My Highlander: A Cree & Dawn Novel, page 7
“His endless bouts of practice show on him,” Lila said with a shudder. “His arms are enormous with muscles and I thought his grip was powerful before, but now” —she shook her head— “I saw him grab one of his warriors and toss him as if he weighed nothing.”
Dawn listened, thinking on the changes in her husband since her return. She had thought him a large, strong, and intimidating man when they first met. His recent physical changes made him even more so, though to others, not to her.
Or so she told herself.
She wanted to believe her husband had not changed, but there was something that warned otherwise. She could not say exactly what it was, she just knew something was different. It had nothing to do with his love for her. She had not a kernel of doubt that their love was eternal. So what was it that disturbed him?
The women continued to talk, Lila interpreting for Dawn allowing the conversation to flow more smoothly. Dawn felt at peace with these women, her friends, talking about everything and anything, feeling at home once again.
Valan drifted over to his mum to settle in her arms and fall asleep. Thomas did the same with his mum while Lizbeth fell asleep cuddled against Beast. Nell and Ina came to collect the twins who did not budge when lifted and carted off to continue their nap, Beast trotting after them once Dawn approved with a nod.
Lucerne gave a yawn and excused herself, announcing the bairn she carried needed a nap and Lila soon followed, cradling a sleeping Thomas in her arms as she rose to take her leave.
“I will see you soon,” Lila said.
Dawn nodded and watched her friend walk off. She sat alone under the tree, thinking, not always a good thing. Her thoughts drifted, time and again, to her time away. Try as she might, she could not stop the memories from invading her thoughts.
“You think too much on it.”
Dawn looked up, not at all startled by the unexpected, yet familiar voice. She smiled at Old Mary.
“You keep too much inside yourself… talk to him,” Old Mary urged and groaned as she tried to lower herself to sit beside Dawn.
Dawn reached out and helped her to sit.
“These old bones are protesting far too much of late,” Old Mary said with a laugh.
Dawn hugged the old woman and shook her head. She did not want to lose her. She was the closest thing she had to a mum.
“Do not worry, Fate intends to keep me around far longer than I would like.”
Dawn smiled and nodded, showing she agreed with Fate.
Old Mary took Dawn’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. “Talk to me.”
Dawn’s heaving chest was the only sign of her heavy sigh.
“You carry a burden, you need to release,” Old Mary said.
Dawn shook her head.
“If not now, when?”
Dawn shrugged.
“What is it you fear?”
Dawn spread her hands wide, as if encompassing everything.
“Cree loves you far too much for you to lose everything,” Old Mary said.
Dawn sighed again and turned her head.
Old Mary took her hand once again. “You need not fear telling him anything. Cree would forgive you anything.”
Dawn patted her chest.
“You question if you can forgive yourself?”
Dawn nodded.
Shouts rang out and Old Mary called out to Timmins, the smithy, as he ran past them. “What goes on?”
“Lara has been found… badly injured.”
Old Mary shook her head and mumbled a blessing for the poor unfortunate lass.
Dawn was not feeling as forgiving, though she did offer a blessing for the lass. If Lara died, the truth would not be known and Dawn was eager to learn who had wanted her abducted. And even more so… was she still in danger of being abducted again?
Old Mary struggled to get to her feet. “I will go see what I can learn.”
Dawn rushed to her feet to help Old Mary, forgetting that a sudden movement could cause her pain, and it did. She pressed her hand to her side as if it would do some good and at that moment she caught sight of her husband walking toward her. While the pain tore through her whole body, turning every limb weak, she was reminded again how thick her husband’s body had grown with muscle. As a veil of darkness began to descend over her, she struggled to reach out to Cree, knowing he would be there for her. He would always be there for her.
Cree saw his wife’s face turn a deathly pale, saw her fight to stretch her hand out to him for help, and he ran, fearing he would not reach her in time.
Chapter 7
Cree barely caught Dawn before she hit the ground, her head snapping from the jolt of being scooped up so abruptly in his arms.
“What happened?” Cree demanded of Old Mary.
“She grabbed her side when she stood,” Old Mary explained.
“Go find Elsa and send her to my bedchamber,” he ordered.
“She will be tending Lara,” Old Mary said.
“My wife comes first,” Cree ordered and hurried off with Dawn tucked tight in his arms.
Cree was worried for his wife and annoyed that he had not been more forceful in his demand that she listened to him and continued to rest more. It might appear that she had grown stronger, but she had yet to heal completely.
She was stirring when he placed her on the bed, her eyes fluttering, fighting to open.
“You will rest,” he demanded when her eyes finally opened to look upon him.
That he sounded as if he claimed it law brought a smile to her face, though she also heard his worry and she did not want him to worry. She was feeling good. She had moved much too fast, startled by the news of Lara being found, for an injury that was still healing.
Dawn decided the best way to handle her husband was to appease him and so she nodded.
Cree brought his nose to rest against hers. “I mean it.”
His warm, minty breath fanned her lips and set an ember stirring in her. She did not think, she did what was familiar to her, what she had so desperately missed. She brushed her lips over his in a faint kiss that she had done endless times before and once she did, it was not enough for her. She wanted more from his lips and more from him.
