Tamed By The Barbarian

Chapter One

January 1461

Cicely Milburn’s brow furrowed as she stared at the bloodied abrasions on the horse’s flank. Whose mount was it? She placed gentle fingers on its neck and the gelding quivered beneath her touch. Yet when she held out a wrinkled apple on the palm of her hand, it lipped the fruit and took it into its mouth. She smiled and moved away to her own palfrey in the neighbouring stall.

Noticing two dried-up burrs picked up on the return journey from her father’s steward’s house, she removed them. She was worried about her fifteen-year-old brothers and wished Matt had not had to make the journey to Kingston-on-Hull, to enquire of his twin, Jack, and their widower father. He had taken most of the male servants with them, concerned about the rumours of a great host of Lancastrians in the vicinity of the Duke of York’s castle of Sandal a week or so ago. If there had been a battle, then, in the aftermath, one could expect to encounter wandering soldiers on the rampage. She wished her stepbrother, Diccon, was here to share the burden of worry with her, but she had not seen him for the last six months and she feared for his safety. She fingered the dagger that hung from her girdle, then glanced round apprehensively as she heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

Anger surged in her veins at the sight of the man standing there. ‘Master Husthwaite! What are you doing here? How could you use this poor horse so cruelly?’ she demanded.

‘So there you are, Mistress Cicely. I’ve been looking for you.’

The mousy, lank-haired man ran chilling silver-grey eyes over her in a manner that caused her gloved hands to clench.

‘For what purpose?’ she asked coldly.

Master Husthwaite sucked in his cheeks and then released them noisily, not answering her question immediately. ‘The beast is a slug. My uncle should have insisted on his clients paying their bills more readily and then I could afford a finer horse.’

‘What do you mean—should have insisted?’

‘My uncle died recently and I am taking over his business.’ He approached her, sliding one hand against the other, his eyes fixed on her well-formed bosom. ‘So I came here in haste, after speaking to Master Matthew in Knaresborough. I thought you might need my help.’

She stiffened. ‘Why should I need your help here on my father’s manor? I am quite capable of managing the household myself. If in need of further assistance, I can call on Father’s steward’s wife.’

Master Husthwaite stroked his lantern jaw, his eyes narrowing. ‘It is a different kind of help I would offer you. When Master Matthew told me he was travelling to Kingston-on-Hull to seek news of your father from his agent, I was deeply concerned.’ He took a step closer to Cicely. ‘I fear you must brace yourself for bad tidings.’

‘I don’t know why you should deem that so,’ she retorted. And, feeling a need to put some distance between them, she moved to her horse’s head. ‘It is not the first time Father has failed to arrive home when expected—especially during the winter months. Stormy weather can delay a ship’s departure.’

‘No doubt that would be true if your father and brother’s arrival was only a few days or a week overdue,’ said Master Husthwaite, ‘but it is now the feast of St Hilary and, according to your brother, six weeks since he last heard from them. I really do think you have to accept that your father might well be dead.’

‘No!’ she cried, forcing back the dreadful apprehension roused first by Matt’s conviction in the last ten days that his twin brother was in pain. ‘I will not believe it is so.’

‘Naturally, you don’t want to accept his death as a reality, but you must do so because we’ll need to consider your future.’

‘We? What do you mean? I hope you do not have it in mind to interfere in my affairs,’ said Cicely, her fine eyes flashing blue fire. ‘It is no concern of yours. I—I am betrothed and will be wed at Easter.’

His deep-set eyes flickered. ‘I have found nothing amongst your father’s papers about such an arrangement.’

‘Nevertheless my wedding will take place.’ Cicely was furious that he should have access to her father’s private papers. She was certain that if Nat Milburn had known this clerk would dare to step into his dead uncle’s shoes, he would have left orders for another man of business to be found instantly.

‘So you say. Tell me—who is this so-called betrothed?’ demanded Master Husthwaite.

‘His name is none of your business. Now will you kindly leave, as I have to prepare for the return of my brothers and father.’

He glared at her, but instead of quitting the stable, he reached for the whip thrust through a strap on his saddle and lashed out at her horse. Cicely let out a scream of rage and, throwing caution to the wind, caught hold of the whip’s lash when he would have used it again. Her attempt to disarm the man resulted in her being catapulted against him. The breath was knocked out of her and he swiftly took advantage of her position. His arms went round her and he squeezed her so hard that she could scarcely breathe.

