Highlander Enchanted(34)

“No one will hurt ye while yer here,” he said.

“I do not wish your mercy,” she said with some distress.

He said nothing.

“Please,” she added more calmly. “Do not interfere. Lord Richard is powerful and will not hesitate to follow through on his threat. I will not bring his wrath upon your clan.”

“Ye think I fear him?” Cade’s crooked smile was faint. He approached her, stopping too close, filling her senses with his warmth and scent.

“No,” she replied. “But you ought to be wary.”

“I ken what he is, lady, though I appreciate yer concern.”

She glared at him. “It is not concern for you, Laird Cade, but your kin.”

“Verra well, lass.” The way the words rolled off his tongue in his deep voice left her too warm once more, awake where she had been fatigued before.

They gazed at one another in the thick silence, and she found it almost impossible to hate him. If anything, she was seeing the side of him that left her feeling confused as to how the rumors at court were possibly true. Laird Cade was an honorable man, not one who would slay her brother in his sleep.

“You could not run a keep if the lives of everyone you knew depended upon you,” she said breathlessly, needing to put distance and emotion between them.

To her surprise, he chuckled. “I am a warrior. I ken much of war and little of aught else. We manage.”

“With magic. Without it, you would be starved.”

“Yea, Lady Isabel,” he said. “We doona ken the doings of men.”

“There is more to do this morn after your clan finishes dancing,” she snapped.

“I am grateful.”

She eyed him.

“I am,” he said. His warmth and the glow in his eyes, at odds with his periodic temper, flustered her.

“’Tis an honor, my lord,” she said and curtseyed. “I am grateful for …” She looked towards the Great Hall and the direction Richard had gone. “Why do you protect me, knowing why I am here and that I brought this all upon myself?”

Cade appeared to be deciding how to respond when someone called out for him. He turned, and she saw Brian leading in a drenched messenger.

“Laird Duncan sends word,” Brian said and stepped aside for the messenger to approach.

The man bowed hastily and held out a scroll covered in an oiled cloth. “Laird Duncan bids ye respond right away,” said the messenger.

“Brian, wake Father Adam,” Cade said.

“Do not wake Father Adam,” Isabel said softly. “He was up with me for many hours. He is too tired.”

“I canna read it.” Cade held up the missive.

“I can.” She held out her hand.

Brian and the messenger were gazing at him. Cade studied her features for a moment.

“You think it sinful for a woman to read,” she guessed, stiffening. “My father claimed it so for a woman to better her mind.”

“Ye better yer mind, and I sharpen my swords,” Cade replied without blinking. “I doona care for what the English think of a woman who reads.” He handed the scroll to her.

Not expecting him to agree, she accepted it, silently cursing herself and then him for improving her perception of him when she wanted to hate him.

Isabel stepped away, towards a torch for the added light, and unraveled the scroll. She read it through once, dread settling into her stomach. With a glance at the messenger, she motioned for Laird Cade to join her.

“What is it?” he asked, looking over his shoulder. His heated strength at her back distracted her momentarily. She recovered and read the short message.

“Laird Duncan bids you, as his obedient vassal, to honor his declaration of war against the MacDonald’s and toss them outside your walls, so he may slay his enemies,” she said quietly enough for only him to hear.

Cade was quiet for a moment.

When she twisted to see his face, he was gazing pensively towards the Great Hall.

“You cannot,” she whispered. “Laird Hugh is too weak to move, and his clan has –”

“Ye think so poorly of me?” Cade asked with a glance at her. “I swore Laird MacDonald an oath.”

She pursed her lips.

He started to smile then waved his cousin over and explained the message.

Brian frowned. “We canna decide so quickly the fate of an entire clan,” he voiced.

“Nay,” Cade agreed. “Take the messenger to the forest and thrall him.” He took the scroll from Isabel and rolled it back up, placing the oiled cover around it.

Brian accepted it.

Isabel frowned. “Thrall?” she asked. “You cannot harm the messenger.”

“Brian’s gift is t’influence the mind of another,” Cade explained. “The messenger willna remember seeing us or delivering the writ. He will believe himself lost in the forest and return to Laird Duncan.”

Isabel stared after Brian, uncomfortable with learning more of their magic. She shook her head. “And the MacDonald’s? What will you do when you cannot deceive Laird Duncan any longer?”

“I doona ken,” Cade replied. “I willna risk the lives of my kin.”

“You must protect those who require it. It is the honorable path to follow.”