Highlander Enchanted(67)

“Ye b’long here, lass,” Father Adam said. “I was a wanderer, too, and I found my home with the seillie.”

Isabel nodded and wiped her eyes.

Siobhan returned, followed by two young men and two horses, and they were joined soon by John and Fatima, who hung back.

“The writ granting me Laird Cade,” she said to Father Adam.

He laughed, and Siobhan smiled. The priest dug her marriage contract out of his satchel and handed it to her.

“What is it?” John asked in his broken voice, drawing the gazes of everyone.

Isabel went to him and spoke low enough no one else could hear. “I need you to become the Baron of Saxony, if only for a night,” she said. “Our uncle can sign this or you can. You are closer, and I need it to call upon my true father for help.” She passed him the contract. “I must be recognized as Laird Cade’s wife to call upon the Scottish Crown to defend our clan.”

John accepted the writ with reluctance.

“And I need your medallion,” she added and removed hers. “Richard has few knights of his own. I do not know what he told our uncle, but they will not fight the rightful heir of Saxony, once they learn you are alive.”

John went still.

“You can disappear, if you wish, when I and my people are safe,” she whispered. “I know ‘tis not what you want, but ‘tis what I need to save my people. This is my home, John.”

He was quiet for a long moment. “I will be he in name only,” he warned. “If Cade will not claim Saxony, it will go to our Uncle.”

“’Tis all I need,” she said.

He lifted the chain from around his neck and held it before his eyes. “This was all I had to remember you by in the dungeon,” he said. “My sole hope to fight the madness, to leave one day and find you. It became all to me.”

“I have never taken mine off, since you left for the Crusades,” she said. “I would not ask it, if I did not think we had a chance to sway what English are with Richard. They cannot think to face the rightful heir of Saxony without angering our uncle and the king.”

“The fewer warriors we must face, the better,” John agreed. He held out the medallion to her. “I will do as you ask, Isabel.”

She nodded, unable to speak when her heart felt as if it were in her throat. Isabel took his medallion and clutched them both tightly in her fists.

“There are others,” John said with a glance at Fatima. “Seven of us who escaped the dungeons, men from many lands with nowhere to return. We sought peace here, at the northern end of the Earth. They will fight, if I ask them.” He nudged his horse away from her. “Father, do you have ink and quill?”

Father Adam bobbed his head and dug through his satchel once more.

Isabel signaled the riders to her. Her hands shook, and her voice trembled, as she issued them desperate instructions she hoped would sway the outcome of the looming encounter with Laird Duncan.

“… and finally, I will accompany you,” she said to the rider she tasked with delivering a message to King John.

“Isabel,” her brother objected, looking up sharply from his position signing the contract Father Adam held for him.

“An appeal from me will go farther than any other,” she replied.

“You are needed here.”

“I am needed where I have the most influence! My request cannot be ignored if I deliver it in person.”

Siobhan and the riders were looking between the two of them.

“The lass is wise.” Another voice came from the darkness. Cade’s two warrior cousins, appearing rough, scruffy and exhausted, melted from the night leading their horses.

“Cade?” Father Adam asked instantly.

The cousins looked to her, and her breath caught.

“He isna well. Duncan has him,” Niall answered. His eyes went to John, and he frowned.

“But he lives?” Isabel asked hopefully.

“Yea. His storms slow Duncan.”

“How close is he?” Siobhan asked, approaching him.

“Too close. A day and a half.” Niall reached out to her instinctively.

Too unsettled by the idea of Duncan tormenting Cade, Isabel did not notice Niall and Siobhan were holding hands.

“Then I will go now,” she said.

“I will accompany ye,” Brian offered. “The boy can lead us, and I can fight anyone we encounter.”

“Niall is the better warrior,” John said softly.

“Who is this?” Niall was already starting towards John’s horse, one hand on the hilt of his sword.

“You remember my brother, do you not?” Isabel asked.

Niall froze mid step, and Brian’s head snapped around to see the masked man they had left in a dungeon.

With some hesitance, John lowered his hood and pulled off the mask. Siobhan gasped at his mangled features, and Father Adam’s mouth fell open. Isabel took in her brother’s features with love, proud of him for surviving all he had.

“Ye tough English bastard!” Brian exclaimed loud enough to make her jump. He darted past his frozen cousin and all but hauled John off the horse into a tight hug.

Smaller than both of the Highlanders, John was soon engulfed in the arms of Cade’s cousins. He appeared taken aback, and Isabel smiled.