Aidan (19 page)

“But I’m glad ye did,” she said, feeling the te
ars in her eyes. “Ye have shown me a kindness and made me felt special. Nobody has e’er done thet fer me. I will cherish fore’er the time we’ve spent together.” She reached down and pressed a kiss against his forehead and realized his head was very hot and that a fever was starting to set in. If she didn’t think of something soon to help him, he would be dead.

“Sleep now, and save yer strength,” she told him, wondering what she could po
ssibly do.

* * *

Aidan awoke with a jolt as he was pulled by his feet from the wagon and thrown onto the ground. His body hit the hard earth and he barely managed to keep his head from hitting against a rock as well.

“Arrrrgh,” he cried out, feeling the wound on his shoulder opening even wider.

“Leave him alone!” Effie struggled to get out of the wagon, but couldn’t
, with her feet tied together.

“Set up camp for the night,” Lord Ralston ordered his men. “And in the meantime, I’m going to get the Scot to tell us exactly where he hid the stone.”
He pulled out his dagger and went over to Effie. He cut the ropes binding her feet, then dragged her over to Aidan and threw her down on the ground next to him. “This better not be a wild chase you’re leading us on, or you’ll be sorry.” He held the dagger to Effie’s throat once again. “Now tell me where the stone is, and I want to know exactly.”

Aidan saw the fear in Effie’s eyes, and although he wanted to lie and tell them it was somewh
ere back in the Highlands, he knew he needed to tell the truth. He felt the fever overtaking him. With his wound getting worse, he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d live. At least if they actually had the stone, they might spare Effie’s life.

If he’d
not been wounded, they might have half a chance to escape. But with the shape he was in, he knew he’d never be able to fight all the Englishmen and survive.

“Jest
let her go, and I’ll tell ye e’erythin’ ye want te ken,” he said, trying to make a deal.

“You’re in no
position for bargaining, MacKeefe. Now tell us, or I’ll start by severing one of her fingers, and don’t think for a moment that I won’t.” He grabbed her hand and held it out, and Effie struggled against him.

“Dinna tell him, Aidan. Protect the stone, dinna worry aboot me,” she said bravely.

“If ye hurt or kill her, then I’ll ne’er tell ye,” said Aidan.

“Well, then you can just watch as I kill her a little at a time.” He traced the edge of his blade in Effie’s palm, drawing blood. She screamed out, and it was more than Aidan could take.

“All right,” he said. “Jest leave her alone and I’ll tell ye.”

“I’m waiting, MacKeefe,” he ground out, holding out Effie’s hand to make sure that Aidan saw the blood.

Aidan hated himself for doing this, but he had to tell them the truth in order to have any chance of Effie surviving. “It’s buried at the crook where the River Annan and the Evan Waters meet,” he said, already feeling his betrayal to Scotland like a heavy weight on his shoulders.

“Good,” said Lord Ralston, letting go of Effie’
s hand. She pulled it away from him quickly, holding it against her clothes.

“That’s halfway to Glasgow,” said one of the guards.

“Well, at least it’s not halfway to the Highlands,” Lord Ralston answered back.

“Shall we kill them now?” asked the guard. “After all, we know the location so we no longer need them.”

“Nay.” Lord Ralston wiped the blood from his dagger on his tunic and replaced it in his weaponbelt. “I need them alive for leverage in case we meet any Scots along the way. Besides, I’m not exactly sure the Highlander is telling the truth. But if we get there and don’t find the stone, I will kill the girl, I swear. Now untie the girl’s hands so she can take care of the Highlander’s wounds. I won’t have him dying on me before I have the stone in my possession. But watch her, as I won’t have her doing anything to help him escape.”

“Aye,” said the guard, cutting the ropes around Effie’s wrists. She dove to the ground and cradled Aidan’s head
in her arms.

“Aidan, ye did
na really tell them where ye hid the stone, did ye?” she said softly so only he could hear.

