Captured by the Kerrs

[Mignonette]

Alice was glad that Callum managed to find a decent way out of the uncomfortable situation as Rowenna rushed out of the chamber to find her doll.
Alice stood, evening out the skirt of her dress.

"Yes, I have rested. It was far more comfortable to lie down than being tied to a chair.", she told him proudly, reminding him with gusto of what he had done, knowing that it would probably fuel some guilt in him.

When he offered her a walk outside however, she softened to him and it showed in her eyes. This was a freedom a captive should not be allowed normally.
"I would like that very much actually.", she said, for once not snapping at him, but speaking to him as if he was quite agreeable. Perhaps he even was. He was showing her kindness she hadnt known before from her own family, yet until now she had seen nothing more in him than her captor.

Once they stepped outside, Rozenn took a deep breath of the fresh air. As always in this season it was rather windy and soon she felt chilled to the bone, but she refused to go inside just yet. Stepping outside even after a few hours of captivity was truly liberating.
"Is it possible to see the Collingwood castle from here?", she asked, unaware that she was looking in the completely wrong direction to find her home.

 

[EesomeBeastie]

Callum loved standing up here. You could see for miles and there was a peace and quiet totally lacking in the tower below, with armed retainers and servants coming and going, and his mother being... well, just being her.

“Na, yer lookin’ west. The Collingwood tower is south, o’er yon.”

It was an easy mistake to have made. The sky was overcast and the sun gave little indication of directions through the grey. And she’d probably lost track of time too.

He pointed the correct direction out to her, unconsciously putting an arm round her back to turn her.

 

[Mignonette]

"Am I not looking south?", Alice asked in surprise, but Callum's hand on her back turning her around gave her the answer. Finally she could see her home in the very distance.

"It looks so small.", she whispered, not pulling away even though his hand hadnt moved from her back. Actually, the spot where his hand was became nice and warm.
"And its so very far away too....I never thought I would be so far away from home..." She turned her head and found herself surprisingly close to Callum. For a second she wanted to shy away, but that would mean moving away from the warmth his body was emitting and in the freezing cold of the day it was out of the question.
As the wind became stronger Alice did the exact contrary of what was in her mind. She stepped closer to Callum, allowing his body to shelter her from the cold.

"Dont get any wrong ideas....Im just cold...", she muttered under her breath as she tried not to lean against him completely.

 

[EesomeBeastie]

The Collingwood tower was across the valley and on a far crestline, well over and dozen miles away. He'd ridden much further, but wasn't too surprised that she hadn't. In these troubled lands a wise father kept his daughter safe and close to home.

"Oh, I'm awfa sorry," he apologised when she said she was cold. He could see her shivering slightly, too. He stepped away from her, reluctantly, and shrugged off his leather jerkin, easing it on over her shoulders, on top of her dress. It looked incongruous but it would help keep the wind at bay.

Then he put his arm around her again to warm her up.

 

[Mignonette]

Alice was more than glad when he placed the jerkin on her shoulders and she instantly cuddled into it to hide away from the cold.

"Unless you are the cause for these freezing winds you have no need to apologize.", Alice told him, for the first time not blaming Callum for something that was causing her discomfort.

His arm around her didnt make her tense up anymore. His touch didnt come as a surprise, but felt rather natural.
"How many ladies do you bring up here to get close to them like this?", she asked, but her smile showed that she was teasing and not being rude. "Or do you Scots kindap your ladies of choice, locking them away and tying them up?"

Who would have thought that she would be joking around with a Kerr? Perhaps all that her parents had said had been wrong. Perhaps she had been listening to too many prejudices. Robert Kerr had seemed like a decent man whenever she had visited him in his prison cell to bring him food and blankets. It was true that the Kerrs were burning her land, killing the people and causing chaos, but her own family was doing the same. It was unfair to blame only one side for what was happening and Alice only slowly began to fully realize this.

 

[EesomeBeastie]

"Yer the first lass I've braucht up here," he told her, quite truthfully. He'd never courted a young lady of his own status, never felt that amiable friendship he expected there could be between equals.

There was no need to tell her of what had happened - three times - in the buttery with a certain kitchen girl, though. It was over a year ago now anyway.

He blushed at her comment about tying ladies up. Could she possibly guess that he'd come over fantasies of ravishing her as his bound and gagged prisoner? He hoped not, as he was ashamed of those thoughts.

