Mated By The Demon Collections: Paranormal Romance Page 17

  ‘I have only just met him,’ Elise said impatiently, ‘I will begin to feel for him when we have grown together a little more.’

  ‘And are you going to tell me now that I will also feel great passion for Edme when I have grown somewhat closer to her?’

  ‘I must go now Raibert,’ Elise said, turning away, but he was upon her in an instant.

  ‘You come to me like this to torment me? Why?’ He began to kiss her desperately and Elise pulled away, the tears from her brimming eyes running down her cheeks.

  Raibert pulled her into his arms again and kissed the tears away. ‘Oh my darling Elise, I will find a way for us I promise you.’

  ‘Please do not do anything rash, Raibert. My father lost his legs in a battle with your clan. We cannot have these moors bathed in blood again, or have the MacIntyres attack the Gardynes in a fit of rage because you persist in pursuing me.’

  ‘We can run away.’

  ‘To what, Raibert? And where to? Please… let me go, while I still have a shred of decency intact and while you still have it in you to grow to love Edme Campbell.’

  Raibert watched her run away from him, too distraught to chase after her, but now more than ever convinced that he must seek his father out and tell him to call off the engagement with Edme. But even as he rode back to Armadale Castle, the maid who had carried the note to Raibert had giggled over the affair with the footman who had carried notes to Elise. They had been overheard by spying ears and the news borne to the Campbells.

  CHAPTER IV

  There were storm clouds over the moors and the lochs turned a shade of deep grey as Raibert and Alistair McIntyre exchanged heated words.

  ‘Yes, I did agree to marry Edme, but now I do not think it is at all wise for me to do so. My marriage would be a mockery!’

  ‘You are being headstrong and foolish!’ Alistair roared, and in her room Isobel trembled.

  ‘I will ride to the Campbell Castle and inform them of my decision,’ Raibert said.

  ‘You will cause a battle and well you know it!’Alistair shouted.

  As father and son hurled angry words at each other, there was pounding on the door of Armadale Castle. Edme’s parents, Davina and Balloch Campbell had arrived to confront Raibert about the disturbing news that had reached them of the attention he was showering on Elise Gardyne.

  Meanwhile in the Gardyne’s cottage, Seonaid laid out her own wedding dress of exquisite white lace – a dress worn by her mother before her – and Elise was looking at it through tear filled eyes, knowing that she would be going into her marriage with a heavy heart. She felt like her world was spinning round so fast that she couldn’t stop it and get off to catch her breath and consider what she truly wanted. She knew it was wrong of her to mislead Gilroy Gardyne into a marriage of convenience because she realized she was entering into the union with him not merely to help her family to recover some of their lost status, but also to escape from Raibert and his all consuming passion. Gilroy was a quiet man in contrast – known to be skilled with a sword but much too composed to wield it often. Raibert on the other hand had a reputation for being fiery and defiant and Elise knew she would always be engaged in a battle of wills with him.

  Raibert faced Edme’s parents, courageously affirming that the news they had heard was true – that he was indeed in love with Elise Gardyne and wished to marry her.

  ‘You have the gumption to stand before me, the father of your bride- to- be, and tell me that you desire another woman?’ Balloch said angrily.

  Davina’s eyes filled with tears. ‘My poor Edme. What a brute you are Raibert, to proceed with the betrothal when you knew you were in love with another.’

  ‘I am being honest with you – I did not know on the day of my betrothal that I would be ending it so soon and for such a reason.’

  ‘It is a mere flight of fancy, Balloch. You know us men – our eyes do rove until we marry and then we settle down to domesticity,’ Alistair said, attempting to mollify Edme’s father. ‘The boy will come around eventually, I am certain.’

  ‘Father,’ Raibert said, ‘Do not seek to trivialize the situation that is in question. I am in love with another. I have never really had the opportunity to get to know Edme and therefore I seek to terminate our betrothal. Such a situation has precedent and therefore I am not completely out of line in expressing my desire to end this engagement. All I ask is that it be done quickly and painlessly, and without any rancor.’

  ‘Without rancor you say? Without rancor? What do you think boy? Of course there will be rancor. Edme’s brothers will want revenge and they will have it. So will I!’