‘Unhand me at once! You forget yourself,’ she gasped.

He laughed and sank his head into the smooth flesh of her neck. She screamed and resisted as, inch by inch, he forced her down on to the damp straw. In the struggle, her headdress was dislodged and her hair swirled free. He grabbed a handful of it and brought her face close, seeking her mouth with his own. She baulked at the glimpse of his rotting teeth and the smell of his stinking breath, but she managed to get a couple of fingers to his chin and pinched it. He knocked her hand away. ‘You’ll pay for that,’ he snarled.

Cicely feared that she would, but what happened next proved her wrong. Her rescue took place so swiftly that she could barely believe that in moments she was free and Master Husthwaite lay still on the ground. She was lifted to her feet as if she weighed no more than thistledown.

The pressure of her rescuer’s hand seemed to sear through her gown and set her skin tingling, a sensation that she found intensely disturbing in a completely different way from the shock of Master Husthwaite’s attack on her person.

Her eyes were now on a level with an intricately patterned brooch that gleamed dully like pewter. This fastened a roughly textured woollen cloak at a weatherbeaten neck. Her gaze moved higher and the breath caught in her throat at the sight of the unshaven chin and the strong cheekbones of a man’s rugged face, framed in a tangle of chestnut hair that fell to his shoulders. He spoke in a dialect that caused her initial feelings of relief to turn to stunned dismay. Thoughts whirled in her head as she remembered going on a pilgrimage with her dying mother to a priory at Alnmouth not far from the border of England with Scotland. Her mother was from that area and an admirer of the Celtic saints, who had brought the gospel from Ireland.

The man spoke again, but more slowly this time. ‘I hope he did not harm you badly, lass?’

She shook her head and her golden hair swirled about her shoulders. His eyes widened as he reached out a gauntleted hand and touched a strand, tucking it behind her ear. She froze, remembering the tales told to her twin brothers by their great-uncle and grandfather. Enough to chill the blood, her mother had often said. There was no doubt in Cicely’s mind that the border Scots were an uncouth race and she feared this man had saved her from Master Husthwaite’s foul intent for his own pleasure. If she had been the kind of female given to swooning, she would have chosen that moment to do so. Instead, her fingers crept to the dagger hanging alongside the keys at her girdle and fastened on its string-bound hilt.

Mackillin’s gaze skated over her blanched face, noticing that her eyes were the colour of bluebells, which grew beneath the rowan trees near Loch Trool. His mind was not the kind normally given to poetic thoughts, but he reckoned, if asked, that he could write a sonnet to such eyes. She had a heart-shaped face, a perfectly shaped nose and lips that were just asking to be kissed.

There was that in his gaze that caused Cicely to dart out a nervous tongue and wet her lips. She knew that it was now or never to draw her dagger. ‘Keep away from me, you—you barbarian!’ she said, brandishing the weapon in front of her.

Except for the flare of his nostrils, he appeared unmoved. ‘And if I don’t, what will you do with that…toy, lass?’ he spoke deliberately slowly.

‘I would stick it in you. Its edge is sharp!’ she warned.

His eyes glinted. ‘Such gratitude for rescuing you deserves to be rewarded in kind.’ With a carelessness for his own safety that alarmed her, he seized her wrist and twisted, causing her to gasp in pain as the weapon fell to the ground. Then in one smooth movement, his left arm encircled her waist and his right hand cupped the back of her head. ‘A kiss for my pains,’ he murmured, laying claim to her mouth.

She attempted to ward him off, but found it impossible to make an impression against his hard, muscular strength. The pressure from his mouth eased and now his lips moved gently over hers in a pleasant, tingly fashion. She was alarmed that she found even the abrasive roughness of his stubbly chin peculiarly sensual. Only thrice had she been kissed before and it had not caused sparks to charge through her veins, igniting her nerve ends in a truly thrilling fashion like this one did.

But she had sworn to love Diccon as long as she lived. He was the only man with the right to kiss her in such a beguilingly intimate fashion, despite her father having refused his consent to their betrothal. Still, Cicely believed she could change his mind when he returned. Yet now she was allowing this—this savage to kiss her without putting up a fight. She tore her mouth away and raised a hand to hit him, but the blow never landed because, unexpectedly, he freed her.

