When he stood back to toss aside the chains, he looked Eveline’s father in the eye.
“I have no intention of breaking our treaty. I want only to return to my keep with Eveline. ”
He held out his arms for Eveline, but Tavis hesitated. His hold tightened around the precious bundle in his arms, and he looked at Graeme, his expression pleading.
“Our keep is closer. Let us go there so we can be sure all is well with Eveline. Do not deny me this, I beg you. Her mother will want to know all of what you’ve told me. She’ll want to hold her daughter in her arms and know that she is safe and happy. ”
Graeme glanced at his brothers and then back to the Armstrong chieftain. It was no easy thing, what he requested. He was asking Graeme to lay aside the past, to walk onto Armstrong land as a … guest. And to remain there as … family.
He stared up again at his brothers and let his gaze linger, wanting their thoughts. Bowen and Teague exchanged looks and turned their heads slightly, taking in the expressions on the faces of Eveline’s brothers and father, who still held Eveline tightly against his chest.
“ ’Tis not a big thing they ask,” Bowen said in a low voice. “A mother would want to know her only daughter is well after such an ordeal. ”
Graeme’s heart lightened and relief crushed through his chest. For Eveline he could set aside years of hatred and the burning desire for revenge, but he could not expect his kin to feel the same.
“We should hasten, Graeme,” Teague said. “The lass should awaken among those who love her and not here, where she has suffered abuse. ”
Graeme turned his gaze to Tavis. “If you’ll have us, then we’ll be grateful for your hospitality and for any care you can render to my wife. ”
Tavis took the three steps that separated him from Graeme and gently placed Eveline in Graeme’s arms.
“Let’s ride and allow Patrick to bury his dead. We can further settle the matter with the McHughs and conduct a full investigation once we are sure that Eveline will recover from her ordeal. ”
Graeme lowered his face to his wife’s head and briefly closed his eyes in the sweet wonder of having her back, alive. Then he nodded his agreement to Tavis and turned to stalk back to where his horse was being kept by his men.
*
As soon as they approached Armstrong Keep, Robina Armstrong ran out to greet her husband, her expression frantic.
She stopped short when she took in the presence of the Montgomery soldiers. Her eyes widened as she stared in bewilderment at the impressive display of might. And then her gaze settled on Graeme, and her hand went to her mouth when she saw it was Eveline he held before him.
She ran, skirts flying, as fast as her feet would carry her until she was directly below Graeme. He had to hold his horse in place so she wouldn’t be trampled.
“Damn it, Robina!” Tavis roared. “I told you to remain within the keep no matter what occurred!”
“What has happened to Eveline?” Robina asked, her distress evident in her choked words. She completely ignored the anger of her husband as she stared imploringly up at Graeme.
“I know not all of it,” Graeme said in gentle tones. “Allow me passage so that Eveline may be tended to. ”
Robina stepped hastily to the side. “Of course. ”
Then she turned and ran as fast as she’d come back to the keep, leaving them to follow on horseback.
By the time they rode into the courtyard, Robina was waiting anxiously on the steps, her fingers laced together in a ball in front of her. Tears shone on her cheeks as she waited for the warriors to dismount.
Bowen circumvented Eveline’s brothers when they would have reached up to lift Eveline down from Graeme’s horse. In a clear message that he considered Eveline one of his own, Bowen reached for her, taking her from Graeme’s arms and carefully lowering her.
He waited for Graeme to slide down and then handed her back into Graeme’s care. Mindful not to jostle her, Graeme walked toward Robina, displaying no discomfort over the fact that he and his men were fully ensconced on Armstrong land and that they were, in effect, at the mercy of the Armstrong laird.
Robina urged him inside and then hurried ahead of him, directing him to follow her up the stairs. When she would have pushed into the chamber that Eveline had occupied before, Graeme halted.
“Will this chamber accommodate me too?” he demanded. “I’ll not leave her. ”
Robina’s eyes widened, and then she cleared her throat. “Perhaps it would be better then to put her in the chamber you rested in when you were here as a guest. ”
Graeme nodded and followed her farther down the hall until they came to the room where he and Eveline had had their first true conversation, even though Eveline hadn’t spoken a word the entire time. How things had changed since then.
He lowered her to the bed and then sat on the edge and ran his hand over the dark bruise on her jaw. Another marred her entire temple. There were fingerprints on her cheek, as if Ian had grasped her harshly.
His fingers trembled and his nostrils flared. His emotions threatened to crumble as he stared down at his fragile, bruised wife. Oh God, he’d thought he’d never see her again. He’d never been so afraid in his life. Never had he cared so much for a woman that the mere idea of being without her had threatened to crush his entire world.
“You care for her,” Robina Armstrong said in a shocked tone.
Graeme whipped his head around to pierce the other woman with his gaze. The others had gathered in the doorway. Some had already spilled into the room, their expressions worried. He cared not who heard his next words.
“My lady, I don’t simply care for her. I love her. She is my entire life. Without her, I am nothing. I have nothing. ”
Her eyes widened until they were enormous against her pale face. Tavis stepped in to take her by the shoulders, pulling her back against his chest.
“Let him be, love. His concern is foremost for Eveline. There is much we didn’t know of her. ” He broke off, his voice thick with grief. “I made so many mistakes. It nearly cost us our daughter. It could have cost us our daughter. ”
“What do you speak of?” Robina demanded.
Tavis shook his head. “ ’Tis not the time. You will hear all when we are certain that Eveline is well and has recovered from her ordeal. For now, we will do all we can to make Graeme and his kin welcome in our home. He cares a great deal for Eveline and has set aside his thirst for revenge because he loves her more than he hates me. ”
Robina stared at Graeme in utter bewilderment. “ ’Tis true?”
