Chapter One
*Kaelyn*
Kaelyn awoke with a strange ache in her neck and her backside sore. Blinking, she groaned at the throbbing in her head, wondering how much champagne she had consumed the night before when she started at the ground shifting below her.
Her next realization was a body pressed behind her and looking up, after seeing a man, she screamed like a banshee.
"She's awake lads," the owner of the foreign body laughed.
She thrashed around him, mightily swinging her fists into his chest. "You brute! Take me home this instant!" she shrilled.
"I promise I dinnae bite," he grinned mischievously, looking down at her. "...unless ye want me to."
Her blows seemed to exert her more than it bothered him so she stilled and tried to gather her wits. Having her head hurt wasn't helping.
She remembered the night before how she had drank a large amount of spirits the night before, especially after the awkwardness of trying to let Lord Rochester down gently. Especially after the mysterious man had danced with her one moment and was never seen the next. Following that, she had been giddy and vaguely recalled her maid Susan, dragging the dress from her person before falling like the dead onto her pillow.
Looking around her, she saw that her rider was alongside three other men, one of whom was the man she had danced with only hours before.
She tried another approach. "I'm sure you know who I am otherwise, you would not have captured me. If it is coin you need, just tell me how much and—"
"We dinnae need your coin," the man from yester eve spat, glancing harshly at her from his horse.
Forgone was the English dialect he had spoken the night before. The dark-haired man now laced his words with full Scottish tongue.
"Well, what is it that you want from me?" she demanded, growing increasingly annoyed with the lot of them. Her head was pounding, she was barefoot in her nightshift on a horse with a strange man pressed beside her, and her hair must have looked a fright. She didn't want to play guessing games with them and she doubted they cared that they weren't supposed to treat a Lady in this fashion.
"We are to be wed," the same man said grimly. His face looked to be anything but a happy groom.
She paused, not even debating if she heard him correctly or not. As far as she knew, she wasn't hearing impaired. What she didn't know however, was if his mind had lost him. Kaelyn had debated the wellness of his brain the whole evening before. Now she had her answer.
"You sir, I believe, are ill." Wrapping her blanket around her person in an attempt to block out the cool air, she continued, "If you would just take me back to my home, I can assure you, I will not involve the authorities and I'll even help you find aid in recovering from your sickness."
All was quiet until bursts of laughter erupted from all but the man with whom she spoke. The others howled in delight as if she had said the funniest thing they had heard which was upsetting for she had spoken in truth.
She felt the rumbles in the stomach of the man she rode with and wondered if they were all daft.
"Malcolm is nae ill lass," the one behind her laughed heartily.
So the dark-haired one with the surly look on his face was named Malcolm.
"But he said we were—"
"Ye
are
gonna get wed," he confirmed, noting the confused look on her face when she turned to look at him. "I reckon we'd be brother an' sister then."
Kaelyn struggled to grasp the situation as he made the introductions.
"I'm Donnan. The young lad there—"
"I'm nae young," the lad fired back.
"-- is Iain. The red-headed one is Cameron an' your soon-to-be husband is the one who looks like he got kicked by a donkey, my big brother."
She decided to go along with whatever they were saying until she could find the opportunity to free herself from them and their lunacy. Hearing about kidnappings was something entirely different than having it actually happen to one's self. Why the very idea was absurd!
Kaelyn decided to put her charm to good use seeing as she was stuck with them for the time being. "I want to thank you for making sure I was warm," she said, hoping to start off on the right foot.
"Was nae me. Cameron thought of ye," Donnan grinned.
She focused her attention on the rider to her left and gave him her best smile. "Thank you Cameron."
He winked back at her and showed off a single dimple on the side of his check. It did not escape her that these were kidnappers, but Lord help her she'd be blind not to notice they were all well-made men. Cameron sported a mop of short curly red-brown hair that was pulled back away from his face. A stubble of hair decorated his chin and right above his lip. His eyes were a dark blue, almost the same shade as her own.
Iain, the one riding to her right, was fair-headed. Not has fair as her, but the only blonde in the group of men. He kept it short, too short to hold back and had emerald-colored eyes. She could tell from his face he was young for he didn't have any hair on his face. If she had to guess, he was probably around the same age as herself.