That he eased away from her kiss, ending it far too soon—sooner than he had ever done—annoyed her, though she told herself it was his concern for her well-being that had him doing so. Still, it bothered her.
Dawn gestured, wanting to reassure him that she felt good, the pain her own fault for not taking care when she moved.
“Elsa will make that determination,” Cree said.
Dawn wanted to argue that she knew better than Elsa how she felt, but knew her husband would be too stubborn to listen. She remained quiet, not an easy chore since her hands were itching to gesture, but she kept firm hold on them.
“You will remain abed for the remainder of the day,” Cree ordered.
Dawn did not respond.
“I mean it, Dawn,” he said, though it sounded more like a rumbling growl.
Dawn was glad to see Elsa enter the room, Cree having left the door open.
“What happened?” Elsa asked anxiously.
Dawn had come to know Elsa well and considered her a friend. She could see that the concern in the woman’s eyes was not for her. That meant that she was worried for Lara.
Dawn was quick to gesture, resting her hand to her side, then suddenly raising it and rolling her head and eyes as if she was about to faint.
“You stood too quickly,” Elsa said and Dawn nodded. “The pain is gone?”
Dawn nodded again and smiled.
“You feel good?” Elsa asked and Dawn confirmed with a sharp nod. “Good, then there is nothing to be concerned with.” She turned to leave.
“Dawn needs to rest more,” Cree said. halting Elsa’s quick steps.
Elsa sighed and shook her head. “Dawn knows what she needs. Let her be.”
Her words did not go over well with Cree. He walked over to Elsa and stood towering over her as he said, “I do not care what happens to Lara, though I would prefer she lives so I can find out who was responsible for abducting Dawn. My first and only priority is my wife as she is yours. You will tell her what she needs to do to heal since you know as well as I do that at times she does not do as she should. If you do not, you will suffer the consequences.”
Elsa bowed her head. “I am sorry, my lord, Dawn does come first and it would be wise of her to rest a bit after suffering a pain that caused her to faint, though it is not necessary she remain abed for the rest of the day.”
Dawn almost jumped out of bed and hugged the woman. She would have gone completely mad if she had to spend the rest of the day in bed. Besides, she was curious about Lara.
Cree turned to his wife. “You heard her and you will follow what she says and remain abed for at least three hours.”
That was far too long, but Dawn nodded, already planning to leave the bed before then.
“Rest, wife,” Cree ordered and turned to Elsa. “Tell me of Lara.” He walked to the door, Elsa following him.
Dawn eased herself out of bed, not wanting to suffer another pain, her side having been left with a dull ache. She went to the open door, hoping to hear Cree and Elsa talking but they were already descending the staircase. She hurried over to it and caught only a few words.
“Lara does not do well.”
She returned to her bedchamber, though not to the bed. She paced the room, impatient to go and see Lara for herself. She wanted answers as much as her husband did. But if Lara was not doing well there would be no answers to Dawn’s endless questions. And what if she died before she could answer them? There was no one else to give them answers. Or was there?
Had he known more than he had told her? She knew little of him so she certainly had not trusted him the whole time she had spent with him. And she thought it better if Cree never knew about him, since she had no answers to the questions her husband was sure to ask.
“I knew you would not remain abed.”
Dawn turned to see her husband standing in the doorway. She ran to him and threw her arms around him and buried her face in his neck, never wanting to let go.
Cree’s arms closed around her tight. He wished he knew what caused her sudden fright, though he wondered if it had something to do with Lara being found.
“I am here. You are safe,” he said and kissed her brow.
A shiver so strong ran through Dawn that it raised gooseflesh along Cree’s arms and he scooped her up once again and carried her to bed. He tucked her beneath the blankets and sat on the bed beside her.
“You need to rest, not worry. I will find out everything and will see those suffer for what has been done to you.” He leaned over and kissed her brow again. “Now promise me you will stay abed and rest for a few hours.”
Dawn crossed her heart with her finger, giving her word and realizing, not that she wanted to admit it, that she did need some rest.
“Your word pleases me, wife,” he said and gently kissed her lips. “Where is Beast?”
Dawn rocked her arm as if she held a bairn.
“With the twins.”
Dawn yawned as she nodded and she was surprised her eyes grew heavy.
“I will go get him and have him watch over you.”
She yawned and this time shook her head, letting her husband know it was not necessary.
It did not matter to Cree. He wanted Beast by her side, protecting her while he went to talk with Lara. He waited until her eyes fully closed. He had seen how the faint she had suffered left her weak, her body crying out for rest, but she had refused to recognize it. And he had seen how Elsa was anxious to tend Lara, thus not looking more closely at Dawn. He had made sure once again to remind her that Dawn came first, now and always.
He waited a few moments after Dawn’s eyes closed, listening to her soft breathing. He had missed hearing it at night when he woke and was ever grateful that he would miss it no more. She was there in their bed again and there she would stay.
