Saving Grace

Saving Grace Page 53

Johanna noticed a movement above. She looked up and spotted Lucy making her way along the balcony. The servant was pausing at each chamber and pushing the door open before moving on. Johanna assumed she’d been told to air out the chambers.

“But I will take the stand that this marriage is only a formality, a renewal of our vows if you will,” Raulf announced in such a loud, angry tone of voice that Johanna heard him.

Williams nodded. “Yes,” he agreed. “A renewal. When the pope and our king settle their differences, we’ll send these explanations to Rome. I doubt Innocent will involve himself in the matter anyway.”

Raulf turned then and spotted Johanna standing in the entrance. He frowned when he saw what she was wearing.

Williams ordered her to come forward. Johanna did as she was commanded. She didn’t cross the room however, but stopped when she was several feet in front of Bishop Hallwick.

He nodded to her. She ignored him. Williams noticed her slight.

“Have you forgotten to kneel in the presence of a man of God, Lady Johanna?”

The sneer in his voice disgusted her. “I do not see a man of God in this room,” she answered. “I see only a pathetic mockery dressed in priest’s black garb.”

Both barons looked quite stunned by her opinion. Williams was the first to recover. He took a step forward. “How dare you speak to Bishop Hallwick with such disrespect.”

Raulf nodded. The look of fury in his eyes was chilling. “When the holy bishop hears your confession and gives me your penance, Johanna, you will regret your rash outburst.”

She saw Hallwick nod out of the corner of her eye. She still refused to look directly at the old man, however, and kept her attention on Raulf.

“Hallwick isn’t holy,” she announced. “And I will never kneel before him and give him my confession. He has no hold over me now, Raulf. He teaches blasphemy against women. He is, in fact, a despot and an evildoer. Nay, I will never kneel before him.”

“You’ll pay for your sins, woman.”

The bishop’s scratchy voice was filled with malice. She finally turned her gaze to him. “And you will pay for the terrible punishments you’ve inflicted upon all those honorable women who turned to you for counsel whose only fault was in believing you were God’s representative. They didn’t realize as I do what a monster you are. I wonder, Hallwick, if you fear going to sleep at night. You should, you know. You’re old and sick. You’re going to die soon, and then, by all that is truly holy, you will be made accountable for your tortures.”

The bishop staggered to his feet. “You speak heresy,” he shouted.

“I speak the truth,” she countered.

“Tonight you will learn your opinions should best be kept to yourself,” Raulf announced. He nodded to Williams and then took several steps toward her.

She didn’t back away from him. “You are a fool, Raulf. I won’t go through any pretense of remarrying you. I already have a husband. You seem to have conveniently forgotten that important fact.”

“She cannot want to stay with the barbarian.” Williams said. “Her mind has been broken, Raulf. That’s why the demons speak through her.”

Raulf stopped. “Have you been possessed by an evil spirit?”

The bishop latched onto the possibility at once and vehemently nodded. He turned to walk toward the side doorway which Baron Williams now blocked. “She’ll have to be purified before she can speak her renewal vows,” he declared. “I’ll get the holy water and the stick, Baron. You’ll have to beat the demons out of her. I don’t have enough strength.”

The bishop was out of breath by the time he finished explaining his errand. He wheezed his way across the chamber. Johanna didn’t show any outward reaction to the threat just given. She tried to keep her expression as serene as possible.

Raulf was watching her closely. “You do not seem to be afraid of what is going to happen to you,” he remarked.

She turned her attention back to him. He looked both angry and confused. She laughed. “It’s you, Raulf, who has become possessed if you believe I would ever prefer you to my laird.”

“You cannot possibly love the savage,” Williams blurted out.

She kept her gaze directed on Raulf when she gave her answer. “Oh, but I do love him,” she replied, her voice strong with conviction.

“You’re going to be punished for such treasonous and disloyal remarks against me,” Raulf threatened.

She was neither impressed nor frightened. She tilted her head while she considered the man who had so terrified her in the past. Raulf looked pitiful to her, and she was suddenly so filled with loathing, she could barely stomach the sight of him.

He could never destroy her. Never.

