Page 10 of The Highlander's Virgin Nun
Caelan moved to his chair and plopped down. He kicked his feet up onto his desk to get a closer look at his boots. The toe of the right boot was entirely ripped. He doubted they could be repaired.
Frustrating.
He sighed and leaned back to recount the events to his man-at-arms.
“I was ridin’ back through the Friar’s woods and I stopped at a loch for water. I was drinkin’ when I heard footsteps rush after me. I had me sword on me as always and turned and swung immediately. They were amateurs like the rest of them—they had nay chance.”
“Did ye get any information? Surely this time we got a name or a clan. Somethin’.”
“Nay, nothin’. I injured three of them, and when the fourth attacked, he angered me. I had to kill him. They threatened more attacks, but once I had the other three injured and pinned, they pulled the same trick.”
“The poison vials again?” Jayden slammed his fists on the desk, and Caelan saw his knuckles turn white. He was furious.
“Aye, exactly the same.”
“Why didnae ye stop them—at least one?”
“Ye think I danae want this to end? Ye think I am nae tryin’ hard enough?” Caelan yelled before taking a breath to try to calm himself. “I just fought off four men on me own, Jayden. I cannae control everythin’.”
Jayden paced the room, lifting his hand to his forehead and massaging his temples. “Where are they comin’ from?” he muttered.
But Caelan knew this was not a question that required an answer. If either of them knew, their problem would have been solved long ago.
“And the lass. What is she doin’ here?” Jayden probed, angered now by the situation and misdirecting that fury at Rosaline.
“I was battlin’ the first three when a voice from the trees warned me that there was someone behind me. When I turned, he was only a few paces away. I hadnae heard him at all. If she hadnae shouted, I would have at least caught a serious injury.”
Sweat beaded on Jayden’s brow, and he paced back towards Caelan’s desk, trying to gather his thoughts.
“And so for that, ye ask her to marry ye?”
“We made a deal.”
Jayden’s eyes narrowed. “What deal, Caelan?”
“She was on the run…” Caelan let the words hang in the air for a moment, just to stir more panic inside Jayden. He found it humorous.
Jayden fed right into it, his gaze flicking up, and his brow creasing in anger.
“From nuns.”
“What? Caelan, hurry up and explain.”
“All right, all right.” Caelan sat up, freeing Jayden of his torment. “She had been held in the nearby convent, I think. There were women chasin’ after her, and she was hidin’. I dinnae ken the details, but she seemed very desperate to go anywhere but back to where she came from. We both ken I need an heir, so I offered to save her from them if she would be me bride.”
Jayden finally sat in the chair opposite the desk, relieved to have the full story at last, but still unsatisfied.
“Caelan, ye ken ye can have an heir in a much easier way. Ye dinnae need to pick a woman out of the forest. Who kens why she was even on the run in the first place?”
“I’m nae goin’ to live long, Jayden—ye ken that. All of the women here who would have me would fall in love, and me death would break their hearts. This lass doesnae ken me from Adam, and she doesnae need togetto ken me. We will provide her with a safe and warm home, and she will give me an heir and nae be heartbroken when I’m eventually killed. She will stay here to raise the bairn because she hates where she has come from so much, and she will be loyal to us for savin’ her.”
Jayden dropped his head into his hands again, shaking it.
“It’s a nae bad plan, admit it,” Caelan prompted.
“Me plan is to keep ye alive as long as I can, Caelan, nae to plan for yer death. And a complete stranger movin’ into yer castle, intoyer wing, sounds like a threat to me.”
Caelan shook his head. Jayden was missing the point.
