“Dinna speak about ma wife like that. Uncle Alex. Just wait. Ye’ll get yer turn, and mayhap sooner rather than later.” Callum jerked his chin in the direction of the keep. Alex looked over and saw Brighde and Siùsan walking towards the gardens, each with a large basket tucked under her arm. They seemed to be carrying on a lively conversation. Alex smiled to himself before he noticed that his brothers were watching him and grinning.
Alex put a hand on his hip since he was still holding his sword and broadened his stance.
“Doesnae work with us,” Tavish laughed as they all stood the same way. It was the most natural position for them short of having their arms crossed.
Alex shook his head, “Are we going to train or stand around clishmaclavering like a set of fishwives?”
Alex joined the other men who were lined up to begin sparring. Like a well-choreographed dance, Callum stood across from him. After several turns, strikes, and parries, the brothers smoothly switched partners as if there were invisible cues. They continued sparring throughout the morning, offering Alex an outlet for all his frustrations, both physical and emotional. He was almost nicked more than once when he let his mind wander to Brighde. Luckily, he had not been partnered with Callum, Tavish, or Magnus. He would never hear the end of it if he had been.
~~~
Brighde emerged into the sunlight with Siùsan. They had been talking together ever since they came below stairs to break their fast, or rather, Brighde came to break her fast, and Siùsan tried not to turn an off shade of puce green. Now they were headed to the vegetable and herb garden to weed and pick any ripe vegetables.
“Callum was trying to convince me to stay abed today. The mon is going to drive me batty if he’s going to hover like a mother hen. As long as I dinna smell any food, eat only bannocks, and get a nap in the morn and after the nooning, I am right as rain.”
The women laughed together as they settled side by side to weed a patch of leeks.
“Callum canna stand them.” Siùsan nodded her head toward the shoots. “Apparently, he was once quite ill as a child. The healer at the time insisted that he eat them to the point where he’d be happy to never see another one.”
Brighde smiled as Siùsan chattered on about her husband, but she thought about what she had observed about Alex’s preferences. She felt a wave of discouragement flow through her when she could not think of anything he particularly liked, other than pickled herring, or disliked. Then she was discomfited to realize how much not knowing bothered her.
He maynae think I should go to the Orkneys or Shetlands, but I canna stay her forever. He maynae take the threat seriously, but I do. I dinna ken if ma father or de Soules are searching for me, but if they lost any of their money because I didna marry the beast or worse didna die, then they will search for me. They might vera well do it just out of vengeance for me thwarting their plans. I canna hide within the keep, or even the walls, forever. If I venture out, someone is bound to see me. If it werenae for ma hair, I might blend in. I can cover ma head, but I canna always be sure someone willnae say aught to the wrong person. Mayhap I should go to Iona. Mayhap I could convince Alex to take me there.
At the thought of leaving, Brighde felt her heart pinch. She caught herself just before she began to shake her head. The idea of leaving here, leaving Alex, was becoming harder and harder to accept. She could feel tears prickling behind her eyes.
“Ye didna hear a word I just said, did ye?”
Brighde looked blankly at Siùsan before coming back to the present. She looked sheepishly at Siùsan and shook her head.
“I ken where yer mind is. It seems to me that the men of this family have that effect on women. I dinna ken Alex as well as I do Magnus and Tavish, but if he’s aught like the other three, which I canna see how he wouldnae be since they’re four peas in a pod, ye have found yerself a good mon.”
“It does not matter. I know he is a good man, but it cannot lead to anything.”
“Why ever nae?”
“I’m here for only a short while before I continue on.”
“Continue on? There isnae anywhere else to go before ye drop in the sea.”
“This was always meant to just be a stop on my way. I’m going to Iona to join the convent.”
Siùsan looked at her sideways. It made no sense to her that an English woman would retire to a Scottish convent on an isolated island. No sense, unless she was running from something or someone. However, Siùsan chose not to press the issue and resolved to talk to Callum to find out what he knew.
“I think we have done a fine job with the weeding and picking this morn. I dinna ken about ye, but ma knees are ready to be straightened.”
Brighde looked at her basket and Siùsan’s. She had not realized how much they had worked while her mind wandered. They both picked up their baskets and turned back towards the keep. The clang of metal on metal was almost deafening as they moved towards the lists.
“Nae too hard on the eyes, if ye ken ma meaning.” Siùsan tilted her head towards the training men. Brighde leaned forward slightly to see around Siùsan and nearly tripped when her toe hit a rock. She pitched forward and would have fallen with her basket flying if Siùsan had not reached out to grasp her arm.
“I see ye are duly impressed,” Siùsan laughed loudly enough to receive some looks from the men.
“Sshh! You are drawing attention to us!”
“It’s their fault for drawing attention to themselves first. I canna help it if I enjoy watching ma husband without his leine on.” Siùsan unabashedly shrugged her shoulders.
“Do ye watch Callum practice often?”
A shadow passed over Siùsan’s face before she answered.
“Nay. I havenae seen him practice, but I have seen him fight. More than once.”
