Captured Hearts and Stolen Kisses

by Ceci Giltenan et al.

  Andrew suppressed a smile. He finally understood the source of her boldness. She was not a lowly seamstress who didn’t know her place. She was a noblewoman with an impudent streak, not unlike his sister’s.

  “Lass, why were ye so far from home and unaccompanied the day ye saved David? Is yer brother always so careless with ye?”

  She stiffened angrily. “My brother is not careless with me.”

  “Then why were ye alone?”

  “Eoin and I had an argument and I was angry. If I had ridden out that day, I would have had an escort but I don’t need one if I am walking close to home.”

  “But ye weren’t close to home,” said Andrew.

  “I didn’t intend to walk that far. I was preoccupied. I wasn’t supposed to walk northward on the bluff anyway. I just wanted some time alone. That’s why I said that Eoin would be angry.”

  Dougal frowned at her. “I would certainly be angry if ye were mine. But maybe God did lead ye there so that ye could save Davy. What had ye argued about?”

  Anna frowned and looked away, eventually answering, “My betrothal.”

  “Are ye betrothed then?”

  “I wasn’t when I left.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “It means that my brother was considering a betrothal but hadn’t agreed to it yet. That is what we argued about.”

  “Who was he considering?”

  “Fearchar Morrison,” she said miserably.

  “Fearchar Morrison is an idiot,” said Graham.

  Anna’s expression suggested that she agreed with him, but she said, “I thought the MacLeods were allies of the Morrisons?”

  “We are,” said Andrew, “another of Laird Morrison’s sons trains here, but that doesn’t stop Fearchar from being an idiot.”

  “Fearchar will be chief someday but I’m surprised yer brother was even considering it. The MacKays and the Morrisons have never been particularly cozy, and the Isle of Lewis is so remote.” said Dougal.

  “Well, I admit I’m no great prize, but I’m not without skills. I do know how to run a household.”

  “Anna, that’s not what I meant, lass.”

  “I know what ye meant,” she snapped. “As ye said, the Morrisons and MacKays have never been cozy but he’s an ally of yers. If I marry Laird Morrison’s heir, the power shifts and the MacKays would have the tighter bond. In a conflict, if it came to choosing sides, the Morrisons might stand with the MacKays. Not that it does either of us much good with them on God-forsaken Lewis.”

  “Anna, stop it. I am concerned about ye, not whomever the MacKays choose to ally themselves with. It’s clear ye wouldn’t be happy that far away.”

  “Ye needn’t concern yerself about me any longer. I have brothers for that. Let me go back to them.”

  Ignoring her Dougal asked, “Has Eoin considered anyone else?”

  Anna flushed angrily. “Pardon me, but I don’t see how my betrothal is any of yer business.”

  Andrew cringed. No MacLeod in their right mind would speak to Dougal like that.

  Dougal however, smiled. “Ah let me guess, little dove, ye haven’t agreed with any of his choices so far and he hasn’t wanted to force ye into a match ye didn’t want.” Still glaring, Anna didn’t answer him, but her silence was affirmation enough. “That at least tells me that he loves ye. He’s probably ready to wring yer neck about now, but he loves ye. He might even have been baiting ye about Morrison in the first place. Andrew has a way of setting Mairi off regularly.”

  “And she, him,” said Graham.

  Andrew couldn’t argue. It was true.

  “Will ye demand a ransom now?” asked Anna tentatively.

  “I’m not sure what I am going to do with ye, but it’s clear yer brother and I need to speak face to face. I will send him a message tomorrow telling him that we have discovered who ye are, that ye are an honored guest here and we’ll arrange a meeting. Cheer up, little dove. Ye’ll see yer brother soon.” Then as an afterthought Dougal asked, “By the way, ye told us yer brother’s name was ‘Sorley’ and clearly it wasn’t. Who is Sorley?”

  It warmed Andrew’s heart to see her smile as she answered, “My gelding.”

  Andrew and Graham chuckled at that but their father laughed until tears ran down his weathered cheeks. Dougal finally managed to say “I’m sure yer brother was less than flattered by that, but it serves him right for threatening to send ye off to Lewis!”

