Page 65 of Once Upon A Haunted Castle
“There was a half-hearted attempt to put me forward some months ago. Talk of a formal peace between us and such,” Connor explained. Brother or no, he could feel the anger build at the thought of such a match. Connor waved him off. “Could be the MacKinnons or even the Macleans of Mull.”
He was already so late in returning to her. He had promised her that he would speak to his father, gain his support and then bring her home. Never expecting The MacLeod to move so swiftly towards a betrothal with someone else, he had waited for his father to return. And knowing Isabel as he did, he understood that she would not quietly acquiesce to her father’s demands, not even to gain time for Alex to act.
Sometimes he wished she could be a meek lass. He smiled then, remembering all the reasons he was pleased she was not so. If she had been, they would never have met and never would have loved. They would never have....
“Alex!” His name shouted from down the corridor caught his attention and he turned as Brodie rushed towards him and Connor. “I must speak wi’ ye.”
“And I must leave,” Connor said. With a nod, his brother turned and left quickly, passing Brodie without another word.
Alex motioned to Brodie to follow him outside. Once in the yard, he led the man to a place away from the keep and closer to the stables. Assured that no one was close enough to overhear their words, Alex nodded.
“A lass approached me outside Dunvegan.”
“Was it The MacLeod’s daughter?” he asked. Was she even well enough after such a punishment?
“Nay. That one goes nowhere without several servants and a guard behind her now.”
“Now?”
“Aye, now. Once she rose from her bed and begged her father’s pardon again-,”
“Again?” Alex grabbed Brodie’s cloak and pulled him closer. “What do you mean ‘again’?”
“Well, he locked the lass away for several days when she refused him. When she agreed to beg his pardon, he had her whipped and then let her agree to obey him.”
The bile rose in his gut and he sickened at the thought that he had left Isabel to the questionable mercies of her father. Why had she not simply given in? She must ken he would find a way to her side. She must.
“You said a lass approached you?” Alex brought the talk back to its subject.
“Aye.” Brodie reached inside his tunic and pulled out a small square of fabric. “She asked me to bring this to ye. And not to tell anyone else about it.” Alex held out his hand and Brodie placed it there.
“And did you? Tell anyone?”
“Nay,” he said with a broad smile. “She made it worth my while to do her bidding.” Then he shrugged. “Besides, I care not who ye tup, MacLeod or other.”
Alex turned away and opened the small package, finding a folded piece of parchment within the layers of cloth. Her words were curt and dire. He would have only days to get there and get her out of Dunvegan and away from her father. He was to seek out the kitchen maid who had given this note to Brodie when he arrived. No words of love, though truly none could be risked in such a communication.
“When do you return there?” Alex asked as he turned to face the man.
“On the morrow.” Brodie stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. “Does this have anything to do with her? With The MacLeod’s daughter?”
“I am coming with you,” Alex said, ignoring the other’s question. “I will meet you at dawn.”
“Alex! God Almighty, tell me ye are not tupping the MacLeod’s daughter!” Brodie blocked his path and grabbed him by his shoulders. “Ye would not be that stupid, would ye?”
“At dawn,” he said, pulling free from the man’s hold. “And bring a few trusted men, I will need help.”
Brodie relented in his questions when he realized Alex would say no more on the matter of The MacLeod’s daughter. But the truth of this was much worse than that.
Alex had married The MacLeod’s only daughter and heir.
The next morning found him and a small group of men aboard the small birlinn that would take him north and west to the edge of Skye and to Dunvegan. Brodie would take his place back in the village outside the keep and watch for the kitchen maid who had so pleasurably given him orders to bring the message to Alex. Alex had come up with a plan, a dangerous one, and he prayed that he would arrive in time to save his wife from whatever else her father could do to her.