  When they had left, Alistair continued to rail against Raibert, and Isobel huddled under her bedclothes and prayed for the safety of her husband and son in a war that she knew was imminent.

  The rain was falling fast as Raibert left the castle and rode to the Gardyne’s cottage. Elise and Seonaid were embroidering sheets when they heard the desperate knocking on the door. Elise rushed to see who their visitor was, and Raibert swept in, silvery beads of rain in his dark hair and his clothes dripping water on the flagstones.

  ‘Raibert! What are you doing here?’ Elise asked in dismay.

  ‘I have come to claim you and to keep you from a marriage that can only end in distress and heartache. I have called an end to my betrothal and I come to ask you to be my wife.’

  ‘I cannot do as you ask. Nor can you do as you have decided to. You must marry Edme and I must proceed with my marriage to Gilroy.’

  ‘You cannot tell me what I must or must not do!’ Raibert roared.

  ‘I am sorry Raibert, but I cannot and must not marry you,’ Elise said quietly, but just as Raibert was about to reply, Brody came hurtling into the room. ‘The Campbell armies are almost at the doors of Armadale Castle! And I have received word that they will attack us too!’

  ‘Go now! Go to Armadale, Raibert, and help your father defend your home!’ Elise cried. ‘Oh Raibert what have you done? They will come after us and we have no protection whatsoever!’

  ‘Do you think I am not protection enough for you?’ Raibert asked, ‘I would give my life to save you!’

  ‘How will you protect us, boy, when you have to fight alongside your own armies?’ Angus asked. ‘You MacIntyres always were trouble!’

  ‘Brody, go and summon Gilroy. Ask for help from the rest of our clan,’ Elise bid her brother.

  ‘Go Raibert!’ Elise cried out louder still, while opening the door for him, but hollering men of the Campbell clan, brandishing swords and claymores, were already at the cottage.

  ‘Take my claymore!’ Angus shouted to Raibert. ‘Brody! You know where the rest of the claymores and swords are. Quick! Hand me a weapon!’

  ‘No dadaidh! You must not fight. I cannot bear it if you suffer any more on my account,’ Elise cried, but Angus pushed past her on his crutches and grabbed a sword from Brody even as the Campbell clansmen stormed through the door.

  Raibert threw back his head and roared, charging into the sea of men, fighting them with an expertise that took Elise’s breath away. She and Seonaid wielded swords like men, trained as they were by the best of the Gardyne clansmen in more prosperous times. Even as Elise fought off the Campbells alongside her mother and father, Brody and Raibert took on the rest of the army.

  ‘Where is Mairi?’ Seonaid asked Elise, alarmed. Elise shook her head. Mairi meanwhile had run from door to door in the hamlet, rallying forces from any clan or sub clan to help them fight the Campbell army. Raibert saw a motley group of men riding with claymores towards them, and was relieved when the men indicated they were on his side and had come to fight alongside him. Raibert fought with savage calm and made short work of the men who had come to attack the Gardyne cottage, but when he had driven most of the horsemen away, and was surveying the bodies that dotted the moorland outside the cottage, Gilroy arrived with more clansmen, his eyes flashing with barely concealed anger as he looked accusingly at the man who had caused the war
.

  ‘I will not battle with you for Elise on such a day, Gilroy Gardyne,’ Raibert said, ‘because you have come to fight alongside me against a common enemy. But when there is peace once more, I will claim what is mine.’

  ‘I belong to no man,’ Elise shot back. ‘Look what you have subjected my family to, Raibert! Please do not return to torment us. Just let us be!’

  ‘I must go to Armadale and assess the situation there, but I will return to you Elise,’ Raibert said firmly. He turned to Gilroy. ‘As I said before, I will return to claim what is mine.’

  When Raibert had galloped away, Gilroy turned to Angus. ‘I ask that our marriage be hastened and that after the nuptials you and Seonaid, Brody and Mairi all come to live with Elise and me at Bluebriar Abbey.’

  ‘Yes, yes of course we must proceed with all haste,’ Angus replied earnestly. ‘Seonaid, how soon can Elise and Gilroy be married?’

