by Paula Quinn
“Is that what ye think the earl is, desperate?”
“He is now,” Alex said. “He must live with the uncertainty of when and how I will retaliate for John’s death, and the murders of my tenants.”
“Doesn’t that make ye equally desperate?”
A fair question. Did it? Alex rubbed his chin. “Perhaps I am.”
“There must be a way to avoid more bloodshed.”
“Nay. I canna overlook what has been done. If I did, word would spread throughout the Highlands of how weak the MacKays have become. An eye for an eye.”
“And whose eye do ye wish to take?”
“I willna settle for any less than one of his sons.”
Keely nodded, but Alex dinna miss the worried look on her face. “Is my father ready to speak with me?’
“Aye—he’s accepted my invitation to stay with us for a while. I wish ye to have some time with yer da, Keely, and yer brothers.”
“And where will ye be?’
“Fortifying the west villages and recruiting new soldiers.”
“How long will ye be gone?”
“Days at a time. But never too far away, lass.”
She hopped off the boulder and smoothed the wrinkles from her skirts. “I doona wish to keep my father waiting. He deserves the truth.”
Alex offered his arm. “I will take ye to him.”
*
Surrounded by her brothers and seated across from her sire in front of the main hearth in the great hall, Keely couldna keep from smiling. Her brother Simon tugged on a strand of her hair.
“Ye’re glowing,” Simon teased.
“Tis warm in here,” she said.
“Are ye happy, lass?” Broc asked.
As a child, Keely had been immeasurably happy. Her sire had indulged her, perhaps too much, because he felt guilty for her mother’s death. Everything changed when she was sent to the MacKays for that first summer at the age of thirteen. Laird Oliphant thought it would benefit her immensely to spend time away from home, in preparation for when she would marry and be expected to run her own household.
Whether her da had planned it or not, Keely did fall in love with one of the MacKay sons. And Alex’s father had always been affectionate with her, inviting her back every year. She looked about the familiar space and frowned when she saw the sheet again.
“What troubles ye?” Gavin, her second eldest brother asked.
“Tis nothing.” She dinna want to ruin the moment.
“Keely…” His eyebrows arched.
“The bridal bed sheet is an embarrassment.”
“Why?” Her other brother, Justice, asked. “The proof of yer purity is an honor to yer husband and all of us.”
“I doona want it there,” she complained.
“Very well.” Broc yanked it down and balled it up. “If anyone complains, send them to me.”
Keely jumped up from her chair and hugged her brother. “Thank ye, Broc. All of ye. Father.”
“For what, lass?” the laird asked.
“Coming here.”
“Ye are an Oliphant. And we take care of our own,” her father said. “But doona think all the pleasantries mean we’ve forgotten yer sins. What ye did was wrong. And I require an explanation.”
Her shoulders drooped as she slipped back into the chair and faced her sire. “I am sorry that I disappointed ye, Father.”
He blinked. “I am accustomed to disappointment, lass. With seven bairns, a man gets used to it. Tis the deception that’s eating a hole in my gut.”
“Deception?”
“Running off in the middle of the night instead of facing yer problems like a woman.”
Keely folded her hands on her lap. Aye—she’d acted irresponsibly. She’d given up her heart’s desire as her father had demanded. Her flight from the MacKays hadn’t been premeditated. “I dinna plan to run away.”
“Did John harm ye? Force ye to do anything? Curse ye?”
“Nay.”
“Did ye feel unwelcome here?” he continued.
“Father,” Keely started, eyeing her four brothers in search of support. “It had nothing to do with how I felt about Laird John or Clan MacKay.”
“Ye’re being deliberately difficult, girl.”
“Nay. I just want ye to understand why.”
“I’ve asked ye a dozen questions and am more confused than I ever was.”
Gavin and Simon snickered.
“She’s a woman, Father,” Simon offered. “Doona try to make sense of it.”
