Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Agnes flew past him, riding bareback, and at that strange, protracted moment, she looked over and saw him. Her face lit up with a grin, and she laughed, while Leo, for the first time since he was a lad, nearly toppled from Fafnir. If not for his wise steed, who slowed down, Leo would have met the earth face first.

The horse stopped in the road as Leo watched Agnes ride toward the castle. After a moment, he glanced back to see James and Niall coming toward them. With a curse, he whirled, and Fafnir gave chase, the horse merry and curious, clearly wanting to catch Agnes as well.

Suddenly, he sucked in a breath as he saw a few of his men stirring and tracking Agnes.

Och, nay.

His heart began pounding worse than when he thought he saw a figure in the woods. No one at Briorn Castle knew her. His men might think her a horse thief, or at the very least a mad stranger, or they might not even realize that she was a woman until too late. Worse, the marksmen of MacLarsen were excellent. If someone decided to notch an arrow and take aim…

Fear and fury churned through Leo, his stomach about to heave, his mouth dry.

"Nes!" he bellowed, and he thought he saw her glance back. A few of his men appeared on the walls of the keep. "Dinnae, ye wee fool. Come back." Had he ever ridden this fast? "Nes, please?—"

She vanished into the gates, and Leo's heart, long since buried and cold, cracked and useless, gave a hot and agonizing throb.

"Nay," he whispered, even though he knew it was too late.

Ye are always too late.

His heart seemed to tear out of his chest, racing ahead, and he tasted blood in the back of his throat. He listened with everything he had for a terrified scream, or worse, a soft cry of pain…

Yet, none came.

Still, Leo almost flinched when he rode through the gates, expecting to see the worst. A confused and pale group of people, a laughing woman suddenly silenced, sprawled on the ground in a dark pool?—

"Ye are a marvel!" cried a familiar voice.

Leo blinked away the nightmare, staring instead at his heavily pregnant sister waddling forward, a hand at her back and joy lighting up her face. Fergus followed close behind, a tender love in his eyes that smote even Leo's useless heart.

"Who are ye? A Daughter of Draxet? Sure, and I've nae seen such skill with a horse since me maither passed."

"Nay," said another voice—Hamish, the stable hand. His voice was filled with awe. "Ye must be of the horse-kin O'Valambray. Have ye come to ask for a mare, young miss?"

"Ye are both wrong," said a laughing, wicked voice, and Leo's shoulders slumped.

His Granny Ro came forward, beaming up at the laughing woman, who tossed back her dark hair and stroked the mane of the dappled horse, surrounded by a group of MacLarsen folk who had not even the gumption to realize that their Laird had returned.

"She is the new lady of our castle—Leo's bride."

"Och, sure, and ye are takin' the piss, Gran. I—" Kristie looked beyond and shrieked, causing everyone around her to jump. "Leo! Ye are home ." She put a hand to her heart, and his folk whirled, staring at him as though a kelpie had come to call. Fergus gaped, glancing between him and Agnes. "And ye let yer wife arrive alone? "

"I hadnae—" Leo began to say, but there was an uproar as his folk pushed to get closer to Agnes, their tongues clicking, their excitement nearly bursting in the yard.

Over it all, Fergus's deep voice asked, his expression dumbfounded, "This is yer English bride, Me Laird?" Then he looked at Agnes and asked, "Ye're a Sassenach?"

Agnes turned her horse around, fierce and beaming, as though she'd been born to these wild lands. As though she'd been freed on that ride to the castle.

"Oh, yes," she said cheerfully. "And don't let Leo fool you, I beat him in our race home."

Leo's blood boiled, yet he wasn't sure whether to laugh or punch something, his lip curling as he stared her down. "Is that right, Nes?"

"Where did ye come from that ye can ride so well?" Hamish demanded.

Leo went to speak, but Agnes beat him to it, announcing to the entire castle, "Oh, the Craeghil Convent." Everyone fell silent and turned to Leo, their mouths open and their eyes wide. "I suppose you should all know now that I was almost a nun until Leo?—"

"Ye kidnapped a nun?" Kristie shrieked, her voice echoing off the stones in such a good imitation of their ma that Leo didn't know whether to laugh or weep. "Have ye lost yer mind? What of the English lady?"

"Listen, she is?—"

"Ye committed sacrilege against Catholics?" Granny Ro thumped her cane on the ground. "Come now, I dinnae care for their popery, but Leo, that is foolish even for ye." Her eyes twinkled. "I like it. Did ye see her ride and then decide to take her?"

"Oh, dear," Agnes said and put a hand to her cheek while Leo slid off his horse, a muscle ticking in his jaw. "No, I was never a nun, just a novice."

Granny Ro snorted as Leo moved closer, and Agnes gave him an alarmed look, probably seeing the murderous glint in his eyes.

"Aye, ye were on the cusp until Leo kidnapped ye. It's fine. Ye got good hips, they'd have been wasted behind those vestal walls. What of the English bride then, Leo?"