“I
had to. I didna have a choice, lassie,” he said, feeling like the biggest failure and also the biggest traitor Scotland ever had. “I did it so they wouldna hurt ye,” he told her. “But if they take the stone back te England, I swear I will kill meself rather than te live with what I’ve jest done te Scotland. I willna live as a traitor te me country. No’ e’er.”

Chapter 19

Effie had cleaned and rewrapped Aidan’s wound, and even convinced the guards to untie his feet and tie his hands in front of him, so it wouldn’t pull so badly on his
wound. She could see he needed stitching, and she was afraid he’d lost so much blood that he would soon be unconscious. She’d bathed his forehead and chest all night long, hoping the fever would break. She’d given him ale to sip on, wishing it was mountain magic for his pain. Still, he looked no better.

It was morning when Aidan’s eyes flickered open, and
Effie bent over to kiss him on the cheek.

“Effie, me angel,” he whispered, and his voice was so soft that she could barely hear him. “I will n
e’er ferget ye.”

“Ye sound as if ye’re sayin’
guidbye,” she said.

“I am.
I’m goin’ te try te catch them off-guard and kill them all, afore they find the stone.”

“Ye are mad,” she whispered back. “Ye
canna do it, ye can barely talk, let alone stand.” She felt his forehead, but he still had a fever. His wound looked bad, and she feared for his life. “Ye will be killed, Aidan, please dinna do it.”

“I would die
fer me country, sweetheart. Thet’s somethin’ ye need te remember. Now ye need te escape afore anythin’ happens te ye. I’m goin’ te tell ye exactly where the stone is, in case I dinna make it to the river. Thet way, at least ye will have a chance te live if they capture ye again. But when they go te move the stone, ye need te make yer escape. Ye canna stay with these English bastards, becooz they will kill ye.”

“I willna leave without ye, Aidan.”

“Then ye will die at me side,” he said. “Now listen closely. The stone is in the water right at the base of a large Rowan tree. Now try to sneak me a dagger and some weapons. I’m goin’ te need them te fight off these bastards.”

“What are you talking about?” A guard pulled Effie to her feet.

“Nothin,” she said quickly.

“Well, get
up and get back to the wagon. As soon as everyone awakes and we break the fast, we’re going for the stone. With any luck, we’ll make it there by sundown.”

Effie knew now she needed to get away from here and do something to try to help Aidan. If she could escape, she may have half a chance to find some Scots along the way who would be willing to help her. Mayhap they could
also save Aidan from doing something that would end up taking his life.

But in order to escape, she knew
she needed a horse. She spied the horses tied up down at the water’s edge, and figured this might be her only chance. Daylight was just starting to break, and most the guards were still sleeping around the fire. And Lord Ralston was out of view, inside his tent. She knew this was risky, but she had to try. If she were going to do anything to help Aidan, it would have to be right now. She looked back to him lying on the ground, and wanted to tell him what she planned to do, but couldn’t. His eyes were closed again, and she couldn’t even give him a signal.

“I need to go
wash the blood off of me in the creek from tending his wound,” she told the guard.

“Fine,” he said, “but I’m coming with you.”

She looked back one more time to make sure no one was watching, and headed toward the creek with the guard dragging her by the shoulder of her clothes. He held his sword in the other hand as a reminder to her not to try anything. Once there, he pushed her down to her knees and she pretended to be cleaning herself in the water.

The guard went to a tree, turning his back on
her to piss, and she looked up, spotting his sword leaning against a rock behind him. She quickly got to her feet and walked quietly to get it. Then she picked up the sword in two hands and lifted it above her head and rushed toward him. He turned just as she plunged the sword downward, and it embedded itself into his chest. His wide eyes looked up to her in surprise and he fell backwards onto the ground – dead.

Effie’s whole body shook, at what she’d just done. She’d killed a man, and now
she knew she had to escape or they’d kill her in return. She placed her foot on the man’s chest and pulled the blade from his body and threw it to the ground. Then she took hold of his feet and dragged him into the water. The flow of the stream took his body, sending him floating away. Mayhap she’d be able to get away with this after all.

