Taken by a Highland Raider Read online

  First published 2017

  Copyright © Susan Bella Ikin 2017

  No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Under no circumstances may any part of this book be photocopied for resale.

  This is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental.

  Taken by a Highland Raider

  Mary.

  I had sat down just for a few moments in the promising spring sun, tired out from my efforts of the morning and replete from my simple meal. One of my guards, D’arcy, had disappeared into the woods, and although he had not burdened me with his desire for some time by himself, I understood why. He had hesitated before leaving, the only other guard that I had been provided with was Brian the Black, and D’arcy had second thoughts about leaving me in his care. But I wasn’t worried. Although Brian wasn’t a patch on D’arcy in terms of swordsmanship or courage, I knew that I would be safe enough with him, he was a pious man and would not harm me, and besides, our little corner of England was very peaceful. So I had sat down, with my back against one of the large oaks that grew in the woods, and had closed my eyes, attuning my ears to the noises around me, the buzzing of bees and the chirping of birds. It had been a very hard winter – the season had been harsh enough and my loss had been difficult to bear – but today had held a promise of something better to come, and I had taken my guard and left the keep in order to search for plants to restock my supplies. Those plants were now safely in saddle bags on our horses, and I dozed peacefully. The keep was a very unhappy place these days, and I felt very insecure for my future wellbeing when within its walls. Consequently, I slept very fitfully, and those many nights of poor sleep caught up with me as I sat in the warming sun.

  I was awakened very roughly by a hand pressed across my mouth, and an arm pressed across my neck, and opened my eyes with a start to find myself looking into a pair of hazel eyes, which appeared to belong to a giant of a man who was bending over me. I could not struggle, as the arm pressed across my neck was slowing down my air supply, which was apparently the reason for it, as the man suddenly hauled me to my feet, spinning me around and wrapping his arm around my waist, but keeping the hand across my mouth. In terror I looked around, seeing several other men standing around, with looks of mirth on their faces as they regarded me restrained within the circle of steel that was my captor’s arm. I looked for Brian the Black, and was dismayed to see him sitting on the ground, against a tree, much as I must have been. He was looking up dazedly at another giant of a man who stood with a sword pointed at Brian’s neck. I narrowed my eyes in anger. Why had I trusted my safety to Brian? All piety aside, he was the son of the local smith, and was a lazy man, which was why he was usually assigned to me. No-one else in the keep would have accepted this worthless n’er-do-well in service, but as the least valuable person in the household I was not given many guards for protection. I only had the services of D’arcy because of his longstanding friendship with Edmund.

  D’arcy! I looked around for him, the terror I felt for myself doubling at the thought of what must have happened to him. D’arcy had pledged to protect me with his life, and I feared to see his body lying in the grass somewhere. My motions as I looked around must have alerted my captor, as in a thick accent, his deep, loud voice boomed from just behind me.

  “Is there another one, lassie? Call him out from wherever he is hiding, and we promise not to hurt him”.

  The other men laughed, and I seethed in anger. I determined not to call to D’arcy. Hopefully he had either gone far enough away seeking privacy that he wouldn’t stumble across these men unprepared, or else he was concealed somewhere, watching and waiting for his chance. It was obviously the latter, as suddenly from behind me, I heard the scraping sound of a sword being swiftly pulled from its scabbard. The man behind me flinched as D’arcy’s intent became clear.

  “Let Lady Le Bruin go, you oaf, or I will skewer you where you stand”.

  “Ye can probably kill me now, but where will that leave the Lady? Do ye think after my men have killed ye and that useless excuse for a guard over there, that they will escort the Lady back to her home unharmed? I think that we can come to an arrangement”.

  “You will not get far, even if you kill us all. My Lord Le Bruin will send his army out and scour the countryside and kill all of you before you get far. I think the best arrangement will be if you get your hands off the Lady right now, and depart these lands, never to show your faces again”.

  The man suddenly released me, and held his hands to the sides where D’arcy could see them, I turned and ran to D’arcy’s side, going to stand behind him as he pushed me with one hand while keeping his sword pointed at the giant. I looked around him, breathing deeply, but the other men seemed unfazed. The giant slowly turned and faced D’arcy, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

  “I have a proposal for ye”. He said, still as calm as if he wasn’t staring at a man who was holding a sword in a position where he could easily inflict a painful and mortal gut wound.

  “If ye put that fine sword back in its scabbard, and surrender to me and my men now, the rest of my men, who are all around us in the woods, won’t charge out and we won’t have the need for a bloody and unnecessary fight. Ye are sorely outnumbered, I am willing to bet that ye are the only one here of yer party that is handy with a sword, and ye can’t take us all on and win. I have heard tales of the Le Bruin family and it is known for many miles around that they have more coin than they need. I think that the Lady here will be worth more to us alive than dead, and I am willing to spare ye so that ye can attest to our fine treatment of her while she is our guest”.

