Enchanted Lover (23 page)

“Let's find out,” Skye suggested with a shrug. “I've
never looked.”

They opened the other door. It ran into a long hall
and eventually led them to a door to the outside. As they walked out, they
found themselves in the service area near the stables.

Orienting herself, Asilinn allowed Skye to drag her
over toward the barn.

“Come,” the girl said, “I'll introduce you to
Flanna's husband, Fergus.”

Asilinn liked him immediately. Much like his wife he
was easy to talk to and friendly. While they stood chatting with Fergus, Liam
walked from the passageway they had just come through. Asilinn poked Skye, who
stared in disbelief as several other warriors came from the passage.

“What is the problem ladies?” Fergus asked following
their line of vision.

“I thought that way to the castle was secret,” Skye
blurted out.

“No, Lady Skye, all of Laird Jared's warriors use it
to go the Dragon's Spring. They troop in there dirty and tired and come out
rested and refreshed. Some live in cottages and others are in the garrison
rooms on the first floor of the castle near the armory.”

“Thank you, Fergus,” Asilinn said. “That information
clarifies a few things for me.” That was how Jared must have taken her to the
Dragon’s Spring from Liam’s cottage.

“Glad to be of help.”

A lanky lad not much older than Skye sauntered over.
“Would you ladies like to see the new foal?” he asked. Skye's response was
immediate, but Asilinn begged off.

“I'm not feeling too well,” she explained. “And I
just remembered I havena had a bite to eat. I'm going to find Flanna. You go
ahead, Skye. I'll take the outside route.”

With an obliging smile, Skye followed the stable boy
into the barn.

When Asilinn started for the main door of the castle,
a tall figure loomed in her path. She looked up into the dark eyes of Liam
MacLean. “I'll escort you back,” he offered. Liam was as tall as Jared was and
almost as handsome in his own way. His midnight hair framed his face. It
matched his penetrating, dark eyes. He was a little less threatening looking in
the day light. “After the scene you caused in the courtyard, I want to be sure
none of our superstitious people pelt you with rocks again.”

“From the looks of your head wound someone got you.
Would you like me to take a look at it? I have some balms that would ease the
swelling.”

He eyed her curiously. “Sounds wonderful,” he
replied, falling in beside her while she made her way up toward the main structure.
“Tell me, has Jared brought you around to his side now? You seem concerned
about his safety.”

“I think you ask very personal questions,” Asilinn
said, momentarily uneasy. He was too interested in her response.

“Have you forgotten it was I who found you fleeing
from him?”

“You know I still question his motives.” Asilinn gave
Liam a defiant look. “But I do fear for his life.”

“So it would seem,” Liam commented. He didn't speak
again until they entered the kitchen and Asilinn sent Flanna to fetch one of
her cures from the tower. “You are very lovely,” Liam whispered, when he took a
seat on the bench by the table.

Asilinn was startled by the obvious intent of his
remark. Glancing around she realized she was alone with him in the kitchen. She
started to move away but he grabbed her hand and pulled her over beside him.
His head was only inches from her breast. He gazed up into her eyes while his
hand ran up her arm.

“You forget yourself! Let me go!”

Instead of obeying her, he stood and pulled her to
him, lowering his head to seal his lips to hers in a probing kiss. Asilinn had
never felt so assaulted. His tongue flicked roughly across her lips trying to
get her to open for him. Pounding his chest with her fists, she struggled
against him to no avail until he finally released her.

Asilinn spat on the floor at his feet and jumped away
from him. “Why do you offend me and your laird with this monstrous behavior?”
she railed. “Never take any liberties with me again or your life will be
forfeit from your stupidity!”

Liam sank back to the bench. His jaw flexed in anger.
“I only seek to repay Laird Jared's insult in kind.”

“What it is you think Jared has done to you? I would
know. Was it you who watched me bathe in Jared's private chamber? Was that also
part of getting even? Perhaps you are the traitor my husband seeks. He was very
angry when he found it was you who caught me escaping.”

Liam looked surprised. “Someone watched you bathe?”
He gave out a short laugh. “It was not me, though I can well imagine it was a
wonderful sight.”

