Page 49 of Unforgotten
MacKinnon’s rasped words echoed in Ella’s mind, tormenting her. She’d said nothing of his whispered threat, or of the ugly things he’d said, to Gavin. MacNichol needed reasonsnotto kill MacKinnon. Telling him what had happened in that chamber would have ensured that he murdered the man.
Part of Ella wanted MacKinnon dead. The clan-chief was dangerous; the air inside her bed-chamber had crackled with menace the moment he’d stepped into it. He was twisted, cruel, and manipulative. Nothing good could come from letting such a man live.
Yet she was a nun. For years now the abbess had shown her the way of forgiveness, of peace.
We only use weapons to defend ourselves,Mother Shona had told the sisters sternly during arm’s practice.We never strike out in rage, or for vengeance, for that makes us no better than those who seek to do us harm.
Ella knew the abbess had spoken true. But more than that, she didn’t want Gavin to get into trouble. Even if he were to cut MacKinnon down in righteous rage, the other chiefs weren’t likely to see things his way, and nor were MacKinnon’s family and retainers.
She wouldn’t have Gavin put his own life at risk for her.
Ella didn’t glance over her shoulder as she rode, even though she felt the weight of Dunan at her back. With each furlong that Monadh’s feathered hooves ate up, the shroud of anxiety that had been smothering her gradually lifted.
Around her the moon cast its hoary light over a wild, mountainous landscape. They left the dense forest of conifers behind and entered a bare, bleak valley. Great sculpted peaks rose either side, dwarfing the party. Ella was grateful for the moonlight, for without it they would have had difficulty traveling. Even so, Ceard and two other warriors carried flaming torches aloft, illuminating their path further.
None of the MacNichol party spoke as they rode west. Ceard and the two others had been hauled from their beds and told they were leaving. There had been some grumbling in the stables, yet the men had followed his orders anyway.
They understood that if Gavin MacNichol needed to depart urgently in the dead of night, he had good reason.
Ella’s attention shifted to Gavin’s back, and an image of him standing naked before her in his chamber flashed across her mind.
The Lord strike her down, he’d been magnificent.
His body was long and well-muscled, but it was the body of a mature man, and a number of fine, pale scars traced his torso. The glow from the nearby hearth had kissed his naked, golden skin, and for a long moment, Ella had merely devoured the sight of him.
Shoving the image from her mind, Ella squeezed her eyes shut. She needed to forget she’d ever seen that.
The sight of Kilbride Abbey, silhouetted against the lightening sky, made Ella’s vision mist with tears. Relief swamped her, drowning out the fatigue of the past few hours. They had ridden with barely a break all night in order to reach their destination.
The high walls, made of a grey local granite, gleamed when the first rays of sun touched them. A chorus of birdsong accompanied the riders as they slowed their mounts to a walk and approached the gates. Drawing near, Ella reflected how well fortified the abbey was. Mother Shona, having already lived through a brutal attack on her previous abbey, had been determined to keep raiders out; as such, the nuns had hired men from Torrin to dig a deep ditch around the base of the abbey’s walls. The walls themselves were around twenty foot high, as were the heavy oak and iron gates that barred their way inside.
Reaching the gates, Ella dismounted and walked to where a heavy iron knocker hung.
She lifted the knocker, letting it fall three times. Touching it was enough for sanctuary, had she been pursued, but Ella would not rest until she was indoors.
None of the party accompanying her spoke as they waited for someone to answer her knocking. Gavin had been worryingly silent on the way here; and whenever Ella glanced his way, she’d seen that he wore an unusually stern expression, his eyes narrowed.
He was angry; she could feel waves of ire emanating from him.
Nerves twisted in her gut as she realized he wasn’t going to let this go. Duncan MacKinnon had just made an enemy of clan MacNichol.
And although she knew she wasn’t to blame for MacKinnon’s behavior, Ella still felt responsible for this turn of events.
If Gavin hadn’t brought her with him to Dunan, this would never have happened.
Ella shook her head, irritated by the direction of her thoughts. Life was full of turning points. The Lord’s will worked in ways she’d never really understood, despite her many years of prayer and contemplation.
At that moment a sound of iron scraping against iron echoed through the still morning, and a small window opened around five and a half feet from the ground. A middle-aged woman, with a harassed expression, peered out into the dawn.
“Sister Elspeth,” Ella greeted the nun, stepping forward. “Good morning.”
Sister Elspeth’s gaze widened. “Sister Annella?” Her attention then shifted to the party of men still astride their horses behind her. “Did ye ride through the night to reach us?”
Ella nodded, noting the acerbic edge to the nun’s voice. She and Sister Elspeth had never gotten along. Elspeth had just taken her vow of perpetuity when Ella arrived at Kilbride. And after the events of the months that followed, in which Ella lived as a postulant, Sister Elspeth had viewed the young woman with disapproval.
That same censure lay in her eyes now.
An awkward silence fell, and then behind Ella, Gavin cleared his throat. “Are ye going to let us in, Sister?” he asked, irritation edging his voice. “My men have been traveling without rest for hours now. We’d like to stable our mounts and have some beer and bread to break our fast.”