Leo marched to Agnes's horse and caught the bridle before she could bolt. "This is her." He caught her around the waist and pulled her down, towering over her. "Did I nae tell ye to wait?"

"You told Niall and James to wait," Agnes said pertly.

"Sassenach," Leo said in a warning tone, his teeth bared in more a snarl than a smile. "Ye ken what I meant."

"Where is the English lady?" Kristie butted in. "Not that I dinnae like—what is yer name? Nes?"

"Agnes," Leo said brusquely, his face flushing and he pulled back. He gestured to his wife and then laid a hand on her shoulder. "She is the Outlander, the Earl of Cumbria's daughter—she was left at a convent and then brought back for me to marry." He dragged a hand over his face as everyone stared at him. "It's a long story, one I dinnae have time for?—"

"I do," Agnes piped up. "I'll tell it."

"Why dinnae ye have the time, Braither?" Kristie demanded as she came forward and instinctively stroked a hand down the nose of Agnes's horse. "Ye just got home."

"Oh, are you his sister?" Agnes asked as she stepped closer and smiled at Kristie, who beamed back. "What is your name?"

Kristie started and shot Leo a searching look, her lips flattening while hurt and concern warred in her eyes. A hard knot of guilt and discomfort formed in his gut, but she simply turned away.

"Kristeen, but everyone calls me Kristie," she said and then extended a hand as Fergus came over, doffing his worn hat. "And this is me husband Fergus, Leo's best friend."

"A pleasure to meet ye, Me Lady," Fergus said and bowed his head.

"Oh, call me Agnes—or Aggie," Agnes said. Then, she bit her lip and glanced over at Leo in alarm. "They don't have to call me ‘My Lady', do they?"

"Aye, some do, and more will want to," Leo said and folded his arms. "Now, listen?—"

"This is Hamish. He's our groom, and a wonder with horses," Kristie said as Hamish came forward and bowed to Agnes, who seemed taken aback.

"Lovely to meet another MacLarsen horsewoman," Hamish said and ran a critical eye over the dappled mare. "Fine set of Palfreys, Me Laird. Where did ye buy them?"

"Wedding present," Leo grunted. "Kristie?—"

But they ignored him, for Granny Ro had pushed forward and now stared up at Agnes. Ronalda seemed to grow more petite with every year, yet feistier and wirier, too, as though to balance things. She had a stern expression, and Leo frowned, moving forward, a hand reaching for Agnes when Granny Ro's eyes flashed at him. A coy smile curved her lips, and then she put a hand to Agnes's cheek.

"Ye are most welcome, Lady MacLarsen," Granny Ro said in a kind voice but with a note of solemnity that had Leo's hand dropping to his side. "Welcome home."

A pang went through him as Agnes pulled in a breath and then suddenly embraced Granny Ro. His grandmother had a rare look of surprise on her face, but then she pressed a hand to Agnes's back and smiled wider.

"I'm sorry," Agnes said and stepped back. "I just…" She shot him a furtive look. "It's just—you're all so much more wonderful than I dared hope. I…"

I thought I'd be alone, Leo suspected she'd say.

"Ye say that now," Kristie said with an eye roll. "Wait till ye meet the rest of our family."

With that, she took Agnes's arm and led her away, first introducing her to the crowd that had gathered. Then she began gesturing, explaining the layout of the bailey, where the stables were, the gardens, and so forth.

"Ye all right, Leo?" Fergus asked as he slid his hat back on and gave Leo a keen look. "Ye could—" He gestured to Agnes.

"Ye mean to say he should ," Granny Ro said with a sharp sniff, looking Leo over and then shaking her head. She muttered something in Gaelic as she hobbled after the crowd.

"Come with me," Leo grunted and headed for his tower, stopping only to order a maid to send up food.

Once they'd climbed up the stairs, Fergus shaking his head and a bit winded, Leo strode to his lookout and stared across his lands.

Again, nothing seemed amiss. But he could not shake the vision and the memory of that rider in the woods, nor the growing sense that Agnes might have been right about the bandits.

"What is it?" Fergus asked.

Leo turned and saw the stern, powerful man-at-arms his friend had become.

"Ye are favorin' that shoulder, dinnae pretend otherwise."

"I was waylaid by bandits twice, and then I thought I saw a stranger in the woods," Leo responded.

Fergus pulled in a long breath, his hand going to his blade, and Leo eyed the scar that wrapped around his friend's wrist.

"We may have an enemy testin' us, again, Fergus."

Leo went into detail about what had transpired and then explained what he'd seen just that morning. When he finished, there was silence in the room for a moment, with only the wind whistling about the tower, and then Fergus stirred.

"We have nay quarrels, nay—" He broke off as Leo gave him a dark look. "Leo, nay. We found all of them?—"

"Except their leader and two of his men," Leo interrupted. "And whoever betrayed us."

Fergus's face tightened, even as his eyes blazed. Still, he'd always been calm and prudent to balance the beast that was Leo. "Why now?"

Leo turned back to gaze across his lands, the loch glittering in the early morning light, and said in the harsh voice of the Beast of Briorn, "That's what I intend to find out."