He kissed the top of her head, inhaling the scent of her hair, hoping it would drive the foul perverted thoughts from his mind.

 

[Mignonette]

"The first? In this case I am honored.", Alice replied, bowing her head ever so slightly. She was inexperienced, but not silly. She didnt think for one moment that Callum had never had his little adventures with women. It was quite normal that men got to play around before marriage, while women were expected to wait for their husband to discover the pleasures of the flesh. Alice had already observed the same with her brothers and sisters.

When she felt him lean over her, planting a kiss in her hair she closed her eyes for a moment. People always seemed to like her hair. The soft waves that were such an intense black and which she always washed with scented water so that they smelled like sweet flowers.

"May I ask what you are doing?", she asked softly. "Am I not supposed to be your enemy?"
She didnt want things to be this way, so her head was filled with confusion. She should stay away from him, yet she welcomed his touch with pleasure.
Alice turned her head to look up at him, studying his features. He was quite handsome she noticed, but didnt say so out loud.
For a while they just seemed to stare at each other until Alice suddenly looked upwards. The first few drops of rain started to come down from the thick heavy clouds above them, breaking the spell between the two.
"Perhaps we should go inside."

 

[EesomeBeastie]

"Aye, we should."

He was reluctant to leave this slight embrace they had slid into, but she had no spare clothes with her he guessed - not that he'd checked her saddle bags and packs but surely she'd have been expecting to give up her fine clothes for a nun's habit so wouldn't have taken any.

And her hair smelled delicious, not the scent of sweat and of oil from a steel helmet that seemed permeate the men at arms.

But he didn't want her to catch a chill, so he steered her back to the door in the turret, and the spiral staircase back down to the inhabited levels.

"But the meenister did say last Sunday that we should love our enemies, now I recall," he whispered as he opened the door.

 

[Mignonette]

The moment they stepped inside it became warmer, yet Alice was reluctant to take ther jerkin off. It felt so comfortable around her, making her feel warm and protected. The sensation of his arm around her was missing, even though the warmth of the memory still remained.

"Aye, so I heard.", she whispered back as she stepped into the room. "Though I guess for our families it would be enough to tolerate each other...Love is such a strong word and even stronger emotion."

She looked up and the spell caught ther again, making it impossible to tear her eyes away from him. They were standing so close that she could feel the heat of his body on her.
Again the magic was broken an instant later, but not through rain, but through Rowenna's sudden appearance.

The vivid girl had returned holding a small red haired doll in her hands.
"Look! This is Bessie, my dolly!", she said, holding the toy up proudly as she squeezed herself between Callum and Alice.

"She is lovely.", Alice said with a small smile as she examined the toy. "But look, her dress is slightly torn here."

Rowenna's smile vanished and she looked rather sad. " I know, but my ma cannae fix her. She says all thread is needed for other things."
It was a shame really, but Alice understood why Lady Kerr was carful not to waste resources that could be useful for later.
"Im sure your mother will fix Bessie's dress once its possible.", Alice said, kneeling down to be on the same eye line as the girl. "Or how about I repair it for you?", she offered and then looked up at Callum.
"The pearl band I gave you, do you still have it? I could untie the pearls and use the thread."
Surely he was only interested in the valuable part anyways, so leaving the other material to her should not be a problem. And it would give her something to do. Something to take her mind off Callum, who suddenly started to invade her thoughts.

 

[EesomeBeastie]

Callum was aghast. He'd been very taken by that pearl string, imagining it twined through her hair as they stood side by side to make their wedding vows, and still there in her raven locks as he made passionate love to her that evening. No! It couldn't be broken up to mend a doll, not even his sister's favourite.

He desperately tried to think of an alternative.

"Nae need tae break up sic a bonny thing. I'll get ye some threed. Jist gie me a moment."

He patted Alice on the shoulder and left the room, walking to the chamber his parents shared. He could hear his ma berating the kitchen staff downstairs and his father was still away, so the coast was clear.

He snuck in and quickly located his mother's chest of mending patches and thread, found the best match and cut a couple of feet off with his dirk. Pausing to 'borrow' a needle too, he closed the lid and crept out.

Then he took the stairs back to where Alice was waiting.

Oh shit! he thought. Would she still be there? He'd just gone and left her unguarded in his eagerness to help.

 

[Mignonette]

"But ma said...", Rowenna started, but Alice just patted her head and said: "Let your brother take care of this. He is older and knows best."
So in the end the little girl just nodded and let Callum go.

