Scotland, 1460
“Hold
your tongue.” Marjory Macpherson shot a look at the door to the solar, expecting
the worst. When the shadows remained unchanged, she allowed herself to breathe,
but still kept her voice a whisper. “The walls have ears, and well you know
it.”
“Allen is far into his cups by now.” Fingal worked to speak softly,
but the resulting growl carried easily across the room. Her captain was not a
subtle man, preferring confrontation to diplomacy no matter the cost. “He’ll
no’ act until his father arrives.”
“Then we canna wait that long.” Marjory crossed her arms with a
firmness she didn’t feel, but there was no time for hesitating. Torcal Cameron
would arrive before the next moonrise, and she intended to be ready. “You’re
certain Ewen’s dead.”
“I saw it with my own eyes.” Fingal’s eyes narrowed at the
memory. “There was a rockslide. The entire cliff collapsed. Before I could
reach him, he was gone. No one could have survived.”
“Where was Allen?” The two brothers had gone hunting, Fingal accompanying
them to make certain that it was game they sought, and naught else.
“He’d gone ahead, around the bend. By the time he got back it was
all over.” Fingal tightened his hand on the dirk at his waist. “He
blamed me. But there were witnesses, some of his own men. It took some convincing,
but eventually he backed down.”
“For now.” Marjory exhaled slowly, her brain still trying to grasp
the concept that her husband was dead. “Once his father arrives, there will
be more accusations.”
“Then they’ll come to naught. Make no mistake, were it no’
for your grandfather, I would have cheerfully skewered the man long before now,
but the rockslide was an accident.”
“How many Camerons are within our walls?” Since the marriage, despite
her protest, Torcal had insisted upon leaving a force of his men at Crannag Mhór.
Most times they numbered less than her own clan, but with the recent return of
Ewen there were more.
“No more than fifty.” Fingal scratched his chin in thought. “But
Torcal will bring more. And even were we to be matched in number, there’s
the question of age. Torcal’s kin are young and well trained.”
“Aye,” Marjory nodded, “But Macpherson men are wily.”
Fingal allowed himself a smile, the gesture only making his warrior’s
countenance appear more fierce. Fingal Macgillivray had fought for Chattan alongside
her father, and then followed him deep into the mountains helping to build Crannag
Mhór.
And he had stayed to rebuild it after Torcal Cameron had destroyed her family.
Hate curled in her belly, white hot, twisting her gut into a still tighter knot.
There was a part of her that relished the fact that Ewen was dead. An eye for
an eye.
But even as she rejoiced, she was filled with fear. Crannag Mhór was
her home. Its inhabitants her people. She was responsible for their well-being,
and that meant protecting them from the likes of Torcal Cameron. Her grandfather,
head of Clan Chattan, would eventually sort out the situation. There would be
meetings between the Camerons and Macphersons. The outcome carefully orchestrated
to maintain peace. But Torcal Cameron wouldn’t wait, preferring justice
with a claymore, his hatred burning as brightly as her own.
Long before her grandfather ever learned of the day’s events, Torcal
would exact his revenge. And truth be told, she wasn’t at all sure that
she could stop him. Tears filled her eyes, and she angrily pushed them away, lifting
her chin to meet Fingal’s somber gaze. “I will protect Crannag Mhór.
And if that means groveling before the likes of Torcal Cameron, then so be it.”
“You can grovel before me.” Allen Cameron stood in the doorway
to the solar, a tankard in his hand, a licentious smirk on his face. “Now
that Ewen is dead, perhaps you’d prefer a real man in your bed.”
Marjory took an involuntary step backward, Allen moving forward with a grace
that belied his bulk. She forced herself to stop, to hold her ground. She’d
not bend to the will of a Cameron. “Your brother is dead, Allen.”
She made no effort to contain her scorn. “And here you are already claiming
what was his. Have you no honor?” It was a rhetorical question, but she
didn’t bother curbing her tongue.
Allen clenched his fist, heated red staining the parts of his face not covered
with his beard.
Fingal drew his dirk, the deadly blade shining in the sunlight. “You’ve
no business here, Cameron.”
