Chapter Twenty-Two

Ella yanked her arm free from the meaty hand of Randolph’s henchman as he pulled her in through the entryway of Varrich Castle. The vile guard had pawed her body, locating her hidden dagger. Her stomach still clenched with nausea as she watched the ogre adjust his cod, obviously enjoying the order Randolph had given him.

“Tsk, a knife on a lady,” Randolph said, following them, tipping her sgian dubh to catch the light from the high windows cut into the great hall’s stone walls. “Although ye are something of a warrior lady.” With a downward thrust, Randolph stabbed the small dagger into the wooden table. “I trust that ye found all of her secret weapons, Iain?”

“I would be glad to strip her out of them fine clothes and search further,” Iain said, leering. “From her toes to the curls on her head and everywhere in between.”

Ella looked away to quell her stomach. Would vomiting all over him squelch his lust?

Her gaze fastened onto movement toward the back of the hall. “Jamie!” Picking the voluminous petticoats up, she ran to him, pulling him into a hug against her. He is alive. He is whole and alive.

Even though he was already twelve, with all the reticence of a boy wanting to prove that he was almost a man, Jamie clung to her for several long seconds. When she felt him drop his arms, she let him pull back and searched his face. Dirt smudged his cheeks where smears showed that there had been tears at some point. His blue eyes shone with them, though he bravely blinked them away.

“I will get you out of this,” she said, her voice low.

He sniffed, his mouth firm. “But how will I get ye out of this?”

“Cain will come,” she said.

Jamie’s gaze lifted over her shoulder.

“Are ye certain about that?” Randolph asked, his voice strong and directly behind her.

She straightened, turning to him. “Of course he will, he and his four armies, to tear Varrich to the ground.”

Randolph shrugged. “Perhaps he will see this opportunity to take Sutherland lands.”

“He cannot,” she said, her face full of unchecked anger. “King James will support Jamie Sutherland as chief,” she said, grabbing Jamie’s hand. He held tightly back. “Cain knows that. If you or Cain try to take Dunrobin, King James will bring his massive armies down upon you.”

The blank look that Randolph held gave nothing of his thoughts away. He batted his hand through the air. “If Cain Sinclair decides not to ride against the Sutherlands today, coming here instead, ye will turn him away by telling him that ye have wed.”

“I will not,” she said.

He smiled, his grin toothy. “Ye will, to save your brother, of course. A brother that no one even knew about. Not even your father.”

“How did you discover him?” Ella asked. She had kept him a secret for twelve years.

The natural tilt of Randolph’s dark brows made him look evil. “A bit of investigative work spurred by an ill woman in the Sutherland village who said that her bairn had died twelve years back. She said that she had been called to Dunrobin to nurse a boy bairn without its mother. She went on and on in her delirium, wishing to be buried by the remains of Alec Sutherland’s dead son as it was actually her own.”

Randolph chuckled. “The information made it to Viola, who passed it to me. I sent a maid to work at Dunrobin, and she followed the tales to a boy born to Florie Sutherland. With a jug of whisky poured down your nursemaid’s throat, she told all to keep her life.” He tsked.

Was sweet, loyal Florie dead? Ella swallowed down the question, keeping her brother at her back. He was growing so fast, but she was still taller than him. “You will accomplish nothing by wedding me,” she said. “King James supports Jamie, his namesake. He prefers bloodlines over battles to secure leadership and has sworn to back Jamie’s claim to my father’s earldom and to lead the Sutherland clan.”

Randolph stepped up closer to her. “The boy is young and untried. I will but do what Cain Sinclair would have done had he known about him. I will become regent.”

“You are not even a Sutherland,” Ella said.

“Ah, but I am half Sutherland.” Randolph’s smile faded. “My mother was from your clan and found herself with child by a Mackay warrior. My father wed her, but he was a cruel man.” Randolph rubbed hard against the back of his hand as if scrubbing away at a pain. “When my mother tried to take me and my sister back to her home in the Sutherland village outside Dunrobin, your father refused to let us stay. He said we were exiled, since we were the spawn of a Mackay enemy.” Randolph’s face pinched with obvious hatred.

Damn Alec Sutherland. How many lives had he torn apart with his cruelty?

Randolph pushed a smile onto his thin lips. “So ye see, I am a Sutherland, and once I wed ye, your clan will accept me to act as regent until the boy comes of age.” The slight narrowing of his eyes, along with a hitch in his smile, made chill bumps rise along her arms.

