“So ye’ll let her go then? Perhaps then you can focus on the problem at hand.”
Alec grabbed the tankard and headed back to the table. Nodding his head to Cora, he took his seat next to Edward. “Miss Claire, I’ve decided that ye’ve paid yer dues. Ye are welcome to leave this very night. I’ll make sure ye have a horse and all the provisions that ye need.”
“Really?” Cora breathed. “I promise that I’ll send everything back as soon as I get home. Thank you so much. You have no idea what this means to me.”
“Miss Claire, I must insist that ye not leave until tomorrow,” Edward said quickly. “I would like yer company awhile longer.”
“Of course, Your Majesty.”
Edward took a sip of his ale and pushed his empty plate aside. “Yer kitchen staff is excellent, Sinclair. I have to admit that I am pleased with the improvements that ye’ve made here, but I still fear that ye have much to do. I can see that despite the merriment happening here, ye have not quite won over the respect of the MacKays. I understand that not more than a week has passed, and it takes time.”
“Yes, Sire.”
“Still, the MacKays talk highly of Innes Campbell. I’m afraid it might take more than just time to win them over. I gave ye this position because ye have shown strength and wisdom over the years, but I may have underestimated the MacKay pride. While I would have my orders followed, I’ll not have dissension among this land,” Edward warned.
Alec swallowed hard. Was Edward already going to remove him from his new position? “I understand,” he said quietly.
“Eight months ago, I’d signed a decree giving Innes the right to take over this clan rather than Seth once Duncan MacKay passed away,” Edward said easily. “All he had to do was marry a young woman.”
“Excuse me?” This was the first time that Alec had ever heard of this. “Yer only requirement was that he take a wife?”
“No, not just any wife. I verra much wanted the MacKay blood to stay in charge. Duncan approached me and told me of his fears that his son would see the clan in ruin. Tales of Seth’s cruelty had reached me, but it only seemed right than a MacKay rule the MacKays. Duncan informed me that he had a daughter. I agreed that if Innes Campbell married Duncan’s daughter, he could disown Seth MacKay.”
Next to him, Cora stilled. Alec cocked his head. “So what happened?”
“A little more than six months ago, Duncan went to England to retrieve his daughter. Alas, they were both slain by highway robbers upon their journey.”
“Six months ago?” Alec stared at Cora. He’d met Duncan a handful of times. Those green eyes...that lush auburn hair...
Edward smiled. “Yes, indeed. If by some miracle, the girl survived, whomever married her would gain the respect of the MacKay clan. Although, since I’ve already decreed that she marry Innes, I suppose it’s just as well that she died that night. If Innes were to marry her now, he’d be able to usurp you.”
Alec locked eyes with Cora. “What was the daughter’s name?” he asked coldly.
“I believe it was Cora. Cora Isles.”
8
Cora watched with trepidation as Alec pushed his chair back and stood. “Miss Claire, I believe it’s time for ye to retire.”
When Edward didn’t bother stopping him, she wondered if this was it. Would his King sanction her murder to ensure that Innes Campbell didn’t take the clan? “I don’t need an escort,” she said bravely. “I can find the way to my room on my own.”
“Ye won’t be going to yer room,” he growled. “I’ll meet ye in my chambers in ten minutes, and so help me God, if ye aren’t there, I promise that ye will not like the consequences.”
Once again, the Scottish King didn’t interfere. With a quick curtsy, she quickly fled to the stairwell. Part of her wondered what would happen if she made her escape. No doubt Alec would catch up with her and gleefully dole out her punishment.
For the first time, she lamented not being more skilled on a horse. Her mother didn’t have any, so she’d never experienced a horse until the Thistles took her in. They taught her side-saddle, which would only hinder her efforts to get away quickly.
What was the King thinking? What could possibly be achieved by telling the truth?
Entering his room, she shut the door and thought briefly about bolting it. She could lock herself in and make her escape out the window, but as she glanced down, the mere thought of the height brought her to a dizzying panic. She’d never been much of a climber.