  Raibert reached Armadale Castle and threw himself into the battle between the armies of the Campbell and MacIntyre clans. Not even his recent exertions, or the fact that his rain soaked clothes were chilling his bones, could take the edge off his skill with a claymore and sword, and horsemen were tossed to the sodden heather and others engaged in skirmishes from which Raibert inevitably emerged the victor. The Campbell armies scattered and fled and the MacIntyre clan reinforced the castle guard as their enemies rode away across the moor.

  Isobel left her room to come into the great hall of the castle to greet her husband and son. Generally such a victory would culminate in a feast, but neither Alastair nor Raibert were in a celebrative frame of mind. Raibert retired to his room to divest himself of his wet clothes, only because Isobel implored him to, and then returned to the great hall where he paced restlessly before the fire, repeatedly warning Alistair and Isobel that he would do all he could to claim Elise as his own.

  CHAPTER V

  At the Gardyne cottage Elise tried on the white lace wedding dress and Mairi made suggestions about how she should wear her hair. But Elise was troubled – her thoughts wholly on Raibert fighting the Campbell army only because he wanted to marry her and end his betrothal to Edme. Under cover of the dark night, Elise drew a cloak about her and stole away from the cottage to find Raibert and ensure that he was well. But as she approached Armadale Castle, she felt a shiver up her spine. There were footsteps behind her. She was being pursued and she didn’t know whether it was by friend or foe. She hugged the shadows, keeping to the trees and stopping often to listen for the footsteps, until she reached the castle and found it surrounded by MacIntyre guards, one of whom caught her roughly and dragged her into the castle.

  ‘Do you seek to destroy my family as revenge for your father?’ Alistair asked her when he came into the room.

  ‘I seek to destroy none. I am merely here to thank your son for protecting us during the attack on our cottage.’

  ‘And now that you have conveyed your message, you may leave,’ Alistair said, his voice cold and harsh.

  ‘Where is Raibert?’

  ‘It is no business of yours where my son is. You are just a common girl who has designs on him, so go now before you bring further disgrace to the MacIntyre name.’

  ‘Do not speak to her thus, father!’ Raibert snarled, coming into the room.

  ‘Raibert,’ Elise said, ‘Are you alright? I merely came to reassure myself that you were unharmed.’

  Raibert looked grim. ‘I am unscathed by swords and claymores, if that is what you ask,’ he said meaningfully.

  ‘I am relieved to see you are not hurt,’ Elise said, and made a move to leave the room.

  ‘Have you come unaccompanied?’ Raibert asked her and Elise nodded.

  ‘Are you not aware of the dangers of the moors at night? Especially such a night?’

  Elise looked away. ‘I am capable of taking care of myself,’ she said, and left the room.

  ‘Wait!’ Raibert called after her, ‘Let me accompany you back to your home.’

  ‘No Raibert, please do not do that.’

  ‘I cannot let you go alone.’

  ‘I came alone. I will go alone.’

  ‘I will ride behind you.’

  ‘I did not ride here. I came on foot.’

  ‘Then allow me to take you home on my horse.’

  ‘No!’ Elise said and left the castle.

  Raibert ran after her and swept her up in his arms. ‘You are beyond headstrong, Elise Gardyne. I will not allow you to have your way this time. Elise struggled against him, but then weariness overcame her and she lay still in his arms as he carried her to his horse and swung her into the saddle, before leaping up behind her and taking the reins. They rode across the moors towards the cottage but Raibert took a circuitous route. He looped one hand around Elise’s slim waist and held her against him as he pressed his lips to the side of her neck.

  ‘Raibert! This is hardly the time and place for such behaviour!’ She flared. Do you make light of what has just happened? Do you make lighter of my wishes that you leave me to wed Gilroy?’

  ‘Do you deny reciprocating my feelings, my Elise?’

  ‘Take me home Raibert. And go home to your castle. What you wish for can never be. You are drawn to me because I have not let you have your way with me. For you the hunt is on. Once you have me so to speak, you will rapidly lose interest and move on.’

  ‘And who had led you to this ridiculous way of thinking?’

  ‘It is a fact, is it not, Raibert?’

  ‘No!’