She glared at him and gasped, ‘My father will make you pay for daring to assault me.’

Mackillin’s eyes narrowed. He knew that it had been a mistake kissing her, but the sight of her lips alone were enough to drive a man to forget any code of chivalry he might live by. As for the golden hair that smelt so sweetly of camomile, he had never seen such hair. His breathing deepened as he remembered that same scent on her skin and his body recalled the feel of her breasts against his chest and the jutting bones of her hips against his nether regions. The stirring in his loins did not abate and he said harshly, ‘Your father? Is he one of the servants here?’

‘God’s blood, no! He’s…’ She paused, uncertain what his reaction would be if he knew she was the daughter of the house. She backed away from him and turned and ran, wondering what he was doing on her father’s manor. The Scots had not raided this far south of the border for decades.

No sooner was she outside the stables than she collided with someone. She gasped as her arm was seized and a familiar voice said, ‘Cissie, what’s wrong? Why did you scream?’

At the welcome sound of her brother’s voice, she collapsed against him. Only to realise that his right arm was in a sling. ‘It’s you, Jack,’ she cried gladly. ‘But what have you done to yourself?’ She touched his shoulder and gazed into his beloved face. ‘Matt knew you’d been hurt. Thanks be to our Saviour that you’re home. Was it that barbarian in there who damaged your arm?’ She gesticulated in the direction of the stable. Mackillin had followed in her wake and stood in the entrance, gazing at them. Cicely eyed him warily. ‘Have you a sword, Jack?’ she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

He glanced at her as if she had run mad. ‘What use would it be against Mackillin? His skill with a blade is greater than any I have ever seen.’

‘So you fought him and lost?’

Jack gazed heavenwards as if for divine intervention. ‘No, Cissie. He saved my life!’

She was aghast. ‘No! He couldn’t have—not his kind. There must be some mistake.’

‘You’re wrong, Cissie. He’s a friend of Father’s.’

‘He can’t be. Father’s a cultured man. Well travelled, well read. What could he have in common with that—that Scottish wild man?’ She glared at Mackillin, who looked at her with an expression on his face that confused her. ‘I must speak to him. Tell him that he dared to kiss me!’ She turned towards the house.

‘Cissie, wait!’ called Jack.

‘What for? If you think to change my mind, then you’re…’ She glanced over her shoulder at him and stopped in mid-flight at the sight of the misery in his face. Suddenly she was scared. ‘What is it? Why do you look like that?’

The muscles of Jack’s throat moved jerkily. ‘You won’t find Father in the house.’

She retreated her steps. ‘Why? Where is he? Has he had an accident?’ He hesitated. ‘You’re scaring me, Jack. Tell me—what’s happened to him?’ she cried.

‘He-he’s dead!’ croaked her brother. ‘Murdered by thieving rogues.’ The colour drained from Cicely’s face and she shook her head, clutching his undamaged arm. ‘I’m so sorry, Cissie,’ he added.

‘I don’t believe it. I won’t believe it!’ Cicely picked up the hem of her brown skirts, revealing the lamb’s-wool ‘bags’ that had encased her legs whilst riding, and raced across the yard. The hens scattered before her as she approached the grey stone house. She ignored the three packhorses waiting patiently to have their loads removed and the man still mounted. She desperately needed to find her father indoors, shouting in his deep voice for his Cissie. She climbed the steps that ran at an angle along the wall to the entrance to the hall and struggled to open the door in the icy wind. At last it gave way beneath her fingers and she went inside.

As Mackillin watched her disappear from sight, that mixture of pity and dismay he felt deepened, overlaid with another emotion that he did not want to acknowledge. He had forgotten Jack had mentioned his sister was comely. If he had remembered, then he might have guessed her identity immediately. Even so, his not knowing she was the daughter of the house did not excuse his handling of her. Yet his body still thrilled with the memory of her in his arms. It was just as well that his sojourn here was of necessity to be short, otherwise he might be tempted to claim the reward the dead Nat Milburn had offered him.

‘I’ll go after her,’ said Jack, looking mortified.

