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Chapter 22
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The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 23
With his hand on the hilt of his sword, Gair slipped between two crofts at the edge of the woods and stopped abruptly. The footfalls behind him continued. Slower than his own had been, but not far enough behind for him to have time to really disappear. A long row of wood was stacked just a few feet from one house and toppling over on the end almost to the wall of the other house. There was just enough room for him to slip into the dark shadows of it. He took his bow, quiver, and the satchel of food off quickly, slipping them out of sight under a bush. He lay his sword in the hollow between the fallen logs and climbed in after it. Clouds moved in over the moon, darkening the area further as he slid in and crouched low. The footsteps he’d heard following him grew louder, then stopped. Peering between the logs he saw the shape of a man’s legs, but wasn’t high enough to see the plaid. It might have been too dark out to see the colours clearly in any case. The feet shuffled around in a cir
The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 24
Clambering up the slope on the far side of the beach was no easy task. The ground seemed to peel away under his feet and he had to grab at the roots to keep himself on the ledge. Slipping to his hands and knees on the slick ground, Gair struggled and continued to crawl until the land leveled out, then he leaned backward, stretching the kinks out of his back and shoulders before he lay down. He wasn’t sure if the tightness was from the lightning striking so close to him or the tenseness he’d maintained as he crossed the cove and climbed out. Everything ached and felt pulled taught. Just then, another bolt of lightning streaked across the sky making him cringe and flinch his eyes shut. He scowled at himself. Great. He was afraid of the lightning now, like a wee lad. Just then the clouds opened, dumping great torrents of water down from the heavens. He looked around, hoping to find some shelter, but could see nothing nearby but rocks and grass. In the flashes of light, he could see a sha
The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 25
Everything hurt.That was the first thing Gair thought as his mind eased him awake. It felt like every hair on his head and body was poking him. He felt worse than he had in the palace after spending the night with Charles and his courtesans. Was he ill? No. He didn’t feel as though he were fevered and his stomach was empty but not paining him. It might very well be the only thing not paining him. Was he asleep on a bed of nails? What could he possibly have done last night to make him feel so wretched? And why was he so wet?A sudden flash of light ripped through the air and he jumped in surprise. He was outside? Why had he fallen asleep outside? Just before the light disappeared his eyes focused in on the face of an angel with bright green eyes. Why did she look so afraid? The loud clap of thunder made him jump even more than the flash of light had. No sooner had the rumble faded than there was another bright flash of light. The brightness seemed to cut into his eyes and pained his
The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 26
The red glow on the inside of his eyelids told Gair it was day, but he didn't want to open his eyes just yet. He heard someone moving a short distance away and his sleep-filled mind assumed it was the maid. He must have overslept. Maddie would pull the cover from the window and set the table for him to break his fast. Then he realized it didn’t smell right.The musty scent of damp earth and wet trees filled his nostrils. He could hear the rain on the leaves of the trees, just as if he were in the woods. His room never smelled like this and it was too far from the ground for him to hear rain rustling down through the leaves. A distant rumble of thunder brought last night’s events back to him. He’d been out in a storm with a beautiful woman and a wee lass. She called him Alasdair. People mixed them up all the time, so why did it make him so sad that this woman he didn’t know called him by the wrong name? Perhaps she only knew Dair. He hadn't been able to walk. Why not? Was he injured?S
The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 27
Gair ran his hand over the back of his neck and sat down near the fire. Their stack of peat and wood was nearly gone. They’d have to either get more or move on come morning. He had no idea where they could go. He still didn’t know where they were! He didn’t know if he was responsible for the safety of these lasses, though it seemed he was. How on earth could he look after them if he didn’t even know how to get home from here? Even the sky was no help, clouds hid the sun and would hide the stars all night. He couldn’t even tell which general direction to travel in. Well, away from the sea, but other than that... The silence was a gift to his aching head at first, but it soon began to feel awkward. He wanted to know whatever the lasses could tell him, but he didn’t want to let on how clueless he was. “M’Laird’s head pains him,” the lass said, “but I have no poultice to fix it for him. Grandmame will have some. Will we go there tomorrow?” Gair looked from the lass to Isobel. “Yer head
The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 28
Gair smiled, watching Izzy run her free hand over her hair. It was a nervous gesture he realized, one he’d seen her make before. He knew he had yet to remember everything from the past few days, but when Magdala had touched his back the pain had brought back memories of the lightning strike and more details of crossing the cove. He also knew that his first instinct when he had come to his senses beside the burning tree was to find Isobel and keep her safe. Though he didn't remember what she needed to be safe from.For some reason this angel was his, or she would be. He was relieved to know she was not his brother’s woman. He did not remember what their relationship was, but he knew what he wanted it to be. It wasn’t that yet he was sure, if it were she would not have minded him seeing her in just a chemise.“I’ve had my men prepare a tent for the two of you to have some privacy,” James said, nudging his knee, “newlyweds need their time alone, eh?” Gair blinked, barely managing to mask