Her hand slid behind to pull Jamie closer into her back, as if she could hide him away inside her. It was obvious from Randolph’s smirk that he did not plan for Jamie to live five more years to take over the leadership of his clan. If Jamie died in war or by some illness or accident, which could be a hidden assassination, whoever was wed to Ella and acting as regent would be in a strong position to lead the clan. Why hadn’t she told Cain before? She had been so foolish not allowing herself to trust him. He would not hurt Jamie.

Randolph shrugged and gestured to the priest who could not be found that morning. “Pastor John, your services are now required.”

Ella shook her head. “Our banns. They have not been posted for three weeks.”

Randolph tipped his hand in the air as if that meant nothing. “The Sinclairs saved me the trouble of doing so. Banns are pinned to the chapel doors so that anyone who might have an issue with your marriage could come forward to declare a previously made agreement. No one has come forward, so the pastor may proceed.” Pastor John looked small standing between two large Mackay warriors.

Randolph slid his gaze down her dress, a grin making him look eager. The man obviously did not plan to leave her alone once they were wed. “Ye are even attired for such a special event,” he said.

“I will not wed you, Randolph,” she said. The thought of him touching her made bile rise, and she swallowed.

Randolph came to stand before her, his face closing in until she could smell his breath. Beer and rot. It reminded her of her father and made the muscles in her shoulders tighten and ache. “Then I will slit his throat now.”

Ella felt Jamie’s fingers curl into her dress as his body pushed against the wide flare of her petticoats. “And then King James will take all of Mackay lands,” she said. “He knows that Jamie is the rightful leader of Clan Sutherland.”

Randolph’s grin made her skin pock with another wave of chills. “He will think it was done by Cain Sinclair or one of his brothers. Gideon was already there asking him about leadership of your clan. And I have a man in Edinburgh who is, right now, telling James how the Sinclairs are bold enough to eliminate the boy to take over the clan. If Cain rides today to conquer Dunrobin, the king will believe every word my Mackay emissary has said.”

“And if I tell the king the truth?” she whispered.

“Ye will lose your tongue and maybe your head before that happens. James will believe that Cain Sinclair was so outraged with ye and your secrets that he went crazy like his own father and killed you in his fury. The legends around the Sons of Sinclair will easily back up the story.” Randolph walked over to the table where two goblets sat and picked them up. He turned back to her, his face relaxed as if they were talking casually at a celebration. “So ye see, Lady Sutherland, we will be wed this day.” He brought her the goblet. “A toast to our union.”

Would he drug her? Not before she took her vows before the pastor and witnesses. She should have grabbed the poison Kenneth had sent. She looked to the pastor, his pale face showing that he was clever enough to know his own life was forfeit after hearing Randolph’s plans.

He was another whose life depended on her cleverness today, along with her brother’s and all the lives of the Sinclairs. Surely the king would send troops to subdue them if Randolph made him believe that her brother’s blood was on Sinclair hands.

Would Cain ride against her people instead of coming to find her? The thought churned tightly in her chest until she felt she might sob. He will come. He must come. Surely there was feeling for her after what they had shared. He will come.

“Pastor John!” Randolph yelled, and the men practically carried the clergyman closer.

“I am heartily sorry,” he said, staring at Ella as he righted his robes, cutting a frown to the guards. “God in Heaven will sort this out.”

Ella preferred to save them from attending that particular meeting, at least until they were old and withered. If she agreed to wed Randolph, she could save Jamie for a while, maybe long enough to secret him away. Either way, though, the young pastor’s breaths were numbered.

“No reason to be sorry,” Randolph said. “Today Arabella Sutherland honors her sire’s proposal to bind the Mackay and Sutherland Clans together to form a strong union against the bloodthirsty Sinclairs. We will feast tonight and plan our return to Dunrobin tomorrow once your steward shows up to congratulate us.”

The man was insane, and Ella needed to delay. “What of Viola Finley?” Ella asked. “Who is she to betray the Sinclairs?” There were more playing pieces in this mad game of conquest. Could Cain guess them all and find a way to call checkmate on Randolph?

“Ah, Viola,” he said and shoved the goblet into her hand. “My dearest sister is right now on her way here.”

“Sister?” Ella asked, noticing the similar set of small eyes and tipped noses in them both. “How did she come to live at Girnigoe?”

“My mother sent her to live with a Sutherland friend who had wed into the Sinclair clan. Vi was ten and old enough to attract my father’s rather base attention, so my mother packed her off.”

