Bound to a Warrior (25 page)

 

Duncan sprang up from a sound sleep and jumped up, peering into the dark. He could have sworn he heard Mercy call his name. But nothing but the night's darkness greeted him. He had taken cover in a dilapidated cottage. There was no roof and only three walls, but it provided enough cover for him for the night.

He settled back down on his makeshift pallet, pulling the warm wool blanket over him. However, sleep refused to return to him. He could not get Mercy off his mind. He worried about her, even more so since he had woken hearing her call out to him.

Could she be in trouble? Or worse hurt?

He cursed his troubled thoughts and almost cursed the mission, but stopped before doing so. While he loved Mercy and would prefer to be with her, his mission had to take precedence, and she had understood that and had removed herself so that he could do what he must. He could not insult her courage by not doing the same.

Not that it made it any easier for him. She may be courageous, but she was petite and ever so vulnerable. He shook his head. He couldn't think that way. He had to believe her more than capable of surviving on her own. And he had to acknowledge her bravado in doing it all on her own. If she had approached him with such a plan he would have outright refused to allow her to do such a dangerous thing—surrender to the enemy?

He shook his head. He would have laughed at her, while his brothers probably would have recognized the wisdom of it.

But at least he could have offered her help, though in so doing he would have delayed his own mission.

There was no easy answer to any of this and it was already done, so what was the purpose of lingering on it? What was done was done. It would take a good month for him to see this mission complete. He and his brothers
had to make sure who was friend and who was foe to the true king, not an easy task, but a necessary one.

Then when he was done he would go get Mercy. He knew as soon as Bailey had delivered her message where she had planned on going. And he was pleased she had chosen a safe place. She would be looked after there and he looked forward to joining her.

He wouldn't waste a minute retrieving her from the Picts.

“I
feel fine. After all it has been two months,” Mercy assured Bliss as they took their evening walk to the cave. “If it hadn't been for you and your friends, though, my father and the soldiers would have gotten me.”

“Duncan wisely paid heed to your request and did not come after you, but that didn't mean he couldn't make certain that you were helped. As soon as we received his message we went in search of you.”

Mercy should have known that Duncan wouldn't just sit back and do nothing. He had reminded her many times that he would be there for her. And it seemed that even when he wasn't there, he still found a way to help her.

“I shouldn't be surprised by his actions; they speak boldly of his good nature. And that Trey had ventured here to see if I had arrived safely also surprised me, though it shouldn't have.”

“The path he took crossed ours and as he had told me, it would ease his brother's mind to know you made
it here safely, though I saw how worried he was for you. And I dare say I saw admiration in his eyes for you.”

“At least, he heeded my request not to tell Duncan of my injury,” Mercy said.

“What makes you think he didn't?”

“Duncan didn't return right away.”

“If he had, wouldn't then your injury have been for naught?” Bliss asked. “From what I understand you sacrificed yourself so that he could accomplish his mission. If he had returned right away he would have dishonored you.”

“You have a way of seeing things more clearly than most,” Mercy said with a smile.

“Sometimes it's more a curse than a gift.”

“I believe it is a gift and I am grateful for it,” Mercy said, “and grateful to call you a friend.”

Bliss grinned. “I knew when first we met that we would be lifelong friends, like sisters really.”

“I would love that,” Mercy said excited. “I had always wanted a sibling, and now to have a sister—” She stopped walking and turned and gave Bliss a hug. “Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

Bliss returned the hug and said, “I am glad that we have met, that our destinies are entwined.”

Mercy sensed that Bliss knew more than she said, but if she had learned anything in the last two months with her, it was that Bliss told you things in her own good time.

“That's understandable since so much had happened
to you,” Bliss said. “Besides some things are obvious to me, while others see nothing at all.”

They entered the cave as they did every night just after dusk. At first Bliss had remained by Mercy's side and had encouraged her as she struggled to learn to swim. But it hadn't been long before her strokes turned natural and she was swimming as if she had been doing it forever.

“I believe the swimming helped tremendously in healing my shoulder,” Mercy said.

“Your tenaciousness is what healed your shoulder,” Bliss said. “I am amazed at how well and quickly you have healed in just two months.”

