Page 51 of The Guardian's Bride
Reid snatched it, weighed it in his hand, looked at Lauder. “And you?”
Rowena knew Brian had enough coin to purchase grain, foodstuffs, and more. She watched anxiously, aware that Tom and the crew were still and wary.
“Come on,” Reid said, and Brian untied the leather pouch beneath his cloak. It jingled as he handed it over.
“All I have. Now be gone.”
“Or what?” Reid looked at some wooden boxes. “What is in those crates?”
“Vestments for the bishop of Dunfermline and his priests,” Brian said. “Gifts embroidered by my wife. No use to you.”
Reid nodded, turning. “This your wife?”
“Mine,” Aedan snapped. “Leave her be.”
“Pretty thing.” Reid went closer. Rowena leaned away. The boat seemed to spin under her feet. “Give us your purse, hinny.” He stretched out his hand for the pouch at her belt.
When she did not answer, he snapped the cord that attached it and took the purse. She launched forward with a cry, reaching for it, though the other pirate held her back. The Rhymer’s charm stone was in that pouch—she could not lose it.
Seeing that, Aedan roared but could not move, for another dagger was pointed at his throat now.
John Reid laughed, holding the bag out of her reach. “Something precious in here?” He opened the gathered neck of the bag to look at its contents. “The wee vixen wants her scissors and ribbons and—what, flowers? And a wee jewel!” He plucked up the charm stone, polished and glossy. It winked in the cloudy light.
“Give that to me!” She stretched out her free arm.
“Not a chance, darlin’.” Reid slid the things back into the pouch and tucked it inside his shirt.
“Give it to her! Take this instead,” Aedan barked, sliding a hand inside his plaid and the neck of his tunic, extracting a second pouch of leather. Tilting his head away from the point of the blade, he held it out. “Have it, you bastard, and leave us be.”
“Take that,” Reid told the man beside Aedan, who grabbed it. “We will have all this and the lass too, since you have little else to offer and I am not in a killing mood. This fog depresses my spirit, but this bonny lass will cure it quick enough.”
Aedan was fuming now. Rowena saw the rising temper in his flared nostrils, pulsing jaw, eyes flashing dark and dangerous.
“Leave!” Aedan boomed. “We must get my wife to town. She is ill and needs a physician. Leave her be, or regret it!”
As he spoke, his tone fiercer than she had ever heard from him, she felt a new wave of dizziness as the ship swayed. Her legs weakened under her and she set her free hand to her chest, again feeling faint.
“That fine woman? What could be wrong with her?” Reid asked.
Rowena bent over as the contents of her stomach erupted, spewing over the man holding her arm.
“That,” Aedan said.
Recoiling, the pirate released her just as Reid whirled. Aedan shoved the man beside him, grabbed the man’s dagger, and launched for Reid. Throwing himself on the older man, he slammed him down to the curved floor of the longship.
Unable to stop herself, Rowena retched again, this time covering the boots of the pirate beside her. He yelled and jumped back, losing his dagger. As Aedan pinned Reid down, Brian jumped on the third pirate. At the same time, an oarsmen leaped on the distracted man beside Rowena. A couple of othercrewmen followed, jumping into the fray to help subdue the three pirates.
Now arrows sailed through the air like needles, punching into the ship, clattering on wood, a few striking crewmen. Swift and sure, Aedan rolled Reid and dragged him upright to use him as a shield against the arrows. That quelled the barrage as Reid’s men halted, uncertain. Aedan dragged the man to the side.
“Take your men and gonow,if you want to live!” he shouted, grasping Reid by the neck of his shirt, arching him backward.
Dropping to her knees, dizzy and weak, Rowena hunched beside a crossbench and watched Aedan and John Reid grappling, pressed against the boat’s curved side. Hearing a clunk, she saw something drop out of Reid’s shirt as he moved—one of the pouches. Another pouch fell away as he pushed Aedan, whose plaid came loose. He kicked it away, twisting to keep his hold on John Reid.
Cautiously Rowena crawled toward the purses to try to recover them while no one was looking. All around, men shoved and shouted; a moment later she heard a great splash as someone pitched over the side into the water. Looking up, she was relieved to see Aedan still in the boat, holding Reid partly over the side. Now another man went into the water—a pirate, she saw, heaved over by Tom the captain.
Easing forward, she grabbed the two fallen pouches, feeling the weight of coins. Both were leather—her embroidered bag was not there. Subsiding between two benches, she peered out, wanting to be sure Aedan was safe.
Amid the chaos, oarsmen worked to loosen the grip of the iron hooks pinching the side of the boat, freeing one, then the other. Then Tom Robertson sliced through the lashing ropes. The boat surged free.
