Chapter 24

24

" I willnae let ye," Alasdair said as he and Hayden pulled Ben into the castle. "It isnae safe."

"I want to," Ben said. Alasdair was unnerved by the young man who suddenly seemed to be in front of him. Ben seemed to have aged ten years in the past two minutes. "I cannae leave Charlotte."

"And I cannae put ye in danger," Alasdair told him. His son had been through far too much in his young life, all because Alasdair had not protected him. He couldn't live with himself if something else happened to his son.

"Please. I'm ready," Ben said, but Alasdair wouldn't hear any more.

"Nay," he said. He turned away, storming back toward his study. He had taken the note back from Hayden, and he felt it like an iron in his hand as he walked. He was faced with an impossible situation, but Alasdair needed to find a way to save them both.

"Please, Da." He heard Ben behind him, his voice taking on the panicked whine of a little boy. "We must save Charlotte."

"I intend to," Alasdair told the boy. "But I'll do it on me own. Ye arenae coming when ye could be injured."

"Ye ken it could work," Hayden cried. He was suddenly tight at Alasdair's elbow. "We could find a way to keep Ben safe but make it look like we're ready to hand him over."

Alasdair only glowered, refusing to engage in the conversation.

"Da—" Alasdair ignored Hayden and Ben as he barreled into his study. To his dismay, both of them followed him without a moment's hesitation.

"We should at least talk about it," Hayden said. "We cannae dismiss it."

"Think logically," Alasdair said, turning on Hayden with ferocity. "What if this is a ploy? What if they want to lure me out of the castle so they can attack?"

"For what purpose?" Hayden asked. The men were practically yelling at each other, each letting their fear of the situation lead them to become passionate about their arguments. "At least if Ben is with us, we can look after him. Unless ye daenae plan to go at all?"

"Da—"

"How do we ken she's hurt?" Alasdair asked. "What if she got away from them? Even if she didn't, they could be treating her just fine."

"Are ye willing to take that chance? Ye saw what they did to the driver."

"It was Uncle Lennox!"

Alasdair and Hayden looked across the room where Ben stood on the seat of a leather armchair. His hands were clenched at his sides, and his voice had carried around the room, managing to become louder than Hayden and Alasdair's argument.

"What was that?" Alasdair asked, wondering if his ears had betrayed him.

"It was Uncle Lennox," Ben said again. "He kidnapped me. And he … he hurt me. We cannae let him hurt Charlotte."

Alasdair's jaw went slack in his shock. His brother-in-law? It had been Lennox this whole time? His shock was quickly replaced with a pulsing anger he could hear in his ears. He had invited the man into his house. When Ben came home, Lennox was one of the first faces he saw.

"Oh, Ben," Alasdair said. His son stepped down from the chair, and Alasdair searched his face, but Ben didn't look upset. Instead, he looked more resolved than ever. "Thank ye for telling me."

"He told me he would kill ye if I ever told anyone," Ben said, his voice small. "Please. Please let me help Charlotte."

"We can use this to our advantage," Hayden said. "Ye ken he will never kill Ben. He's Lennox's last link to his sister. He wants him for his heir."

"Enough," Alasdair said. His head was swimming with information and plans, but Hayden was too energized by this information to be silent.

"We ken him, and we ken the way he thinks. It's short-sighted. Ye ken he is only thinking of getting Ben. He hasnae thought of what comes after. If we do this, we can walk away with both of them."

"I can do it," Ben said, adding fuel to Hayden's fire. "I willnae let him get away with me. Not again."

Alasdair stared at his boy. He saw the matted hair and those dark eyes that were so like his own. Somehow, today, Ben had gone from a little boy to a young man. He knew it was the way of things sometimes, that a situation presented itself that required instant maturity. And here Ben was, rising to the occasion.

"Ben," he said, dropping down to the boy. "Did he hurt ye?"

He remembered Charlotte's words when he first met her at the orphanage. He remembered her telling him about the bruises and her fear that someone had beaten Ben. Alasdair caught Ben's eyes right as they dropped to the ground.

"Aye," Ben said. "He… he wasnae kind."

Alasdair's blood ran hot through his veins. He squeezed his fists together, desperate to hit something.

"But how did ye escape?" Hayden asked, clearly thinking of the distance between Lennox's home and Charlotte's orphanage. It was a detail they had all been curious about. How exactly did the boy end up at Charlotte's doorstep?

"Aunt Mae," Ben said, looking up at his father. Alasdair could see gratitude and love reflected in his son's eyes. It brought the smallest hint of comfort, to know Lennox's wife had shown kindness to the boy. "She tried to get him to stop. But he wouldnae. So, she got one of the villagers to help. The man took me and left me on the path to the orphanage. He told me where to go for help."

Alasdair pictured his small son walking that path, battered and starving after the abuse he had suffered at Lennox's hand. He imagined him crying as he walked toward the orphanage, unsteady on his feet. He knew then how cruel and heartless Lennox was, a devil masquerading as a supportive family member. Alasdair wanted nothing more than to feel his hands around his brother-in-law's neck.

"Please," Ben said gently. "We can't let him hurt Charlotte."

"We won't," Alasdair said, giving a stiff nod. "But we need a plan."