The door was left wide open! Alice could simply run away no with nobody stopping her. She took a few steps towards it until she suddenly felt a pull at her hand.

"Are ye leavin me noow?", Rowenna asked and when Alice turned to look at her she saw the saddest pairs of eyes she had ever seen. "Ye said yer will fix my dolly. Will ye nae do it noow?"

In that very moment Alice knew that she wouldnt be able to leave. This little girl so desperately wished to have a companion. Someone to play with and to talk to. The same wish Alice had had a while ago as well. She didnt want to leave Rowenna alone.

"I will not leave. I was just going to see if your brother was returning already. I will stay if you want me to", she explained and then returned back to the chamber, sitting down on the bed, holding the doll to examine the damage.

When Callum reappeared, obviously in a haste she just smiled at him. "You thought I would have run away.", she pointed out the obvious. "Did you bring the thread?"

Rowenna happily jumped up to go and fetch the needle from Callum, smiling as brightly as she hadnt done in a long time.
"Yer know what the bonny lass said? She told me she will stay as long as I wish it! I want her to stay forever, Callum! Make her stay!"
The little girl was quite demanding for her age and Alice couldnt help but laugh quietly at so much energy. Rowenna needed a companion that would teach her to calm down a little more. Alice probably was not the right choice for it.

 

[EesomeBeastie]

"You thought I would have run away," Alice said, not really accusingly, just pointing it out.

"Aye. I hoped no, though," he replied.

Then he paused, embarrassed by the growing affection that his words might have revealed.

"I mean my da would hiv beaten me black an' blue if I'd let ye escape," he added, trying to come up with something to fill the awkward silence. "I broucht the threed, though."

"I want her to stay forever, Callum! Make her stay!" Rowenna butted in, making them laugh.

"Aye, we'll see, Wen," callum replied, roughing her hair. "Now leave yer dolly here wi' Alice and let her mend it in peace."

Rowenna paused for barely a second before handing her prized possession to her new friend, who she trusted despite having hardly met her, then trotted out of the room to look for mischief.

"I'm sorry, but I'm goin' tae hiv tae sit wi' ye," he apologised, though in truth he looked forward to spending more time with her. "The men are a' busy."

He was going to have to improvise a bolt on the door before the night. The room hadn't been designed for holding prisoners - they had two cells in the undercroft for that, but he didn't want to throw her down there in the dark and damp. The only alternative was tying her down again and he really didn't want to go there as it aroused him in ways he had never felt before, and that frightened him a little.

 

[Mignonette]

Alice promised to finish the doll by the next day and then waved Rowenna off, instantly getting to work.
"I dont mind you staying here, even though you should have no fear of me running away.", she said calmly, her eyes focused on her work.
"I have nowhere to run to and no coin to get me anywhere. This is probably the best place for me to stay."
She was speaking honestly and seriously, showing that she was a woman who didnt only think with her heart, but also with her mind.

"Besides, your little sister would be sad to see me go...I see a little bit of myself in her, so I want to keep her company at least for a while, if I am allowed."

She was no guest here, she was a captive. A captive who was given a lot of kindness and freedoms, Alice realized. Despite her situation, she felt protected and at ease. Even sitting next to Callum felt peaceful as she wasnt scared of him at all. Although he was a Kerr, she trusted him.

"What are you thinking about?", she asked, noticing his facial expression change. He seemed in deep thought and she couldnt help but wonder what was going through his mind.
"Are you still trying to figure out how to lock me in here securely? As I said before, I will not leave.", she assured him. "Unless you throw me out of course."

 

[EesomeBeastie]

"Aye, exactly," he replied, deciding to show her the same honesty that she was demonstrating towards her. "No that I think ye'll run, but I hiv tae be seen tae be takin' precautions, y' see. So if it disnae upset ye too much I'll be havin' a bolt fitted tae yon door."

He was enjoying sitting with her as she sewed. Suddenly he could picture himself doing this very thing as the laird of his own lands, checking the estate account book by the fire of his very own hall as she sat opposite embroidering a tapestry. Such a cosy domestic scene it would be.

Then he'd take her up to a chamber much like this one and fuck her until she screamed with joy.

He flushed at the thought and turned his face to window to hide the scarlet that flooded his already normally ruddy complexion.