Graeme issued a short nod and then turned his attention back to Eveline. Even though he knew she could not hear him, he was nearly compelled to speak to her. Instead, he contented himself with touching her, stroking his fingers over her face as he prayed for her to awaken.
Turning to the others, he issued a short command for them to leave the room so he could remove her damp clothing. Then he glanced at her father. “Will you have a serving woman build up the fire? I don’t want Eveline to be cold. ”
“I’ll fetch a warm sleeping gown for her to wear,” Robina said, already hurrying for the door.
Tavis himself put wood in the bare fireplace and put flame to the logs. When Robina pushed back into the chamber, she shooed the others away, and then she came to stand beside Graeme.
“I’ll tend to my daughter if you wish to step outside with the others. ”
“I’m not leaving her,” Graeme said bluntly. “You can stay or go as you wish, but I am going to examine her myself so I can see what injuries she has sustained. Have you a healer you can summon if ’tis more serious than I fear?”
Robina nodded wordlessly, her expression still one of befuddlement over Graeme’s fierceness when it came to Eveline. It was no matter. She’d learn soon enough that he had no intention of leaving Eveline’s side.
Satisfied that she’d question him no further, he tu
rned his attention to removing the tattered, dirty dress that clung damply to her skin.
Her mother gasped when the fading bruises that had already been present on Eveline came into view.
“Oh merciful heaven,” Robina whispered.
“ ’Tis not what you think,” Graeme said grimly. “She sustained these bruises not at the hands of Ian McHugh, but from a fall from a horse while she was still on Montgomery land. ”
“A horse?” Robina exclaimed. “Why on earth was she on a horse? Did you force her to ride?”
Graeme whipped his head around. “Of course I did not. She rode back to the keep to summon help for me when I was felled by an arrow. ”
Robina’s eyes rounded once more in astonishment. It was an expression that seemed permanently imprinted on her face ever since Graeme’s arrival. He supposed he understood her confusion. It would seem they’d known very little of their daughter, which was a shame, because Eveline was extremely special.
Graeme finished removing the gown, relieved when he saw no sign of further injury to her body. He could only pray that Ian had not raped her. The thought made his stomach clench and his heart ache.
With Robina’s help, he gently bathed her skin, removing the dirt and grime from the dungeon, as well as the smell. He didn’t want her to experience any discomfort. After she was clean, he attired her in a fresh woolen gown lined with fur that kept her warm and also prevented the wool from scratching her skin.
He gently pulled her hair away from her head and then meticulously ran his fingers over her scalp to check for any bumps or breaks in the skin.
“It would seem all he did was bruise her face,” Graeme said in relief. He hoped with all his might that it was all. But what he feared the most was what the ordeal had done to her spirit.
“Tavis said you ran him through. ”
Graeme nodded, not turning away from Eveline.
“Good,” Robina said fiercely.
Graeme leaned down and pressed his lips to Eveline’s cool forehead. “Come back to me,” he whispered. “I’m waiting, Eveline. ”
She stirred beneath his touch and his pulse rocketed up until it was hammering at his temples. He drew away, framing her face in his hands, cupping her cheeks, filling her with as much of his warmth as he could. He wanted her to awaken knowing she was safe.
As her eyelids fluttered and opened, he leaned even closer so his face would be the first she saw. She blinked several times as if trying to rid herself of her confusion, and then her eyes flooded with crushing relief.
She smiled, a more beautiful sight than Graeme had ever seen in his life.
“I knew you’d come,” she whispered in a hoarse voice.
CHAPTER 46
It was more than Graeme could withstand. Tears burned his eyelids and his nostrils flared with the effort he exerted not to completely lose his composure.
Ignoring Robina’s startled gasp over the fact Eveline had spoken, he focused solely on his beautiful wife and on reassuring her that she was safe and with those who loved her.
“Do not try to speak, my love,” he said tenderly. “Your throat must pain you. You sound like a croaking frog. ”
Eveline grimaced and raised a hand to her throat. “I screamed, praying someone would hear. It was so dark. ” She broke off, tears swimming in her eyes as she sucked in deep breaths through her nostrils. “I was so afraid. He intended to keep me there. ”
Her voice completely trailed off even as her mouth still moved as she tried to speak. He put a finger to her lips, shushing her. Then he followed his finger with his own lips and kissed her, long and sweet, absorbing the sensation of being able to touch her and smell her and drink her in. To know that she was safe from harm. That she’d survived and he hadn’t lost her.
He leaned his forehead against hers, and then he simply gathered her in his arms and held her close, rocking back and forth as he ran his hands up and down her back.
After a moment she went completely still. She put her hands on his arms and pushed away so that she could see his face. Her gaze went beyond him and scanned the room, and he knew she’d just realized that she was in her parents’ home.
He glanced behind him, expecting to see Robina still standing there, but the chamber was empty. Robina had slipped away, giving the couple privacy after Eveline had awakened.
Eveline touched his cheek, her brow furrowed in confusion.
Graeme sighed. “Don’t speak. Just listen to me. Your father came to Montgomery Keep with the might of his entire army. Ian must have sent him a message that he received just after I sent my own summons. I know not what the message said—I’ve yet to question your father—but it must have made him fearful for you, because the first thing he demanded was to know your whereabouts. ”
Eveline frowned.
“Prior to your father’s arrival, Kierstan broke down and confessed that she conspired with Ian McHugh and that she led you around the side of the keep so that Ian could abduct you. He was aided by three of my men. Your father and his men rode with me and mine to the McHugh holding and I turned the keep upside down until I finally discovered you in a hidden room off the dungeon.