Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

" E rgh." The groan escaped Kaden.

He couldn't yet sit up as his eyes blinked open blearily. The pain was aching across the back of his head, so strong that it didn't take long to remember why he was prostrate on the ground, nor to realize how much of a fool he had been.

The wench…

That white, blonde hair flashed across his mind, the sultry smile, those icy, bright blue eyes. She had been pretty, very pretty indeed, and perhaps that was the thing which had induced him to consider breaking all his rules and taking a courtesan here in this inn. It wasn't usually his style. Any woman who wished to spend the night with him, did so in a subtle way far from prying eyes.

As he sat up, rubbing the back of his head, he tried to figure out what it was about the woman that had exactly brought him up here. Yes, she had been pretty, but she was hardly the first pretty girl who had caught his eye.

He could only think he had lowered his guard because he had been too much in his cups, though he could only remember having one drink.

He sat up, getting his bearings as he rubbed the back of his head and checked for blood. Fortunately, there was none. If she had attempted to crack his skull, then she had at least failed and only managed to knock him out.

He looked around. The chamber was bare. It lacked any personal possessions, any suggestions as to who the woman could be.

As the dizziness settled, he searched his pockets madly, moving to his knees. His money purse was still firmly fastened to the inside lining of his belt. He still bore the basilard he always carried at his side in his belt. She could have used that on him, killed him, but she had not. Whatever that woman had wanted, it wasn't murder. He checked his hands too, but he still wore his father's ring. She clearly hadn't wanted money either.

Kaden stood and staggered, sudden dizziness returning. Scrambling to the side of the room, he breathed in deeply, leaning on the wall as the room swam into focus. He caught sight of his reflection. His pallor was evident.

His hand shot to his waistcoat. His fingers fumbling the lapel as he searched for the badge, though it was not there.

It's gone.

Suddenly captured by energy, he dropped to his knees again and searched the floorboards. Could it have fallen off when he had been knocked unconscious?

No. It was nowhere to be seen.

He was about to give up searching for it when something glittered in the candlelight. Pressed into the corner of the room was the vial he had seen the courtesan spilling in his drink. He picked it up delicately and held it to the light, giving it a sharp sniff. He was no expert, but he was confident enough that it would have knocked him unconscious. He pocketed the vial and stood straight, determined to ask his healer what it was.

Turning on the spot, Kaden rubbed the sore spot on the back of his neck as he made a firm conclusion.

" She took it. She took the badge."

A red fury took over him. His hands balled into fists, his heart pounding in his chest. It was a gift from his father. He had promised to never take it off until the day he died and passed it on to another.

I will get it back.

Kaden tore from the room. He searched the corridors, but they were all empty. Racing down the stairs and back into the pub, he found everyone was even more drunk than before. No one really paid attention to him, for they were all so busy buying drinks and tipping the flagons down their throats.

Kaden searched for Marcus, but he wasn't there. A resentful thought shot across Kaden's mind.

Aye, he's probably found his own woman fer the night. Probably one that leaves him with a smile on his face rather than a bump on his head.

Kaden settled up the drinks with the innkeeper and then left. In the stable, on his first attempt to get onto his horse, he failed, the dizziness still creeping in. He waited, then tried again, though he was not worried. Kaden had faced battle enough to recognize a true wound from a temporary injury. He'd been hit on the head worse than this before.

Still, he chose to ride slowly back toward the castle, not wishing to push himself too hard. The stars twinkled overhead, reflecting in the river beside him. He didn't turn to admire it though. All thoughts were on the wench he had stupidly followed out of the bar and into that room.

She had full lips for one so petite and pretty. She'd not had bold cheekbones, but rather soft cheeks, elegant, sweet. There was an innocence in her look which had contradicted the fierceness of that kiss, which had intoxicated him, better than any whisky or ale.

Cursing his weakness to her pretty face, he slowed the horse at the castle gate, determined not to share this information with anyone if he didn't have to. He'd talk to Marcus on his return. Maybe between them, they could track her down and retrieve his badge.

Nay one need ever ken that I could have died in a chamber at the hands of a damned courtesan.

"Me laird," Urwin called to him from the portcullis gate. The guard with milky eyes and a face pale as parchment was smiling about something as Kaden approached.

"Good eve, Urwin," Kaden said.

"Yer lass is in yer chamber, waiting fer ye, me laird."

"Me lass?" Kaden repeated. He descended his horse as the portcullis was lifted, walking inside. He passed the reins to the stableboy who had approached to take the horse, thanking him for his trouble, though his eyes quickly returned to Urwin.

"Aye, she turned up here. We did the usual. Dinnae worry, nay one saw her."

It took no great leap of Kaden's imagination to realize who it was. He had solicited no other woman's favor tonight.

She's here.

"She had yer clan badge too. Is that yer new signal, me laird? Ye'll give them yer badge if ye want them tae be allowed in?"

Kaden turned and faced the castle, his eyes narrowing as he glowered up at the castle windows. That red rage was back, making his heart pound in his chest.

"Something like that," he murmured. "Urwin. Nay one else is allowed intae this castle if ye dinnae recognize him. And I'm nae tae be bothered tonight."

Urwin offered a mischievous smile, clearly drawing his own conclusions as to why Kaden didn't wish to be bothered.

"Is Marcus back yet?"

