Forgiving Hearts: Duncurra 1-3 (42 page)

Tadhg hoped any confrontation about Eara Fraser could be delayed, preferably until Rowan regained consciousness. If it came to Meriel's word against the daughter of a powerful laird, things would become difficult. Still, he believed Meriel and would support her. He hoped Niall was as staunchly behind her and drew him away from the crowd to find out. “Niall, ye know this could get very ugly if it comes down to Eara's word against Meriel’s.”

“Ye needn’t tell me that. I hope it doesn’t come to it.”

“But Niall, if it does, I need to be sure that ye believe Meriel. Any doubt on yer part—well, Eara is the daughter of a powerful laird.”

“And Meriel isn’t. I know. Still, ye said ye believe her.”

“I do. But ye have rather a well-known reputation of mistrusting women.”

Niall chuckled. “Katherine changed that, but aye, I didn’t have much faith in them before her. As fate would have it, for much the same reason Rowan might not in the future.”

“I remember hearing about a betrothal years ago and the wedding was cancelled at the last minute.”

“Aye, her name was Ceana. I was young and she was a clanswoman whom I had adored for years. Finally, my father agreed to let us marry.”

“He didn’t seek a political match?”

“Oh, aye, he did. Ye needn’t tell yer wife this, but he wanted a betrothal with Annag MacKenzie.”

“Annag is lovely. She would have been an excellent wife.”

“She might have been, but I refused. I only had eyes for Ceana and my father finally relented. I was over the moon.”

“Until ye found out she was unfaithful?”

“Aye. It was days before my wedding. Malcolm MacLennan was here, as were a few other clan leaders. It was Malcolm who discovered her with her lover. She admitted to him that she didn’t love me. Apparently, she only wanted to marry me to become Lady MacIan. That is one of the reasons I was so willing to trust him for so long and fully believed he was a staunch ally.”

“I’m sorry, Niall.”

“Don’t be. If it weren’t for Eithne and Malcolm, as despicable as they were, I would never have married Katherine.”

“Still, I can see how it would sour yer opinion of women. Rowan is a good lad, but he was only doing his duty by his father in marrying Eara. He has no strong affection for her. He might have come to love her one day, but I think he will emerge from this with his heart intact.”

~ * ~

By late afternoon, Lady MacKenzie brought word of Rowan’s condition to her husband. Cathal sought Tadhg and Mairead out immediately.

“Brigid tells me Rowan has become agitated occasionally and called out several names, including ‘Eara’ and ‘Meriel’. Weren’t ye talking earlier with one of yer clanswomen named Meriel?”

“Aye, Cathal, I was.”

“What does she know about this?”

“She knows nothing about how Rowan was injured.”

“I don’t believe that, Tadhg, ye wouldn’t have been questioning her if ye thought she knew nothing. I want to talk to her.” Cathal slammed his fist on the table.

Mairead put her hand on his arm. “Da, if Tadhg says Meriel doesn’t know what happened to Rowan, she doesn’t.”

“Then why did he question her?” Cathal demanded.

At the sound of Cathal’s raised voice, Lachlan Fraser interrupted. “Who are ye talking about, Cathal? Who was questioned?”

“A Matheson clanswoman,” answered Cathal.

Lachlan sneered. “Why doesn’t that surprise me? What are ye hiding, Matheson?”

Niall stepped in. “Lairds, the Matheson lass knows nothing about what happened to Rowan, but if ye will all calm down, we do have things to discuss.”

Tadhg motioned to Hamish and whispered to Mairead, “This may get unpleasant. I want ye to stay with Hamish and do as he says.” She nodded and he gave her a quick kiss. She joined Hamish, who also had an ashen-faced Meriel at his side.

As the room fell silent, Niall said, “Lairds, it would be better if we discussed this privately.”

“Better for whom, MacIan?” asked Lachlan. “Anything ye need to say, ye can say here, in front of my allies.”

“Not here, Lachlan. I am telling ye, ye don’t want this played out in front of an audience.” Niall leaned closer and quietly added, “It concerns yer daughter, Lachlan.”

“What about my daughter?” he demanded through gritted teeth.

Tadhg said, “Laird Fraser, please, it would be better to discuss this in privacy.”