But when she turned around, she
bumped directly into Tasgall.

Chapter 20

“
Tasgall!” She felt her world crashing down around her.

“What the hell are ye thinkin’, lassie?”

“I . . . I had no choice. He tried to attack me.”

“I saw the whole thing. His back was turned
te ye. Ye killed him in cold blood.”

“And I’d do it again,” she said,
rushing forward and picking up the sword from the ground, gripping it tightly in her hands. She raised it and pointed it at him. “I’ll kill ye next if ye try te stop me from leavin’, Tasgall, I swear I will.”

The man just looked at her and chuckled. “I’m sure ye would,” he said. “So much spirit in ye, jest like yer mathair.”

“Dinna try to stop me,” she said, untying a horse from a tree with one hand, keeping the sword pointed at him, the weight of it so heavy that the tip of it was lowering.

“I wouldna dream o’ it,” he said. “But mayhap ye should take a weapon ye can handle instead. There is a bow and arrows tied on the horse ye are stealin’, as I jest readied it meself. Take thet instead.”

“What kind o’ trick is this?” she asked him. “I ken ye are up te somethin’.”

“I was goin’ te make an escape meself this mornin’, but ye beat me to it.”

“Thet makes no sense. Ye are one o’ them.”

“Effie,
I admit I did what I had to in order te survive when the English attacked our camp. I made the mistake o’ befriendin’ some o’ them and I accidentally told them aboot ye being one o’ the original MacDuffs, and all aboot yer mathair and grandmathair.”

“Ye bastard
! ’Tis yer fault then that the whole gypsy clan is deid and also thet the English are aboot te steal the Stone o’ Destiny.”

“Nay, the fact they found the stone is yer fault, lassie, tho I dinna feel guid aboot what I did either.”

“Thet’s no’ true. Ye were helpin’ them all along.”

“And if ye did
na notice, I was also helpin’ ye and Coira. If it wasna fer me interferrin’, ye’d both be defiled, and yer precious Highlander as well as the Scottish lassie I saw at the camp would be deid.”

She thought about this. He had seemed to step in more than once and sway the English from doing exactly what he just said.
He’d told them not to waste time killing Aidan, nor did he say a word about seeing Kyla. Still, she didn’t trust him.

“If ye werena helpin’ the English then ye woulda done somethin’
te help me and Aidan escape by now. Instead, ye were only tryin’ te save yer own neck.”

“I admit, I was tempted
te be on their side, Effie. It was the Comyn bluid in me thet swayed me te temptation. But I ne’er wanted it te come te this, I swear.”

“Then do somethin’
te try te change the outcome instead o’ bein’ such a coward. Think o’ someone else besides yerself fer a change.”

“Like ye’re doin’?” he asked. “I see ye tryin’
te save yer own neck as well.”

“I’m tryin’ te save Aidan’s life
and also the stone from gettin’ inte the hands o’ the English. Now if ye truly did have a change o’ heart, then ye’ll help me escape and find help.”

“Ye
’re right,” he said. “I’ve been a coward me whole life, and now thet I see how brave ye are, I feel even worse.”

“Then stop all the clishmaclaver,
and get on a horse and come with me.”

“Nay,” he said with a shake of his head and she thought he was going to turn her
over to the English after all. “I canna do thet. I am goin’ te stay here and do what I can te help Aidan as well as te help save the Stone o’ Destiny. Ye go on and ride fer help. I’m goin’ te pretend I am still on their side until I think o’ somethin’ that’ll fix all this. I’ll try te stall fer time and I’ll think up an excuse why they shouldna go after ye. Now hurry, and get goin’ afore they see ye.”

“Ye may want
te try te sneak this sword te Aidan,” she said, handing it to him and getting atop the horse. “After all, he is so mad he plans on tryin’ te kill off all the soldiers, even with a wounded shoulder and with hands thet are tied together.”