“It is all because you tended me with as much tenaciousness as I wanted to heal. And as soon as I was well enough to walk, you walked with me here to the pool. You understood without me saying a word how important it was for me to be here.”

“You wait for him here, don't you?” Bliss asked.

Mercy nodded, feeling a tightness grab at her heart as it always did when she thought of Duncan. She knew she would miss him, but she truly had no idea how much. Being separated from him tore at her heart daily and the nights were so much worse, especially waking alone in bed. She had grown so accustomed to having him beside her that she felt empty without him.

Her hand went protectively to her stomach. She was far from empty. Duncan had given her a gift she would forever cherish. He had left her with child and that was the one saving grace. She carried part of him with her.

“It will be another couple of months before you round,” Bliss said.

Mercy laughed. “If it hadn't been for you I wouldn't have even realized that I was carrying a babe.”

“You were too busy recovering from your wound to notice the other signs. Luckily they were minor to some that women experience.”

Mercy patted her stomach and smiled. “He is good-natured like his father and will give me no trouble.”

“That he is,” Bliss agreed, grinning, and Mercy wondered if perhaps she knew it to be so.

Mercy shed her clothes, eager to enjoy the water's warmth, autumn's chill having given way to winter's cold, though it was still a few weeks away.

When she saw that Bliss wasn't doing the same, she asked, “You're not swimming tonight?”

“I have a yearning for honey buns.”

“You've set my mouth to watering,” Mercy said.

“Then you'll be all right if I return to the cottage?” she asked. “And as soon as I set a pan to bake I'll come fetch you.”

“Take your time. I'm lazy tonight and just intend to float in the water's warmth.”

Quiet descended over the cave once Bliss left and it gave Mercy a chance to reflex. She was so grateful that Bliss felt like they were more sisters than friends. She had always wanted a sibling, someone she could talk with, confide in, someone to trust.

When she was very young, she had asked her mother
about having a brother or sister and her mother had gotten angry with her and she had never asked again. Her mother was also very careful of who Mercy was allowed to befriend. And so she merely had limited acquaintances.

She had trusted Bliss immediately and she had grown more trustful of her every day since. She had tended Mercy with a gentle touch and a caring heart. She was a unique friend, and now someone she could call sister, just as Duncan did with his brothers.

Bliss had remarked many times how Duncan would come for Mercy, she only need be patient. Mercy wondered how Bliss could be so sure when she didn't know Duncan that well. Bliss had explained that she had seen love in Duncan and Mercy's eyes when she had first met them. And a strong love such as theirs could never be separated for long. Their deep love would always reach out and reunite them whenever apart.

Mercy hoped she was right and prayed that she and Duncan would be reunited soon. She missed him terribly and had come to realize that though their shackles had been removed, they were bound more firmly by love than any metal chains. And that nothing, not the king or a smithy's hammer, could separate them permanently.

She floated peacefully in the warm water, knowing she had not only regained her strength but had become stronger than before. She knew that Duncan would insist she had gained her courage on her own, but he had taught her the true meaning of valor, for he lived it every day.

Mercy quickly turned as she heard footfalls and as
soon as she saw Bliss, she knew something was wrong.

“Come quick, Duncan is in danger.”

 

Duncan sat around the campfire with his brothers, glad they had all successfully delivered their messages and that all was going well with the mission. Troops were being mounted, comrades being made and more plans being drawn. These past two months had served the mission well, and he never thought he would have been grateful for Mercy's departure, but he had. Though he would have preferred she had not suffered a wound because of it, Trey had assured him she was well and in good hands. And that Mercy herself did not want him to know of her injury until his mission was done.

He had thought he had known courage. After all, he had been in many battles, faced death a few times, but he had never really known true valor until he had met Mercy. Petite and not having the body strength to truly defend herself, she didn't let that stop her. She hadn't even let not being able to swim stop her from jumping off that cliff, and damn, if that hadn't taken courage. But what he admired the most about her was her audacity in not allowing the fact that she was bastard daughter of the king to stop her from fighting to survive, when truly the odds were against her.