She leaned back in her chair, waiting while her brothers laughed at her expense. The years apart hadn’t diminished the true affection she had for her family, nor had her siblings matured.
“I couldna face ye,” she admitted, deciding to keep the explanation simple. Truth was truth no matter how she expressed it. Her body belonged to her, and as far as she was concerned, that meant her choice in husband should belong to her, too.
“Do ye have anything to be ashamed of, lass?”
“Nay, Father. Unless there’s shame in loving a man.” She watched her da for a long moment. Would he accept her reasoning? More importantly, would he bless her marriage, allow her to stay with Alex?
Laird Oliphant tugged on his beard. “Tis my fault, I shouldna have expected a mere girl to do a woman’s work.”
Finally, something they could agree on!
“I will have a full accounting of what transpired while ye were with the Sutherlands. And doona think the earl willna be held accountable. If I had taken his only daughter in without sending proper word, the man would have been banging on every gate in the Highlands until he found her.”
“Aye, Father.”
“Furthermore,” he boomed. “Ye will promise to never run away again.”
Just as she was about to swear, she remembered her earlier conversation with Petro. In truth, taking a secret trip to Dunrobin Castle would be considered the same as running away, wouldn’t it?
“Well, lass?” Broc said softly.
“I promise.” She couldna refuse to say it—her sire had required it as a condition for forgiveness.
“Tis settled then.” Her sire stood and opened his arms. “As for yer marriage, I will make that decision later. Give me a hug.”
Keely was only too happy to embrace him again. She’d always felt safe in her father’s strong arms—the same way she was beginning to feel about Alex.
“Now, where is my son-in-law?” Laird Oliphant asked much to Keely’s surprise.
“In the bailey training with his captains,” Broc directed him.
Once their father had left, Broc pulled Keely aside. “I am sorry for smacking ye, Keely.”
She stared at the floor. Ten years older than she, Keely had always regarded Broc as the champion of their family. He was the future laird and very much like their father. She gazed up at him and the anger that had flared inside her when he hit her faded. “I forgive ye.”
Chapter Nineteen
“Six masons and fifteen laborers are already rebuilding the cottages and the wall in the west village, Laird Alex,” Jamie reported. “The extra hands will assure quick completion.”
“Have ye taken an inventory for what we’ll need for the other four villages? The same should be done—providing defenses so the next time the Sutherlands come looking for a fight, they’ll get one.”
“Aye. Accommodations for the guards are also being constructed.”
Petro slid a ledger across the table to Alex. “I’ve finished the calculations, Alexander. There’s enough gold to hire the necessary hands to make the improvements on the keep, build the second tower, and pay two hundred retainers through next year. But we’ll need more money.”
Alex scanned the parchment. Clan MacKay was luckily self-sufficient, yielding enough crops—oats, barley, turnips, and kale—to sustain the tenants. The storerooms were also well-stocked with preserved meats, butter, cheese, and ale. The cattle and sheep herds flourished. Fortunately, his sire and b
rother had exercised temperance when it came to spending money, sometimes to a fault. He dinna mind investing in his clan, using his own wealth to improve the lives of the people. But there remained one question: it would be necessary to send a representative back to Constantinople to settle his accounts and sell his property.
He’d considered several candidates, including Petro. But Alex dinna want to part ways with him. He needed his secretary to help run the keep and maintain a friendship with Keely. Mathe was a soldier and dinna have the disposition to deal with foreigners. But Jamie had a good head on his shoulders. And like Alex, he was tall and fierce looking and would win the respect of the lords in the east.
“There is something I wish to discuss with ye,” Alex said to his cousin.
“Whatever ye need.”
“Sit.” Alex gestured to one of the chairs by the table. “As ye know, I dinna prepare for a long stay in Scotland.”
“Aye,” Jamie acknowledged, crossing his legs.
“I own extensive properties in Constantinople, employ sixty servants, own twenty slaves, and my concubines…”
Jamie coughed exaggeratedly.