What horrors Randolph, Viola, and their poor mother must have endured. “Randolph,” Ella said, holding the goblet before her like a shield. “I am sorry that my father did not take you and your family in. Alec Sutherland was a cruel man. I lived under him, so I know. But forcing me to wed you and harming an innocent boy will make you the same as he. Do not be my father. Do not be your father. Be your own man.”

Randolph’s face contorted, turning red as his lips rolled back. He threw the goblet, where it smashed against the wall, making Ella jump at the sudden explosion. Red wine sprayed out against the stone to stain it like blood. “I am my own man, Arabella.” He held up his arm, which was thinner than most of the warriors with whom she’d grown up. “I was born without the bulk and physical strength of my father and without the foolish sentiment of my mother.”

Tall, dark, and slender, Randolph Mackay could have been handsome if his heart hadn’t decayed with wrath.

He tapped the side of his head. “But I have a cunning mind, one that I am pitting against the strategic planning of Cain Sinclair.” His nostrils flared as he inhaled, shaking slightly as if ridding himself of his fury, and his leer-like smile crept back across his face. “Hew was easy enough to control like a child’s poppet, and ye finished him off quite nicely while saving that foolish sister of Cain’s. Cain Sinclair has a much brighter mind, but I have had a lifetime of planning my rise to power. I but waited until someone slaughtered your father. I would have done it myself if I had not been implementing my plan.”

Ella glanced at the few men around the room, Iain being the largest. Grim and formidable, were they loyal to this lunatic? They stood frozen, as if cut from marble, their faces impassive, all except Iain who continued to watch her like a predator stalking his kill. Had Randolph promised her to him for helping him? The thought made her legs feel weak.

Randolph stretched his empty hands over his head to cup the back of it. “If all goes according to my plan, I will end up the chief of Clans Mackay, Sutherland, and eventually Sinclair with the royal backing of the Scottish throne.” He laughed. “I could be king.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head to the side. “Ye can either keep your brother and yourself alive by wedding me now, or ye will be responsible for young Jamie’s immediate death. Ye will then eventually die yourself, probably painfully and after my men and I have had our fill of ye.” He motioned behind him, where Iain smiled broadly. Even the ones flanking the door grinned.

“Ye see,” he said, holding his arms wide and then letting them drop as if surrendering to the brilliance of his plan. “There really is no other choice than to take your vows as my wife.”

Ella’s heart pounded hard, her breathing quick. If she swooned, would it give her time? Time for what? Escape? There didn’t seem to be any.

The pastor closed his eyes, his lips moving soundlessly. Yes, pray for us all. Pray that Cain found the ragged bouquet I threw. Let him forgive me enough to come. But what could he do? Even storming the castle would take too long to stop Jamie from dying. No, she must do something herself.

Ella’s gaze snapped back to Randolph. “Very well,” she said. “If you…swear to release the pastor unharmed after the oathtaking, and keep Jamie and me alive…I will take the vows with you now.”

Behind her, Jamie wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her back. The space between Randolph’s brows tightened for a moment before his face relaxed into a smile, one that looked genuine. “I am very glad ye have chosen the wisest and least bloody option.”

“The pastor?”

“Aye.” He waved his hand. “He will stand as witness that ye took your oaths willingly.”

“And Jamie will be right by my side, always.”

Randolph’s brow raised. “Certainly, although I take objection with him sleeping next to us in our wedding bed.” Several of the men chuckled. “But when ye have clothing on and are not pleasuring me, the lad may stay by your side. Anything else?”

“I would have a word alone with my brother before I take my vows.”

Randolph huffed. “Very well, but only for a minute. In the unlikely event that Cain comes here instead of conquering Dunrobin, he must see that ye have wed me.”

Ella took Jamie’s hand, leading him to a corner away from the men. His palm was damp and cold, and she looked down into his eyes.

“’Tis because of me,” he said. “Ye have to wed that greedy, brutal rat. I would not have ye do that for me. Ye have given up so much of your life already.”

“Jamie,” she said, stifling a sob. She pulled him in for a hug, her heart clenching. “I would do it all again to keep you safe. Even if our mother had not asked.” Her lips went to his ear. “Stay close to me and the pastor.”

She pulled away and waited for his nod. “I love ye, Ella,” he whispered.

“I have always loved you, my sweet brother.” Ella clasped Jamie’s hand, turning quickly as another Mackay guard barreled into the great hall.

“The Sinclair armies are riding across the moor.”

“How many?”

“Horses of gray,” he said and shook his head. “Or pale green, I cannot tell. And a second army of black.”

“Green and black,” Randolph said. “That would be the youngest brother and third eldest. They have split forces, with Cain riding to Dunrobin.”

