Page 42 of It Began With A Kiss
Once finished, she set the bowl down and pulled the blanket over her shoulders. Diedre continued to stare down at her whilst standing by the door.
“What have ye done with Gregor?” Iona finally asked. Worry about what this woman would do to her son consumed her.
Diedre’s laughter filled her head as it echoed off the walls of the dungeon. “I will mold him into the kind of laird Dunborough needs. He is young. He will forget ye soon enough.”
“A child never forgets their mother, Diedre. If you had children of yer own, ye would know this for yerself,” Iona whispered but ’twas the wrong thing to say as the woman screeched out in anger.
“Ye know nothing of what I have suffered in my lifetime! The humiliation! Being an outcast!” Diedre bellowed, and then began mumbling to herself as a distant sound caused her to halt her speech. “Nay! It cannae be!”
Before Iona could even begin to understand what was happening, the space outside of her cell was filled with torchlight and she shielded her eyes from the brightness. Her knights had come to her rescue and Aiden was leading the way. He shoved passed Diedre to reach Iona. She sobbed in relief as she lifted her hands around his neck.
“Ye came for me,” she cried out, whilst her husband’s arms protectively wrapped themselves around her, helping her to stand.
“Of course, I came for you. With a little help from our son,” Aiden replied, looking toward the small boy who pushed his way through his clansmen to reach his mother.
“I told ye Lady Diedre was up tae something, father,” Gregor said, standing there with a triumphant look that said he had been right all along. Iona and Aiden’s brow rose at one word in what he had said.
“What?” the boy asked, his gaze shifting between them.
Aiden placed his arm around Gregor as he continued to steady Iona in place. “You called me father.”
Gregor shrugged. “I suppose ye will be around for a long while and ye did marry my mother, after all.”
Iona could barely contain her joy that Gregor was safe. “How did you know were tae find me?” she asked softly.
Gregor pointed to Diedre. “That one tried tae keep me locked up in my bedchamber but I escaped her and hid where she could not find me. I have been watching her for days. When she made her way down to the dungeon, I ran tae tell Laird Aiden, knowing most ladies would not wish to go into the castle depths,” he replied, with a satisfied grin.
Aiden kissed her brow. “I returned days ago only to learn you had gone missing. Diedre tried to tell all that you had merely run away. I knew this was a falsehood, as did the clan. Logan, Colin, Duncan, and Gavin were beside themselves with worry and had already sent out scouts to every village within miles of Dunborough. ’Tis a good thing they had already put a search into motion, or I would have been a madman and most likely challenged them to defend themselves, since I put you in their care.”
The men mumbled their apologies and Iona could only forgive them. ’Twas not their fault she had been taken. Diedre had planned everything very well, despite failing in the end. Iona’s gaze fell on the woman who had served her. Her eyes were glazed over, and clearly, she was not of a right mind.
Aiden began helping Iona from the cell and called over his shoulder. “Put Diedre in the cell and give her a taste of how my wife felt being held captive in the dark.”
“Nay!” Diedre moaned in agony, as guards came to take the woman’s arms and pull her in the direction of the cell.
“Wait!” Iona halted their progress to the stairs that would lead her from this horrible place. She turned to her husband. “Nay, Aiden. She is not well, and ’twould serve no purpose tae punish her so.”
“’Twould make me feel better,” he grumbled.
Iona patted her arm. “Mayhap this is so, but honestly… look at her. The woman I once knew is no longer inside that body. ’Twould be better to house her somewhere in another village and hire someone tae look after her. She can then live out the rest of her days in exile.”
Aiden shook his head. “You are too kind-hearted, wife.”
“I can forgive her, as can you. Holding onto such hostility will only sour our own dispositions and what good could come of that? In the end she would have won, and I will not give her the satisfaction of defeating us,” she stated. Aiden nodded toward the guards.
Up the stairs they went, and once Iona reached the kitchen she felt as if she could breathe clean air for the first time in a long while. The heavenly aroma of food caused her mouth to water, but before she could ask to something sent to her bedchamber, Aiden was already taking matters into his own hands.
“We need a tub sent up to our bedchamber for my lady’s bath. Hot water and plenty of food so she might break her fast,” Aiden ordered, whilst they continued through Cook’s domain, onward through the great hall and into one of turrets to their chamber.
A flurry of activity made Iona’s head spin as Aiden shooed Gregor from the room with the promise he would see his mother at the evening meal. A large wooden tub was placed near the hearth and filled with steaming water. Another bucket for her to rise was left near the hearth to keep warm. Joan, the castle’s healer, made a brief visit to examine Iona’s head and said, with rest, Iona should be well. Aiden then dismissed the remaining servants, telling them he would see to his wife’s welfare. He bolted the door as they left.
Iona had already stripped her filthy gown from her body and Aiden held her hand until she sank into the warm soothing water with a heavy sigh. She never thought a bath could feel this good. Aiden began feeding her tidbits of food until she laughed and said she could feed herself. He then handed her a bar of soap and a cloth, and she began to scrub the grim from her skin. Once she was clean, she stood, and Aiden poured water from the bucket over her head to rinse the suds from her body.
He wrapped her in her robe, scooped her up at the knees and carried her to their bed, where he tucked her in under the coverlets. He kissed her lips and she lifted her hand to rest upon his cheek.
Aiden gave a heavy sigh. “Please forgive me for not coming sooner.”
She leaned forward to kiss his lips before she snuggled her body next to his. “There is nothing to forgive, my dearest husband.” She began to try to get him to remove his tunic but instead he held tight to her hand.