“I am sorry. I did not mean--”
“Haud yer wheesht. Ye couldnae ken, and it is fine. I like kenning that ma braw mon can and will protect me. Even if the first time, it was I who protected him.” At Brighde’s curious look, she laughed and added, “that’s a tale for another time. What aboot ye? Have ye watched Alex practice in the lists?”
Brighde had to clear her throat before she could respond. She had been watching Alex while Siùsan spoke, and she was having a hard time concentrating on anything other than Alex’s body as his muscles clenched and bunched while he fought against one of his men. Every muscle sinew was on show for her from his calves up through his thighs, and then from his waist up through his shoulders. She watched them ripple and glisten with sweat under the bright sun. Brighde tried to answer, but nothing came out, so she shook her head.
“Come then.” Siùsan grasped her arm and pulled her towards the lists.
“No. We can’t go over there,” she hissed. “We can’t disturb them. I don’t think they would appreciate us interrupting their training. I don’t want to cause a fuss.”
“Ye maynae, but I dinna care. I will talk to Callum since I’m sure he’s been thrashing the men because he canna thrash me. He truly didna want me to move beyond the chamber pot today. We can say that I just wanted to reassure him that I hadnae expired from walking down the stairs.”
Siùsan practically dragged Brighde to the rail that enclosed a large field where at least a hundred men were in various stages of the mock battle. Callum was already standing off to the side as he oversaw a group of men who were training with dirks and sgian dubh, a type of very small and very sharp dagger.
Out of the corner of his eye, Alex saw Callum push away from the rail and heard a feminine voice and then a laugh that he would recognize anywhere. He took his eyes off his opponent just long enough to receive an elbow to the eye and almost have his head lopped off with a battle ax. He staggered back a step or two as the man he was fighting dropped the ax and put his hands into the air.
“Ma lord, I didna mean—"
“Thomas, it wasna yer fault. I shouldnae have lost ma focus. That is a lesson to remember in battle. It takes but a moment to lose yer h
ead, in every manner.”
Alex turned towards the group that had gathered. Magnus and Tavish had already joined Callum and Siùsan. He saw Brighde standing with her hands covering her mouth and eyes as wide as saucers. He looked around to see what was wrong, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He could feel the sweat trickling from his forehead, and as he wiped it away, he saw blood on his fingers. When he looked back up, Brighde was clenching the wooden slat in front of her and straining to lean over it. As he came closer, he saw her face go an unhealthy shade of white that nearly resembled what she looked like the night she collapsed in his arms.
“Lass, what’s troubling ye?” He asked quietly as he met her at the fence.
She shook her head slightly and pointed to his face. She pulled up the corner of her arisaid and gently blotted the sweat and blood from his eye. He could already feel it swelling shut. Her touch was feather soft as she cleaned his face.
“Does it pain you much?” she finally found her voice but sounded rather strangled.
“Ma eye? Nay, mo chaileag. Just a little sting, but naught I havenae felt before.”
Before he could say any more, Magnus clapped him on the back and squeezed his shoulder mercilessly.
“A little pain to go with the pleasure? Dinna lose sight of what ye want.”
Alex drove his elbow back and caught an unsuspecting Tavish in the gut. Magnus had accurately anticipated retaliation and moved aside in time.
“What the bluidy hell?” Tavish shoved Alex who in turn boxed his ears in.
“Dinna speak that way in front of the ladies.”
“Siùsan’s used to ma language. She doesnae care.”
“Aye, but Mary isnae.” Alex shoved Tavish again. Before Brighde understood what was happening, they were both rolling around. She looked around at Callum and Magnus. Callum and Siùsan were stealing a kiss, and Magnus was encouraging his brothers’ tussle, calling out wagers.
“Isn’t anyone going to stop them?” Brighde could not believe that no one else was bothered by the two massive men pounding each other into the ground.
“Stop!” she tried yelling, but there was too much noise and neither Alex nor Tavish were paying attention anyway. Looking around, she spotted a bucket and dashed over to grab it. She hauled it back to the railing and heaved it over the top slat. Stepping onto the bottom rung, she lifted the bucket as high as she could and doused the two men. They rolled apart like scalded cats.
“Christ on the cross! That was bluidy cold.” Tavish barked, and Alex lunged for him again.
“Alex! Stop!”
Hearing Brighde’s plea was the only thing that kept him from launching himself at Tavish again.
“Dinna swear in front of her anymore,” he growled.
“Are her English ears that sensitive? She willnae last long here.” Tavish thought he had said it only loud enough for Alex to hear, but when a dirk landed between his feet, he swiveled around in time to see another one coming at him. He leaped out of the way and barely missed having his toes nailed to the ground.