Ella’s heart pounded with rapid fire. Had Cain sent Bàs and Gideon for her even after she ran out of the wedding? Her breath came quickly with the thinnest renewal of hope. “He sent them for me.”

Randolph’s gaze snapped to her, his face pinched. “He wants ye only to gain Sutherland territory and Dunrobin. It is what he wanted in the first place, to avenge his father, to conquer as he was raised to do. Half his men ride here while he rides to Dunrobin. He thinks to win ye and Jamie as well as your lands today. Cocky bastard.”

Ella’s chest tightened. The pressure of tears built in her eyes, but she would never let them fall. Cain had not come himself even if he sent his armies to Varrich. There had been no words of love between them, but she had grown to know him. Cain was not the brutal conqueror his father had raised him to be. What would make him abandon her to ride on Dunrobin today?

“We will go to the wall walk,” Randolph said, grabbing Ella’s hand. The goblet dropped from her fingers, the red wine splashing across the beautiful silk of the bodice and skirt that had belonged to Cain’s mother, ruining it. He yanked her behind him as they went through an archway to the castle steps, his fingers digging into her flesh as if punishing her. Jamie clung to her other hand. The lecherous Iain followed behind.

“I want the Sinclairs to see ye have chosen me,” Randolph said. “Let them tell Cain that ye spoke the vows without me holding a knife against ye.”

“But you are,” she said.

“They do not know that.” He laughed, the edge of insanity in the inflection.

Even if she was to profess her love of Randolph Mackay, Cain would never believe it. But she would not persuade the madman with that.

Randolph paused, glancing down the darkened stairwell past them. “Bring the pastor,” he yelled and then continued.

“Are you not worried about your sister?” Ella asked as her own plan began to take shape in her mind. She trudged up the curving stone steps. She could not yank away from him here, or he would pull her and Jamie down with him.

“Viola is a smart lass. She will have fled as soon as she delivered the note to ye.” What about the poison? Had that been part of Randolph’s plan? No, the note was penned in Kenneth’s slanted script.

A crash funneled up from below. Randolph looked back, his eyes sliding over her head down the stairwell. “Little man is putting up a fight,” he murmured. “Get that pastor up here,” he yelled.

“Aye,” came a voice. “Your sister has arrived.”

Randolph smiled back at Ella. “See, she is a bright lass and had a plan to escape.”

“She left all the family that she made at Girnigoe? Without a backward glance?”

“She thirsts for revenge, too, for not being welcomed by our mother’s Sutherland clan.”

“But the Sinclairs have been only good to her,” Ella said.

Randolph yanked her through the outer door. “Stop talking.”

Ella and Jamie followed Randolph onto the stone walkway that rose above the walls of Varrich, Iain bringing up the rear.

Ella’s breath caught at the display of force. Sinclairs were mounted and stretched across the moor and crest before the castle. She had fought with them before but had never seen them spread out before her. Pale green and black horses numbered over two hundred.

“I am here,” the pastor said, coming up, his breathing labored. Glancing back over his shoulder, he slid a shaking hand across his face and wiped it on his dark robes. Had the guards frightened him below?

“Should we not wait for your sister to come up?” Ella asked. “Milord, you should go check on her.”

The pastor shook his head and swallowed hard. “She…” His brows rose as if trying to act casually, and his head wobbled slightly as he glanced over his shoulder at the door. “She said she must refresh herself and would rejoice in the union after it is…um…complete.”

Randolph narrowed his eyes as if the pastor was a simpleton, but then smiled at Ella. “Come, my love.” Randolph pinched her elbow hard enough it would bruise and pulled her toward the wall that reached to his middle. He clutched her hand and raised it overhead. “Sinclairs,” he called, his voice carrying down. “Today we wed, joining Sutherland and Mackay clans.”

Ella’s gaze fastened onto Gideon and Bàs seated on their mighty warhorses in front. Bàs wore his skull mask and horned helmet and carried his scythe. Gideon frowned up, his gaze searching her out.

From the side of the castle, a bird soared up and over the armies. It was Cain’s hawk, its yellow beak clutching a scrap of material. Why wasn’t it with him at Dunrobin?

“Kill it,” Randolph ordered as it flew overhead, but Iain had no bow, only his sword. He withdrew it, swinging wildly, but the bird was too high. Over their heads, it dropped the piece of fabric to fall down the wall away from them. Jamie ran for it while Randolph cursed, watching the bird fly away.

