Free Rowan's Lady by Suzan Tisdale Page B

Even when he had stumbled on
slippery rocks and fell to his knees. Lily had gasped when the cold water hit
her feet and legs, but she did not cry out. Instead, she tightened her hold
around his neck and buried her face against him.
    By the time they met with Caelen McDunnah and his
men, Lily’s teeth were chattering and she was trembling from head to toe. Rowan
removed her wet stockings, overdress and cloak before handing her up to Caelen.
    Caelen was not accustomed to small children, but
he was not completely inept. He pulled a fur from the pack of his saddle and
wrapped the trembling child in it and pulled her into his chest.
    “Och!” Caelen whispered to Lily. “We’ll have ye
warm soon enough, lassie.”
    “Caelen,” Rowan began. “I leave me daughter in yer
care. We’ll no’ be far behind. Our men are expecting us on the other side of
the keep. We shall retrieve our horses and meet you at dawn, at the forests
west of Tulach Cultraidh.
    Lily chose that moment to find her voice. “Nay,
da! I want ye!” she exclaimed, trying to free herself from Caelen’s grip.
    Rowan shushed her with a caress on her cheek.
“Lily, this be me verra good friend, Caelen. He’ll no’ let anythin’ happen to
ye, I promise.”
    While he could not see his daughter’s face
clearly, he could hear the tears in her voice. “Are ye goin’ to get Lady
Arline?”
    Rowan swallowed down the guilt he felt over
leaving Arline behind. At the time, he felt he had no choice in the matter. If
they had come for her and discovered both she and Lily missing then all hell
would have broken loose. Chances were good that he would either be heading to
Blackthorn’s dungeons or dead.
    “Nay, lass,” he told her. “Lady Arline will be
fine though.”
    “But da, she’s me angel! Just like I’m yer angel.”
    Rowan knew exactly what his daughter meant. He had
told her time and time again that God had given her to him to watch over him
after Kate’s death. Lily apparently thought the same of Lady Arline.
    “Da, ye must help her! If the mean man finds her,
he’ll hurt her again. He doesna like her, but I do. She would no’ let them hit
me again, da. Ye must get her!” Her words tumbled out, making it even more
difficult for Rowan to understand her. She was upset, crying, and begging for
him to help her angel, Lady Arline.
    His guilt blended with his anger over the harsh
treatment of both the lady and his daughter. There was no time now to question
her. The hour was growing late and every moment they stayed here arguing, the
greater their risk of being caught.
    Caelen thankfully interjected. “Little one, if ye
are quiet and good, I will come back fer yer lady meself.”
    Rowan could have hugged him.
    “Ye promise?” Lily asked.
    “I do so promise,” Caelen said. He gave her no
time to question him further. He pulled rein and tapped the flanks of his
horse, quietly leading his men away from Rowan.
    Before Garrick entered the chapel to exchange vows
with the woman he loved, his beautiful Ona, he pulled Gunther aside. They spoke
in hushed tones. To the untrained eye it would have appeared nothing more than
a harmless conversation between a laird and one of his men. The unsuspecting
observer might believe the laird was speaking about his soon-to-be bride, or
the upcoming winter.
    But the shadow man knew better.
    Years of training had taught him that things are
not always what they appear to be.
    And spending the past three years inside
Blackthorn keep, earning his way up through Blackthorn’s army, had taught him
much. Garrick Blackthorn was cunning and devious. He was far more intelligent
than he lead others to believe. And he had a mean streak as long as the river
Tay.
    The shadow man hid in plain sight. No one would
suspect him to be anything other than a devoted follower of Garrick Blackthorn.
He had made sure of that, even going so far as to show a strong dislike of the
laird’s wife; behavior that was strongly encouraged by the laird