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Stuart rushed about without thought or purpose, nearly ruining his horse as he ran from place to place, attempting to just cover as much ground as he could. Frang finally got him to stop, rest the horse, and think a bit about where she might have gone.

"Would she have gone to her family?" Frang asked.

"I don't think so," Stuart replied. "Her family is too far. She would nae have gone without proper guard. She's nae so foolish as that."

"Well then, you think she wouldn't have gone far then? She would be fairly close to the Keep?" Frang suggested.

"Aye. Fairly close, else she would have taken a horse and guardsmen."

"Given that you think the lass is fairly near, what would she be doing?" Frang said.

Stuart thought for a moment.

"She mentioned that she was running out of some of the medicinals and herbs that she keeps to treat the sickly." He said.

"Since town is too far for her to go, where might she go for what she needs?" Frang asked.

"I know there's a glade not too far from the Keep, surrounded closely by trees, where I know that she can find most of the plants that she uses," Stuart replied. "She may have gone there. Close enough to the Keep that she may have felt safe. It's about 5 minutes from here if we ride fast."

"Lead on."

When they arrived at the glade, the brush and trees were thick enough they had to abandon their horses and Stuart led Frang through the dense brush until they came to the clearing it encircled. There was his wife staked out with one man fucking her mouth and another either penetrating his wife's sex or about too. He quickly loosed an arrow at that bastard while Frang loosed his at the one in her mouth.

Both of them toppled over, dead instantly. Frang offered his cloak and politely turned away while Stuart undid her ropes and closed the cloak around her. Ailene continued to sob, so close was her rescue to her permanent degradation and dishonor. Even now, she felt unclean and diseased and wondered how her husband could possibly love her again. He finished untying her and wrapped in the cloak and his arms, he hugged her close.

"Did the bastards rape you, dear?" He whispered. "Did they penetrate you?" He urged.

"Nae husband, they were about to, but you stopped them before they could finish the deed. It was pretty much as you saw when you arrived, except the skinny one had pushed his fingers into me, and they pawed my breasts before you came. They'd just finished the tying so I would nae struggle so much." She clutched him harder. "Can you ever forgive me, love, after those filthy beasts touched and mauled me? Can you touch me again? Or will you hate me and refuse to love me because I've been soiled by those two?"

"I'll always love you, Ailene. I can't help myself. There will be consequences though, for leaving the Keep without telling anyone and not going out with guards. It was expressly forbidden by Thorburn, Laird of the Keep, and by myself."

"What consequences, husband?" She asked.

"You'll know soon enough, my love."

They gathered up her herbs and flowers and Frang put them in his bedroll.

"We'll send someone back for the bodies, take them to Dervaig and see what they might be wanted for," Frang said.

Stuart mounted his horse and Frang lifted Ailene and Stuart settled her before him on the horse and they headed back to the Keep. Frang lagged behind, guarding their rear and giving them a little privacy.

"Why did you nae follow our orders and take guards with you?" Stuart asked.

"I wasn't going that far from the Keep and I don't understand why someone has to go with me all of the time."

"You've heard us speak of Calum Blackthorne, have you not?" requested Stuart.

"Aye, Lord of Blackthorne Manor. I've heard him mentioned with great disgust by all of you, but I've nae idea why," she replied. She leaned her head back against Stuart's shoulder.

"He's an evil, vile man. Father believed that he killed the prior owner of the Blackthorne land and stole the property from the heirs; something about a debt, and we know that he wants our land as well. The current property he owns only has access to Loch Frisa, which is landlocked and has no access to the sea. Our land borders Loch A Chumhainn, and is close to the market town of Dervaig, giving us access to the sea and trading that's not available to Blackthorne. He's greedy and wants more, and will stop at nothing to get it. He would do anything to obtain it. If he took you captive, he could hold you for ransom, make us exchange property for you. Or rape you and cast doubt on the paternity of any child that we might have. It's nae just you. We dare send nae one out without a minimum of 2 or 3 men-at-arms. All are at risk, not just the women. Nae even Thorburn rides out alone. If it had been Blackthorne's men who took you, they would have taken you to the manor rather than raping you on the spot. There you could have been tortured, raped; we could have done nae to prevent it." Stuart explained.

"I'm sorry, Stuart," Ailene said. "I dinna know."

"You could have obeyed without knowing. We dinna give orders without reason," he said.

"You know," Stuart continued, "Blackthorne razed the township of Achnadrish to build the manor. Pushed all the crofters off the land. One of the old women had a deed to her little piece of property. Blackthorne tore up the deed, threw it in the fire and told her to get off the land in a week. Unfortunately for him, the local minister had the original deed, the old woman had a copy. When Blackthorne found out, he was livid with rage. He built a fence around her property so she couldn't enter or leave until she finally sold her property for a fraction of it's value. He might be the most hated man on all of Mull."

"How can he do these things? How come no one can stop him? Isn't he breaking the law?" asked Ailene.

"He's a rich and powerful man and has even more rich and powerful friends, extending to the throne itself," Stuart answered. "While I'm sure he could be taken down should any serious crimes be proven with undeniable proof, he's most careful to make sure that proof doesn't exist. The men who might be able to testify are dead or missing."

They reached the Keep and entered the portcullis. They turned the horses over to the groom.

Frang said, "Take good care of them, they've been ridden hard. Give them some extra oats." To Stuart he said, "I'll let Thorburn know that we found her and I'll see you in 20 minutes in the Strapping Room."

"Strapping room, I've never heard of a strapping room in the Keep. What's it for?" Ailene asked.

"There's nae been need for you to see the strapping room before," Stuart replied. "It's time now."