  ‘Take me to the loch. Let us go there right now under cover of darkness and there you may do with me as you will. Then after it is over and you have had your fill of me you will possibly leave me alone.’

  ‘How little you think of yourself,’ Raibert murmured, easing the horse to a canter. ‘I have no wish to partake of you like a dish of food. I want you for myself. For always.’

  ‘Like a possession?’

  ‘I knew from the first moment I set eyes on you that I wanted you, Elise. And I am the kind of man who does not rest till he has what he wants. I will have you. You will be mine.’

  ‘Yes. Have me now and put yourself out of your misery, Raibert. Take me to the loch.’

  ‘I will show you what and who I truly am, Elise,’ Raibert said, turning away from the path to the loch and taking Elise to the Gardyne cottage.

  ‘And what are you?’

  ‘A man of honour.’

  ‘Does a man of honour terminate his betrothal and cause a war?’

  ‘A man of honour does what he feels to be right for all concerned.’

  ‘Hmmph!’ Elise said, and ran through the doors of the cottage. Raibert watched her go, squaring his shoulders with determination as he rode back to Armadale Castle.

  ‘Elise!’ Seonaid shouted, ‘Where have you been? We’ve been worried about you!’

  ‘I’m sorry Mama, I had something to take care of.’

  ‘We were looking for you - to consult you on a matter of extreme importance.’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘Your wedding. We have arranged for it to be held tomorrow.’

  ‘Oh, I see,’ Elise said. ‘Could we not have it next week? Or next month?’

  ‘Gilroy is anxious that we hold the nuptials without delay as he is worried about our safety. The Campbell army is certain to return quite soon.’

  ‘Mama, could it be the day after? I am so tired and I wish to look at least slightly presentable for such an occasion.’

  ‘I’m afraid arrangements have already been made my dear. Come, rest now and get as much sleep as possible, for tomorrow is your big day.’

  Angus looked relieved. ‘I am happy for you Elise. And happy that we will be living elsewhere where we are safe.’

  Elise looked at her father and all the misgivings she had about her impending nuptials melted away.

  ‘I’m happy too dadaidh,’ Elise said. But that night sleep eluded her as she tossed through disturbed dreams of Raibert riding towards her in
a kilt of red and green MacIntyre tartan, to carry her away. Elise woke before dawn and stared out of the window at the moors cloaked in black. The moon floated out from behind a bank of clouds and illuminated the peaks and dips of the highlands. Elise thought she heard a bagpipe in the distance but she couldn’t be sure. Or maybe it was a war whoop. She shook her head, restlessness throwing her thoughts into disarray. For someone who was usually so organized, Elise knew she was looking at a canvass where nothing made sense anymore. She was rejecting the suit of someone she loved, based on something as flimsy a clan enmity, and going into a marriage with a man several years her senior who had not so much as touched even a corner of her heart. Suddenly she was overcome by panic, the sounds of shouting in the distance now quite audible.

  ‘Brody!’ She called, waking her brother, ‘Can you hear shouts and clangs of swords? What is happening?’

  ‘Go back to sleep Elise, you are to be wed in a few hours and nobody wants to see the bride with red rimmed sleepless eyes.’

  Elise reluctantly returned to bed and lay down, praying for Raibert’s safety and concerned that the Campbell army had staged a stronger return to Armadale castle. And so she slept, and woke, and washed, and dressed in the beautiful lace dress that her mother had worn for her wedding and her mother before her… and as the solitary piper led them to the abbey in the hamlet, nobody had the heart to tell Elise that the Campbell army had indeed returned and taken Armadale by storm and that even as Elise was walking up the aisle towards Gilroy Gardyne, Raibert was fighting a stubborn enemy.

  Elise looked at Gilroy and felt a stab of dread. This was wrong, she thought to herself as she walked slowly towards him, holding in trembling hands, a bouquet of freshly picked heather and flowers.

  Raibert was brandishing his sword, a war cry on his lips as he engaged first one and then another… and another… of the Campbell army, never weakening as he fought them off one by one, until someone shouted out to him, ‘My laird Raibert, Elise, the daughter of Angus Gardyne is pledging her troth to Gilroy Gardyne even as you stave off the enemy here on the moor.’