  My stomach sunk in horror. My family might be wealthy, but I doubted that they would spend any of their precious coin to ransom me back from anyone. I knew that D’arcy would know that as well, but also knew that he could not die for a useless cause. These men were going to take us, and there was nothing we could do at this moment. I heard a noise behind me, and looked back, seeing more men appearing from the woods, sardonic smiles on their faces. We were surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered. I leaned forward, and in a very low whisper, prompted D’arcy.

  “Buy us some time”.

  I looked at the giant and saw him narrow his eyes at me. He had noticed that I had spoken, but had not been standing close enough to hear the words. Slowly D’arcy lowered his sword so that it was not pointing straight at the giant, but he did not sheath it just yet.

  “What guarantees do I have of your honourable intentions? I need your solemn oath that neither you, nor any of your men, would dishonour my Lady, and that you will treat her as a guest, not a prisoner, until the ransom is paid”.

  The giant’s face began to turn a mottled red, and he almost shouted in response.

  “None of my men, nor I, have any need to force a woman. I take it as a grave insult that ye would suggest this. Ye have my word that the lady is in no danger from any of us, and that as soon as her ransom is paid, she, and ye, will be free to go”.

  D’arcy regarded him for a moment longer, then sheathed his sword and unbuckled it, handing it to the giant. I gulped, aware of our help
lessness. The man standing over Brian pulled him to his feet, and a letter was quickly written and given to Brian to take back to the Le Bruin keep. As he took a few shaky steps back towards the horses that we had left tied to a slender tree a little way away, the man who had been guarding him stopped him, laughing. I looked at the giant, who was clearly in charge. He looked at me, then back at Brian, laughing.

  “Do ye think we are that stupid? To allow ye to ride back to the keep and raise the alarm? No, ye will walk, we will take the horses with us, that way we will have a fair start. Besides, those are fine looking horses and will add to our stock. No, we will be having them all as part of the price. Begone, and hope that yer master never finds out that ye were sleeping while on guard and allowed yer mistress to be taken so easily”.

  The man who had been guarding Brian slapped him on the back with the flat of his sword, causing Brian to stumble forward, then he took to his heels and ran as fast as he could.

  “Coward”, I heard D’arcy say quietly. Not quietly enough as the giant turned his head back to us, smiling as he approached.

  “I could not agree more. Ye however, have some courage about ye. I like that. That is why I will trust ye not to run if I let ye have yer horse back for the ride. Do I have yer promise?”

  D’arcy nodded his head.

  “I would not run and leave my Lady with you. Her wellbeing is my charge, and I would not abandon her to the likes of you”.

  “Then we are agreed. Ye will not run while the Lady stays with me, and as she is worth a lot of coin to me, she will be staying with me”.

  The giant took my arm and led me towards the horses. His men had brought their horses from where they had apparently been hidden before the men surprised us, and the three horses from the Le Bruin household were now a part of a larger, milling herd of horseflesh. D’arcy’s horse was a large one, as befitting a man of his size and strength, but my horse was much smaller. I had a horse that I could manage, and more importantly, that I could mount. I could never have clambered up onto the back of a horse as large as D’arcy’s, or the other horses that surrounded us now. The only horse that I could have managed apart from my own was the horse that Brian had used, as it was not as large as the others, but another man had gathered up the reins and would be leading it, so I headed towards my solid little gray mare. Without warning, the giant grabbed me around the waist, and I felt myself flying through the air, before landing atop of a huge black beast that skittered as I leaned forward and clutched its mane in a panic. I felt the giant vault up behind me, and as he wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me back so that I was almost sitting on his lap, D’arcy ran up and stood in front of the horse.

  “You promised you would keep your hands off her! She has her own horse!” he shouted, having to step aside to avoid being trampled.

  I heard the giant’s voice rumble behind me, feeling gusts of his breath at the back of my hair.

  “I made no such promise. I said that the Lady was in no danger from us, and she is not. However, she might be in danger if she were to try to escape, and that would be foolhardy. Ye are free to ride yer own horse, as you have given yer oath that ye will not abandon the Lady. The safest way for me to make sure that ye do not try to run with the Lady, is to keep her close to me.”

  Without any further speech, he spurred his horse forward, forcing D’arcy to hurry to mount his own horse to stay with us. D’arcy could not stay close to me however, as the giant’s men closed in a tight knot around us, forcing D’arcy to follow us. I seethed with rage as I felt the man’s arm tighten against my waist when I tried to make some space between us. With an audible sigh, he pulled me back against him, causing his man who was riding beside us to laugh, and to speak to him at a speed which meant I could not decipher what they were saying. I thought I caught a word or two which made me blush, but wasn’t sure. Their accent was so heavy that I could understand them when they spoke slowly, but when they spoke amongst themselves they spoke swiftly and I had difficulty keeping up. I stayed where the giant had made me sit, but held my spine rigid. I would not lean back against him, no matter how warm and solid he was.

  Liam.

