Bound by Wish and Mistletoe (Highland Legends #1.5)(45)

He sat up and squinted, trying to see beyond the blinding brightness. The entire room was empty. Confused, he stumbled from the bed and realized Susanna’s dress and slippers were gone.

His thoughts drifted back to the other night when he’d raided the kitchen and brought a feast back to their bed. Susanna’s playful words from last night rang into his head: “’Tis my turn.” The idea that she’d want to surprise him to break their fast calmed him, and he smiled at the intimate moment they’d shared when he’d tempted her with foods she’d never tasted.

Unwilling to wait a moment longer to have her in his arms, he quickly dressed and went down to the kitchen. Rowena and her staff were busy preparing the midday meal.

“Have you seen Susanna?”

“No, Commander,” Rowena said. The three other women in the kitchen shook their heads.

He closed his eyes, scrubbing a hand over his brow as he forced a calming breath into his lungs. “When was the last time you saw her?”

“’Twas last night,” Rowena replied.

“How long have you all been here in the kitchen?”

“I arrived before sunrise,” Rowena said.

Refusing to give credence to the worst possibilities, Robert backtracked into the great hall. He didn’t bother going outside, as she’d never venture out among strangers alone. With systematic precision, he opened every door and searched each room, beginning in their auxiliary wing. He worked his way back to their bedchamber, which remained empty. Only two doors remained upstairs. He knocked on Brigid’s, and after no reply, opened it.

Empty.

Iain and Isobel’s room was the only bedchamber remaining. He pounded on the oak door, venting the panic rising from the pit of his stomach. When no one answered, he shouldered the door open.

Empty.

He rushed back down the stairs, taking them two at a time, and strode down the hall to find Iain’s study door open. Laird stood at the high wooden table, examining a map. He glanced up as Robert walked in.

“Iain, have you seen Susanna?”

“Nay, I thought she was with you in her bedchamber.”

“She’s nowhere in the keep.” His voice cracked, and he took a deep breath. “Where are Lady Isobel and Brigid?”

Iain frowned deeply. “I thought they were in the keep.”

Robert spun around and ran through the great hall. He yanked the front door open and jogged into the courtyard, frozen snow crunching beneath his feet. Iain appeared at his side seconds later.

The courtyard had several paths that had been cut into the two-foot-deep snow, and both men sprinted down the one that led to the stables. The stable boy looked up from shoveling one of the stalls and dropped his task to greet them.

“Were any horses taken out today?” Robert asked.

“Nay,” the boy replied.

Robert turned and stepped out of the structure, scanning the courtyard. A few children played by the cottages. Uilleam, the woodcutter, led his horse and cart in over the drawbridge, carrying a load of firewood.

“But Lady Isobel and Lady Brigid took Solus out...late last night.”

On Robert’s left, a deep growl came from Iain, and they slowly turned back around.

“What?” Iain asked through clenched teeth.

“I tried to stop them. Brigid assured me Lady Isobel would not be riding.”

“Have. They. Returned?” Iain asked.

“I doona know, Laird. I tried to wait for them, but fell asleep. Solus is not here.”

Their heavy boots echoed over the wooden floorboards as they stormed down the stalls. Suddenly governed by their strategic minds, which fired out prioritized tasks with lightning speed, Robert tossed a saddle onto his horse and cinched the strap as Iain did the same with Dubhar.

“That insolent woman.” Iain growled. “I shall chain her to the damn bed.”

Robert put a foot into the stirrup and swung his leg over the saddle before he realized Iain had spoken of Isobel. He glanced at his friend. “You think that’ll be effective?”

Iain sighed as he mounted his stallion. “Nay, but in my current mood it seems like a good plan. And...would make me happy for a while.”

Robert snorted as he rode his horse into the courtyard. When Iain veered off toward the gatehouse, he followed. The guard leaned down to them from the tower window.

Iain shouted up to the guard, “Have Lady Isobel and Brigid returned?”

“Aye. They walked in on foot a short while ago.” He pointed toward the great oak tree that overlooked the stream. Two figures sat beneath the tree’s winter-bared branches.

Robert shouted up at the guard. “They were alone? No other woman was with them?”

“Nay. Only the two ladies. They left with Lady Isobel’s warhorse but returned without it,” he called down.

Robert tugged on the reins of his horse, turning toward the drawbridge. “Susanna’s not safe outside our walls,” he snarled, furious that his unfinished business with Dougal now exposed Susanna to harm.

“See to your woman. I’ll deal with mine,” Iain said.

Robert nodded and tore off across the drawbridge. He took a hard left, following the curtain wall that surrounded the castle as he followed his instincts and the lasses’ clear trail. As he rounded the far corner, he came across a large area of disturbance in the snow outside their hidden underground entrance.