Beast would help him achieve that. As much as he thought to spend every waking minute with her to make certain she was kept safe, he knew it was not a sensible course of action. And Dawn would not approve of it. She would feel a prisoner in her own home and he would not have that.
He went to fetch Beast and watched as the large dog rose from where he lay at the open door to the twin’s bedchamber and stand, his chest out, his head up, teeth bared, and letting loose a slight rumbling growl.
Beast ceased his growl when Cree stepped in front of him and said, “You guard my children well, Beast. Now you need to guard Dawn.”
The dog went to the steps and stopped to glance back at Cree.
“I am right behind you,” Cree said, walking over to him and the dog turned and hurried down the stairs.
Beast did not need any further orders, though Cree was quick to say as soon as the animal entered the room, “Guard, Dawn.”
Cree left, thinking Dawn had yet to tell him where she had come across Beast. The animal followed orders which meant he had to have belonged to someone at some time. But who and where and how had Dawn wound up with him? A detail he was eager to discover.
Sloan was coming up the steps of the keep and stopped and waited for Cree, when he saw him walking down them. They walked together to Elsa’s cottage.
“Lara was stabbed several times and left to die,” Sloan said.
“Who found her and where was she found?” Cree asked.
“Henry found her not that far from where Dawn had disappeared.”
“What was Henry doing in that area?”
“Looking for anything that might prove helpful in finding out what happened to Dawn.”
Cree thought about when Henry had first approached him, asking to join Cree’s warriors. He had been honest with Cree, making it clear he was no warrior, passable with a weapon, but he was a good tracker. Cree had already had two trackers, but there had been something about the quiet, almost reluctant way, he had spoken about being a good tracker that had given Cree reason to pause and give him a chance to see what the young man could do.
Henry had been more than a good tracker. He was the best Cree had ever seen. He kept much to himself, explaining he preferred the quiet of the woods and the land rather than people. Henry was kept away from battle, the warriors making sure he stayed safe ever since he had tracked down two of their wounded warriors who had been dragged off after a fierce battle with barbarians. The warriors had been well aware of what the men would suffer and when Henry told them of where the group had camped, Cree and his men had gone and got their men back and finished off the small group of barbarians.
Henry was so quiet, the warriors teased him mercilessly about never finding a wife. They were all surprised when Henry and Nell got together, but unlike others, Cree had seen the way Nell looked at Henry. The young man did not stand a chance, not that he objected since Cree had seen that Henry had looked the same at Nell.
Cree had also seen that Nell had not been the only one interested in Henry. Lara had been as well and he recalled how Lara had sulked around the village after it became known that Henry and Nell would wed.
Why that came to mind, he could not say. It did not seem probable that it had anything to do with Dawn’s abduction, but then he would not make the mistake of dismissing the thought lightly.
Ann, Elsa’s other helper, steps faltered as she stepped out of the healing cottage, tears running down her cheeks as she stumbled to the bench against the wall to sit. She brought her hands up and buried her face in them and wept.
Cree hoped he was not too late. He entered the cottage to find Elsa standing over the bed, her face pale and tears rolling down her cheeks.
“She is gone?” Cree asked.
Elsa turned with a jump, Cree having startled her, and shook her head. “Not yet, but there is nothing more I can do for her.”
Cree stared down at the young woman, no color to her face, as if death had already claimed her. A blanket rested over her chest, almost to her neck.
“Has she said anything?” Cree asked.
“Sorry. She keeps saying she is sorry,” Elsa said, wiping away the tears that ran down her cheeks. “She has lost much blood. I do not think she will survive the night.”
“Let me know if she wakes,” Cree said and left the cottage. He tried to find it in his heart to forgive the dying young woman, but he could not. The past three months had been a living hell for him and even worse for Dawn because of Lara, and Fate had given her what she deserved.
Cree stepped out of the cottage to find Elwin talking with Sloan. Elwin was one of his most trusted and fierce warriors. He was a large man and had a kind heart, which is what had brought Dorrie and him together.
“A messenger from the Clan Macardle waits for you in the Great Hall,” Elwin said.
“Sloan wait with the messenger in my solar. I will follow shortly,” Cree ordered. “Elwin, find Henry and have him wait for me in the Great Hall.”
Cree watched the two men go in opposite directions, then he turned to the woman on the bench, her weeping having subsided.
“Ann,” he said and the woman jumped up off the bench, her eyes turning wide and her face losing all color. “Sit,” he ordered and she nearly collapsed on the bench, as if her legs were simply too weak to hold her.
Ann shook her head. “I told her not to trust him, my lord, but she was so desperate for someone to love her. But I never ever thought she would betray her own.”
“What are you talking about?” Cree asked, looming over her as he came to stand in front of her.
Ann shrunk back against the cottage wall, stumbling with fright as she tried to speak.
“Tell me what you know and no harm will come to you,” Cree warned.
“I know nothing, nothing,” Ann said, having seen the punishment Cree had imposed on those he deemed deserved it. “I am loyal to you, my lord, and the clan. Never would I betray you.”
“Then speak up and answer me,” Cree snapped, having lost all patience with the weeping woman. “Tell me of this man you warned Lara about.”
