Page 83 of Captured by a Laird
“For now,” her uncle said. “She was a pliable child. I don’t know what’s happened to her.”
Under her breath, Alison said, “I have a husband who values a lass with spirit.”
“The children are Blackadders,” the prior said. “I insist they remain with me.”
“You insist?” her uncle said in his most haughty tone. “Let me remind you that these children are my blood relation and nieces of the Earl of Angus, the king’s stepfather.”
Alison felt immediately safer with her powerful uncle taking her part, though she was well aware that he spoke in her defense not out of affection, but because the prior had insulted his pride.
“Thank you, Your Grace.” She dipped him another curtsy, then took her daughters’ hands. “Hurry, girls. We’re going home.”
She told herself that the prior would not dare cross her uncle by attempting to obstruct their departure. All the same, she did not take an easy breath until the abbey disappeared into the trees behind them. Beatrix and Margaret were unusually silent, sensing her unease, and rode at a trot without her asking.
Ominous thunderclouds darkened the sky and a strong wind whipped the trees, making the usually pleasant ride along the river seem eerie.
She tucked her chin into her cloak and revisited her meeting with the clerics, which had been a revelation in more ways than one. Chief among her discoveries was that she was hopelessly in love with her new husband.
She felt a prickle on the back of her neck and her thoughts scattered. She felt as if someone was watching them. The meeting at the abbey had made her jittery and must have fueled her imagination. But the horses seemed edgy too.
“What’s that sound?” Beatrix asked.
“A deer, perhaps,” Alison said, and signaled for the girls to stay quiet.
It sounded like a large animal moving through the trees, but it could just be the wind rustling the branches. She was anxious to get home.
Not long now.There was a small clearing around the next bend, and a quarter-mile past that they would be in sight of the castle. They would be safe then.
They rounded the bend, and her heart went to her throat.
A dozen riders were in the clearing, and she knew at once that they were waiting for her and her daughters. She turned her horse, but more riders appeared through the woods behind them, blocking her path. In a matter of moments, they were surrounded.
“Lady Alison, ’tis always a pleasure.” The man who spoke had a pointy beard and hard gray eyes and bore a remarkable resemblance to her late husband.
Patrick Blackadder. She recognized several of the other men as well, including his brother.
“You ladies should know better than to be out riding alone,” Patrick’s brother said with a nasty smile. “It could be dangerous.”
“’Tis fortunate that we’ve come to escort ye to safety,” Patrick said.
“We’re not going anywhere with you,” Alison said, lifting her whip. “Get out of our way.”
One of their men grabbed her reins, while another snapped the whip from her hand, pulled her off her horse, and pinned her arms behind her back.
“You’ll ride with me,” Patrick said, holding his hand out to her. “After all, you’re going to be my wife.”
“Ye know very well I already have a husband,” she said through her teeth as she struggled against the man who held her.
“No need to pretend loyalty to the Beast,” Patrick said. “Wedderburn will be dead soon. They’ll find him lying in a field with crows picking at his eyes.”
The certainty with which Patrick spoke made Alison shudder. What did Patrick know that made him so confident?
“Ye can’t kill David,” Beatrix said. “He’s a hundred times stronger and more clever than any of ye.”
“Mind your mouth, lassie, if ye don’t want it bloodied,” Patrick’s brother said.
“Don’t you dare!” Alison shouted at him. Looking into her daughters’ terrified eyes, she said, “David will come for us.”
She prayed with all her heart that it was true.