“Stop this!” Asilinn stamped her foot in frustration.
“What do you have against my husband?”

“Ask him? See if the Laird of Dunbocan will tell you
the sordid story,” Liam said. “Ask him if he remembers my Sarah.”

“I would hear it from you. Jared is not here to tell
me.”

“Nor would he, I should imagine.” He studied her for
a minute. “Mayhaps this is to be my revenge… to separate you from him with my
tale.”

“Find your revenge and tell me. I canna wait for my
husband to discover what caused your foul actions.”

He studied her for a moment, apparently having
difficulty deciding whether or not to tell her. Leaning forward he began.
“There is one thing I'll clarify right off. No matter what ill will I hold
towards Laird Jared, he is my liege and I havena betrayed him or his cause. I
am not the one he seeks. Do you believe that?”

“Time will tell, I suppose.”

Flanna came back into the room with the cure and Liam
stopped talking abruptly. Taking the medicine from Flanna's outstretched hand,
Asilinn applied it. All the while, she racked her brain for another errand to
send the woman on so she might hear Liam's story in private. Toby came to the
rescue when he burst through the door and begged a moment of his mother's time.
Asilinn bid her go and turned again to face Liam.

“I'm waiting.”

“I envy my cousin his wife,” he said. “Seven years
ago I was to marry a lovely girl named Sarah.” Liam's face twisted with pain at
the mention of her name and Asilinn was confused by the torment she saw there.
“Sarah grew up with Jared, Morven, and me after her parents were killed. We all
loved her and I was surprised when she agreed to marry me. I was off in battle
and Jared had just arrived home for his father's funeral. Sarah was here, at
Dunbocan, waiting for my return.”

He stopped his dark eyes probing Asilinn. “Your
husband took her to his bed. He raped her and took her virginity claiming it
was his right as Laird of Dunbocan to have any woman he wished. I suppose he
was jealous in his absence Sarah had chosen me instead of him. She was ashamed.
She begged to stay with him so I wouldna know. He kept her here not allowing me
to see her. A few months later she took her own life.”

Asilinn gaped at him in disbelief. “Jared wouldna do
what you accuse him of,” she said evenly. “He did not force me on our wedding
night and I had far more reason to be unwilling.”

“Would I lie about such a thing? You are the innocent
who does not know your husband's sinful past,” he said. “He probably never told
you of his first wife.”

“I’ve heard rumors.”

Flanna came back into the room and Asilinn stared
silently at Liam for a full minute before he rose to leave. “Thank you for
tending my wound, Lady Asilinn.” He walked past her out the door.

Asilinn knew an uneasiness she thought she had
dispelled.

“Lady Asilinn, you have not eaten. Let me get you a
plate,” Flanna offered.

Asilinn sank to the bench deep in thought until the
food arrived. Drawn from her pensive stupor she began eating. “Flanna, is it
the right of the Laird of Dunbocan to have any woman he wishes regardless of
her betrothal?”

Flanna swallowed hard and looked at her mistress. “It
is an old law. I hear some of the lairds still practice it but only the evil
ones. They claim the right to take the maiden, pronounce her a virgin, and hand
her over to her bridegroom.” Flanna sat down and scooted close to Asilinn.
“They say it happened here once but I dinna know who was laird. When Laird
Jared's father died and Jared was out of the country, others were in charge for
a time. Jared came home and brought order to the clan. He restored the line.”

“Could Jared have done this?”

“I wasna here, Milady, but if it was Laird Jared who
did this I'm sure he had a very good reason.”

The food went into a cold lump in Asilinn's stomach
at the possibility. “You act as if this is acceptable.”

“Necessary for an alliance perhaps,” Flanna
speculated. “There was great unrest when the old laird died.”

Asilinn remembered it well. That was when her father
felt he was close to winning this blasted war. And then the new MacLean laird
had solidified his power. Since Jared became laird, her father had suffered
many defeats. Were Liam's accusations true?

“Liam said I am not Laird Jared's first wife.”

“He had an arranged marriage with a woman he had
never met until their wedding day. Shortly after the ceremony the girl fell ill
and died.”

“There must be more to the story than that,” Asilinn
insisted.

