Page 43 of Intrigued By A Highlander

“Bloody hell,” he mumbled, he cared for his wife, something he had hoped to feel for the woman he wed and with who he’d spend his life.

Now that he found her, how could he ever let her go?”

“It is alwaysa blessing to see a married couple who truly love each other,” Brother Ewan said, smiling. “You and Knox will have a good and happy life together. Now come and I will show you to your room, then you are free to walk around the abbey. I only ask that you obey your husband’s word and remain here. He loves you and worries over you, don’t make him worry even more.”

Dru intended to leave right after Knox left, and head toward Autumn’s place, but the worry in his dark eyes, though more so his kiss, had changed all that. The abbey was a good place for her to contemplate her current situation and Knox’s kiss.

“I’m not going anywhere, Brother Ewan,” Dru assured him as she followed alongside him.

“I am pleased to hear that, Dru.”

The room was much like the one at Cramond Abbey, a single bed, a small table and a chair.

“We’re not as strict here as other abbeys. Wine is always available in the refectory along with whatever Brother Felix has baked for the day. He loves to cook, and he is exceptionally talented at it, which is why many of us are plump,” Brother Ewan said and laughed.

“Point the way,” Dru said, thinking a tankard of wine by the fire was the perfect place to sit and think.

Brother Ewan was right about the abbey not being strict. There was pleasantry about the place, chatter heard and laughter as well. Most abbeys were quiet and solemn and not at all welcoming.

She barely stepped into the refectory when a monk offered her wine and an apple tart. She accepted both and the apple tart was so delicious she had another one while the monk chatted with her. A second monk entered and joined them, and they soon had Dru laughing with tales of the travelers that stopped at the abbey.

The discussion went from one subject to another during which more wood was added to the dwindling fire in the large fireplace. More monks arrived, their cheeks glowing red from time spent in the chilly air. They went straight to the hearth to get warm.

“It’s gotten blustery out there,” one of the monks said.

“Winter chases autumn away,” another said.

“No worries for us. We are well prepared for winter,” a monk called out.

Brother Thomas rushed into the room, his eyes glancing quickly around and settling on Dru. He rushed over to her. “Brother Ewan says you are to go to your room and stay there until he comes for you.”

Dru placed her tankard on the table. “What’s wrong?”

“A band of mercenaries are here, and he doesn’t want them to know you’re here.”

“Do we know them,” a monk asked.

“Aye. It’s Phelan and six of his warriors,” Brother Thomas said.

“They probably want food and drink,” another monk said.

“Aye, that’s what we’re here for.”

Dru turned to see a slim, yet firmly built man of fair height, though not nearly as tall as Knox, gripping Brother Ewan’s arm with strength as he ushered him further into the room. Scars and age marred his face that at one time would have been pleasing. And unlike most men, he wore his hair severely cropped.

His dark eyes immediately went to Dru and looked her over in an alarming way.

“A woman. Is that why you didn’t want me and my men to enter the abbey, Brother Ewan?”

“She is a married woman, Phelan, under the care of the abbey,” Brother Ewan said.

So, this was the infamous Phelan. The one who had made her husband’s life a living hell and the one he had gone to talk to.

“Are you sure her husband didn’t just dump her here? There’s not much to her. She’s a wee thing. She probably wouldn’t survive a good pounding, nor is she fit enough to bear bairns. I wouldn’t count on her husband returning.”

The six men who entered after him laughed.

“My husband will return,” Dru said with such firm confidence that Phelan and his men looked surprised.

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