Unwilling to sit on the bed, she pulled out a chair and perched primly on it. There was only one course of action left to take, so she began weaving a realistic tale that would show Alec that she was not Cora Isles and therefore no threat to him.
When the door banged open, Alec strode in with fire in his eyes. “Miss Claire,” he growled. “I believe that ye have some explaining to do.”
“As I’ve already explained, I did not seek the King’s counsel. He caught me in your room and demanded that I joined him at dinner. I did not go out of my way to embarrass you, and I did not tell him that I was thief.”
“But yer not a thief!” Alec roared as he slammed the door shut behind him. “Are ye, Cora?”
“My name is Claire,” she said hotly. Standing, she crossed her arms and faced him. “You want to hear my story? Just over six months ago, Seth MacKay visited England and swindled my father out of the family ring. I managed to track him down here, but he caught me before I took it back. Rather than have me hanged, he decided to take an interest me. He kept me in the prisons in hopes of breaking me.”
He stared at her. “There was no ring on his finger when I killed him, and there are no reports of a ring in the inventory.”
“I can’t explain that. I had hoped to get my hands on it before I left, but it’s not worth my life.”
“It’s a nice story,” he muttered quietly. “Did ye come up with that just now? Ye’ve a quick mind, but there’s just one problem.”
“What’s that?” she asked nervously.
“When I look at ye, I can see Duncan MacKay staring back at me. Ye have his eyes. So it would seem to me that the only thing ye plan on stealing is the MacKay clan, and I wilnae let that happen!”
“I don’t want it!” she shouted suddenly. Surprising them both, she began to beat her fists against his chest in anger. “Over six months ago, a man that I’d never met before turned my entire life upside down, and I spent months being tormented by the likes of Seth MacKay, my supposed half-brother. I don’t want your stupid clan. I don’t want anything to do with this place! I just want to leave!”
Alec caught her wrists in his hand and forced her to sit back down. “Cora. Cora,” he said in a low voice. “For God’s sake, calm yerself.”
Embarrassed by her admission and her outburst, she jerked her hands away from him. “I do not belong here.”
“If yer Duncan MacKay’s daughter, ye do.” He pulled a chair up to the bed and sat down. “Tell me what happened. From the beginning.”
Cora stared at her hands. “My mother was a beautiful woman. She was coveted by many, and she was so charitable. No matter what anyone calls her, I’ll always love and admire her. I’m not ashamed of where I come from.”
Looking up, she saw the question in his eyes, but he didn’t interrupt. Taking a deep breath, she plunged into her story. “My mother was a whore. Not a desperate and poor woman on the streets, but a wealthy and independent one. Her door was open to any woman seeking asylum, and many poor families brought their older children to her. She would train them in whatever they wished. Those that wanted could follow in her footsteps, but she also secured them jobs as maids and cooks. If a woman decided to follow in her footsteps, she would know that she’d never be treated unfairly. My mother even made men sign contracts before they could take them out as mistresses, and if they were mistreated in any way, those contracts allowed the woman to leave.”
Alec stared in amazement. “They wouldn’t have held up in a court of law.
”
“On the contrary. My mother was well-known in the justice circles. They were honored. She didn’t just provide safety to women. If a man found himself wounded in an embarrassing situation, such as facing his lover’s husband, he could come to my mother for healing. She had a gift for making people better.”
“That’s how you learned?”
“I wanted to apprentice with a doctor, but my mother wouldn’t have it. She wanted me to marry well and have everything for free that she had to work so hard for. She died before that could happen. I was thirteen years old.”
“Duncan didn’t claim ye?”
“He probably didn’t know. Lady Thistle was one of the benefactors of the home. She was the daughter of the Duke, but rather than marry for status, she married far beneath her station for love. Still, she had tons of money and spent it and her time with my mother helping those in need. She adopted me quietly until arrangements could be made for the women in the home. Without my mother’s status, Lady Thistle feared that the courts would no longer protect them. It was months before word finally got out. Lady Thistle had hoped that her status as a duke’s daughter and the money that I had inherited from my mother would help me find a husband, but without my mother’s protection, I was simply the daughter of a whore. Still, my family loved me, and I knew that even if I never married, I’d be secure and happy.”