“And you do?” His eyes narrowed, and he, too, drew the knife at
his waist. “Are ye bedding the wench then? I’d have no’ thought
it possible.” His lips curled into a sneer, and Fingal took a menacing step
forward.
“This isn’t the time.” Marjory’s voice cut through
the tension in the room. “We need to find Ewen’s body and bring it
here. As much as I loathed your brother, I’d not leave him to the predators
of the mountain.” Actually were it not for Torcal, that’s exactly
what she’d do, but there was no sense in adding fuel to an already raging
fire.
Fingal’s stance relaxed. “The lass is right. And we’ve only
a few hours left before nightfall.”
Allen eyed them both, as if doubting their sincerity, and then apparently satisfied
with what he saw, he sheathed his weapon. “I’ll gather my men.”
Marjory nodded once, and watched him turn to leave with something akin to giddy
relief. There was so much at stake, so much to lose. It was like walking across
a vast chasm on nothing more than a fine linen thread.
“Well played.” Fingal’s words were high praise, but Marjory
took no comfort. Ewen’s death had upset a delicate balance, one she wasn’t
entirely certain could be repaired. Had she the forces, she’d see to it
that Ewen Cameron wasn’t the only member of his clan to die this day.
But she hadn’t that luxury.
Torcal was coming, and even without blame, there would be hell to pay. Ewen
had been his father’s cherished son, the pride of his existence, and Marjory
had no illusion as to his reaction. He’d want blood. Hers and the rest of
her kin.
A Cameron had died this day, and in so doing, had unleashed the wrath of her
enemies.
But Torcal Cameron would be wise to consider that her hatred was as strong
as his own. And as long as she had breath, she would not surrender Crannag Mhór.
Aye, today an enemy had fallen. An enemy -- and a husband. The carefully woven
strands of her grandfather’s whimsy unraveled with a single fall of rock.
There was a rock biting into his ass, the sensation something less than pleasant
and it pulled him awake with a sharp tug. Sunlight peeked through a preponderance
of clouds, the smell of rain heavy in the air.
Carefully,
moving an inch at a time, he sat up, the movement making him dizzy. When he was
sure the spinning had subsided, he opened first one eye and then the other. The
world blurred, then swam into focus -- the colors muted, yet vibrant. Green, yellow,
blue.
Something tugged at the back of his brain, a memory, but before he could quantify
the thought, it was gone, the drummers in his head pounding it away. With a sigh,
he leaned back against a scrubby tree, gingerly exploring his scalp. There was
dried blood and a couple of huge knots. One toward the back and a larger one above
his left eye. Hematomas. Serious, but probably not life threatening.
Still, something had caused the injuries. And it seemed prudent to establish
what. He closed his eyes again, willing his mind to yield answers, but stubbornly,
it remained blank. Opening his eyes again, he glanced downward taking in the homespun
antiquity of his outfit -- a linen shirt and woolen skirt. The plaid pattern was
vaguely familiar, and he realized on further examination that he was, in fact,
wearing a kilt.
The only problem being that he was fairly certain he wasn’t Scottish.
And even if he was, there was the surety that he would favor briefs regardless
of his outerwear. All of which left a disturbing puzzle.
What the hell was he doing in the middle of nowhere in a get-up only William
Wallace could love?
Somewhere beyond incredulity, a modicum of alarm surfaced, but he quashed it
ruthlessly, certain that whatever was happening there was no place for fear. He
was a rational man. At least he assumed he was, and somewhere in all of this was
a reasonable explanation.
Using the tree as a brace and trying to ignore the pain in his head, he pulled
himself to a standing position. The effort cost him a lot, but it was nice to
be on his own feet. He glanced down again, eyeing the strips of leather that passed
for boots. Thong type lacings held them together and bound them to his legs.
His foggy brain struggled for a rational explanation. He was evidently standing
on the side of a mountain, in a what amounted to a skirt, without BVDs, in shoes
that would make a gladiator proud.
He grimaced, sinking back against the tree. The truth was he had no concept
of where he was. Hell, he wasn’t even sure who he was. An actor, maybe.
That would explain the garb, but not the knots on his head.