The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 29
“How in the bloody hell did you lose a sleeping woman!”The Duke’s booming voice froze Izzy in her tracks and she crouched low behind the nearest bush. She couldn’t make out what the soldiers were answering. They’d been asleep when she’d crawled out of the tent and left her shelter. Everyone had. Between having slept the day away and the large number of men around she hadn’t been able to drift off, so when the guards had started to snore she’d slipped out and spent the night out in the bush. She just picked her way between their legs, grabbed up her bow and quiver, and walked out the entrance.She’d only waited until she could sneak away because she hadn’t wanted any of the men to follow her. It had never occurred to her that they would get in trouble when she was not in the tent come morning. Nobody had ever bothered to know where she was before. If her clansmen had ever noticed her gone, they certainly hadn’t searched for her. Well, they had after she’d been gone several months, bu
The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 30
"I can’t believe ye would just wander off like that,” the Duke said again around a mouthful of fish. Gair bristled. The man was more than happy to accept the food his wife caught, cleaned, and cooked, yet still felt the need to reprimand her. He had been berating her from the moment she’d shown herself. Every comment he’d spoken was meant to antagonize but stopped short of actually insulting her so Gair himself had no cause to retaliate. The pair of them had simply bit their tongues and waited for the man to steam off all his temper, but it was getting beyond tiresome. All of the group within earshot was attuned to the goings-on, waiting for someone to start a fight. “You wasted valuable time for the sake of a few fish when we had plenty of salted fare and bread to start the day. It was a complete waste of everyone’s time!” Gair glanced at Izzy and saw her eyes narrow, “well finding food to fill your belly wasn’t all I left for.”“What then?”“Ye do understand that I am nay really a
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The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Epilogue
“Are you sure about this Izzy-bee? Ye don’t have to. I could go first.”“I want to,” Izzy insisted. She stepped quickly forward and lowered her naked bottom slowly onto the padded seat. “I am the one likely to back out. It is only right that I first see if I can do this before I ask it of ye.”“I will stop whenever ye say.”“I know,” she took a deep breath, spread her legs wide, bent forwards, and fastened her own ankles. Gair didn’t miss the change in her breathing.“Maybe just yer feet this time?” She shook her head and leaned back in the seat, resting her wrists in the cuffs. Gair looked down at her. In the past, seeing a woman held open this way, willingly putting herself at his mercy, had excited him. Seeing his wife struggle so mightily with it was not appealing to him at all.Her chest rose and fell quickly with each breath. Every muscle seemed taught as a bow ready to fire. “Izzy, I -”“Please, Gair. I want to try.” She looked to her wrists, then her ankles, and licked her lip
The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 79
Gair watched the arrow leave Fann’s bow and heard it thunk into the oak high above them. The gasps and mutters from the men behind him told him that Fann had hit the mark as easily as his wife. Before he could comment, Johne’s voice came through the bush beside them. “Ye have come at last, old friend.”“There was narry a sign of ye when I came to lay claim to all ye had promised.”“Aye. I failed in that. But I did nay fail completely.”Gair smiled at Davina as she stepped out from behind a tree. She was nearly as silent as his wife. She tipped her head to one side, looking at Fann.“I donna remember ye,” she said softly. Gair saw Fann’s fist clench at his side and then relax. “I am nay surprised. Ye were quite wee when I left for London.”“And ye have come to marry me off now?”“Nay.”Giar saw anger and surprise both in Johne’s eyes. He seemed about to speak, but Fann spoke first.“I donna know the woman ye have become any more than ye know me. As yer kin, I could choose a man for y
The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 78
The icy water ran from her hair and clung to her wool tunic, but Izzy barely paid it any attention. She forced her nearly frozen fingers to uncurl themselves, then curl again around the rope to pull herself forward again. And again. The tunnel had always seemed longer and steeper in the cold. Izzy could hear the scurrying of rat feet on the rocks around her. There seemed to be more of them than usual, but their numbers usually increased in the winter. Hopefully they hadn’t started to gnaw at the rope yet this year. If it gave way, the plunge back into the icy water would not be pleasant. It could very easily attract the attention of some of the guards too. There were so many more of them standing out on the walls! Either the mercenaries really had taken over, or her father had noticed there was a threat.She found the torch and flint against the wall at the top of the slope, just where she always left them. Cursing the cold and damp, Izzy struggled with the flint, trying to spark the
The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 77