“I heard the girl was in love with another man but
her parents forced her to marry our laird because of the political advantage.
Some say she drank poison but others say she died from the fever. She was with
child when she died and it was rumored the babe wasna Laird Jared’s. Whatever
happened, it was a very short marriage.”

Asilinn rose and paced the floor of the kitchen
clutching her stomach. She carried his child. Was this innocent to be Jared's
pawn?

“Lady Asilinn, please dinna tell Laird Jared I told
you these things. I'm sure he would have told you himself if he thought them of
any import.”

“I wilna mention it to Laird Jared,” Asilinn told
her. Relief flooded Flanna's face. “Well, I have some things to attend to.” She
wheeled on her heel and headed for the tower losing her meal to the chamber pot
as soon as she arrived.

Asilinn sank to the bed her mind full of the scene
that played out on her wedding night. Did Jared have an aversion to rape
because of his experience with Sarah? Did his guilt from the night long ago
reach out from the past and protect her from his cruel side?

And what of the first marriage, was he somehow
involved in his first wife's death? She remembered the pain in Liam's eyes.
Liam believed what he had told her. Who was she to trust?

Eventually exhaustion took over and she went to bed
but her sleep was tortured with her vision of Jared's death and the awful stories
Liam and Flanna had told her.

When Asilinn awoke the next morning, she determined
to keep herself as busy as possible to avoid thinking about her problems. To
that end, she volunteered to visit some of the peasants who supplied stores for
the larder and discuss some possible improvement in keeping track of what each
had to offer.

She made her way to the section of cottages and
noticed a crowd drawn around a figure in a red cape. Getting closer she
recognized the woman. It was Glenna. Not wishing another confrontation, she
melted into the shadows. Aided by the simple gray cloak she wore she was able
to hear what Glenna was saying to the group but blend into the fringes of the
crowd.

“But Laird Jared seems very pleased with his new
wife,” a grizzled old woman was saying.

“She has enchanted him with her witchcraft,” Glenna
retorted. “Lady Asilinn is a powerful witch who has set out to ruin our people.
Remember how she brought the dead back to life. The boy Toby had no life, yet
now he is alive. Her own brother was as good as dead until she used her magic
potion on him and now he is well enough to ride home. I tell you we must rise
up and kill the witch to protect our laird from her spells!”

Osred came to stand beside Glenna. “Glenna is right,
but Lady Asilinn deserves a trial.”

Garrick pushed his way to the front of the mob. “I'll
hear no more of this talk,” he warned. “You speak of treason against your
laird.”

“How is it treason if I only seek to protect him from
his evil wife? I tell you she is in league with the devil! What of her gift?
Who can see into the future without the aid of the necromancer?” Glenna argued.

“Silence,” Garrick ordered. “Lady Asilinn is not a
witch nor is she evil. What has she done? She has saved lives and tried to warn
our laird of impending danger. If she has a gift, it is most certainly from
God! Now go about your business and leave off this terrible gossip.”

As the crowd moved off, Garrick turned to Osred. “I
know Glenna is jealous of Lady Asilinn. What is your excuse counselor? Do you
plot against Laird Jared?”

Osred shifted uneasily. “I think you are blind not to
at least consider the mounting evidence against Lady Asilinn. There is
something abnormal about her. Mark my words!” He turned and hurried off in the
direction of Friar Hogan's cottage. Garrick frowned.

Asilinn leaned against the stone wall behind her, her
heart in her mouth. The people were being inflamed to come after her again and
her only protector would be gone for days. Trembling she tried to force her
legs to action. Shakily she began the hike back to the safety of the inner
sanctum of the castle her task abandoned.

“Look! She hides herself among us to spy,” a voice
accused. Asilinn spun and faced a portly, middle-aged man.

“I dinna hide,” she responded. “I only go about an
errand.”

A few others moved over to join the man but suddenly
they looked over her shoulder and dispersed without another word. Asilinn
turned to see Liam approaching, a dark scowl marring his handsome face.

“It seems I am forever doomed to see you safely
back,” he said with a slight bow.

“Thank you.” Asilinn walked beside him towards the
castle. “They hate me. What am I to do?”