Mackillin stayed him with a hand. ‘Allow her time to gain control of herself.’

Jack hesitated before nodding. ‘So you kissed her. Is that why she screamed?’

‘How could it be? She screamed before I touched her.’ There was a noise behind them. ‘Here is your explanation,’ said Mackillin, facing Master Husthwaite as he appeared, leading his horse.

The man’s jaw was swollen and showed signs of bruising. ‘So you’re returned, Master Jack.’

‘Who are you?’ asked the scowling youth.

‘Gabriel Husthwaite, nephew of your father’s man of business. He died recently and I have taken charge of his affairs. This family will have need of my services if my surmise is right and your father is dead.’

‘Aye. Set upon and murdered.’ Jack looked towards Mackillin with an uncertain expression. ‘This is the man Father’s agent spoke of in Kingston-on-Hull.’

Mackillin’s mouth tightened as Master Husthwaite smiled thinly. ‘Mistress Cicely wouldn’t have it that he was dead, but I told her it was the most likely explanation for his absence.’

‘So that is why she screamed,’ said Jack, running his free hand through his fair hair. ‘Yet she—’

‘Nay, it is not,’ growled Mackillin. ‘He was making a nuisance of himself, behaving in a manner that was unacceptable to your lovely sister.’

Master Husthwaite cast him a sly look. ‘Was my behaviour so different from yours? You demanded a kiss for your pains when you believed her to be a serving girl.’

Mackillin turned to Jack and said in a low voice, ‘Forgive me. She called me a barbarian and wanted to stick a knife in me.’

‘It’s because you’re a Borderer, Mackillin. I’m sorry,’ said Jack. ‘My great-uncle and grandfather used to tell us such hair-raising tales of the Scots reivers that we couldn’t sleep nights.’

Master Husthwaite stepped forward, ‘Mistress Cicely needs a curbing hand on her bridle. She threatened to do the same to me. I was only defending myself when this Mackillin came in on us.’

‘You lie. There was no sign of a blade and you were rolling her in the straw, man,’ said Mackillin, his expression disdainful. ‘She wanted none of you.’

The man sneered. ‘Nor of you. Get back to your own land. This family’s affairs are in my hands and have naught to do with you, barbarian.’

Mackillin’s anger boiled over and he seized Master Husthwaite by the throat of his surcoat and hoisted him into the air. Thrusting him on to his horse, he said, ‘Be gone from here before I put my fist down your throat and rip out your tongue.’ He hit the horse’s flank with the flat of his hand.

Master Husthwaite scrabbled to get hold of the reins and slid sideways but Mackillin forced him upright as the horse set off at a trot towards the beaten-earth track that led to the village and then the highway that would take him to Knaresborough, more than a league away.

Jack frowned. ‘I don’t like this. Father would never have agreed to such a man taking charge of our business affairs.’

‘That man’s a rogue. Is there someone else you can turn to help you deal with him?’

Jack nodded. ‘There’s Diccon, but I don’t know where he is…and there’s our stepsister’s husband Owain, who was a close friend of Father’s. I imagine Matt or Cissie will contact them. I wonder where Matt is?’ He glanced around. ‘He must be out somewhere. Otherwise he would have heard the commotion and come running to see what was going on. I hope he won’t be long. You will stay the night and speak to him?’

Mackillin looked up at the louring sky and nodded. ‘Aye. We would not get far before darkness fell. Now inside and see to your sister while Robbie and I deal with the horses. And, Jack, do not mention aught about your father’s offer to reward me with her hand in marriage. I cannot accept it.’ He urged Jack in the direction of the house. ‘I will see the baggage is taken indoors for you to unpack at your leisure.’

Jack thanked him and hurried after Cicely.

He found her kneeling in front of the fire, stroking one of the dogs. The face she turned towards him was tear-stained and when she spoke her voice shook. ‘I must believe what you say is true. I know you would not jest about such a matter as our dear father’s death.’

‘I’m sorry, Cissie.’ Awkwardly, he put an arm about her shoulders. ‘I’ve dreaded breaking the news to you. Where’s Matt?’

‘He’s gone to Kingston-on-Hull for news of you from Father’s shipping agent. It was in his heart that he might find you both there.’

