Page 71 of Captured By the Highland Devil
“They appreciate that,” Ruben murmured from her side. “I ken a lot of the girls look up to ye.”
“That’s good,” she said. “I would like to give them someone to emulate.”
As the fourth set of children took their place, a guard came to Ruben’s side. “I hate to interrupt ye, me laird, but the prisoner ye have kept under watch is awake. Ye said ye wanted to see him as soon he wakes.”
Gritting his jaw, Ruben turned to Paige, who instantly waved him off, “Go on. I will be fine with the children and the nuns.”
He pressed his lips to her hair, behind her left ear. “Be safe. Me men will be with ye all the while and hold unto the daggers.”
As he hurried out of the church, she briefly watched him swing into the saddle before he disappeared. Mother Etna came to sit by her and smiled. “I do believe we have a good chance at winnin’.”
“I think so too,” Paige replied. The last set did an admirable job, but she did not think they outdid her set. The children her heart had claimed as its people. “The children did outstandingly well.”
At the end of the last recital, Paige went to sit with the children and assured them they did well and even if they did not win, they should be proud of themselves. Pulling Nera on her lap, she rocked the child.
One of the priests stood and cleared his throat, “Before we close, I must remind all of ye, children and caretakers alike, that ye have all done very well. With careful consideration and reflection, we are awarding the prize to the children of Choille Village?—”
Paige felt moved to tears and she smiled to Hannah as she went to collect the bag of coins from the priest.
“See,” she nodded to another of the girls. “Ye did very well and nay one should ever tell ye differently. His lairdship and I had every faith in ye. Now, when we return to the village, I have another surprise for ye.”
The day was dying down but Paige still lingered in the backyards of the orphanage. The children loved the lunch, especially the lemon tarts she’d asked the kitchen staff to make for them.
It was time to go home and even without Ruben’s presence; she had enough guards to take her home safely. She finished saying goodbyes to the children, promised the caretakers she would return another day and then hoisted into her saddle as the sun began to set.
“We must hurry, me lady,” one of her guards said, “His lairdship will nae like it if ye are out in nightfall.”
“I ken,” she said she and the three of the men rode off to the north on a quick pace. “I ken he is very taskin’ about safety and nae runnin’ risks one does nae need to run.”
The sky was darkening as they rode hard to the castle, trying to place the encroaching night behind them.
They were nearly halfway there, past the glen, approaching the bend in the road where they would head towards the keep. A rope snapped tight across the road, sending two horses tumbling forward, throwing their riders.
Paige gathered the reins and urged her horse to leap the rope when four men broke out of the bushes, swords out and quickly bloodied. One of the last guards gave a swift slap to her mare’s haunch.
“Ride, me lady!” he screamed as her horse took off in a sharp gallop.
Paige grasped the reins and hunched over the horse’s neck, kept her head down racing back to the keep. Midnight attacks on caravans or isolated assaults were one thing, but to attack a small group in the middle of the day did not bode well.
She turned her head over her shoulder to see the guard fared when a figure emerged from the trees in front of her. The two men had crossbows and in the fleeting seconds, she already saw her fate.
The arrows slammed into the stallion at making the animal crumble and causing Paige to fly off the saddle. The reins slipped through her fingers as she tried to grasp to catch herself. Her eyes clenched hard as she hit the ground hard, slamming her head on the firm ground, temporarily blinding her.
She did not know when someone grabbed the back of her dress and hauled her onto his horse. She didn’t even have time to reach for the daggers in her boot or bag.
“I hope ye are nae too badly off,” a voice said. “He’ll kill me if ye are too injured.”
“Please, stop.” Paige’s voice was little more than a whisper, as she trembled in fear. “I—I need to go home.”
“Ye are going home,” the voice taunted. “Just hold on.”
Striding into the infirmary, Ruben nodded to the two guards outside of the private room and stepped inside to find the man sitting in his bed. The side of his head was mottled with red and murky browns, the sign of healing injuries.
“Speak and I may have mercy on ye,” Ruben demanded. “Tell me who hired ye to abduct me wife and I will not have ye drawn and quartered.”
The man swallowed, “I daenae ken who hired us, Laird McKinnon. The only one who kenned that was Ragar, the man with the scares who ye slew. He was the one who approached us and gave us the coin. He never said who hired him.”
“So ye have nothin’ of worth to tell me,” Ruben spun on his feet. “Take him to the gaol.”
