewart’s lieutenants, obtaining signed bonds pledging men-at-arms from every branch of Clans Douglas, Kennedy, Campbell, Drummond, Erskine, and Graham. He kept his pledge to Valentina to return for the night whenever he was within fifty miles of Douglas, but still they saw each other only once in every six weeks.
The long, forced absences made their brief reunions so much sweeter, and they longed for a time when they would be allowed to live a life together, unclouded by the demands of impending war with England.
Slowly but surely, over the winter months and into the spring, James Stewart gathered his forces for war. It was a large undertaking to amass an army greater than Scotland had ever had before. Manpower was not all that was needed. Horses to carry the cavalry, oxen to pull supply wagons, and the mounted, heavy iron cannon were needed by the hundred. Thousands of weapons would be needed to wage war—not only the usual swords, knives, and lances, but spears for the spearmen, arrows for the hagbuts and harquebuses, baggage wagons, oxcarts, and weapon sleds.
Ram’s job was one of communication Basically, he traveled back and forth tallying numbers. Argyll was already Governor General of the Army, and Arran, Lord High Admiral of the Navy. The king decided to keep Bothwell’s hot-headed Hepburns as a reserve unit. The rest of the borderers would be united under the command of Lord Home, with the exception of Clan Douglas. Since there were so many branches of Douglas, not all of them borderers, they would be commanded by Lord Ramsay since the Earl of Angus was now past his fighting prime. The Earl of Huntly was to command the Gordon Highlanders, while the king and his good friend the Earl of Crawford would command the Scottish center made up of their clans, Stewart and Lindsay The Earl of Lennox was put in charge of all Highlanders other than Campbells and Gordons.
Since Stirling was the strongest fortress in Scotland, the king used it to call together all his chiefs who had mustered their clans to swear the oath of fealty. A total of fifteen earls, five bishops, and a score of lords and chiefs gathered to give James Stewart the oath. Each noble placed his hands between the king’s and swore into his service their lives, their goods, and the lives and goods of their clans and liegemen.
Beautiful spring weather returned to Scotland, and with it came a reprieve. Henry Tudor sailed his army across the Channel preparatory to making war on France. In Scotland, a joyous relief pervaded every county. City and country dwellers alike wanted to push thoughts of war from the forefront of their minds and celebrate the lovely short summer.
A few shrewd and astute nobles knew war with England had only been postponed. King James Stewart, the Earl of Angus, and Ramsay Douglas in particular knew of Henry Tudor’s naked ambition. He would use any method—conquest, assassination, intrigue, or bribery—to gain control of Scotland. The English nobility, like their king, were power-hungry, waiting like jackals to swallow the kingdom.
Ram left Edinburgh Castle with his usual complement of forty moss-troopers. They made it to Douglas in just over two hours. The guard on the walls had alerted Tina of the Black Ram’s return, and she ran up to their chamber and out upon the parapet walk, waving a silken Douglas banner so that he would see her from a great distance. By the time he reached the bailey, she was running down the outside pentice staircase.
Ram vaulted from Ruffian’s back and caught her in his arms, anxious for the clinging to begin. He kissed her over and over. “My honeypot, how I’ve missed ye.”
She was vividly radiant. The setting sun turned her flaming curls to molten red-gold. In his arms her golden eyes turned to smoky amber, and he knew himself the luckiest man alive. Tina was weak with the nearness of him. She did not see the sweat and dust of the hard ride—all she saw was the dark Scot, towering above her with his magnificent weatherbeaten face. His body was as hard as rough-hewn granite.
“I love you, Ram,” she said breathlessly.
He swung her about, then set her feet to the ground and bent her backward, kissing her as she’d never been kissed before. “Ye’ll marry me, vixen—I’m yer destiny!”
Tina’s eyes sparkled with love and pride. She would never tame him. It was so typical that he told her she’d wed him, rather than ask, but she was so far gone in love, she could deny him no longer.
Ram held her in one strong arm, and before his dark, hardened men-at-arms he called to Jock, “Fetch the priest from St. Bride’s church—and hurry.” The deafening Douglas war cry echoed off the castle walls, and the Boozer, loping over the drawbridge from his daily hunt in the woods, launched himself at the embracing couple who meant more to him than any other humans on earth.
Ram and his men stabled their mounts. They all preferred to care for their own animals rather than leave them to the grooms. Tina stayed at Ram’s side while he unsaddled Ruffian and gave him a rubdown. Before they left the stable, they went along to look at Indigo.
Tina gasped when she saw her beautiful mare was lying in her straw. Ram spoke to the head stableman to learn if aught was amiss with the prized mare, but he reported no problems before today Ram went on his knees in the straw and ran his hands over Indigo’s sleek, satin belly. “I think she’s near her time. It feels like she’ll foal soon.”
When Tina stroked her neck and spoke soft words to her, the mare responded and managed to get on her feet. A frown marred Ram’s brow. She was such a finely bred Barbary, she might easily have trouble birthing a colt sired by Ruffian He kept his fears to himself, but told the groom to watch her closely and call him if she showed signs of going into labor.
They emerged from the stables into the courtyard when Jock returned with the Douglas priest.
“Marry us where we stand before the vixen changes her mind,” directed Hotspur. His energy was barely contained, and she saw the muscle flex in his jaw and wondered if he’d be able to stand still long enough for the priest to say the words over them.
Every man and woman in the castle came out into the bailey to witness the joining of Lord Douglas and his woman. Valentina pretended outrage. “Aren’t you even going to bathe first, you barbarian?”
He leered down at her, feeling the surge of his own pulse. “We’ll do that together. It will be your first duty as Lady Douglas.” He clamped her to his side as the priest raised his voice.