Gair stared into the fire. He’d kept on the road to Campbell, but his eyes had been searching the bush for any sign of Izzy or her dogs. He knew it had been hopeless, even if she’d come this way she would not have stayed near the road. He tensed as Fann took a seat beside him and refused the flask of ale.“Most men,” Fann said, “would be glad for a wife they favour and a clan to rule. Why is it you are not?”“Have you been there?”“No. I should have been, but when I heard the Laird was not the one who had invited me to visit I left. Mercenaries are not usually welcome unless they are invited.”“It is not a clan I can rule. The men are everything I despise.”“Why?”“They are all lazy drunkards who rape and beat their women and children.”“When the women see that Izzy expects better from you, and gets it, the women of Sinclair will expect better too. Young men who wish to wed will have to do better to get their attention. Your reputation for putting rapists in the stocks naked won’t hur
The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 76
Once again, the smaller pup broke his stay. The runt was cute and liked to snuggle, but he was not very smart. The larger one looked back and forth between Izzy and his litter mate, then yipped and bounded out from the cover of the trees. There was nothing she could do for them this time. The mercenaries were too close, if she made any noise at all they would find her. Once they saw how well-fed those animals were, they’d be combing the bush for their owner and the pups would help them. Her only option was to make for the water.Suddenly a hand grasped her arm and Izzy found herself standing with her friend Johne in front of her. He scowled at her, “Ye daft lass! Now that yer full grown ye can nay pass so well for a lad.” He slammed a hat on her head and pushed her ahead of him out of the bush. “Yer nose is too fine for a lad this tall and yer legs! I wish those trews were baggy ones. Just keep yer chin down and say naught or ye’ll get us both killed.” His whistle pierced the air and
The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 75
It had been three days since Gair had arrived home to find Izzy’s note. He had no idea what to make of her prolonged absence. At first, he’d thought she was off hunting. He was ticked that she’d snuck out without the guard, but not really all that surprised. Leaving would have been a way to rebel against her forced confinement. She was not prone to staying put just because a man told her to. If anything, she would do the opposite just on principle.Paddy had been furious the guards had let her escape. He had ordered them to track her at once, but the rain had washed away any trace. He had looked himself as well, checking the areas he thought she might have gone for shelter, but none looked recently used. Gair folded up the paper and worked it into the seam of his tunic so he could take it with him. It was foolish he knew. But Izzy didn’t keep trinkets or embroidered kerchiefs. This was all he had of hers that he could carry with him. He scowled at himself. That had been careless of h
The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 74
As the cold rain drizzled down around the tiny home, Izzy sat by the fire with her dogs and watched her husband prowl the room like a caged beast. He was not accustomed to such small quarters. She remembered having the same restless feeling he seemed to be experiencing the first time she took to the tunnels for an extended time. There had been a lot of changes in the last few weeks. They’d enjoyed much time in each other's arms and it was nice to do so without interruption. There were no more meals atop the tower, though they still often ate under the stars. They had hunted until dark many nights at first. That was stopping now too as the air got colder and the rain more frequent. The colder and rainier it got the more moody and restless Gair became. She wasn’t scared of him exactly, but seeing him so agitated wasn’t comfortable either. She looked to the corner where the play stocks were tucked up against the walls and just barely peaking out from under a pile of furs. She shivered a
The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 73
Izzy skipped along the trail with the two pups yipping at her heels. With her swaying hips and bouncing curls, there was no doubt she was a lass. She looked a wee lass in her excitement. He had never seen her so happy. It saddened him to think that it was leaving his home that made her so light-hearted. She turned to catch his eye and he couldn’t help but grin back at her. She laughed as the pups bumped her knees to get her to continue down the trail. Gair sighed as they dipped out of sight.He could understand her contentment, to be in their own space would be nice, but he couldn’t help but feel he was losing some part of himself, leaving it behind in his childhood home. He scowled for a moment. Izzy had already done that. And as the only child, she was heir to all of Sinclair. He followed along the trail as it dipped down over the edge of the cliffs and looked at the cottage. It was tiny, but it would be warm and cozy. He and Izzy would have plenty of peace, quiet, and time alone.
The Invisible Bride (By the King's Command book 4) Chapter 72
Gair looked towards the river and smiled as he saw the group on their way back. Izzy and Ellie seemed such unlikely friends. At first glance, they seemed opposites in so many ways, but they were fast friends nonetheless. Izzy still was not certain that he didn’t fancy his childhood friend more than her, but in reality, what drew him to Ellie as a child, Izzy had simply magnified and carried with her into adulthood. “I had an interesting chat with James today,” Dair said as he leaned back against the tower wall beside his brother. “The proxy marriage was even more mixed up than we thought.”Gair scowled. “How is that possible?”“Apparently, the original plan was for me to wed Mairead, Paddy to have Lia, just as we thought. But you were to wed Ellie and Fann was to be the one on Sinclair with Izzy. He changed his mind at some point on that one, James wasn’t sure when or why, but that had been the original plan.” Gair looked at his brother, then back out at his wife. “Given his reputati