“Matheson, I have had enough of ye. Tell me what ye know.
Now!
”

Niall said quietly, “Have it yer way, Lachlan, but don’t say ye weren’t warned. Last night, yer daughter Eara arranged to meet with one of yer clansmen, a man named Rafer. Yer man Rafer has been found and we can question him discreetly if ye choose.”

Discretion was clearly not Lachlan’s strength. He roared, “Ye are calling my daughter’s and my clansman’s honor into question? On the basis of what?”

The room practically exploded in shocked chatter. Cathal looked dumbfounded.

“It’s a lie!” screamed Eara.

“Silence!” shouted Lachlan before turning on Niall. “How dare ye make such an accusation against my daughter, MacIan! What proof do ye have?”

“Someone overheard them talking,” said Tadhg.

Lachlan whirled on him. “By God, who? This clanswoman of yers, Matheson? MacIan, I can’t believe ye would risk dishonoring me, my daughter, and my clan on the word of a Matheson wench.”

“She’s lying. I would never do that, Da. She should be whipped for slandering me so.”

“MacIan, if ye don’t have solid proof, this is unforgivable!” said Laird Urquhart, one of Laird Fraser’s strongest allies.

“Is that the lying cow?” shrieked Eara when she spied Hamish pulling Mairead and Meriel behind him. She lunged toward them and a MacIan guardsman intercepted her.

“Take yer hands off my daughter!” Lachlan yelled, throwing a punch at the man.

The hall was on the verge of erupting into a screaming brawl.

~ * ~

Mairead looked on in horror as Eara shrieked and the assembled lairds shouted at each other, depending on their loyalties. Hamish, obviously sensing danger, turned to her saying, “My lady, Meriel, quickly, up the stairs. Find a chamber and bar the door until I come for ye. I’ll guard yer backs.”

As they started toward the tower door a Fraser yelled, “No ye don’t,” and grabbed Meriel roughly by the arm. Hamish was trying to free her when someone grabbed Mairead’s elbow. She turned and jerked away, only to discover Finola beside her.

“My lady, we have to get ye out of here.”

“Aye, Hamish said to lock ourselves in a chamber, get Meriel, and come quickly.”

“My lady, it is too dangerous, we will never make it to the tower stairs, but we are close to the kitchen exit. The laird has guardsmen outside—I’ll get ye to them.”

“Nay, I won’t leave, Finola.”

Finola pulled on her arm. “My lady, can’t ye see what’s happening? Ye have to get out of here. If a fight breaks out, ye are a liability to the laird. Ye can be used against him. It isn’t safe for him. He only has Hamish in the hall and he is guarding ye. Cael and Sloan are just outside. We can get to them.” Mairead hesitated. Was she a liability? In that moment of indecision, Finola acted. Putting an arm around Mairead’s shoulders, she urged her through the rear exit from the great hall. “Finola, nay. Let go of me.”

“Hurry, my lady, before it is too late,” Finola insisted. The instant Mairead was out of the hall strong arms grabbed her from behind, but neither Cael nor Sloan nor any other Matheson guard would handle her so roughly. Caught in an iron grip, the man hauled her firmly against his chest as he dragged her away from the keep. Then, a voice she had only heard in her nightmares since that day at the Michaelmas Fair said, “Fancy meeting ye here. After all of these years we can finally finish what we started when that interfering priest interrupted us.”

Mairead screamed and a hand clamped over her mouth. She bit the palm of his hand. He swore and momentarily pulled his hand away. She twisted out of his grip, screaming again, but before she had taken more than two steps another man caught her.
Two of them?
He shoved a cloth gag in her mouth. “Did ye forget the cat bites, Darcy?” She maneuvered to escape his grip, trying to yank the gag from her mouth.

“By the rood, she’s slippery as an eel, but even eels can be caught in a trap, and so can wee mice, can’t they?” said the first one as he grabbed her again, holding the gag over her mouth. “Guthrie, see that we aren’t interrupted,” he said, pushing through the door of the deserted kitchen.

He held her so tightly; she could barely breathe, much less move. He threw her to the floor with enough force to knock the wind out of her. He was on top of her before she recovered her breath.
Dear God, it was happening again. Just like last time.
No, not just like last time!
She thrust the heel of her hand toward his nose but he dodged the blow and caught her hand in his fist.