  “And it explains why Sorley was saddled with grief,” Andrew commented, remembering how delighted she’d been by the message.

  “If it is any consolation to ye, I will not return ye to yer brother if he plans to marry ye to Fearchar.”

  She smiled weakly. “If he plans to marry me to Fearchar, I’ll stay.”

  Dougal laughed again before calling for his squire. “Colin, lad, would ye escort our guest to her chamber please? Anna, ye need to rest and we have some other business to discuss. Sleep well, little dove.”

  “Thank ye, Laird. Good night,” she said quietly before leaving with Colin. Her polite, meek veneer was back in place.

  Dougal turned to his sons, shaking his head, “Kentigern MacKay should have settled her betrothal years ago.”

  Andrew snorted and Graham said, “Oh, like ye’ve settled Mairi’s?” They were both fully aware their father had not yet arranged a betrothal for her. Dougal glared at them.

  “I will never forgive ye if ye leave me to sort out a betrothal for Mairi,” warned Andrew.

  “If I didn’t know better, son, I’d say ye were afraid of a wee MacLeod lass,” replied Dougal, echoing Andrew’s taunt from several days ago.

  “Mairi’s defiance would try the patience of a saint, and ye let her get away with it too often.”

  “I’ll remind ye of this, Andrew, when ye have a wee daughter of yer own who wraps ye ‘round her finger.”

  “Ye know I have no intention of ever marrying again. Joan was…well I have an heir and that’s enough. Ye can warn Graham about the perils of daughters.”

  “I know ye didn’t want to marry again, but I am going to ask Eoin MacKay to consider a betrothal between ye and Anna.”

  Nothing his father could have said would have shocked him more. “Ye’re not serious, Da.”

  “Oh but I am.”

  “Nay. Marry her to Graham if ye feel the need.

  “That isn’t possible, brother. Ye know I was betrothed to Isobel Ross years ago.”

  “I am not marrying again,” declared Andrew.

  “And ye have the nerve to call yer sister defiant? Ye’ll marry if I say ye will, Andrew, and make no mistake.”

  “Eoin MacKay will never agree to it and Eve—er—Anna only wants to go home,” said Graham.

  “Eoin will have no choice in the matter and neither will Anna,” said Dougal confidently.

  Andrew was not ready to drop this. “Why would ye do this? I don’t want to be married, she surely doesn’t want to marry me and Eoin won’t want his sister married to a MacLeod.”

  His father looked at him intently. “Anna MacKay saved Davy’s life, not simply by being there and rescuing him from the loch, but by acting quickly to warm him and risking her own life in the process. When I thought she was a simple seamstress, the only way I could repay a fraction of our debt was to ensure she was safe and had as easy a life as possible.”

  “How has that changed? I agree she shouldn’t have to marry Fearchar Morrison, but that doesn’t mean she should become my wife.”

  “This has nothing to do with who she does or doesn’t wish to marry. The most valuable thing I can give Davy’s angel is peace between our clans. The night ye brought Anna here, when she fell ill, Isla said it wasn’t only our errors in judgment that had caused it but the decades of hate that both clans bred. She was right, lads. What happens if we allow it to continue? Maybe in twenty-five years Davy faces Anna’s son in battle and slays him. How have we repaid her selflessness then? The best thing I can do for her children and yers
is to end this feud once and for all.”

  “Then end it. Why must we marry to do that?”

  “Ye know only a powerful tie between the clans will be enough to end this hostility permanently. Ye’re my heir and she is Laird MacKay’s sister. There is no tighter bond than a marriage between ye. Frankly, it’s a match I had already tried to make once. I offered Kentigern a betrothal between the two of ye over ten years ago, long before I ever considered Joan Sinclair. MacKay would have no part of it.”

  This news stunned Andrew. “Then why do ye think her brother will agree now?”

  “Because I have something with which to bargain that I didn’t have before—the lass herself. The only ransom I will accept is a signed betrothal.”

  Graham was equally astounded. “Ye would keep her here as a prisoner if her brother doesn’t agree?”

  “Aye, I would. I think the stakes warrant it. However, he’ll agree.”

