Surrender to the Highlander by Lynsay Sands
"They could ha'e doubled the dose in any o' the drinks or stew I had during those three weeks I was sick," she pointed out. "But they did no'. They drew it out."
"Mayhap," Niels said thoughtfully. He was silent for a minute and then asked, "Is there anyone ye can think o' who may wish ye ill like that?"
Edith lowered her head and thought briefly, but finally shook her head, and then, trying to lighten the mood, said, "Apart from yer Annie, nay."
Niels blinked in confusion. "Who?"
"Yer neighbor in the pig story yer brothers told me," she said with a small smile. "If she's a brain in her head she must love ye madly and will surely wish me a slow, painful death fer marrying ye."
A chuckle slipping from his lips, Niels drew her against his chest for a hug and murmured, "Ye do make me happy, Edith."
"Well and sure I would," she said lightly. "I'm the perfect wife. One who comes with a castle and title and dies quickly after ye marry her, leaving ye free to marry another. That is the perfect wife, is it no'?"
"Nay," he said sharply. "And I'm no' letting ye die, Edith. I love ye."
Chapter 14
I love ye.
Those words echoed in Edith's head and she sat as if frozen for a minute, her eyes locked on her husband's, and then a knock sounded at the door.
Niels tore his gaze from hers and glanced toward the sound. Tossing the linens aside, he muttered, "That'll be Alick coming to hide."
"Husband," Edith said, scrambling off the bed, but it was too late, Niels was opening the door.
A squeak of alarm slipping from her, Edith dove back into bed and pulled the linens over herself. But Niels just murmured a few words and then closed the door. Turning around, he frowned when he saw she was back in bed, and asked, "What are ye doin'? Why are ye no' getting dressed?"
Edith hesitated for a moment, just staring at him, and then she slid out of bed. Hurrying to her chest, she rifled through for a gown and chemise and then quickly ran a brush through her hair before pulling her clothes on. She knew Niels was dressing even as she did, still it was something of a surprise to her when she turned and saw that he had finished already too. The man was fast at pleating his tartan when he wanted to be, that was for sure, Edith thought.
"We'll talk later," Niels said quietly as she joined him by the door.
Nodding, she let him take her arm and lead her from the room.
Edith didn't see Alick anywhere in the hall as they stepped out, but Cameron and Fearghas were there waiting to escort them below. Supposing Alick was waiting in one of the nearby rooms to hide in the bedchamber after they left, Edith nodded absently at the two soldiers and then promptly forgot about them as Niels led her up the hall. Her mind was too muddled with the thoughts rolling around in her head for her to think about much else. She kept seeing Niels's face as he'd said he loved her.
His declaration had caught her completely by surprise. She had never even dared dream she might hear words like that from him . . . at least not so soon.
When he'd asked her to marry him, Niels had said he wanted her something fierce, but that he liked her too. He'd said he thought her fine and smart and liked that she had a good heart. He'd said he thought they could be happy together. Those were all things Edith was thinking of him too. She too had wanted him something fierce, and she had thought him fine and smart. She'd liked his patience with Ronson and Laddie, and his caring and concern for her. And she too had thought they could be happy together. She still did.
If she were honest with herself, Edith had hoped that from all of that, love would someday grow. She hadn't even really acknowledged that to herself, but the hope had been there, like a seed taking root under the dirt before pushing its way through to the light. The possibility had seemed a hopeful one to her since she felt their mutual liking and admiration were a solid basis for it to grow in.
And I'm no' letting ye die, Edith. I love ye.
Could he really love her already? And if so, might the feelings churning inside her be love for him as well?
"Wife?"
Edith blinked her thoughts away, noted the bench before her and gave her head a shake. While she'd been lost in thought they'd descended the stairs and crossed the great hall to the trestle tables.
"Oh," she breathed, and immediately sat down, vaguely aware that Cameron and Fearghas were moving off to claim seats farther down the table where they could keep an eye on her without intruding.
"Good morn, m'lady."
Edith smiled automatically at the man on her left as Niels settled on her right, and then blinked as she saw that it was Tormod. "Ye're back."
