Highlander Enchanted(23)
She turned on him, anger replacing her fear and confusion. “Because he was a good man. Because he was my brother!”
He gazed down at her, the hardened warrior she had come to kill, and she wondered if he had looked upon her brother the same way before killing him. The patter of rain against leaves began from somewhere in the forest, though no rain yet reached them.
“Who was your brother?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest.
“The future Baron of Saxony. John of Saxony.”
Cade shrugged. “It’s possible.”
Her heart felt like it broke anew. “You slayed my brother! My father could not live with his death and went mad before he threw himself from the spire of our church. Have you no decency? No morals or compassion or goodness?” she demanded.
He was unmoved. “I dream of those I kilt every night, Lady. They n’er let me rest, so what do I care if yer brother is among them? What do I care if any o’ them have names.”
Horrified, speechless, she stared at him. The man who granted her mercy, who seemed to have a flicker of goodness, cared not one thought for those he slaughtered, innocent or not.
“Return my knife so that I may kill you properly,” she said.
“Now ye wish me dead.” He appeared darkly amused. “Go back t’yer bedchamber, lady. The forest is no place fer ye.” Black Cade tugged on his tunic and sheath and slid the massive sword into place at his back. He seemed to completely forget her or perhaps, no longer cared she was present. “I shall decide yer fate in the morning.”
Helplessness returned. It was the same feeling she experienced watching her father waste away. Isabel was no threat to Black Cade, and he was not going to listen to the concerns of an Englishwoman who felt wronged by him. He had not the capacity to care, and she had no weapon to wield against him.
At court, she had learned how to plot and escape the plots of other nobles, many of whom wished to claim – rightfully or not – her father’s wealthy lands. Physical force was no longer an option against this savage, but she had more than knives and swords to use against him.
“My mother was a MacCosse,” she said. “Once I submit my claim to the Crown, I will turn on you before the ink is dried on the king’s decree. You shall never be safe, never have refuge where my gold and influence will not find you!”
“The lass who rescued her sworn enemy in the river willna hurt the innocent,” he said with a glance in her direction. “I wish ye good fortune. Our king canna spare the men required to enforce yer claim, and ye’ve nothin’ but the clothes I gave ye t’pay fer yer own army. I need only wait fer yer betrothed to drag ye back to England, where ye belong.”
Finished dressing, Cade started towards the forest. He did not walk to the path she had traveled. Instead, the forest created a new one for him as he approached. Her gaze was caught by the movement of shrubs and trees leaning out of his way.
The fiery gems were floating in the space between them, around them. The grumble of thunder sounded farther away, and the rain had stopped.
Cade turned his back to her and began walking.
Her hand went to the pendant. “Richard, or either your king or mine, would be interested in knowing what lurks in the Highlands. The power to defeat the Saracens, perchance, or another of their enemies? Your healer fixed my broken leg, and your magic controls the sky. If I were to tell either king of the source of such power, he will grant me whatever lands I wish and the army to protect them.”
Cade froze. “Ye think I’d let ye live if ye threatened my clan?”
“I think the man who seeks to protect me from my betrothed will not let anything happen to those he cares for.” She continued, sensing his anger once more but not caring after all he said of her brother. “Anyone with power or influence would tear your clan apart to control this magic of yours.”
“You havena the heart to hurt others.”
“You destroyed my home, my life, my family,” she replied. “What would you do to the man who did this to you?”
He paced towards her, eyes flashing with anger and jaw clenched. His hands were in fists, the tension of his frame clear in his rigid stance. “Yer anger is with me, not my clan.”
She at once regretted threatening his family, but anger made her speak out where she should not. “I know,” she said. “Forgive me for it, but you are making this very difficult for me.”
“Ye made this difficult when ye chose t’flee yer betrothed into my lands with writs that might be viewed as treasonous.”
She flushed, hating the truth of her situation.
“I see a beautiful, lost, angry yet strong lass whose heart is larger than the moon. Yer circumstances were bad, and ye made them worse, and now, I am the laird who must sort it out. I won’t kill ye, Lady Cade, if that’s what ye were hoping,” he said. “What was yer plan, assuming ye succeeded in running a knife through my heart? How would ye handle yer betrothed then, if ye outlived my clan hunting ye down?”
She said nothing. She had never thought this far ahead. Perhaps once, she had hoped she could disappear with her father’s wealth, but Richard’s claim on Saxony had all but ended that.
“I do not know,” she whispered, stricken. “You took everything from me. All I wanted was to feel whole again or to know the man who hurt my family was dead.”