Randolph grabbed it from Jamie. “A love note?” He held it in two hands, and Ella could see the piece of rose-colored silk, a scrap from the extra fabric of the gown. Randolph slid his thin fingers along it, stopping at a single knot tied in the middle.

The colors mean different things. The knot tells them not to act unless absolutely necessary to save their lives.

Cain didn’t want her to act. Did he know that Randolph was forcing her to wed and wanted her not to do it? But Cain didn’t understand what was at stake, the lethal retribution Randolph would bring down on Jamie, the pastor, and herself. She must say the vows. And I will keep them.

“What is this?” Randolph stared at it. “A bit of your gown.” He stared at Ella. “What does this mean? Tell me!” he yelled, spittle flying.

“Just…that he wants me back. ’Tis my dress.” Ella pressed Jamie behind her again.

“He is not even here for ye,” Randolph said. He threw it over the low wall. “Like I said before, Arabella Sutherland, he wants Dunrobin and your clan, not ye, unless it is to ride ye like his beasts.” He grabbed between his own legs as if to see if he was hard. He smiled. “Aye, while Sinclairs are blasting away at our gates, we will be consummating our vows in the great hall where the good pastor can witness.” He flipped his hand. “Or perhaps right here on the wall walk for Clan Sinclair to witness.”

“We would talk with Ella Sutherland.” It was Bàs’s voice from below.

Randolph extended his hand toward her. “Speak to her here.”

Some words passed between Bàs and Gideon, but they were too far for her to hear them. Gideon raised his gaze to her. “Ella Sutherland,” he called. “Did ye plan to poison Cain Sinclair, our chief and the man that ye were about to swear to love before God?”

All the air in Ella’s chest turned to stone, her body frozen. Cain had found the vial. She hadn’t had time to dispose of it before the ceremony. Was that why he wasn’t there himself? Had he given the chore to his brothers and ridden with Joshua to bring slaughter to Dunrobin? He had not turned against her when Gideon exposed her secret, but now he thought she was planning to kill him. The condemnation on Gideon’s face showed that they all felt that way.

Randolph chuckled. “Well now,” he said, turning to look at her with a wide, surprised expression. “Maybe I should have waited for ye to kill him and then taken ye as my bride.” He shrugged. “But who knew ye to be so vicious.”

Ella stared at Gideon, blinking back the sting in her eyes. “No,” she yelled. “I would not do that.”

“The evidence shows your words to be a lie,” Gideon said, scorn in his voice.

“Perhaps ye should be thanking me for taking Cain’s bride away today,” Randolph called down. “He is in my debt for saving his life.” He laughed and nodded to Iain who pushed Pastor John to the wall next to them.

“The Lord is my shepherd…” the pastor murmured.

Randolph frowned. “Wrong prayer. But we hardly need ye.” He turned back to look out on the throng. “Ye all stand as witness along with Pastor John and God.” He grabbed up Ella’s hand, holding it to his chest over his heart. She was surprised she could feel it beating knowing how decayed it was.

“I, Randolph Mackay Sutherland, chief of Clan Mackay, take ye, Arabella Sutherland, from this moment forward, as my wife in the eyes of God and the Protestant Church, till death us do part, according to God’s holy ordinance. This is my solemn vow.”

He looked at Ella. “Ye say the same,” he whispered. “Now.” He looked at Iain, and the man strode over to Jamie. Jamie pulled back but didn’t cry out. Terror sat in his eyes as Iain pulled out his short sword, holding it to Jamie’s thin neck. Even a slice would kill him.

Ella’s breath came fast along with her words. “I, Arabella Sutherland—”

“Face front and speak loudly,” Randolph instructed without moving his lips.

She tore her gaze from Jamie. Nothing mattered now, nothing but saving her brother. Cain thought she wanted him dead. He’d abandoned her to ride against her clan. “I, Arabella Sutherland, take ye, Randolph Mackay—”

“Mackay Sutherland, chief of Clan Mackay,” Randolph said.

Ella swallowed past the lump and cleared her throat. “Randolph Mackay Sutherland, chief of Clan Mackay, from this moment forward, as my…husband in the eyes of God and the Protestant Church. Till death us do part, according to God’s holy ordinance.”

Randolph reached over and pinched the back of her hand that lay below the wall. “This is my solemn vow,” he said, his words like a hiss. “Say it or he dies now.”

Jaw tight, she forced her lips to open. Behind her, the door swung open, slamming into the wall, and she tried to turn to look. Randolph yanked her forward, wrenching her arm. “Say it now!”

God forgive me. “This is my solemn vow,” she said.