"Aye," he said and then tilted his head quizzically. "Are ye all right, m'lady?"
"Fine," Edith murmured and then glanced past him to Geordie.
"Tormod was just telling us that they found no sign o' Victoria's maid, Nessa, at the hunting lodge," her brother-in-law said.
Edith sat up straight, her eyes widening. "I forgot about Nessa. She went with them too."
"Aye," Niels said, and explained, "But Geordie and I did no' find her in the lodge with the others. Tormod was going to look fer her when they went to collect yer brother and the others."
"But she was no' there," Tormod finished. "We searched the entire lodge and then a good way into the woods around the lodge, but there was no sign o' her at all," he assured them solemnly and then added, "Yet none o' the horses were missing. She rode with one o' the soldiers on the way out because Brodie did no' want a cart to slow them, and there were seven dead horses there in the stalls. Only Lonnie's was missing, so she did no' ride away."
"Not on her own," Niels agreed, and then added, "But she could have left the lodge with Lonnie to return here."
There was a moment of silence as everyone considered that, and then Tormod sighed. "If so . . ."
He didn't finish his thought, but then he didn't have to. They all knew the rest of what he hadn't said. If Nessa had been with Lonnie when he was killed, and if the man had been killed by bandits as they'd assumed, then the maid had most likely been taken by them. Nessa had been a pretty little thing. If bandits had taken her, she'd probably been sorely used and then left dead in the woods somewhere. If not on Drummond land then wherever the bandits traveled after Drummond.
Shaking his head, Tormod said into the silence that had fallen, "Between Effie being poisoned and possibly dying, Victoria poisoned and dead and Nessa taken and probably murdered by bandits, Victoria and her maids did no' make out well here."
"Nay," Edith murmured, but frowned and stared down at the tabletop, her mind racing as she tried to put together the bits of information those words had suddenly sent bouncing around inside her head. None of them made sense, or meant anything on their own, but she was sure they would if she could put them together properly.
"What are ye thinking, lass?" Tormod asked.
Edith shook her head, but then grasped at one bit of information that kept flashing through her mind and said, "The murders started after Victoria and her maids got here."
Dead silence met her words and Edith glanced around to see her husband, his brothers and Tormod all staring at her wide-eyed. It seemed obvious that hadn't occurred to them. It also seemed obvious they weren't sure what to make of it either.
Sighing, she said, "It just seems to me that we have been asking who and why without being able to sort it out. But we have no' once considered when it started as possibly being important, and yet why would it start all o' a sudden like that? One day all was well at Drummond, and then the next me father was dead, me brothers dying and I was ill, and it all happened shortly after Victoria arrived. The day her maids got here, actually."
"I had no' thought o' that," Tormod said slowly.
"But Nessa is missing and Effie was poisoned too," Rory pointed out with a frown.
"Aye, we can no' find Nessa," Edith said thoughtfully.
"But that does no' mean she's dead necessarily, does it?" Niels said now, following her train of thought.
"Nay, I suppose not," Rory acknowledged. "But Effie is definitely poisoned and likely to die eventually."
"When?" Edith asked.
Rory stared at her blankly.
"I mean is she showing signs of weakening?" Edith asked, and then pointed out, "Ye said the other day that she was looking better and had more color. That ye'd almost think she was getting food other than the soup ye dribble down her throat."
"Aye, but I test her daily. She is no' conscious and can no' be eating," he said firmly.
"How do ye test her?" she asked at once. It was something she'd wanted to ask since Niels had mentioned this testing business to her. Because she suspected she knew how. At least, she knew how she would test, and if Rory was testing Effie the same way--
"I stick a needle in her foot," Rory said, his eyebrows slightly raised at the question, and then he added, "Quite deep too. There is no way she could pretend to sleep through it."
"Ah," Edith breathed out the word, her head going back slightly at this news, and then she turned to stare down at the tabletop again, more pieces connecting in her mind.
"Lass?" Tormod asked. "What are ye thinking?"