  Donald noticed the wee lassie try to pull away from me, and saw that I pulled her back so that she was almost sitting in my lap. He laughed and rattled off a quick comment about how I was going to regret having that sweet looking arse pressing up against my bollocks all day. He was probably right, but I didn’t want her leaning too far forward and falling off the horse. It had been easier than we had thought, capturing the Lady Mary. We had heard from a wandering minstrel all about the Le Bruin family, and that the Lady Mary was known to go picking flowers and herbs in the woods with very few guards, and the minstrel worried that sooner or later someone would hear of this and turn it to their own advantage. Well, now someone had. I had not been honest with the Lady and her valiant guard, ransom was not my primary goal. My family had more than enough money to ensure that all our people were well fed and that we could maintain our keep to ensure our safety, but the McGarrows had long detested the Le Bruins. The old Lord had been a guest in our keep many years ago, and when he left he had taken a woman with him. Nothing was known of her fate until many years later, when a priest brought a letter to my father. The Lord had never married the woman, had only taken her to slake his lust, and when she fell with child he had abandoned her, without even providing a home for her and his bairn. She had sought sanctuary in a convent but had died in childbirth, and the child had sickened and died soon after. None of this had been known until a letter dictated by the dying woman had found its way into my father’s hands. The McGarrows had long wanted a chance to make the Lord Le Bruin rue his actions, and this Lady had played into our hands. When I had heard that the young, beautiful widow of the only son of the house was often poorly guarded, far from home, I had made plans to steal her away. My mother, hearing of my plan was distraught, impressing on me that despite the Good Book seeming to give permission for revenge, I was not to treat this woman as a vessel for my revenge, as she was innocent of the sins of her father-by-law. It would be enough, my mother had reasoned, for the family to have fear of what might happen to the Lady, and to have to pay handsomely for her safe return. I had been angered that my mother could even consider that I would use a woman in that way, and this anger had boiled up when the Lady’s guard had made the same suggestion. I, more than anyone, understood that women were bartered as property for their value in the marriage bed, and had long ago discovered that such deeds only caused misery for all concerned.

  As the day wore on, I came to understand that there was more than one type of misery. The Lady had at first held her back ramrod stiff, which had the result of making her round little arse jostle my groin with each step of my horse. Before long, I was so hard that it was painful. I tried thinking every thought that I could to make myself soften, but then there would be another step, and the friction generated by that warm arse would make my shaft stiffen again. The Lady did not appear to notice, thankfully, I think she was too deeply in her own thoughts to think anything of it. My brother, however, had noticed the grimace on my face, and was clearly enjoying my discomfort. Donald even had the audacity to suggest that I pass the wench over to him for a while to allow me to compose myself, which earned him a snarl from me, but he just laughed at my response.

  Eventually the Lady relaxed a little, and as her back curled into my front, her weight shifted a little and she was no longer massaging me with every movement, so I could relax myself a little and recover from the discomfort, although I was still thinking longingly of the freezing waters of the loch near home. I felt the Lady trembling a little, and felt a little guilty that I had caused an innocent to feel fear because of my actions. However, I could not reassure her too much as I did not want her to lose her fear of me and my men. As long as she thought we might harm her if she tried to escape, she might not give us any trouble. I needed her to be complaisant, so that she did not give us any more trouble than
necessary. I looked down at the top of her head, remarking on her size. She was only a wee thing, and clearly still very young. She had only lost her husband a few months ago, and now was being taken far from her family. I deliberately gentled my tone, and spoke to her.

  “I understand that ye have recently been widowed, Lady Mary, please accept my condolences”.

  She flinched as I spoke, and turned her head to look back at me.

  “How do you know these things about me? Who are you anyway, I do not even know the name of my captor, or where I am being taken”.

  “It does not matter how I know about ye, people talk and talk travels. As for who I am and where ye are going, my name is Liam McGarrow, and ye are being taken to my family keep where ye will be our guest until yer ransom is paid”.

  “How far is it?”

  “It is a few day’s ride north from here, across the border and then some. Ye will be with us a while, it will take yer man a day or two to return on foot to deliver the message to yer family, then they will have to gather the coin together, then deliver it to us. I would expect that ye will be with us for quite some time”.

  The woman sighed. As her stomach lifted on her inhale, my arm that was wrapped around her waist rose up high, leaving me hoping that it might brush against her breasts, but instead as she breathed out her stomach fell inwards. I leaned forward as she spoke softly, and found my cheek brushing against her soft hair.

  “What if something goes wrong? What if the messenger gets waylaid, and you don’t get the ransom?”

  “I doubt that will happen my Lady, yer family would take care to ensure a guard for their coin”.

  “You would think so, wouldn’t you?” she asked so softly I almost didn’t hear her.

  That made me think of the wastrel that had been set to guard her. I hoped that all of Le Bruin’s men were not as derelict in their duty as him. I thought of the Lady’s other guard, the one who rode at the rear, and hoped that Le Bruin had more like him instead.