“Tis a delicate subject,” Alex said.
“I never imagined ye as anything but a Highlander, Cousin.”
“I am a Highlander first.” Alex thumped his chest. “But if a man leaves his homeland, ye canna fault him for building a life elsewhere.”
“Nay,” Jamie said. “But I canna understand keeping slaves.”
“Doona fash, Father Michael has provided the guidance I need to save my soul.”
Jamie chuckled.
“It seems a man can be absolved of any sin as long as he has enough coin,” Alex added.
“I’ll remember it when I need forgiveness.”
Alex rolled his eyes. There were stark differences between life in Scotland and Constantinople. Sometimes he still missed the heat and sand. But he’d willingly let go of that life and there was no going back now. “I want ye to sail to Constantinople.”
Jamie leaned forward in the chair, resting his palms on the edge of the table. “Are ye daft? Leave home?”
“Aye. Ye’ve been to England and France.”
“To advance MacKay interests, to fight for my laird,” Jamie pointed out.
“And now ye will serve my interests by dissolving any ties I have in the east. I will pay ye a king’s ransom, Jamie. Ye’ll have enough coin to attract the kind of bride ye deserve.”
His cousin dinna look convinced.
“What do I know of such a place? The people?”
“I will send Kuresh with ye. He will act as interpreter, councilor, and guide.”
“What about Mathe? Or Gordon? He has a head for business—can haggle with the sellers at the market like an old woman.”
“Aye, Gordon would be a wise choice, too. But he doesna have yer quick wit and sword arm. And he isna my kinsman. This requires someone I trust implicitly.”
Alex had always lived with a sense of purpose, first for the honor of his family, and when his brother and Keely betrayed him, that purpose shifted to himself. Well, now it had switched back to family. And the wealth that would come from selling off his assets would make Clan MacKay a worthy adversary to the Sutherlands. Titles and lands were purely symbolic in Alex’s mind. A man with enough gold to do whatever he wanted commanded his enemies’ respect and fear.
“What about my seat on the council?”
“Name yer temporary replacement or grant proxy to one of the members. Yer place will be saved for when ye return. And trust me, Cousin, ye will come home.” Alex could see the uncertainty on his face.
“How long will I be gone?”
“Two months.”
“An Diabhal fhéein!”
“Doona incite the devil. Ask for protection from the Almighty if ye must,” Alex suggested, attempting to hide his smile.
“Ye’re not like other men, Alex. Nothing would make me want to leave the Highlands.”
“Spoken like a man who has never experienced the kind of betrayal I have.”
There was a long silence.
“Still about betrayal, is it?” Jamie asked sharply.
Alex clamped his jaw tight. “A subject better avoided.”
“All right,” Jamie said. “When do ye need my answer?”
“Now.”
“Now?”
“Aye. The longer we wait, the better the chance of someone taking what is mine. I should have been on my ship weeks ago.”
“Did ye no leave someone to act in yer absence?”
“Of course, a trusted servant who is trained to run my household,” Alex said. “But there are powerful men who covet what I own.”
“What if I refuse?”
Alex stiffened. “I havena thought that far ahead.”
Jamie’s eyebrows rose with surprise. “Ye say go, and I must.”
“I am laird, and ye did swear fealty to me.”
Jamie nodded. “It will cost ye, Cousin. I want my own lands. And a house.”
“Ye wish to live apart from the clan?”
“Have ye not heard a word I’ve said, Alex? Our clan means everything to me. I would never leave. But I’d gladly take back what my father ceded to yer da before he died. Tis the price for my sword arm that ye value so much.”
His cousin’s demand wasna unreasonable. The voyage would take Jamie through pirate infested waters, so it would only be right to pay him. Alex still sought Petro’s approval. Giving up land wasna something taken lightly. But Alex also recognized the importance of keeping his heir happy. If anything happened to Alex, or if Keely couldna bear him a son, Jamie would be the next laird. Another reason he wanted his cousin to take the trip. Nothing opened a man’s eyes like Constantinople. He’d either find God or go to the devil.