Edith was silent for another minute, and then admitted, "I'm thinking that twice now I've seen what looked like a woman in one o' the windows o' the upper chambers, and--"
"When?" Niels asked at once.
"The day the arrow was shot at me was the first time," she admitted. "I landed on yer chest on me back, and just before ye rolled me under ye, I saw someone in the window o' me room. 'Twas just a quick glance, and I only got an impression o' the person, but now that I'm thinking on it, it could have been a woman."
"And the second time?" Geordie asked.
"Yesterday on the way back from the market," she admitted. "As we started into the bailey I remembered what I'd seen the day the arrow was shot at me and I leaned out around the shield to look toward the window."
"Aye, I remember," Niels said quietly. "I pushed ye back behind the shield."
Edith nodded. "But in the quick glimpse I got, I thought I saw a woman there again." She shrugged as if it wasn't important, and added, "But again I only got a quick look."
"So, ye're thinking Nessa is here somewhere?" Tormod asked grimly.
"That or the woman I saw was Effie," she said on a sigh, quite sure they would reject it at once.
"Nay," Rory said firmly as she expected. "I told ye, I poke her feet with a needle twice daily. And I poke it deep, Edith. She could no' feign sleep through it."
"Effie has no feeling in her feet," Edith told him baldly.
"What?" Rory asked sharply.
"Are ye sure?" Niels asked.
Edith nodded. "Victoria told me so herself. 'Tis why she brought Nessa to help her. Effie has no feeling in her feet and her legs are weak--she can no' walk far or stand long. It makes doing her job difficult."
Cursing, Niels started to rise, but Rory caught his arm.
"Wait," he said. "Think on this, brother. Why would Effie kill everyone? Had she stopped at Edith's father and brothers, I might believe she was trying to give Victoria all that Brodie promised her when he talked the girl into marrying him. But then she would hardly kill Victoria and Brodie. And now that Victoria is dead, she gains nothing from killing Edith."
"Victoria, and not Effie, could have been the one who was truly poisoned by accident," Tormod said solemnly, and explained, "Victoria did no' care fer ale. Mayhap Effie put the poison in the ale, thinking Victoria would no' drink it." His mouth tightened and he added, "And I'm sure Lady Victoria would no' have drunk it had she had something else, but Brodie rarely considered others and did no' this time. There was nothing else for Victoria to drink."
"So she drank the ale," Edith murmured with a nod. That made sense, she supposed, but there were still pieces that didn't fit, she thought, and then glanced around as Niels suddenly headed for the stairs. Tormod and Geordie were hard on his heels.
When Cameron and Fearghas stood and moved to stand behind her, Edith got up to follow as well, but she was moving much more slowly. So was Rory, she noted as he fell into step beside her. She was silent for a moment, aware of Cameron crowding her from behind. He was right on her heels, eager for her to move more quickly so that they could get to where the action was, but Edith ignored him and as she started up the stairs with Rory, said, "Ye do no' think 'twas Effie."
Rory grimaced. "Perhaps 'tis just because I have been nursing her for so long, trying to get her to live that I do no' want to believe it, but nay. I do no'." He glanced at her sharply then and said, "And you?"
"I do no' ken," she admitted. "There are still things that do no' fit."
"What do ye mean?" Rory asked with curiosity.
"Well, Effie could be awake, and she could have enough knowledge o' poisonings to be behind those deaths," Edith acknowledged.
"But how could she ha'e got down to the kitchen to stab Cawley without anyone noticing her?" Rory suggested.
"Aye," Edith said on a sigh. "And I find it hard to believe that Effie could hold the bow steady enough to shoot an arrow so straight. Aside from her feet being numb, she had the palsy in her hands and arms. "
"It was no' her," he said with relief.
"Ye were afraid ye'd been working so hard to keep a murderer alive," she said with understanding.
"I would ne'er have forgiven meself," Rory admitted as they stepped onto the landing.
Edith nodded, and then glanced up the hall as Niels strode out of the room Effie had been put in, his face set in harsh lines.
"She's gone," he announced grimly.
"Gone where?" Rory asked with surprise. "She was in bed when I went below to break me fast and someone would have noticed had she come down the stairs."