“I had my nose broken once because of ye. It won’t happen again,” he growled and backhanded her, leaving him momentarily off balance. Ignoring the pain from the blow, she squirmed, trying to free her hips so she could scoot out from under him. He forced her hands to the floor over her head and with the weight of his body held her against the floor. Her struggles were useless. The memory of Tadhg’s words came flooding back to her.
If ye find yerself overpowered, acquiesce. Stop fighting and save yer strength.
She stilled.

“Ready to give up now?” She nodded. “I want to taste that mouth of yers. I’m going to take the gag out. There is no one to hear ye scream anyway. Everyone is busy with my whore of a sister. But if ye do scream, I will knock yer teeth out. Do ye understand?” She nodded again and he removed the gag.  He still held her too firmly for her to try again to escape, so against every instinct, she continued to lay still. “That’s better.” He forced his lips over hers, brutally shoving his tongue into her mouth. She couldn’t breathe and in spite of herself, she began struggling against him again. “This is going to be fun,” he jeered.

Mairead caught her breath and once again forced herself to calm down. Again Tadhg’s voice sounded in her head.
Tell him ye give up and ye will do whatever he wants. Do whatever it takes to stay alive.
She was terrified but she would do it. “Please don’t hurt me. I’ll do whatever ye want. Please.”

“Yes, ye will do what I want, won’t ye, and ye’ll like it. I thought ye would be a hot little piece when I first laid eyes on ye years ago. If we hadn’t been interrupted, we could have had quite a lot of fun then. Ye know, ye were almost mine again, and Matheson thwarted the betrothal.”
Dear God, this is Darcy Fraser
. Learning his identity nearly shattered her. How close had she come to being married to this beast?

“We’ll make up for it now, though.” He leaned down and nuzzled her neck. She closed her eyes tightly and suppressed a shudder. “None of that,” he said and bit her neck, hard. He clamped a hand over her mouth before she cried out. “Don’t close yer eyes. I want to see them. I want to know how much ye are enjoying this.”

She forced her eyes open. Could he possibly think she was enjoying this? “That’s better. Ye are a bit overdressed, little mouse. I think we need to remedy that.” Almost gently he removed the brooch holding her plaid and laid it to one side. Then he carefully removed her belt. “This is taking a bit too long, mouse. I think we need to hasten things along a bit.” To her horror, he pulled his dirk from its sheath and held it in front of her face. “This should help.” With one hand he grabbed the neck of her
léine
, slicing into it. Then laying the knife aside he gripped the garment with both hands and yanked, tearing it apart. She grabbed the fabric, trying to cover herself with it, and he backhanded her again. Her face exploded in pain and this time she could taste blood. “I said ye were overdressed, whore.” His mouth crushed against hers cruelly while he squeezed one of her breasts painfully. Once again, she fought for breath and when he released her lips, pulling away from her slightly, her blood left a smear on his mouth. He grinned, licking the blood from his lips. “Mmm. I made ye bleed. Let’s see if I can make ye bleed somewhere else.”

She was terrified and blind panic nearly overwhelmed her.
Stay calm and focused so ye can look for an opportunity to try again
. Dear God, how could she stay calm? With supreme will, she forced herself not to react. Trying to suppress her revulsion, she ran her hands lightly down his arms, as if she were caressing him. He grinned and chuckled. “I knew ye’d like this. Now it seems my sister is to marry yer brother. We are to be relatives, little mouse. So this is what is going to happen. We can have a wee bit of fun this afternoon and it will be our secret. Ye need only stay as quiet as the wee mouse ye are. If, however, ye decide to run squeaking to yer husband or father, I will be forced to tell them what a wanton ye are and how we have had a secret relationship for years.”

“But we haven’t.” He gripped Mairead’s hair in his fist, yanking her head back and forcing his mouth roughly over hers again. The pain made her eyes water and she was unable to control the whimper that escaped. He pulled away from her lips, but continued to hold her painfully by the hair. “Oh, aye, we have. The MacKenzies come to the Michaelmas Fair every year. Ye and I have always found a few moments to steal together. Ye were heartbroken when the betrothal to me fell through. Today ye slipped away when the spectacle started. Ye begged me to run away with ye. Ye demanded it. As much as I love ye, I had to be very forceful with ye. I would never dishonor my family in such a way.”