Surrender to the Highlander (Highland Brides 5)

"Well, her legs were no' quite closed and I noticed she has what appears to be preserves seeping out from between her legs. Ye may want to clean that up so she does no' wake up and find her thighs stuck together with the sticky mess," he said as if he was talking about the time of day. Giving up his insouciance then, he asked, "It was on ye too when I entered. What the devil were the two o' ye doing up here to get preserves on her quoniam?"

Niels merely shook his head and moved to fetch the basin and damp linen from the table to wash the preserves away. This wasn't how he'd imagined removing it when Edith had mentioned that she'd applied it. But then nothing about his wedding night had gone as he'd planned.

Edith woke to loud snoring and something heavy across her chest. Opening her eyes, she looked around with confusion, only to still as her gaze landed on Niels. He lay on top of the linens and furs in only his shirt and boots, while she was naked beneath the warm bed coverings.

She stared at him for a moment as the memories of the night before slid over her, and then grimaced and closed her eyes again, quite sure she simply could not face the day ahead. Or at least her husband. Dear God, her efforts to please him had ended in a miserable failure, and the poor man must now wonder if marrying her had not been a huge mistake.

Another snore sounded beside her and Edith opened her eyes to survey the room as it occurred to her that if she continued to lay there she would definitely have to face Niels sooner rather than later. Whereas, if she got up and found some chore to attend somewhere else, like say down in the village, well, she might be able to avoid the humiliation of having to face him for hours. Perhaps even until the sup.

That thought was enough to have her sliding sideways in the bed, easing her way out from under his arm and hand. Niels stirred only once during this operation and Edith froze and waited a heartbeat until he issued another snore, and then continued sideways until she was free to sit up and get out of bed.

Hurrying to her chest, she took the first gown she touched and tugged it on over her head as she rushed to the door. Edith eased it open, and then slipped out. She was careful to pull it silently closed, and then began to walk away before bothering to do up the gown's laces.

"M'lady!"

Edith stopped abruptly and glanced around to see her maid rushing toward her.

"What are ye doing up, m'lady?" the girl asked with exasperation, grabbing her arm and turning her back toward the room. "Ye should still be abed. Ye were very sick last night. Ye nearly died . . . again," she added on an irritated note.

"I am fine," Edith assured her, digging her heels in as the girl tried to drag her back to the room she'd just escaped. "'Twas just a bit o' a stomach upset. But I feel fine this morning," she assured her maid, tugging her arm free.

"Stomach upset?" Moibeal asked with amazement and then shook her head. "Nay. 'Twas poison again, m'lady. Did yer lord husband no' tell ye?"

The maid sounded vexed that Niels had failed to impart such important information, so despite Edith's shock at yet again being poisoned, she said faintly, "Nay, he is still sleeping."

Moibeal blinked and, just like that, the irritation at the man turned instantly to compassion for him. "Oh, aye, and no doubt. The poor man was up most o' the night watching over ye," she said sympathetically. "He was still pacing about at dawn when I came to yer room to check on ye. He looked exhausted then and I said as how he should lay down, that ye'd surely rouse him when ye woke up." She scowled at Edith now. "Which ye obviously did no' do, so ye can just turn around and march back in there and--"

"Nay!" Edith snapped, tugging her arm free when the girl tried to strong-arm her back the way she'd come. "If he is exhausted I should let him rest," she added less sharply, and was relieved to see the words make the maid pause. Hoping to distract her further, she asked, "Are ye sure 'twas poison? My stomach was bothering me at the sup, but I thought it just nerves about the bedding to come," she admitted.

"Oh, nay, 'twas no' nerves," Moibeal assured her. Frowning as she noted that Edith's laces were undone, the maid began to untangle them as she explained. "They sorted out that it was poison in yer mead. They figure the killer must have dosed the cask in yer room when they were in there shooting arrows at ye."

"'Twas only one arrow," Edith muttered.

Ignoring that, Moibeal added, "And Lord Rory said 'twas just a good thing ye only had a couple sips at sup, as he thinks the killer has changed the poison and increased the dosage in the hopes o' finishing ye off. He thinks if ye'd had more than a couple sips, ye'd ha'e died ere ye could bring it back up. 'Tis lucky ye've such a sensitive stomach and puked it all out."

