Page 96 of My Warrior
“I’ll come with you,” Duncan said.
“And the king?” Linet said, glancing nervously at the soldiers encamped nearby.
“The de Wares have given more than their share of service,” Duncan assured her.
“I’ve proven my loyalty to the king,” Holden murmured. “It’s time I proved my loyalty to my wife.”
Holden searched feverishly through the Gavin woods. He’d sent his men back to Blackhaugh at sunset. But he couldn’t cease searching, no matter that his eyes could barely pierce the deep shade of the forest. He never doubted for a moment he’d find Cambria. He couldn’t afford to doubt it. He only hoped he’d find her in time. For more than an hour, he stomped through the underbrush, trampling bushes, searching for a sign—a scrap of cloth, a footprint…a drop of blood. He swayed on his feet.God,he prayed,let her be safe.
Then, as he mouthed that silent plea, his attention was caught by an unnatural break in the branches ahead. He rubbed his forehead, afraid weariness may have made him imagine what he’d seen. But when he looked again, it was still there—the unmistakable shape of anHmade from the bent branches of an oak. Someone had left him a trail.
A hard slap startled Cambria awake. Her head rocked over the splintery floor with the impact.
“Wake up, bitch!”
It was Aggie’s strident screeching. Cambria caught an unpleasant whiff of her unwashed body and winced. The events of the past days crashed down on her like a cartload of armor. A hundred times she’d wished she were not so unwieldy, a thousand times that she had her sword. She was useless like this, lying on her side, gagged, bound hand and foot, fat and slow and vulnerable.
“Haven’t ye birthed that whelp yet?” Aggie whined. “It’s been a week now, and I’m growin’ weary o’ this hovel.” She scratched her nose and bent down to stare into Cambria’s face. “Be a good lass, now, an’ I’ll give ye somethin’ to eat. We can’t have the heir o’ Blackhaugh goin’ hungry, can we?” She cackled and roughly loosened the gag from around Cambria’s jaw.
“Wa…ter…” Cambria’s voice was little more than a croak, and she hated to beg so pitifully, but her throat was parched, and her thirst that of two.
“Oh, aye, aye, ye’ll get yer water,” Aggie grumbled, snatching up a skin from the battered oak table and sloshing its contents into Cambria’s mouth.
Cambria welcomed the precious liquid and the bits of bread Aggie hand-fed her afterward, though they were tough to chew and difficult to swallow.
“It isn’t easy, is it, chokin’ down peasant bread?” Aggie sneered. “That’s all I’ve had to eat my whole life—the leavin’s.” She wadded another piece and stuck it carefully between Cambria’s teeth. “But no more,” she said, her feline eyes gleaming. “I’m goin’ to be a lady now. I’m goin’ to live in that big castle.”
“Blackhaugh?” Cambria managed to rasp out around the bit of bread.
“With servants o’ my own to feed me and dress me…”
“You?”
Aggie glared sharply down at her. “Aye. Me.” She set aside the chunk of bread. “Just as soon as ye see fit to birth that babe.”
Cambria choked down the last piece of bread. She was afraid to ask, but she had to know. “What are you planning, Aggie?”
Aggie ran her finger idly along the edge of the table. “I’m goin’ to save yer babe, lassie, don’t ye fret. And Lord Holden, when he sees how pitiful sorry I am that I couldn’t save the both o’ ye…” She sighed and drew her thin lips into a trembling pout. “He’ll keep me in the best chamber o’ Blackhaugh for saving’ his heir, so properly grateful he’ll be.”
Cambria’s heart fluttered. Aggie’s plan was diabolical. Ruthless. And worst of all, she was right. It would work. Holden would take the woman at her word. Bloody hell, she couldn’t leave her babe in this madwoman’s charge. It was unthinkable. She had to say something, anything, to change Aggie’s mind.
Summoning up all her powers of deception, Cambria managed to force a peal of derisive laughter from her throat.
Aggie turned on her with the fury of a vexed cat. “How dare ye!” she spat. “Ye won’t be laughin’ long after I yank that whelp from ye!”
Cambria continued to rock with laughter.
Aggie stamped her foot. “Damn yer eyes! What ails ye?”
Cambria shook her head. “Holden’s heir, is it? You foolish woman!”
Aggie was beside herself now with anger. “Howdareye!”
“Holden won’t be grateful in the least,” Cambria chuckled. “The babe isn’t his.”
Aggie sucked in a shocked breath. “What do ye mean?”
“The babe isn’t his, and he knows it. Why do you think he so willingly left for war?”