Charlotte knelt on the cliff, the wind whipping her hair around her face. Her hands were bound behind her, and a guard stood over her, the steel of his broadsword glinting as the sun rose over the sea.

"Where is he?" Lennox yelled. He glared at Charlotte as if she were responsible for the delay. Charlotte kept her eyes trained on the lighthouse in the distance, a beautiful landmark amidst the terror of this moment.

Her mind raced at Lennox's question. All night she had agonized over what the man's plan could be. She was sure it had something to do with Ben. It could not be a coincidence that Ben was nearly kidnapped for a second time, and now, Charlotte's carriage was attacked. They had to be related, didn't they?

Lennox paced around her, swinging his sword around his body.

"He is late!" he screamed. His voice echoed off the cliffs and came back to them.

Good. Please don't let him come.

Charlotte knew she was about to die. She saw the anger in Lennox's eyes and his total disregard for her. She knew this man would not hesitate to take the life of a woman. But Charlotte wasn't afraid of death. She had always known she would trust God when her time came to meet him. If he chose to take her here, Charlotte could accept that.

But she couldn't bear the thought of Alasdair or Ben injured. She prayed that God would keep them away. She silently told Alasdair to stay home and keep his son safe.

"Of course, that man doesnae care," Lennox said, speaking his words with such fury she saw spit fly from his mouth. "He never cared for me sister. Why should he care for ye?"

"I don't know what you think," Charlotte said, fighting through the shake in her voice, "but I was only the child's helper. Nothing more."

"Liar," Lennox snapped, and he spit onto the ground. It made Charlotte cower as she kneeled beneath him. "I saw the way he looked at ye at the party. I ken he plans to replace me sister with ye."

The mention of Lennox's sister opened something up, and Charlotte looked at him, strangely compassionate despite this man's cruelty to her.

"Is that what this is about?" she asked gently. "Are you looking for revenge?"

"Revenge?" Lennox scoffed. He stepped closer to her and suddenly Lennox reached out and slapped her across the face. "Keep quiet or we'll have to gag ye."

Charlotte blinked tears out of her eyes as her cheek stung from the impact. She didn't dare to look up at Lennox, and so she kept her eyes trained to the ground.

You should have stayed with him.

The thought came to her unbidden so suddenly that it surprised her, and then her heart ached as she realized the truth of it.

Let me try again, she prayed, desperate for God to hear her. Just send me back there, and I won't leave them. I'll stay with Alasdair. Give me a second chance, and I'll make the right choice.

A tear fell down her cheek as she made this plea to God. Why had it taken her so long to realize what she truly wanted? Now, when it was too late, she finally realized that she was meant to be with Alasdair.

"They're coming."

The words hurt more than Lennox's slap, and she looked to the horizon, searching for a sign of any men on horses. There, she caught sight of four of them. In the dim light of the morning, it took time to make out the shapes as they approached, but the first horse, the largest one pushing its way through the fog, clearly carried two people.

Charlotte's stomach lurched as she made out the shape of a man and a boy.

"Please," Charlotte cried. "I know you miss your sister, but this is not the way to bring her back."

"I told ye to be quiet," Lennox said dangerously. His eyes were locked on the small party heading toward him.

"Is this what she would want?" Charlotte said, fighting past all reason that told her to be quiet. She was desperate to stop things before Alasdair and Ben got too close. Desperate to end this before Alasdair was forced to make an impossible decision between Ben and herself. "What would your sister think of you taking her son away from his father?"

"This is what she wanted," Lennox cried, fuming with anger at Charlotte's words. "She wanted to get away from that monster. She wanted to come back home. Why do ye think we staged an attack on the castle? Why do you think we tried to get them out?"

"It was you ," Charlotte said, a full understanding finally dawning on her. "You were the one who kidnapped Ben. It was you who got your sister killed."

"Gag her," Lennox screamed, turning toward her with such force Charlotte braced herself to be hit again. Instead, he only got close to her, his breath sour as he hissed at her.

"Better to be dead than the wife of a monster."

Charlotte threw her head forward, knocking her head hard against Lennox's forehead. The sides of her vision went dark, but she knew she had to push forward. She scrambled to her feet as Lennox cried out, backing up as he grabbed his head. The guard had been fiddling with the piece of fabric they used to gag her mouth, and he was surprised when Charlotte began to run.

With her hands behind her back, Charlotte's balance was compromised. Still, she knew this was her only chance. She ran as hard as she could, avoiding the large rocks and rushing through mud from the recent rain. She didn't look back, but she quickly felt the force of someone behind her.

"Turn around," Charlotte called to the approaching team though she knew they were too far to hear her. The guard's arms wrapped hard around her shoulders, and she was quickly lifted in the air. No amount of kicking or flailing could deter the man, who only squeezed harder as she fought.

"Gentle now," the man said as he carried her back toward Lennox, who still held a hand to his forehead.

"Ye're lucky I need ye," Lennox told her as the man pushed the gag into her mouth. "Otherwise, I would happily kill ye for that trick."

Charlotte glared at him with all the hatred she could muster, but then she was thrown down, landing hard on her injured shoulder. She clenched her teeth as pain radiated through her. The guard pulled at her feet, holding them hard even as Charlotte tried to kick, and he tied her at the ankles. Charlotte was left tied on the ground, unable to even pull herself to her knees.