The Highlander's Warrior Bride (19 page)

Ronan was admitted upon knocking. Wallace’s chamber not only housed his bed, but a large trestle table, currently covered in maps, scrolls, parchment,
quills and ink wells.

Daniel, Brandon and Wallace glanced up from the map they poured over and nodded toward him.

“Glad to have ye back,” Daniel said.

“Aye, I was wondering what was taking ye so long,” Brandon teased. “Even had Wallace here wondering if ye’d run off into the sunset with the lass.”

Dead God if his cousin only knew how close to the truth he was. Ronan laughed him off, stepped forward and gave his cousin an arm shake and heavy pounding on the back. After their masculine show of affection, Ronan got serious.

“Ross has taken up several miles away within Kinterloch. He’s turned them against the Bruce. ’Tis only a matter of time before they attempt an attack.”

“’Twould appear, I arrived right on time,” Brandon said with a rub of his hands.

“Aye, and glad am I for ye to have our backs.” Ronan glanced from his cousin to Wallace. “What would ye have us do?”

Chapter Nineteen

“Y
e dinna understand!” Julianna paced the length of her brother’s chamber, her face hot with fury.

“I understand perfectly,” Robert shouted back, slamming his hands down on the table. “Ye left your station. I needed ye here, not traipsing about the countryside.”

Oh, he didn’t just say that… Julianna whirled on him, and hissed, “I never traipse.”

“Gallivanting, playing the hero, committing suicide, what would ye call it?”

She marched over to his table, slammed her own hands down and said with deadly calm, “Saving your arse.”

Robert straightened, scrutinizing her in a way she’d never seen him do before. “And what if while ye were gone, Ross had backtracked
to Eilean Donan? Ye would not have been here to do your duty and ye’d have taken one of my best men with ye.”

Julianna scoffed. “I didna take Ronan with me.”

Robert raised a brow, folded his arms over his chest. “Aye, but ye did. The moment ye left with no one to guard your back.”

Julianna sliced her hands through the air, in an attempt to end the topic. “’Tis of no matter, we’ve returned and there are more things to discuss than me setting out to finish what I started. Ross is a menace and needs to be sent to his maker.”

Robert shook his head. “I see ye will not understand that ye are at fault. ’Haps it would be best for ye to spend some time in your chamber. I’ll have Wallace give me another guard.”

Julianna’s mouth fell open. He couldn’t seriously be considering locking her up, relieving her of her duties. A crushing blow
. Her stomach knotted and she had to use all of her power to stay upright rather than doubling over.

“Ye cann
a mean it,” she said, her voice lowered.

Bruce glowered at her. “Aye, I do. Ye may be my guard, but who do ye think looks after ye?”

Julianna shook her head.

“Me, lass, me.” The tone of his voice, quiet and exasperated, shocked her.

Robert had always been her brother. A fact she’d never forgotten, even if she wanted to; it was impressed upon her. He was her charge, though they were not far apart in years. In all this time, she’d never once thought he was looking out for her. At best, she’d thought, when it came to her, he did things for his own good.

“When I left Eilean Donan, I did so with ye in mind, Robert. I wanted to take Ross out of the equation. In retrospect, I suppose ’twas foolhardy to have done so without telling ye.”

Robert squinted his eyes. “Are ye just saying this because I’ve threatened to lock ye in your chamber?”

Julianna shook her head, a small smile curving her lips. “One thing the two of us have in common is our stubborn streak, brother. If ye would make good to your threat, there is nothing I could do
, save figure out a way to escape. My words would be meaningless right now.”

“Aye, that they would.”

She hoped he was confessing he’d not truly meant them. Julianna hastened to continue. “I was furious with Ross, for his treachery, his treatment of Myra, of myself. I knew he planned to come after ye again. I could think of nothing but putting an end to it, and so I left. But I was not gone long when Ronan came upon me. It wasn’t until we reached Kinterloch that I comprehended the depth of Ross’s machinations.”

Robert uncrossed his arms and came around the table to stand beside Julianna, his countenance had turned from irritation at her to the flat expression he used when discussing Ross and any of the other men who went against him.

“Tell me.”

“I fear he’s turned
his cousin, the overlord of Kinterloch, against ye. At the very least, his cousin is doing Ross’ bidding whether he sides with him or not. Ronan and I were attacked upon entry. I believe either we were recognized or they somehow knew we’d taken out their scouts.”

“Ye and Ronan work well together,” Robert said with a frown.

“Aye, ’tis a good thing.” She straightened her shoulders and hoped he didn’t notice a change in her temperature. The mention of Ronan always made her body heat, and talk of them working well together went way beyond a simple skirmish in her mind.

If Robert took any more meaning to her words, or saw more in her than she hoped to reveal, he didn’t let on. He turned from her and paced, checking his map once or twice. Julianna knew not to speak when he started his walking. He was most likely devising some sort of plan that he would ask for her advice on momentarily.

While she waited, she glanced toward the shuttered window. Wished she could open it up and breathe in the fresh wintry air. She hated to be cooped up in the castle. Hated the drafts and the stifling air of being inside.

Robert finally turned to her, fisted his hands on his hips and declared, “Ronan and Wallace will lead the men to the village.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but Robert stayed her with his hand. “Lass, if ye go with him, then everyone will know of your role here.”

Rolling her eyes, she folded her hands before her, trying to look demure. “Do ye not think they already do? When I left, ye sent one of your best men after me. Let me go with Ronan. I know the way well. I was there
. I can help to lead the men. And should Ronan…fall, I can be there to continue on.” The man had better not fall! She’d bring him back to life just to kill him herself if he were to succumb to some battle wound.

Robert pursed his lips in thought. “I suppose ye are right, but—”

“’Tis better they know my true role and grow to respect that than to believe what they already do.”