“Do you honestly believe you and Williams and Hallwick are superior to one Highlander? You really are fools,” she added with a shake of her head.

“We are King John’s closest advisers.” Williams shouted the boast.

“Ah, yes, King John,” she scoffed. “The three of you are worthy company for each other.”

The derision in her voice was a slap to Raulf’s pride. He was visibly shaking with his anger now. “What has happened to you?” he demanded in a harsh whisper. “You never would have spoken to me with such blatant disrespect in the past. Do you feel safe because you are in Scotland? Is that it, Johanna? Or do you believe I’m so overcome with joy to have you back I will overlook your slander against my character? You would do well to remember the pain you suffered in the past because of the necessary punishments you forced me to measure out. Aye, you would do well to remember.”

She wasn’t cowering away from him. Raulf was confused by her behavior. He didn’t see fear in her eyes. He saw defiance.

“Tonight I will show you what happens to a wife who has forgotten her place,” he threatened.

He thought to terrify her and knew he’d failed when she simply shook her head at him.

“What has happened to you?” he asked again.

“You are too ignorant to ever understand what happened to me,” she replied.

“The Highlanders have done this to her!” Williams shouted.

Raulf nodded. “There’s no similarity between us and Scotland’s waste,” Raulf muttered.

She nodded. Her quick agreement gave Raulf pause. Then she clarified her position. “You have spoken your first truth,” she said. “There are no similarities between you and my Gabriel, and I thank God for that. You have vowed your love for me a thousand times in the past and then used your fists to show me how very much you love me. Gabriel has never told me he loves me, yet I know he does. He would never ever raise a hand against me or any other woman. He’s honorable and courageous and has a heart and a soul as pure as an archangel’s. Oh, no, you two are nothing alike.”

“How dare you speak such blasphemy!” The veins in the sides of Raulf’s neck stood out from the force of his scream.

She knew she was provoking his rage, but she couldn’t stop the words from pouring out. It so offended her that he dared consider himself superior to any Highlander. His opinion of himself was perverse, and she was determined to set him straight.

“Show me the companions you keep and I’ll tell you who you are. My mother taught me that valuable lesson, but I doubt either one of you will understand the meaning behind it. I happen to keep very good companions. My clan’s my family, and each one of us would die to keep the others safe. They’re all proud and honorable men and women.”

She shook her head at the two barons. Disgust echoed in her voice when she continued. “Nay, you can’t understand. How could you? You don’t know what honor is. Look at your companions. You cannot turn your back on each other for fear of getting a knife between your shoulders. You would both kill your own fathers if it meant you would gain more power. You, Raulf, have broken every commandment, and so has your overlord. You and Williams both conspired with your king to commit one heinous crime after another. You will pay for your sins one day in the future, and very soon now you will pay for forcing me to leave my sanctuary. You’re demented if you believe you can get away with this atrocity. If my husband has any faults at all, it is that he is a terribly possessive man. Oh, Gabriel will come after me all right. You have dared to take away the woman he loves. He won’t show you any mercy; and when you’re dead, I doubt God will show you much mercy either. You are a demon, Raulf, and Gabriel is my very own archangel. He will crush you.”

Raulf’s fury became uncontrollable. His roar echoed throughout the hall. Johanna braced herself for his attack and reached for her dagger.

Raulf ran toward her. He was just a few feet away when he raised his fist in preparation for the first blow he would deliver.

An arrow stopped his advance. It went completely through his closed fist. Raulf’s bellow of rage turned into a scream of agony. He staggered backward and looked up to find the man who had attacked him.

They were everywhere.

The balcony was filled with warriors wearing the MacBain plaid. They surrounded the great hall on all sides. All but one soldier had arrows knotched to their bows. Baron Raulf was in their sights.

There was but a second or two of awareness in Raulf’s eyes before he died, recognition, too, perhaps, as he stared at the giant warrior standing directly above Johanna. Gabriel’s gaze was locked on the baron. He slowly reached back to take a second arrow from his carrier.

Death captured Raulf’s expression of terror. The next arrow ended his life. It penetrated the center of his forehead. And then another arrow and another and another sliced through the stillness to cut into the target. The force of so many arrows striking at the same time propelled Raulf backward and upward; and when he finally collapsed to the floor, there were over fifty arrows lodged in his body.