 

[Mignonette]

"Do whatever you wish to do.", Alice replied, seemingly not showing much care as to whether he would lock the door or not. "I am not the lady of this castle, not even a guest. I am nobody to tell you what to do."

She looked up from her sewing for a second, just in time to see him look away as if embarrassed.

"You are a strange one, Callum Kerr.", she said with a small smile, shaking her head ever so slightly.
"I am really wondering what is going through a man's mind that is making him look away from a lady in his presence."
She definitely was not shy with her words, just like Rowenna.
"Dont answer though. I am sure it is nothing for my innocent ears."

She laughed when she saw him turn towards her. "Please, I am inexperienced, but not stupid. I am sure a handsome man like you had his share of ladies and experiences."
Suddenly her smile vanished as she had caught herself complimenting him so openly.

 

[EesomeBeastie]

"My Lady, ye do me sic a compliment," he responded graciously.

Then suddenly he found himself opening to her. "Less than ye micht think, actually. I've spent too much o' me time in the saddle, raidin' or practisin' wi' sword and lance. Oh, there hiv been a couple o' lasses, a castle servant and one doon in the toon, though dinnae tell me ma! But as I'm sure ye've noticed, there's no exactly a scintillatin' social scene in these lands, whar russlin' cattle is mair the thing tae do of a Friday nicht."

That last was said with a wry grin.

 

[Mignonette]

Alice was surprised that he talked so openly with her. She would have expected many more ladies in his life, but she could understand why she might have been wrong.

"It is true indeed. Our corner isnt exactly London." Alice had heard the most wonderful things from the English capital, where her sister had the luck to reside. Feasts every evening at Whitehall castle and more socializing than Alice could ever even imagine.

"Normally a lady my age should at least have a sweetheart, but I cannot even find that being locked into the castle at all times."

She was old enough to start dreaming of love and passion and to long for it and she would not play the shy maiden in front of people, because it simply was not her. She was innocent, yes, but she was also curious.

"You men at least have the freedom to go into town for drinks and whores after your raids, while us women have to be locked away, just waiting. Waiting, waiting and waiting and then obeying of course."
She was bitter about it, wanting so much more out of life and Callum was the first person who discovered so much about her true desires.

Suddenly she laughed, stopping her work for a moment. "You must think me one bitter and sad woman."

 

[EesomeBeastie]

"Whores, My Lady?" He was astonished to hear her talk like that, open though she'd been. "They're for the men, no me. Hiv ye ony idea fit my ma wid dae if I brocht back the pox? Fit it wid dae for my folks' hopes o' marryin' me aff usefully?"

"Noo, I widnae deny a fondness fer a pint or twa, but that's back here 'n' a'. Nae safe gettin' drunk even in the toon, whar someone micht slip a dagger betwixt yer shidder-blades fer a handfa' o' marks from an English laird."

"An' as fer seein' London, weel no much chance o' that. But I hiv been tae Edinburgh twa times whan ma father wis at the court in place o' ma uncle whan he wis ill. Braw place, if a bit reekie."

"Noo if ye wanted tae bide in a nunnery, ye shid hae fled tae one up yon. Or even further, up by Stirling. Gone tae Berwick and tak'n a boat up north. Oot o' the reach o' yer kin and even yer king."

He didn't know why he was telling her this. He didn't want her to go. But even less did he want to know he'd let her back into the clutches of that ogre she'd been to wed.

 

[Mignonette]

"I apologize if I have spoken out of turn, but I thought it was better to speak my mind honestly than to simply say the words people want to hear.", she said, returning to her work and before long she was finished, placing the doll on the table.

"Edinburgh...so much closer than London and yet unreachable for someone like me.", she spoke softly, suddenly not knowing what to do with her hands anylonger now that they werent occupied with the sewing work.

"I never wanted to become a nun. Its a miserable life that would kill me slowly...", she revealed in a whisper. "But I would also die slowly as the bride of Sir Horton. I at least wanted to have the freedom of choosing my fate."

Again she laughed even though there was no warmth behind it all.
"Pathetic, is it not? I should probably go to church and confess. Wanting to take the vows out of selfish reasons is probably a sin...But I dont know what else to do. How else to escape marrying that...that....pig." She didnt want to curse too badly, yet she despised this man her parents had chosen for her.

 

[EesomeBeastie]

"Aye, that's a sin indeed. But ane the meenisters aroond here wid forgive easy-like. They've much worse things tae forgive, meenisterin' tae the sorts of folk roond here!"