His blue eyes darkened. ‘The agent did not mention him. When did he leave?’

‘Only this morning and he took most of our men.’ She sighed and got to her feet. ‘So you spoke with the agent. What did he have to say?’

‘He did not seem surprised to hear that Father was dead and spoke of Master Husthwaite. I had no idea his uncle was dead. A courier should have been sent to one of our agents in Europe, then word would have reached us and Father would have come home.’

‘I did not know of the elder Master Husthwaite’s demise until now and as far as I know his nephew has had no proper legal training, but only acted as his clerk.’ Her voice was strained. ‘Anyway, it is pointless discussing this at the moment. We need to get word to Diccon.’

Jack nodded. ‘You know where he is?’

Her expression was sombre. ‘No. But most likely Kate or Owain will know how to get news to him. They all must be informed of Father’s death.’ She paused as tears clogged her throat and had to swallow before continuing. ‘If Diccon cannot be found, no doubt Owain will help us deal with Master Husthwaite if he should prove really troublesome.’

‘Let’s hope so.’

Cicely wiped her damp face with the back of her hand. ‘Tell me, did Father suffer? Were the devils responsible caught and punished?’

Jack kicked a smouldering brand that had fallen onto the hearth. ‘Death came swiftly for him, but not before he had wrung a promise from Mackillin to see me home safely. He killed one of them and so did Robbie, but another escaped.’

Her fingers curled into the palms of her hands. ‘I can’t understand how Father believed he could trust a Border reiver to do his bidding,’ she cried.

Jack looked uncomfortable. ‘He is not what you think. I saw how they recognised each other.’

She was amazed. ‘How could Father know such a man?’

Jack sought to scratch his itching arm beneath the splints. ‘They’ve both travelled. Mackillin owns his own ship. They must have met for the first time before Father promised our stepmother to stop his wanderings—after he inherited this manor from our great-uncle and chose to live here, rather than in Grandfather’s house, which was ramshackle.’

‘I remember. I was twelve summers when Great-uncle Hugo died and left no issue. Father decided to run the two manors as one,’ she murmured through lips that quivered.

Jack’s expression was sombre. ‘Five years ago. Matt and I were ten. Most likely Father and Mackillin met in Calais.’

Cicely sighed and picked up the pillowcase she had been embroidering before she had left the house earlier that day. ‘That’s where Diccon met Edward of York. Father was angry because he was so taken with him and spoke of allying himself to his cause.’ She put the linen down again, too upset to sit and sew.

Jack grimaced. ‘You couldn’t expect Father not to be. He’s supported Henry of Lancaster all his life, despite his being half-mad and a hopeless king. More priest than soldier, so Father said.’

Cicely nodded. ‘This is true and why I suppose Diccon has gone over to the side of York, despite his having been born and raised in Lancashire.’ Yet that was not her father’s only reason for withholding his permission for her and Diccon to wed…the fact that he was landless and had little in the way of money most probably had a lot to do with it, too.

Jack sighed. ‘I’m tired and in no mood to worry myself about the affairs of York and Lancaster right now. We have enough troubles of our own. Father would expect you to show all courtesy to Mackillin. Food and shelter is the least we can provide him with as he refuses to claim the reward Father offered him.’

Cicely’s eyes sharpened. ‘So that’s what brings him here—the promise of a reward.’

Jack frowned. ‘I should not have mentioned it. I told you he has no intention of claiming it.’

‘So he says,’ she said scornfully. ‘He deceives you. He must know Father is a wealthy man. Perhaps he intends to take more than he was offered.’

Jack flushed with anger. ‘You insult him. Mackillin could have cut my throat and stolen our extremely valuable property any time these last ten days. I know he kissed you, Cissie, but you mustn’t hold that against him. It was a mistake.’

Pink tinged her cheeks and she bent over one of the dogs, noticing it had bits of bramble in its rough coat. She gently removed the thorns and said in a low voice, ‘He thought I was a servant girl. That’s his excuse for behaving like a savage.’

‘He’s no savage. You must curb your tongue, Cissie, and be thankful that he sent Master Husthwaite packing.’ Jack sighed. ‘It seems so strange being home without Matt and Father here. It’ll never be the same ever.’ His expression was bleak.

She agreed, thinking that the long winter