"She must be up here somewhere then," Geordie growled.
"I'll search all the rooms," Tormod said grimly.
He started to turn away, but paused when Cameron stepped up beside Edith and asked, "Could she be the one who started the fire in the laird's room?"
"What?" Niels asked with surprise.
Before Cameron could speak again, Edith explained, "Yesterday as we waited fer me bath to come, Moibeal, the lads and I went to take a look at the laird's chamber to see what would need doing should we decide to move there. But when we got there we found evidence that someone has been using the room."
"Aye, the room was warm, so I checked the fireplace," Cameron announced. "I thought all there was in the hearth were ashes, but they were warm, some still embers."
"And the bed is made up with linens and furs and had obviously been slept in," Fearghas added.
When Niels immediately turned and headed up the hall, Edith followed. She didn't realize everyone else was trailing her until Tormod barked, "Fearghas, get back to the stairs and guard them. Let no one up or down."
The man sighed at missing out on all the excitement, but stopped at once as the rest of them continued to the door to the laird's bedchamber.
"Is that lavender?" Rory asked, sniffing the air as he followed Edith and Niels into the room.
"Aye," Niels said, running a boot over the dried petals strewn over the rush mats.
"'Tis warm," Tormod commented.
"Aye, there are embers in the hearth again," Cameron said, kneeling by the fireplace to poke around at them as he had the day before. Straightening, he looked to Tormod and assured him, "I saw no one enter or leave the room while Fearghas and I stood guard."
"Tearlach and Wallace stood guard in the hall last night. They'll be abed--go wake them and fetch them back here, Cameron," Tormod ordered, moving to Niels's side as he tugged the bed curtains open to reveal the disarranged linens and furs.
"Moibeal opened those yesterday, and we left them that way when we returned to me bedchamber," Edith said solemnly. "Someone must have been here since."
"Ye should have told me about this," Niels said with a scowl as he turned to glance at her.
"I intended to," she assured him, an
"It did sound as if ye distracted her quite thoroughly," Geordie said with amusement when Niels continued to glower.
"Aye, well, mayhap we should let some light in here," Tormod muttered, hurrying to the nearest window to open the shutters.
Happy for the excuse to hide her face for a moment, Edith opened the shutters on the second window, and then glanced up with surprise when Niels was suddenly beside her.
"I'm sorry. I should no' have snapped at ye," he apologized, rubbing her back soothingly.
Edith smiled crookedly. "Ye did no' really snap, m'laird."
"Ye just growled like a bear," Rory added as he passed them on the way to examine the water in the basin on the table between the two windows.
Scowling after him, Niels added heavily, "And I apologize for me brothers' embarrassing behavior."
"Our behavior?" Geordie asked with a hoot. "We are no' the ones who kept everyone in the castle up half the night with our howling."
Groaning, Edith closed her eyes and leaned her head on Niels's chest, muttering, "Sorry. I'll try to be quieter in future."
She'd meant that for Niels and had said it low enough that she thought only he'd hear it, but Geordie said, "Oh, lass, ye've nothing to apologize fer. Yer voice was like a bird singing. 'Twas wondrous to hear. Now Niels on the other hand . . ."
"He sounded like a wounded bear," Rory finished dryly. "Scared the little ones sleeping in the great hall near to death."
"I'll just wait in the hall and watch fer Tearlach and Wallace," Tormod said loudly, obviously uncomfortable with this conversation.
"Now, see what ye've done," Niels growled. "Ye've embarrassed me wife and Tormod."
"Aye," Rory said with a sigh and turned from the water to meet Edith's gaze as she lifted her head and glanced toward him. Grimacing apologetically he said, "I'm sorry, lass. But truth to tell, we'll probably do it again repeatedly over the years. Yer family now."
"Aye," Geordie agreed. "And that's how we are with family."
Much to Edith's dismay, their words brought a sudden lump to her throat and tears were quickly filling her eyes.
"Oh, lass, do no' cry," Geordie said with alarm. "We'll try to behave better."
"It'll probably no' work, but we will try," Rory assured her with concern.