"That is debatable," Edith said under her breath, recalling the event. If she'd been truly lucky, she would have done it after pleasuring Niels, not all over him in the middle of it.

Ignoring that as well, the maid said quietly, "This latest attempt upset Lord Niels something fierce, and he said as how he plans to take ye away from here today when ye wake."

"Away?" Edith asked with surprise. "To where?"

"To Buchanan," she said solemnly. "'Tis obvious he cares fer ye and wants ye safe . . . and so do I, m'lady," she added quietly.

Edith frowned. "But Brodie is no' back yet."

"Not yet," Moibeal agreed mildly. "But Tormod sent men out yesterday after the incident with the arrow. Each carried a message from him about what has been happening here, telling him that 'twas no' illness but murder, and asking him to return."

Edith bit her lip at this news, wondering why no one had bothered to mention it to her. She supposed what with the unexpected wedding and everything it might have been forgotten. On the other hand, it didn't really matter anyway. She wasn't at all sure Brodie would be any more likely to return if he knew there was a murderer at Drummond killing off members of their family than he had been willing to stay when he'd thought it just illness.

"There, 'tis done," Moibeal said quietly, finishing with the laces and stepping away.

"Thank ye," Edith murmured and turned back to continue toward the stairs.

Her maid sighed at once and followed. "Ye ken if yer lord husband wishes to leave today, we need to pack yer chests and--"

"We'll worry about that when he wakes up," Edith interrupted. "If he was up all night fretting over me, he needs his sleep."

"Besides which, yer thinking o' refusing to go, are ye no'?" Moibeal asked dryly, and then pointed out, "But he's yer husband now, and ye ken the choice is no longer yers."

Edith stopped walking and turned to stare at her. "What?"

"I feared ye had no' thought on that," Moibeal said with a sigh, and then straightened her shoulders and said, "Me lady, yer father was as kind and indulgent with ye as he was with Brodie. He let ye run the keep as ye wished, and allowed ye to visit Lady Saidh and Jo as the mood struck ye, but--"

"Are ye suggesting I'm as spoiled as Brodie?" Edith interrupted with dismay.

"Nay," Moibe

al said at once. "Ye've always been a hard worker and concerned with the welfare o' the people here, while Brodie cared only fer himself and his pleasure. But yer father gave ye freedoms many women do no' have," she added solemnly. "If ye did no' wish to do something or go somewhere, he did no' make ye. But he could have. It was his right . . . and now 'tis yer lord husband's right. If he wishes ye to go to Buchanan, ye've no choice but to go."

Edith narrowed her eyes at those words, knowing they were true, but not pleased by them. Giving an annoyed "hrrmph," she turned to continue on to the stairs, her mind racing with ideas of how to get her own way and stay until Brodie returned. She was halfway down the stairs to the great hall when it occurred to her that thinking that way might be more like her brother than she'd like to admit.

The idea brought her up short, but then her mind immediately rejected that suggestion. Her brother would not have cared about the well-being of the people here, and that was the reason she was wanting to stay until Brodie returned. It wasn't for herself, she pointed out and released a relieved sigh and started walking again.

"Yer up. How do ye feel?"

Edith looked up at that comment and forced a smile when she saw Rory approaching from the kitchens. It wasn't that she wasn't happy to see him . . . but she wasn't. She was afraid that, knowing that Niels wanted to take her away from Drummond today, the man might go wake his brother, and she wasn't ready for that. She needed a plan to avoid having to follow through with her husband's plan.

"I feel fine, m'lord. Thank ye," Edith murmured.

"Please, call me Rory," he said with amusement. "We are family now."

She blinked in surprise at that. Silly as it seemed, it hadn't occurred to her that marrying Niels meant she now had six new brothers. And Saidh was her sister now, at least in law, she realized and beamed at the man. "Thank ye, Rory. And ye must call me Edith."

He smiled and nodded, and then glanced toward the stairs. "Where is Niels?"