Perhaps he’d fallen. Rising again, he forced himself to concentrate on
his surroundings. The area where he’d awoken was indeed covered with rocks
and debris. Looking upward, he could just see the top of a cliff, the rock jagged
and raw, discolored where it had collapsed.
He looked again at the scree surrounding him. Some of the rocks qualified as
boulders. A fall like that would have killed a man, his mind whispered. And yet,
here he stood, quite clearly alive.
At least the evidence seemed to support an accident of some kind. Perhaps then
someone would be looking for him. Someone who could tell him who he was, explain
what had happened. The thought should have brought comfort, but it didn’t,
a part deep inside him certain that the truth wasn’t something he wanted
to know.
He struggled to remember something, anything, but his mind still refused the
summons. He slammed his hand against the tree, surprised at the force of the action,
reveling in the additional pain. At least it proved he was alive.
He closed his eyes, forcing himself to turn inward, to concentrate. Surely,
if nothing else, he could remember his name.
Cameron.
The word came unbidden.
Cameron.
He smiled. It wasn’t much. For all he knew it wasn’t even his name.
But for now it would do. It was a tether to reality. A way to move forward.
Opening his eyes, he took a tottering step forward, the sound of a stream forcing
its way front and center. Obediently his mind was filled with the picture of cool
shimmering blue, the idea beyond enticing. Water, he needed water.
Cocking his head to one side, he concentrated on the musical sound, forcing
his feet to move toward it, one slow step after another. Coming around a little
stand of birch trees, he saw the creek. It wasn't big, but a couple of rocks had
blocked the water's progression making a small pool.
Moving gingerly, he managed to skirt the rocks and kneel by the stream’s
edge. Cupping his hands, he filled them with water and drank deeply, the cool
liquid soothing more than his parched throat.
Below him the water sparkled in the dappled light, something at the bottom
of the stream catching his eye. Curiosity getting the better of him, he reached
in and pulled it out, balancing the tiny knife in the palm of his hand.
The handle was ivory in color and striated with gray and black. Animal horn,
the still functioning part of his brain whispered. The blade itself was brass
or some similar metal. It was flat on one side and intricately carved on the other,
sort of loopy curls and circles.
He looked around for its owner, but the clearing remained empty. Upon looking
closer, he realized the knife had been in its watery home for more than a few
days, its edges worn smooth by the rushing water, mineral deposits beginning to
mar its intricate design. He started to throw it back, then hesitated.
Perhaps it would come in useful. Not certain what to do with it, he searched
his body, rejecting the belt in favor of what appeared to be a purse. There was
no doubt a more masculine term, but his brain either didn’t know, or had
buried it along with other pertinent information like what the hell he was doing
here in the first place.
Lifting the flap, he eyed the contents dubiously, discarding what looked to
be a hunk of petrified oatmeal. He hated oatmeal.
Dropping the little knife in the now empty pouch he flipped it closed, feeling
as if the effort had cost him the last of his strength. The drummers, abated momentarily
by the water, had returned in full force, and fighting nausea, he dropped down
on a large rock, closing his eyes, the enormity of the situation suddenly front
and center.
An eagle screamed in the distance. And he marveled at the fact that he knew
it was an eagle. Certain parts of his mind seemed to be working quite well. Which
meant the injury to his brain was localized. Specific to only his memory.
Forcing his eyes open, he checked the discovery by naming the items around
him. Birch trees, river rocks -- granite and sandstone. Across the stream he recognized
wild roses mixed with the purple of thistles, as well as the waxy green leaves
of a rhododendron.
He
knew that the material of this kilt was wool, and that he’d suffered hematomas.
Obviously, the blows to his head had caused some sort of trauma. Hopefully temporary
trauma. Although the little voice in his head whispered that there was no such
thing. Lying back against the lichen covered rock, he ignored the voice, preferring,
for the moment, the sanctuary of ignorance.
Eventually, he’d have to get up and face the music. Try and figure out
what had happened to him and why, but right now the rock was warm and, if he held
very still, the drums were only a faint staccato.
He closed his eyes, letting his mind drift.
What he needed was a little shut-eye. Just a few minutes...