Alec sat quietly while she continued with her story. “Several months ago a strange man showed up on our doorstep. He had a letter from the King of Scotland naming me the heir to the MacKay clan provided I marry Innes Campbell. The Thistles were so shocked that they wanted to go to the King of England to disband the contract, but I knew there was no reason for him to intervene on my account. Despite the Thistles’ love for me, I knew my station in life.
“My father gave me time to say my goodbyes. I could tell that he wanted a relationship with me, but I was stubborn. I couldn’t understand why he would leave my mother if he truly loved her as he claimed. I could only be convinced that there was nothing but desire between them, and I despised his claims otherwise. But that night, when we left, Seth MacKay attacked the carriage. And after he’d killed our father, I felt guilty that I hadn’t done more to give the man his due.”
“Seth killed Duncan?” Alec whispered. “’Tis a good thing that he’s already dead. The MacKays are no friends to the Sinclairs, but Duncan was a good man. We mourned his passing. Why didn’t he kill ye?”
Here was the moment of truth. She could admit that Innes was involved, but it was her word against the brother of a laird. If no one believed her, Innes would be free to take his revenge.
She didn’t know Alec. She couldn’t trust him with the whole truth. “He was fascinated by me. He took more pleasure of my torment than he would my death.”
“Does Innes know who you are?”
Vehemently, she shook her head. “I don’t think Seth disclosed the truth to anyone for fear of the King’s missive. No one recognized me until your king. He must have suspected when he’d learned how long I’d been here.”
“There’s something that ye are not telling me, Cora. I will have the whole truth.”
“I don’t know what else you want from me. I’m begging you to let me go. I have no desire to control this clan. I have no desire to even stay in Scotland. This place is horrid. Its people are horrid, and I just want to go home!”
Alec regarded her closely. Standing, he began to pace, and the silence between them thickened. “The King knows who ye are,” he said finally. “And he wants MacKay blood in charge. ’Tis a blessing that he’s even giving me this opportunity.”
“What opportunity?” she asked suspiciously.
“If no one claims ye, the King will force ye to marry Innes, and he’ll give the MacKays over to them. He decreed it six months ago, and he has nothing more than the rumors of Innes’s cruelty to dissuade him. If ye claim that ye had no idea that ye were betrothed, and if ye marry for love beforehand, the King will not dissolve the marriage.”
“Marry for love? What are you talking about?”
“Cora Isles, ye will marry me. In the morning. And when ye face King Edward, ye will declare yer undying love to me.”
With a gasp, she stood. “I will do no such thing! You said that I could leave! I’m not marrying you! You despise me!”
“Oh, I more than despise ye,” Alec threatened when he whirled around. He stalked towards her, and she moved away until her back hit the wall. As he towered over her, she gritted her teeth. “I doonae trust ye. If ye plan to take all of this away from me, then I am pleased to thwart yer plans. If ye are not lying to me, then ye should be happy. Ye get the fruitful marriage that yer mother always wanted for ye. Ye act as though I’m the man of your dreams, and ye will marry me, and if ye doonae, I promise that ye’ll find naught but hell shackled to a man like Innes.”
“You would keep me here against my will?” she whispered.
“There is nothing that I would not do to keep this clan out of the hands of Innes Campbell. Believe me when I tell ye that an alliance with him will only spell doom for ye.”
When she still didn’t answer him, he leaned down for a bruising kiss. Gone was the gentle man who had rescued her from the prison and the charming man who had attempted to seduce the truth from her. This was a man who would let nothing stand in his way.
His entire body pressed against her, and his hands settled on her waist. “Cora,” he whispered harshly when he finally broke away. “What will it be?”
“I guess you haven’t really given me much of a choice, have you? I will marry you. Now let me go.”