“Five hundred acres along the sea coast,” Petro said, referencing a map that Alex’s father had always kept available. It showed the extent of Clan MacKay holdings. “A fair exchange for what you ask him to do.”
“All right.” Alex stood and walked around the table to where his cousin sat. “Ye’ll have the land, and upon yer return, my masons will build whatever home ye want.”
Jamie hoisted himself up to his feet, still looking unsure of the situation. “Two months?”
“Three, if the storm gods curse ye.”
“Ye’re a bloody pagan,” Jamie said, clasping Alex’s shoulder. “I willna fail ye. And once the shock of the moment passes, I am sure I will be grateful for the opportunity. It’s just … I’ve never considered traveling so far before. A man gets comfortable in his natural surroundings.”
“We are creatures of habit,” Alex agreed. “Some of them worse than others.”
The two laughed, and Alex gripped his cousin’s forearm.
“Thank ye, Jamie. I’ve always considered ye a brother.”
Chapter Twenty
A week later, as Keely dressed for the feast Alex had planned in honor of her father and Jamie’s departure, she couldna help but feel a little sad. She’d miss Jamie. However, his quest filled her with hope. With Alex cutting ties in Constantinople, it meant he fully intended to stay in the Highlands. The fear that he’d secure his place as laird, get her with child, and then depart had always been in the back of her mind. Though they’d fallen into a comfortable routine lately, her husband showed no sign of softening toward her.
Aye, he treated her with decency and dinna hold back his passion at night. But she craved more—that intimate connection she’d seen other couples share. She turned and looked at Leah who was busy cleaning her dressing table.
“What troubles ye?” the maid asked.
“Nothing.”
“I know ye’re not telling the truth, Lady Keely. Whenever ye worry, crease lines appear between yer brows.”
Had she grown that careless? While in residence at Dunrobin Castle, she had learned quickly to hide her feelings. Otherwise, the earl and his sons would question her, and Helen wouldna leave her side. Dou
bt whispered inside her as she tried to make sense of everything. Aye, she amused Alex and had proven herself an eager lover. But his interest in her seemed to end the moment the sun came up and he stepped out of their bedchamber.
She wanted more, to be his confidant and helpmate—to learn everything about managing Clan MacKay, inside and outside the keep. Numerous requests to accompany him on clan business had fallen on deaf ears. With other clans, sometimes the laird’s wife settled disputes among the women, a duty she’d very much like to take on. It would ease his workload.
“Keeping secrets doesna help ye.” Leah interrupted her thoughts.
“I have too many secrets to count.”
The maid chuckled. “Tis only one thing that makes ye restless like this.”
“Oh?”
“Aye—anything about Laird Alex.”
Life revolved around him now. Even with her father and brothers visiting, she still felt half full. “I will simply have to accept whatever pieces of him he’s willing to give me.”
Leah clicked her tongue. “Ye’d give up so easily?”
“I’ve asked him to spend more time with me, to include me in his affairs.” She felt defeated and had run out of options, with the exception of begging—but that would only make her husband angry.
Relief threaded through her when someone knocked on the door. Leah drooped her dusting cloth and wiped her hands on her smock.
“I will get it,” Keely said. She needed the distraction.
Much to her delight, Petro greeted her when she opened the door.
“Lady Keely,” he bowed. “Would you take a walk with me? I have news.”
“What kind of news?” she asked curiously.
“The kind that no one else should hear.”
She looked over her shoulder to make sure Leah wasn’t listening. “I will get my cloak. Will ye wait out here?”
“Aye.”
She closed the door quietly.
“Who was it?” Leah asked.
“I am going for a walk with Petro.”
“But yer hair.”
Keely preferred to wear it down. “There’s still plenty of time before the feast starts,” she said, choosing her best cloak and securing it around her shoulders. “If Alex sends for me, tell him where I am.”