The one she rode with, Donnan, was the one who looked the most classically handsome. His face was like a Greek god. His hair was a rich chestnut brown that curled at the ends like his brothers. He, like Cameron, had it tied back away from his face while his jawline sported short hairs that traced along a strong chin and around a full mouth. Kaelyn wondered why life was so cruel as to have her spirited away to be kidnapped and meant to wed the one man who acted as though she was too hideous to even look at.
She allowed herself to look at Malcolm again and was met with his backside as he rode ahead. Her head throbbed something fierce and the jolting of the horse wasn't helping.
"Might any of you have some wine?" she asked. "Or ale?"
Iain reached for something but was halted when Malcolm turned around to give her a dirty look.
"We are nae yer servants," he said evenly.
"I didn't say you were," she retorted back, thoroughly done with his hostility. She would think a man who intended to marry her would be a little bit more civil than the way he was acting towards her. "I just want to sleep off this ache in my head. I think I drank too much champagne."
He scoffed. "And ye think more spirts is gonna make ye feel better?"
"If it will let me sleep," she grounded out, "then yes."
"Dinnae give her anything," he ordered, turning back around and ignoring her.
The insufferable lout!
Patience,
she ordered herself. In due time, she would relieve herself not just him, but all of them.
*Malcolm*
Malcolm continued riding to his homeland, his mood dark. The other three knew not to bother him when he was this way, so they talked amongst themselves giving him his space. He didn't hear the lass since he had told them not to give her anything to drink. That was well over an hour ago. Against his better judgement, he looked back and found her curled up sitting side saddle in his brother's arms. Donnan caught his gaze and said softly so as not to wake her, "She's a bonny lass Malcolm. Ye could've done worse."
"Aye," Cameron agreed.
He stubbornly turned around, not caring whether she was bonny or not. He refused to see her as anything other than an insurance of more men to aid in his efforts to protect his people against Lachlan. Well... being honest with himself, he did care
some
what. After all, he'd had to look at her from time to time.
They rode for about another three hours until they reached the village they intended to stop at for the night. Malcolm had already told the village priest he would be marrying her on his way up to London. After giving him plenty of coin, the priest agreed to wed them should they return, no matter the hour, and even offered them room in his church for shelter should they need it. Malcolm decided the sooner he got it over with, the better. He wanted to bed her before she had any ideas about running away or if people came after them looking for her.
The chit was blessedly quiet once they arrived. He glided off his stead and knocked a steady hand on the wooden door of the priest's cottage. The sun was just beginning to fall and the air was starting to cool. Donnan helped her down from his horse and she wrapped herself with her blanket tightly, intelligent eyes darting everywhere. More than likely trying to think of a means to escape.
The old door creaked open and the priest quickly ushered them inside as two boys walked the four horses away to the stable. Their party crowded the small room as the priest offered them thick slabs of bread and potato soup. Once everyone was settled with their meal at his table, the balding Father turned his attention to the girl.
"I'm so honored to have you in my home milady. I'm Father Jacob," he gushed.
"Good evening Father. I'm Lady Kaelyn and the pleasure is mine," she said politely. "Now, could you be so kind as to assist me in getting back to my own home?"
Malcolm glowered at her from across the table and if she felt it, she didn't act as though she noticed.
Father Jacob seemed flustered and looked at him and then back at the young woman. Sweating, he pulled out a cloth mysteriously out of nowhere and dabbed his brow.
"Milady, I would--I assure you-- but the laird here has been most persuasive in convincing me that this match is God's will. And I am but a humble servant of the Lord, put here on this Earth to only do His bidding."
'At the right price,'
Malcolm mused, his pockets considerably lighter than they once were.
"Indeed," she murmured, finally looking at him with a muted look of her own. "I simply can't imagine what the King would think about his second cousin being forced into a marriage against her will," the cheeky noblewoman said with an eerie calm. "I do so love the talks I have with her Majesty. She absolutely
adores
me."
The holy man turned back at his customer with a look of doubt etched on his portly face.
"After all the trouble we went through to get ye," Malcolm said flatly through clenched teeth, "we
will
be wed an' I dinnae care wha' ye or
His Majesty
has to say about it."
He knew he'd probably hear hell about it later from his own sovereign King Jamie, but her bragging about her close connections with the crown only sealed the deal in his decision to keep her.