She was quite a woman and she would soon be his wife.

“So do we celebrate a wedding soon?” Reeve asked with a grin.

“As soon as I return with Mercy,” Duncan confirmed.

“I bet Mother already has the whole thing planned,” Trey said.

“She's been waiting for one of us to bring home a bride,” Bryce said and gave Duncan a jab in the side with his elbow. “She'll be wanting grandbabies soon.”

Duncan grinned wide. “I can oblige her on that.”

One of their warriors suddenly approached from out of the darkness.

“Something wrong?” Duncan asked, standing along with his brothers.

“The messenger approaches.”

“Here? Now?” Reeve asked, surprised.

“Something is definitely wrong,” Duncan said.

Bryce nodded. “Neil would never take the chance of meeting us anywhere but the designated spot.”

The four men waited anxiously and when the wiry little man appeared, they all tensed. He was sweating from head to toe and they knew he had run a distance.

Trey grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around him, his body trembling.

With labored breath, Neil said, “A trap has been set for the king's daughter and Duncan.”

“Tell us,” Duncan said, walking over to him.

“Word has been sent to her that you are on your way to her, but that a trap awaits you before you can reach her. The king knows you will learn of it and assumes
you will go to her rescue and his plan is to capture you both.”

“He has to be a fool to think we'll let our brother go alone,” Reeve said.

“No,” Duncan said, shaking his head. “He's counting on it.”

“That he is,” Neil said. “He believes it is a way of seeing for himself who defies him and being rid of all of you in one full sweep.”

“We'll rescue Mercy and be gone before the king even knows we were there,” Reeve said.

Neil shook his head. “There isn't time. By morning Mercy will have left Pict territory.”

“I'll go myself and bring Mercy home,” Duncan said.

His brothers strenuously voiced their objections—all but one.

“The hell you will,” Reeve shouted.

“Absolutely not,” Trey said.

Bryce nodded slowly. “Duncan's right. We can't chance having all of us caught or starting a battle with the king's men now. It's not time yet.”

“At least one of us can help him,” Reeve said.

Duncan shook his head. “No, this is for me to do. Mercy is my woman.”

“Soon to be our sister,” Trey reminded him.

“I'm pleased that you accept her as such,” Duncan said, “but it is best that I do this on my own. Besides,
you all need to report back to father. It is important that he receives the information. The movement grows bigger and stronger. And I wouldn't be surprised if the king realizes it.”

“He does,” Neil confirms. “And truthfully, it is the information that his daughter has that he wants so badly. The soldiers gossip about how bravely she confronted her father. How she ran across the meadow and was slammed to the ground by an arrow through her shoulder and she struggled to stand, refusing to surrender.”

Duncan turned to Trey. “You didn't tell me this.”

“I didn't know,” Trey said. “The arrow had already been removed when I got there, and Bliss told me that Mercy would heal well. No one spoke of how she received the wound and I had no time to ask.”

“From what I hear, a few arrows missed her,” Neil said, “but she kept on running, and after getting hit and standing she zigzagged and stumbled to avoid more arrows. If it hadn't been for the Picts…” Neil didn't finish, he simply shook his head.

“Damn, our sister was brave,” Reeve said.

Duncan fisted his hand so tightly that his knuckles protruded like sharp talons. “I'm going to kill her father.”

Bryce slapped a firm hand on Duncan's shoulder. “Keep your wits about you and save your revenge for another day.”

Duncan reluctantly relaxed his grip and nodded, realizing the wisdom of his brother's words, though he had every intention of one day seeing Mercy's father dead.

Bryce turned to Neil. “It's become too dangerous for you to return. You'll make your home with us now.”

Neil tried to protest, but Bryce wouldn't have it.

“You know much about the king and his strategies. I don't want to risk losing your knowledge.”

Neil nodded. “I will do whatever is best for the true king of Scotland.”

“You have served the true king well and he will not forget,” Trey said and guided the man to sit by the campfire.

Bryce and Reeve joined them, but Duncan remained standing.

“What do you know of this trap set for Mercy?” Duncan asked.

Neil smiled. “Everything.”