All Chapters of Wed to a Wicked Warrior: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Fann’s anger and worry both grew as he rode East. At least his brilliant wife had suspected a ruse and devised a way to postpone being taken from the castle. They hadn’t really made a password. He should have thought of that. It was good that Isobel had been able to teach her something about using a dirk in his absence too, he certainly hadn’t taken the time to before her injury and she hadn’t been recovered enough when he left her. Eleanor must have been well healed now to be able to use it so well. He should have come to retrieve her long ago. The bells began ringing as he approached MacInnis keep, but Fann didn’t slow his pace. He continued on and through the gates at full speed, trusting that the guards would recognize his horse. He heard a voice yelling for the archers to hold their fire as he crossed the grounds. Fann leapt from the horses back and was half way to the doors when Padraig and Thomas came out.“Where were you!” Fann demanded angrily, stomping up the last of the ste

It was a much longer ride to this keep and even Fann’s drestier could not make it in one day. Stopping to rest was torture, but the horses could only go so far, so fast. When Fann’s horse crested the hill below Aslasdair’s keep, the rest of the group was lagging so far behind that Fann couldn’t see them anymore. The flag bearer had handed him the flag when the young man’s horse could no longer easily keep up with Fann’s. With that in hand, Fann had charged towards the keep as fast as his horse, Deahman, could go. He heard a bell tolling in the distance and hoisted the flag as high as he could without slowing his pace until he was nearly in range of an arrow. Then he slowed and looked to see how he was being welcomed. The gates were open. He could see armed men on the ramparts, but none seemed to be ready to fire on him. He slowed Deahman to a canter as he passed through the gates and dropped the flag to the guard as he passed through. There was nobody on the castle steps so Fann scann

Eleanor sat on Storm’s back, alone, to ride the last of the trip onto her homeland. Fann had suggested it. Insisted on it actually, saying that although Beck was pretty Storm would be a statement of her position and power. When she challenged his change of mind on letting her ride her stallion alone Fann had grudgingly admitted that he wanted her on the fastest horse in the country if someone attacked and they found they needed to run, and he wasn’t going to be sitting behind to crush her again.She looked down at her new devantiere. Fann said this pattern was the MacDonald plaid, though she was certain she had never seen it before. She wasn’t sure she liked the pattern over much, but Fann did. Or he was proud that it marked the can as one at least. Apparently, most of their clan wore this already. He certainly liked the slit in the side and the fact that her bloomers had been made to match. She felt herself blush at the thought of how many times he’d brought her to climax in these pa

“Be reasonable Uilleam! You ken I must be right!” Fann tensed when he recognized Darnel’s voice.“I ken nothing o the sort,” Uilleam’s voice was as calm and sure as Fann had always known it to be. “You keep talking but have shown no proof. Until you can, we stand firm.”“Why does that even matter? If she is dead he has no claim! If she lives we can still kill him and have her warming our beds. We could take this place and turn it into another safe house with you and me at the head!” Fann’s eyes honed in on a small hole in the masonry and he bent to peer in. It was a corner hole so he could see most of the room. It appeared only Uilleam and Darnel were in it, but he couldn’t be certain.“The safe house is run democratically, by election, and the women are there by choice, none are forced.”“So? We take this land and run things a different way but with the same setup. The mercenaries within are supported by the labours of the clan around it. The first rule to go will be the one about no

Eleanor kept one hand on the wall as she followed the boy through passage after passage, feeling worse with each passing moment. Her back ached, her chest pained with every breath, her heart pounded, and her breath was never enough. With every step she felt dizzier, her mind and heart seemed to swing from the terror of being smothered by the tunnel to heavy with heartache and despair for all she had lost. She tried to distract herself with happy thoughts or stories but her mind kept filling with horror instead. Fann would be killed. Their baby was dead. She would never have a home. She would never be free. She would never leave this tunnel. She stumbled forward, tears streaming down her face.The faces of the courtiers laughing at her seemed to rush at her through the darkness. Fann had sent her here alone to be trapped so he could be their wicked warrior. His image appeared in front of her with Beatrice hanging on him, caressing his naked chest as she grinned at Eleanor. The t