“And what is that?” Robert asked with a raised brow.

“Half the castle thinks I am your mistress.”

“Absurd!”

“But true.”

“I supposed I can see where they’d get the idea. All right, ye will travel with Ronan.”

Julianna nodded. “And what of protecting Eilean Donan?”

“Daniel and Brandon can see to it.”

“I will speak with Ronan. We will leave on the morrow.”

“Nay, lass. Let me speak with Ronan. When I’ve had a chance, ye can meet the men to discuss your strategies.”

Julianna nodded, not wanting to argue. She hastened from Robert’s chambers before he could change his mind. When she arrived at her own bedchamber, a hot bath waited for her. A relieved sigh escaped her, and she tore off her clothes, anxious to sink within the steamy depths. Ronan had made good on his promise.

She stepped to the wooden tub, lined with a thin linen, and climbed inside.
Gingerly, she sat down, waiting for the sting of water to hit her covered wound, but thankfully, it had begun to heal itself and the pain was only a dull ache.

The water was warm.
Heaven. Sinking beneath the surface, she wet her hair and lathered it lazily with the lemon-scented soap left for her. It’d been so long since her last bath. Mostly she’d had to scrub using water from the cold basin. Not that baths were not available, she could have probably had one every Sunday if she wished, but working the kitchens and guarding Robert took a lot of time, and in order to keep a low profile, she’d never ask for such an indulgence. As it was, those at the keep already looked upon her oddly for the counsel she kept with their leader and the chamber he afforded her.

Now they would all know the truth. Some would accept it as news they’d already suspected. Others would be angry that she’d lied, and resent her. Some may even be downright resistant. But she hoped, prayed, that whatever reaction they had, they had it quickly and all went back to normal. She didn’t want to be known as the Bruce’s sister, she wanted to be recognized for who she was. Family or not, she was a person.

With the revelation of her identity, questions would lurk, scorn would be slung her way. After all, Julianna was a bastard. Her mother had been her father’s lover. Apparently, he’d met her mother in the Holy Land while fighting the crusades. She was a servant to one of the lords. They’d fallen in love, and her mother had brought her into the word before taking her leave of it. Her father brought her home with him, when he had to take the news of his comrade’s death to the man’s widow. Her mother and father fell in love, and married within the year. But Julianna was not forgotten. Instead, her father took her under his wing and trained her to be his little warrior.

A tear slipped from Julianna’s eye as she remembered her father fondly. For all his brutishness, and his insistence on her being a hardened warrior from a young age, he truly was a great man.
Until Robert chose for Scotland to be a separate entity from the English. Their father, for reasons Julianna could only decipher as greed, sided with the English.

But at least he’d given Robert one thing before betraying him—Julianna. She’d forever cleave to her brother’s side and that of Scotland.
Her father’s treachery was truly heartbreaking, and not something she chose to think on often. In essence, she’d been orphaned by both her parents. And now the tears would begin. Ducking her head under the water she held her breath until she was sure she’d no longer cry. When she surfaced and incessant knocking pounded at her door.

“What the devil?” she muttered, grabbing for the linen towel beside the tub. She’d not even had a chance to full enjoy her bath, and already someone was seeking her out.

She supposed she should be grateful they were, as Robert very well could have decided to pull her from the ranks completely.

“Who is it?” she called.

“’Tis Ronan.”

“Oh,” she gasped, standing up and clutching the linen to herself. “What do ye want?”

There was silence on the other side of the door for a few moments and she feared he’d left.

“Will ye nay open the door?”

“Nay.”

“Nay?” he sounded confused, and Julianna suppressed her laughter.

“I am not…decent.”

Again a long pause. “I dinna mind.”

She did laugh then, albeit quietly. Again she wished she had a robe. Julianna wrapped the towel tightly around herself, her wet hair dripping onto her shoulders. ’Twas not decent at all for her to answer this way. The linen was damp and see-through.

Her plaid. She pulled a clean one from her wardrobe and wrapped herself in that, making sure she was covered from head to toe, then opened the door.

Ronan stood just outside the door, his shoulders nearly as wide as the doorframe, and a teasing smile on his face.

“I see ye
took precaution to bundle up. May I come in?”

She shook her head. “What do ye need, Ronan?”

“I wanted to see how ye fared? And I brought ye this.” He held up a small linen sachet with a medicinal herbal scent coming from it. “For your wound.”

She winged a brow. “I am fine.
But thank ye.” She took the sachet and sat it on a side table, eager to put it on her wound. And eager to get warm.

“All went well with…the Bruce?”

“Aye. Have ye not spoken with him? He seeks ye.”

“Not yet. I was speaking with Wallace and my cousins.”

Julianna nodded.

“Will ye not tell me what he wants?”

She shook her head, droplets of water sprinkling onto her cheeks. “Nay. He wished to speak with ye first.”

Panic flashed on Ronan’s face and Julianna rolled her eye
s. “Dinna fear for your freedom. He only wants to talk with ye regarding Ross.”

To her surprise a slight blush colored Ronan’s cheeks. “All right. Is there anything ye need?”

“A robe,” she said a little sarcastically.

Ronan chuckled, reached out and stroked the plaid
where the fabric met her neck. The tip of his finger brushed her skin. A shiver spiraled up her spine and she bit her lip.

“I think this suits ye more than a robe,” he said with a wicked grin.

“All the easier to get me out of?” she teased right back.

Ronan’s eyes widened marginally, lighting with desire. “Aye. There is that.”

He stepped toward her and she took a step back. “What are ye doing?” she asked, her voice uncharacteristically small.

“I want to kiss ye, Julianna. And I dinna want the world to see.” He closed the door to her chamber with his foot.