Page 52 of The Guardian's Bride
Rowena nearly tumbled to the floor with the sudden motion, still dizzy. A few feet from where she crouched, Aedan andReid struggled, the older man shoving hard, twisting about. Then Aedan grabbed Reid’s shirt as they pitched over the side together.
As they disappeared, Rowena screamed, her voice lost in the commotion. Tom Robertson shouted to his men, only five or six scrambling to the benches.
“Row!Row!”
The crew pulled and the boat launched ahead, and Rowena stood, shouting to Brian, hoping he had seen Aedan in the water with the pirate leader. She ran to the side of the boat just as Brian shouted to Tom to halt the oars.
Any thought of the Rhymer’s guardian stone left her. She thought only of the man lost under the water’s tumultuous surface. Sinking to her knees, she stretched out an arm and cried out his name.
Aedan submerged againas Reid dragged on his shoulders for purchase as both struggled. Water enveloped him, slowing time. Hearing a siren’s voice, he saw light above, and pushed away from Reid, who floundered and came up too. Aedan rose out of the water, gasping, sputtering, to see the long curve of the ship’s side ahead. For an instant, he saw Rowena, her face a pale oval, dark hair streaming as she leaned over the side. He powered toward her as Reid came up, pulling at him. Aedan kicked him away.
“A ship! A ship!” the pirates were shouting from their ship. “John! Come back!”
Confused, Aedan swerved to see another ship approaching through the fog. This was no longship, but a large galley with forecastle and broad square sail, the sort sailed by English. Even so, he was relieved to see it.
Reid noticed it too, turning to swim for his boat. The mere sight of another ship, let alone an English war galley, was more than enough to send them on their way.
Sputtering, Aedan swam toward Lauder’s ship as someone extended an oar toward him. He reached, missed, as a wave rocked through and lifted him, then slapped him down again. Sinking and rising, he reached again for the oar tip and missed.
Someone dove in and swam toward him—Brian, he saw, emerging to grab his arm and pull him toward the ship. Within moments, Tom Robertson reached down to help both men back inside. Collapsing in the belly of the boat, Aedan felt the ship lurch as Brian clambered in too, both of them sinking to the deck, coughing.
“My thanks,” Aedan gasped, sitting up, shoving back wet matted curls.
“I saved a sheep once, why not save you,” Brian said breathlessly. They came to their feet, dripping, laughing. Aedan glanced around to see Rowena standing apart, watching, a hand to her chest, face pale.
Hearing shouts, he looked where Brian pointed to see Reid’s ship sailing eastward and away. Then he searched for the galley that had sent the pirates scurrying off, and saw it approaching through thinning drifts of mist.
“Look,” he told Brian. The broad English sail bore three huge lions, and the mast carried Edward’s red and gold flag. Men onboard the ship wore red surcoats over chainmail. He also noticed bows, arrows, glinting swords, tall pikes.
“English.” Brian groaned. “Whoever sails there, we owe them our escape.” He went to Tom, who was calling out to the oarsmen to row hard and away.
Hearing Rowena’s voice, Aedan looked down to see her beside him. He opened his arm and she came into its circle. Hedid not care who saw that or what they thought. He just needed her close.
“Aedan,” she said on a little sob, holding up his discarded plaid. Lifting on her toes, she draped it over his wet shoulders. Welcoming its warmth, he leaned his cheek on her head, then saw Brian Lauder’s glance. Smiling, his friend looked away quickly.
“Are you harmed?” Aedan asked her. “Are you ill?”
“Better now that you are safe.” She put an arm around him as if to support him, but he knew her need for an anchor too. “Do not worry about me,” Rowena went on. “Your cheek is cut and bleeding! And that eye may turn black.” She touched his cheek, fingers gentle.
“Eh, he got worse than me,” he said as her hand came away with blood. His cheekbone ached, he realized. “It is naught.”
She traced cool fingers under his eye. “I should tend to it.”
Angled away from the view of others, he took her hand and kissed it. She blinked, a blush seeping into her pale cheeks. Cradling her hand in his, he felt affection pour through him.
“I should see to the others,” she said, pointing toward two men who sat at the side of the boat. Brian crouched beside them.
“You should.” He let go, and she crossed to kneel with them and talk quietly.
If she felt unwell, she did not show it now, though Aedan saw how drawn and pale she was. Perhaps her empty stomach helped; he nearly laughed, recalling what had happened. Then he realized she felt better because the needs of another had eclipsed her own. A deep fondness flowed through him again.
Suddenly he remembered what he had tried to do when struggling with John Reid. He patted his soggy tunic. Her purse—where was it? During the fight, he had grabbed Reid’s shirt for the pouches the man had stuffed there.
Just before they tumbled into the water, he had managed to grab her purse and drop it inside his tunic above the cinch of the belt. But in that fierce dunking, it could have been lost in the sea.
Feeling a lump caught in a tangle of wet cloth against his lower back, he groped and brought it out. Rowena’s soggy embroidered purse, closed tight by wet, knotted cords, threads seeping dye. He breathed out, relieved. Alas, his pouch and Brian’s too were either lost in the water or in Reid’s possession now.
Approaching Rowena, he waited while she fastened a makeshift sling on an oarsman’s arm. Rising to her feet, she gave Aedan a shy smile. He extended his hand, and her expression turned to delight.