As was so often his wont, he made light of serious things by making a joke of them. And anyway he would have plenty to confess, himself, the lustful thoughts he'd been having about her.

He stood up and went to the window, gazing through the bars at the moors and hills. When he returned to sit down, it was on the bench beside Alice rather than the chair opposite.

He slid an arm around her shoulders. 'Marry me instead,' was what he wanted to say. But instead he came out with, "We'll work somethin' oot. As I said afore, ye'll marry that filthy bag o' shite o'er ma deid body. An' I mean that."

For however much his feelings for her were developing, he had a duty to his family and to secure his brother's release too.

How to reconcile the two? That was the problem.

 

[Mignonette]

His arm around her shoulder was comforting and Alice actually gave in to the need to lean her head against him. It was only for a moment she told herself.

"I treasure your words, but words alone will bring forth no solution.", she said sadly. Yet Lady Alice Collingwood was not someone who gave up easily. She cried, despaired and cursed her fate, but she never let the sadness get the best of her.

Right then however she just wanted to drop her guard for at least a while. Just let her weakness shine through. She knew that Callum would not abuse it.

"I wish I had run away with some sweetheart, if only I had one. We would build a home somewhere else, we would marry, have children and even if I had to live in poverty I would still be happy.", she said in a dreamy voice. It was all fantasy, she knew, but it was comforting as well. "A girl can always dream, can she not? Of true love, true happiness, true passion...."

 

[EesomeBeastie]

"Aye, why no dream awhile? Though I dinnae know how I'd mak a livin' fer us. I ken nothin' o' farmin' an' dinna hae a trade."

He paused.

"But I do ken horse breedin' - that I can manage."

Only then did it hit him. He'd actually given voice to his fantasy that he could be that sweetheart.

He looked down, avoiding her eyes.

"Sorry."

 

[Mignonette]

Alice was actually shocked when she heard him speak as if he was seriously considering her words, placing himself in the role of her possible sweetheart.

"Dont apologize...", she muttered, playing with the hem of her dress. For a while an uncomfortable silence fell between them until Alice broke it.

"Were you serious?", she suddenly asked. "I mean, about even considering being in the place of my...my sweetheart....A Collingwood and a Kerr...it just sounds so impossible." And yet so sweet and inviting. Her eyes were searching his. She didnt want him to look away and hide his thoughts from her.

"Besides, we cannot run away together.", she added, the dream giving way to reality once more. "You need me to free your brother. you need me to strike the deal with my kin."

 

[EesomeBeastie]

"Aye. I've scarce kent ye a day, but I can see y' as ma wife. It jist... feels richt. We could mak a fine life thegither. Y've got the sense a laird's wife needs tae run a hoosehold an' the lands, an' raise the heirs richt."

He looked back up, right into her eyes.

"Yer fair bonny too. An' richt clever an' fine tae talk wi'. I'd be happy tae spend ma life wi' ye."

He blushed slightly, then pushed onwards.

"An' I think we'd hae a richt guid time producin' a' those heirs."

He smiled to show he was teasing with that latter, even if he also meant every word.

Then he bend round and kissed her on the lips. Softly and just briefly, but nevertheless with passion.

Slightly flustered, he pulled back.

"But as ye say, there's my brither tae get back."

 

[Mignonette]

His words touched Alice's heart. They really did. It was the first time she felt her heat beating so fast at a man's words and her eyes were captured by his.

"I...I could imagine being together with you as well.", she admitted. "You may be a Kerr, but you are caring and you dont treat me like cattle...and I guess you are strong and able to provide for and protect a family..."

She had blushed deeply at his hinting at producing heirs and dint mention it with a words, but she had not looked away like most girls would have done.

Suddenly she saw him move and there was no way she could have moved. His intention was clear, yet her body happily embraced it.
His lips against hers felt so right and so soft. The sensation that rushed through her at the contact was breathtaking, but before she had a chance to kiss him back he already pulled away, killing the magic moment by mentioning his brother again.

He had just given her her very first kiss and then had managed to tear the enchantment out of it a moment later.

"Then why did you kiss me?", she asked. "Do not play with my heart. That would be the worst of tortures."
She wouldnt be able to take this. After such a short time he had already found a spot in her heart .
"Do not kiss me, show me what passion is and then push me away, Callum Kerr." It wasnt clear whether she was demanding or begging.