Lucifer had his soul.

Johanna turned around and looked up. Gabriel stood above her. Nicholas was at his side. Both warriors handed their bows and carriers to the soldiers standing behind them, then turned to come downstairs. All of the other clansmen had fresh arrows knotched in preparation. Their target was Baron Williams who was now cowering in the corner of the hall.

She didn’t wait for Gabriel to come to her. As soon as he reached the entrance of the hall, she dropped her dagger and ran to him.

He wouldn’t let her hug him. He wouldn’t even look at her. His gaze was fully directed on Baron Williams. “This isn’t finished yet,” he announced in a gruff tone of voice. He gently pushed her behind his back. “You may show me your affection later, wife.”

Her next remark surely saved Williams’s life. Gabriel started forward but stopped when he caught her whispered reply. “And you may explain your reason for being so tardy, m’lord.”

A slow smile eased his frown. He continued on across the hall; grabbed Williams by his shoulders, forcing him to stand up; and then slammed his fist into his face.

“You’re going to live for one purpose only,” Gabriel announced. “You’re going to take a message to your king and save me the journey. I’ve been separated from my wife long enough, and I cannot stomach the notion of having to look upon King John.”

Blood was pouring down from Baron Williams’s broken nose. “Yes, yes,” he stammered out. “I’ll take any message you wish to give me.”

Gabriel dragged the baron over to the table and shoved him into a chair.

Her husband’s voice was too low for Johanna to hear what he was saying to Williams. She tried to walk closer but suddenly found herself surrounded by soldiers who deliberately blocked her path.

Nicholas also wanted to find out what Gabriel was telling the baron. The soldiers wouldn’t let him get any closer. He turned to his sister, noticed she was staring at Raulf, and immediately walked over to put himself in front of her.

“Do not look at him,” Nicholas ordered. “He can’t hurt you anymore. He’s dead.”

It was a ridiculous thing to say, given the fact that arrows covered Raulf’s body from head to feet. She was about to point out that fact to her brother when he spoke again. He gave her his boast, not his confession.

“I killed him.”

Keith stepped forward. “Nay, Nicholas. I killed him,” he announced in a near shout.

Calum came forward next. “Nicholas, you didn’t even have your arrow at the ready when I killed him.”

Suddenly every soldier in the hall was shouting his boast that he’d been the one to end Baron Raulf’s life. Johanna didn’t understand what was happening or why it seemed so important for each man to claim he’d been the one responsible for killing the baron.

Then Nicholas smiled. He noticed her confusion and hastened to explain. “Your husband is protecting me from my own king, Johanna. Gabriel won’t ever admit it, of course, but he’s making damned certain I can’t be blamed for killing another baron. Each one of his men will continue to boast the kill. However,” he added when Keith nodded, “it is a fact that I really did kill him.”

“Nay, boy, I killed him,” Laird MacKay shouted from the balcony.

And then it started all over again. The hall was echoing with shouts when Gabriel finished with Baron Williams. He hauled him to his feet, looked around him, and nodded with satisfaction. He waited until the shouting had died down, then said to Williams, “You will tell your king at least sixty men took credit for killing his favored baron.”

“Yes,” Williams said. “I’ll tell him.”

“And after you’ve given him my other important message, I suggest you do one last thing to please me.”

“Anything,” Williams promised. “I’ll do anything.” Gabriel stared at the man a long minute before giving him his final instruction.

“Hide.”

He didn’t need to say more. Williams fully understood his message. He nodded and ran out of the hall.

Gabriel watched him leave and then turned around. He ordered two soldiers to remove the dead body from the hall. Lindsay and Michael hurried forward to take care of the chore.

Nicholas and Johanna stood side by side across the room with Keith and Calum.

“It’s finished, little sister,” Nicholas whispered. He put his arm around Johanna’s shoulders and pulled her up against him. “He can’t ever hurt you again.”

“Yes,” she replied. “It’s finished, and now you will let go of your guilt. You were never responsible for what happened to me in the past. I was in charge of my own destiny, even in those most difficult times.”