“Not a chance, love,” he breathed into her ear. “I doonae trust ye to not make a run for it. Ye’ll stay with me until the priest gets here.”
“If you think…”
“Stop yer worrying,” he said as he stepped back. “If there’s even a remote chance that ye remain chaste, I won’t sully ye before our wedding night. Get yerself comfortable, my dear. It appears that we’re both going to endure a long night.”
9
Alec was awake long before the first of the day’s sunlight streamed through the window. He pushed himself off the furs on the floor and turned his head to ensure that his future bride was in his bed.
She tossed and turned through most of the night, but a few hours ago, Alec heard her finally still. Looking over, he saw her splayed out under his blankets. She practically took up the entire bed.
It was the first time he’d ever seen her hair down. The long silky strands tumbled over the pillow in messy curls and waves. Even in the prison, when her hair was knotted on top of her head and unwashed, he knew her hair would be beautiful. He longed to touch it now, but he was afraid he wouldn’t stop. All night long he had to remind himself that slaking his desire for her before their wedding night would only prove his weakness towards her. She was no longer a thief but a dangerous woman who could take away everything that belonged to him.
He would not let Connor down, and he would not let the King down. If Edward didn’t truly want Sinclair to rule, he would never have told him about Cora.
She was still hiding something. What were the chances that she was in league with Innes Campbell?
It didn’t matter. In a few short hours, he would take care of everything.
Before he’d retired for the evening, he’d sent a message for the nearest priest to be summoned. He and Cora would be married before King Edward even woke up, and he’d secure his place as laird. An heir in Cora’s belly would be even better.
She started to stir, and he began dressing for the day. Without bothering to hide his nakedness, he turned his back to her and smiled when he heard her gasp. “Awake, my sweet bride?” he murmured when he turned around.
Cora immediately averted her eyes. “Must you do that now?”
“Please, look yer fill. I don’t mind. I’d like ye to be familiar with my body before tonight.”
“I hope you don’t mind that you will have to
marry me dressed as a servant. I’m afraid that I have nothing suitable to wear.” The tone of her voice told him that she wasn’t afraid at all. Alec had a feeling that if she had her way, she’d marry him in a burlap sack.
“Not to worry, my dear,” he said as he finished dressing. “I’ve already made arrangements. Duncan kept a few of his wife’s dresses which should do.”
When Cora let out a dry laugh, he gave her a sharp look. “That amuses ye?”
“I am the daughter of my father’s mistress. I don’t think anyone will find it amusing that I’m getting married in his wife’s dress.”
“I see yer point. Well, if this was a true love match, I’d worry about the bad luck it might bring. But since ’tis not, I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
The pain that crossed her face struck a nerve with him, but he refused to acknowledge it. The lass had all but confessed that no one would have her in England. Now she was to wed a laird. It should please her. “Ye can make things easier on ye if ye just tell me what I want to know.”
“I’ve told you everything,” she whispered.
“No. Ye haven’t. Not that it matters. Soon it won’t matter anymore. Do ye want to write to yer family and let them know that yer alive?”
“No,” she said quickly. Too quickly. “It’s best if they don’t know what I’ve been through. I fear Lord Thistle would not endure the news well.”
“They really care for ye?”
“Does it really surprise you that someone might love me?” she said bitterly as she slid off the bed. “May I be excused so that I may get ready for my wedding day?”
“Get Mary to help ye,” he said gruffly. “I’ll have the dress sent to ye room. I want to get this done by breakfast.”
“Your impatience to marry me warms my heart.”
Before he could reply, she’d slipped out the door. Running his hands over his face, he went to wake up his friends and Kane MacKay so that they might serve as witnesses.
Half an hour later, they were all gathered in the great hall with annoyed looks on their sleep-deprived faces. He had no doubt that they were still suffering from hangovers. From what he could tell, the celebration went well into the night.
Highlander's Beautiful Lia ( Historical Scottish Medieval Highlander Romance) Page 8