  “Don’t ye think forcing him into this will anger him sufficiently to cause hard feelings?” asked Andrew silently thinking that ‘hard feelings’ was a gross understatement.

  “Aye it probably would, but I am prepared to offer something precious in return, which will also solve a problem ye were worried about.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Laird MacKay has two unmarried brothers. I’m going to offer a betrothal between one of them and Mairi.”

  Astonished, both Andrew and Graham stared at him, unable to speak.

  Finally Andrew shook his head. “I don’t know, Da. Mairi might single-handedly make the MacKays hate us more than they already do.”

  Chapter 5

  “Are ye really the MacKay’s sister?” asked Colin as he walked her to her chamber.

  “It didn’t take long for that news to spread.”

  “So ye are?”

  “Aye. I’m Anna MacKay.”

  “But ye saved Davy.”

  Anna wanted to say right about now she fervently wished she had run the other direction, but she couldn’t. It wasn’t true. “Aye.”

  “But ye are the MacKay’s sister.”

  “Colin, that’s been established,” she said irritably.

  “Well, I just mean, well everyone thought it was an amazing thing when they heard how a MacKay saved Davy. No one expected that, but now it turns out ye are the MacKay’s own sister. That’s just hard to believe.”

  “Colin, we are not monsters,” she snapped. “We are people, just like the MacLeods. We laugh and we cry and we show compassion and we make mistakes!”

  “I didn’t mean to upset ye,” he said solemnly.

  She softened, “I know. I’m sorry for snapping at ye. I’m tired, I’m alone among people who don’t like me simply because of my name.”

  “But we do like ye. Ye saved—”

  “I know, I saved Davy. But I’m still a MacKay and I don’t belong here. I want to…” Nay there was no point saying it. “Never mind.”

  “Is there anything I can do?”

  “Can ye get me out of this keep?” He shook his head sadly. “Then nay, Colin, thank ye, there’s nothing ye can do. Good night.”

  She entered her chamber, shut the door and leaned against it for a moment. This would change everything. She had hoped, out of gratitude, the MacLeods would let her go as soon as Eoin convinced them Eve the Seamstress would not suffer for her actions. Clearly, that was unlikely now. She knew the MacLeod’s could demand a steep ransom because of who she was, regardless of the fact that she saved Davy. She needed to escape now more than ever.

  Maybe she could just walk out. She had been so ill, they surely wouldn’t expect it. She could slip out in the night and simply walk home. It would be a long cold trek but she knew she could do it. She remembered riding under a portcullis when Graham brought her here. No doubt it would be closed and guarded at night, but there might be another way out. She crossed to the window to see what options she might have.

  The curtain wall surrounding the keep was wide. Sentries were posted on the top every hundred paces or so. Perhaps if she could hide in the shadows and watch, she could make it up the stairs to the top of the wall without being seen. But she worried the wall was too high for her to drop down the other side without risking serious injury. If she knew what was on the other side of the wall, perhaps she could pick the best place to try. Tomorrow she would try to go outside and try to see more.

  ~ * ~

  The next morning the sun was bright but the wind was blustery and cold. She was already up, dressed and sitting on the window seat looking out when a young maid knocked and came in. “Good morning my lady, I’m Jesse.”

  “Hello Jesse, please just call me Anna.”

  “Isla is my grandmother and she said I was to help ye and make sure ye didn’t overdo.”

  Anna closed her eyes for a moment. “Thank ye Jesse, but it really isn’t necessary.”

  “But Gran said ye needed help and Laird MacLeod wanted ye to have a maid.”

  “I don’t need a maid.”

  Jesse looked crestfallen, “But Gran worries so about ye, and I wanted to help.”

  A MacLeod maid was about the last thing on earth she needed, but Anna didn’t want to disappoint the girl. She seemed to have her heart set on helping her grandmother. “I suppose ye could bring me something for breakfast, unless yer priest hasn’t said Mass yet, in which case I would like to go to Mass.”

  “Father Ninian says Mass a bit later on Sundays. I will check with Laird MacLeod to make sure it’s all right.”

  “Never mind—” but she was out the door before Anna could stop her.