"Nay." Urwin nodded.

"If he returns, tell him tae come knocking. I need tae speak with him."

"Aye, me laird."

Kaden walked away, though he didn't head to the keep. He grumbled under his breath about Marcus' good fortune to be with a lass who was not knocking him out.

Determined to know exactly what he was dealing with, Kaden made his way to one of the outbuildings and knocked on the door.

"Someone better be dead at this hour," a grumpy voice called from inside.

"Nae quite," Kaden called back.

A scuffling sounded inside the stone cottage. It had been here for years. Kaden could not remember a time the cottage hadn't been there. When he and his sisters were young, they'd often come to this cottage to visit the healer. His sisters were now married, far from the castle.

The door opened and the elderly face of Dara put her head through the gap. Her grey hair was gathered tightly at the back of her head in a bun. Around her shoulders she clutched a tight shawl.

"What's happened?" she said, her green eyes alert and narrowed.

"I need yer judgement on something." He held up the vial. It glinted in the light of her fire, which was spilling out of the cottage.

"Come, Kaden," she whispered.

He smiled as he followed her into the cottage. She had only called him ‘me laird' once, after he had been given the position. He had asked her never to do it again, and to his relief, she had listened to him.

Kaden stood by the fire, warming his bones as she took the vial to her workbench. She sniffed it a few times, stuck her finger in the bottom of the vial and placed it to her tongue, then spat out the content fast. Next, she placed the vial over a small candle, watching the glass tarnish and blacken.

It took some minutes. Kaden shifted uncomfortably, running a hand across the back of his head.

He needed to go and speak to this lass. She had wormed her way into his castle, which must have been her aim in the first place, knocking him out. The question was, why?

"Who cracked ye across yer head?" Dara asked, her knowing voice making him drop his hand at once.

"Nay one. I walked intae a timber beam."

"Aye, probably the same beam that tried tae give ye this dwale," she said with thick sarcasm, holding up the vial.

"Dwale?" he repeated. He'd heard her mention it over the years. "It would have put me tae sleep?"

"It's a strong one too. Judging from the smell, aye, expertly made." She sniffed it another time. "Well balanced. Aye, ye would have been asleep in minutes, Kaden. I'm guessing they hit ye when ye didnae drink it."

"Please, Dara, dinnae talk about this with anyone."

"Hmm." She grunted, but nodded all the same, placing the vial down on the workbench as she sat on a stool before it, eyeing him carefully, her shoulders hunched. "Ye want something fer that head?"

The embarrassment was too strong for Kaden. In the past, he had come to Dara when he had had nasty battle wounds. This was no battle wound though. It was a sign of how pathetic he was, being seduced into injury.

"Nay, I'm well enough. I'll leave ye tae yer sleep, Dara. Good night and thank ye."

"Goodnight, Kaden. Look after yerself," she said meaningfully, and he nodded. He took the vial, eyeing what little was left inside, and then left swiftly out of the door.

Once in the courtyard, he strode fast toward the keep, navigating by the moonlight alone. Now he knew exactly what he was dealing with, he had to speak to this woman, find out who she was and why she needed to access his castle. He just had to hope that his guards had done the usual drill of locking his nighttime visitors in his chamber, to make sure no maid could stumble upon them accidentally. At least, if she was locked in, she could not achieve whatever she hoped for since he held nothing in his room.

He raced up the steps to the keep, not bothering to light a candle to aid his way. He took the steps two at a time, even stumbling on the top step in his haste, though he didn't care or tarry. He raced on, pushing doors open fast and closing them haphazardly behind him.

When he reached the door of his own chamber, he halted, pressing his ear to the door to listen.

There was scuffling inside. She was moving around.

Aye, I have her trapped, cornered fer answers.

Then something heavy dropped inside. He flinched, pulling his ear back. She wasn't just sitting quietly in his chamber waiting for him. It sounded more like she was turning his chamber upside down.

Kaden scrambled in his money purse for the key and pulled it out, thrusting it into the lock fast and turning it. At the sound of the old iron lock turning, all noises inside the chamber halted. He thrust the door open wide and stepped in, his eyes searching for her.

The first thing he saw was the mess. She had indeed turned his chamber completely upside down. The wolf furs had been dragged off the bed, as if she had searched under the straw mattress. Every buffet cabinet and mahogany coffer was open, the contents half strewn across the floor. She had even opened his toilette box. What the hell had she hoped to find in there?

"Well, well," he said, his voice cutting across the sudden silence.

She stood in the far corner of the room, her back to him, that wild white-blonde hair almost completely fallen out of its updo. It teased loosely around her shoulders as she slowly turned to face him, those icy blue eyes wide, as though she were a deer at the end of a crossbow, fearful of being shot.

What enraged Kaden further was the fact he was still attracted to her. Apparently, something animalistic, buried deep inside of him, didn't care about using good sense or reasonableness. No, that nonsensical animal thought only of the pretty face and the spirited lass before him. It didn't think about the fact that she had attempted to drug him, struck him unconscious, broke into his castle, and was now searching through all of his most private possessions in the world.

He stepped forward, watching as she flinched, shutting the door and locking it tightly behind him. The sound of the key turning in the lock once again was like the crack of a gun in the silence.

"Are ye going tae tell me who the hell ye are now?" he barked at her, turning back to face those wide, icy-blue eyes.