  A few minutes later, there was another knock at her door and Andrew entered with her mantle over his arm. “Jesse said ye were feeling up to attending Mass. I would be happy to escort ye.”

  “I’m sorry she bothered ye. It isn’t necessary. I’ve changed my mind.”

  He held her mantle for her. “Anna, don’t be silly. Put on yer mantle and let me take ye to Mass.”

  There was no avoiding it now. Anna turned and let him put the mantle around her shoulders. She had hoped to get outside the keep without one of the MacLeod men at her elbow, but it couldn’t be helped. He walked with her downstairs and across the courtyard to the chapel. She had hoped maybe they didn’t have a chapel within the walls and would walk to the village. Still, it was better than nothing, so she tried to take in as much as she could of the layout of the keep and the curtain wall.

  With her mind occupied by plans of escape, she barely listened until one of the readings caught her attention. Omnia possum in Eo qui me confortat, I can do all things in Him who strengthens me. She wrestled with St. Paul’s words. She wanted to believe it was a sign. A message telling her she could do anything, even escape, with the help of God. But a little voice inside her said, it isn’t license to do whatever ye wish, it just promises God’s help to cope with where ye find yerself.

  After much thought, she decided she needed to quiet that little voice. She did not want to cope with living among the MacLeods. She wanted to escape.

  When they left the chapel after Mass she tried to get Andrew to walk with her outside the walls. “It is a beautiful day, could we walk a bit?”

  “It is a blustery cold day and ye haven’t broken yer fast. If it warms up a bit later perhaps ye can take a short walk then.”

  It would do no good to argue with him now. Perhaps if she were compliant, he would let her go for a walk later. It was the only way she had a hope of seeing more of the grounds so she could learn enough to make a plan.

  ~ * ~

  The day did not warm up but she unsuccessfully tried to get Andrew to take her for a walk anyway. When that failed, she tried Graham, who also refused. In desperation, she tried Mairi who pouted and said, “Andrew told me that if ye asked me to take ye outside I was to say no. I’d take ye anyway, but Da said if I did he wouldn’t let me see ye at all. But, Anna, while I hate to admit it, they’re probably right. It is much too cold and windy today.”

/>   The day had been frustrating and by evening she just wanted to be alone. When Jesse arrived to help her get ready for the evening meal she sent her away.

  “It isn’t necessary. I’m tired and I don’t intend to eat in the great hall again.”

  “Are ye well? Shall I fetch Gran?”

  “Jesse, I’m fine. I just don’t want to go down to supper.”

  “But my lady—”

  “Please call me Anna.”

  “Anna, Laird MacLeod expects ye to be at the table.”

  “Jesse, please just let me be.”

  The maid left quietly and while Anna felt guilty for snapping at her, she was glad to be alone. She sat at the window seat, looking out over the courtyard. There was another knock and the door opened before she could answer. She spun her head around saying “Jesse please—” only it wasn’t Jesse, it was Andrew.

  “I’ve come to take ye down for supper.”

  “I’m not going.”

  “That’s what Jesse said, but it isn’t acceptable.”

  She gaped at him. “It isn’t acceptable? To whom?”

  “To my father. To me.”

  “Well, I’m sorry it isn’t acceptable to ye and Laird MacLeod but I’m tired.”

  “Ye weren’t too tired to try to get Graham and Mairi to take ye out for a walk today after I told ye nay.”

  “Well I’m tired now,” she snapped.

  “Then I suppose ye won’t be wanting to take a walk outside tomorrow either?”

  “That’s blackmail!”

  He simply arched an eyebrow at her.

  “Oh all right, I’ll go down to supper,” she said in frustration.

  She remained quiet throughout the meal. It was easy enough with Mairi and David chattering away. Still she couldn’t help feeling out of place. I don’t belong here.

  ~ * ~

  The Sutherland messenger arrived at Naomh-dùn with the third message from Laird MacLeod during the evening meal. After reading it Eoin put his head in his hands.

  “What’s happened?” asked Aidan anxiously.

  There was no longer any need to dissemble in the presence of the messenger so Eoin said, “They know who she is.”

  “How?” asked Tasgall.