“My ears are sensitive enough to hear what you said. You’re louder than a bear with a burr in its backside. I’m not the one upset by your swearing anyway. You haven’t said anything I haven’t heard before, but you did insult me by thinking that I am some weak English rose who can’t manage the wilds of the Highlands or your clan,” By now, Brighde had climbed down from the fence and was looking back and forth between Alex and Tavish. Alex had a cut lip that was swelling to match his eye. Tavish had a bruise forming on his cheek and dirt smeared all over his face along with a ripped sleeve. Brighde shook her head, planted her feet, and crossed her arms. She gave them both her most menacing look, which surprisingly was quite stern. Both men suddenly looked like shamefaced boys who had been caught doing something they knew they should not. She raised one eyebrow as she gave Alex a pointed look. Grimacing, he turned to face Tavish.
“I wasnae aiming for ye with ma elbow. That was for Magnus, but I shouldnae fought ye.”
Brighde nodded her head and then gave the same pointed glare to Tavish.
“And I shouldnae antagonized ye nor used the lass as bait.”
Now Brighde looked at them with both of her eyebrows raised. Alex and Tavish stared at her in disbelief, but she only tilted her head to one side and drummed the fingers of one hand against the other arm.
The brothers stuck out their hands and gripped each other’s forearm before pulling in for an embrace with bone-cracking back pounding.
“Better.”
Alex ducked between the rails and came over to her. Once again, she pulled out the corner of her arisaid and wiped his face. Alex bent forward to let her. When he was close enough, she whispered in his ear.
“Ye dinna need to protect me from yer brothers. They’re harmless, and all ye’re doing is drawing too much attention to me. I just want to blend in. Please, Alex. I dinna want to be the cause of any more scenes. People will start to talk and talk spreads quicker than a Highland snow storm. For ma sake, just leave be.”
“Vera well, but only because ye ask it of me. I dinna take well to anyone insulting ye, even ma brothers. Though ye are far bonnier than any of ma brothers when ye stand like us.” He tried to wink but winced instead.
“But ye ken they werenae really talking aboot me as much as they were trying to get yer goat, which ye let them. Ye’ve only given them more to tease ye aboot. Dinna rescue me if I’m nae in danger. Save it for if I really need it.”
Brighde cleaned off Alex’s face as best she could without soap and water. She could see where a couple of cuts would easily become infected if they were not seen to sooner rather than later.
“Alex, I need to –or ye need to clean these cuts,” she stuttered. She felt her cheeks flush pink at her presumptuousness.
“I would prefer ye to do it, mo chaileag. Ye have a gentler hand and can see where I need it.”
“I dinna think ye’ll be calling me sweet after I’ve had to scrub the dirt and grit out of them.”
Alex tucked hair behind her ear and leaned so close that his nose brushed her temple.
“I’ve tasted ye and ken just how sweet ye are.”
Brighde’s face went from a pretty shade of pink to a shade of scarlet that left her feeling like flames were licking her cheeks.
“Sshh! Dinna do that. Someone will hear ye.”
Alex simply placed his hand on the small of her back and led her towards the keep.
Neither of them noticed as Callum, Siùsan, Magnus, and Tavish stood together making wagers on how long it would take before Alex was the next Sinclair headed to the kirk. Tavish had to relinquish the wagering dagger to Magnus who already accurately predicted Alex would react like a shaken hornets’ nest if he thought Brighde was being mistreated.
“I give it a fortnight at most,” said Callum.
“Nay. She will hold out for at least another moon.” Siùsan spit into her palm and thrust it towards her husband for him to shake. The wager was on.
Chapter Twelve
After the nooning, the men and women went their separate directions. Brighde and Siùsan sat sewing for a while, but when Siùsan began falling asleep over her embroidery, she retired to her chamber to nap. Brighde went into the kitchens where she helped Elspeth bake tarts. She used the time to covertly learn about Alex’s likes and dislikes. By the time they were finished, she had flour up to her elbows and sticky apple and pear filling on her hands and even her cheeks. She went back to her chamber to prepare for the evening meal.
Alex followed Callum and Laird Sinclair into the laird’s solar. For the next several hours, the men discussed clan business ranging from crofters’ disputes to planning for the fall harvest to trades they wanted to arrange with neighboring clans. As Callum’s second, Alex was usually privy to these conversations, and his strategic mind was welcome. Callum had chosen Alex for the role of his second not only because Alex was the second son, but because they were virtually inseparable for most of their
lives. Less than a year apart in age, they grew up with Alex always in a rush to catch up to Callum. They valued each other’s company and each other’s opinions. They had grown distant over the past few months when Callum became involved with a woman prior to meeting Siùsan. It had created a rift between them that both men were glad to mend. As their meeting began to draw to an end, Laird Sinclair looked Alex over. He had been none too pleased to hear about his sons’ brawl or to see the damage they had done to each other. Not because he worried about either of them, but because it never looked good for the laird’s two grown sons to have a spat, in public no less.
“Ye canna have such a thin skin where the lass is concerned. Ye will feed the gossip mills, and the only one who will be hurt is the lass. Dinna let yer brothers goad ye like that. She doesnae strike me as the type who appreciates men fighting over her. Ye willna win her over when she has memories of ye making an arse of yerself.”
“I dinna think it’ll matter much how big of an arse he is once she’s on Iona,” Callum said as he rolled up several parchments.
“What? Iona?”
Callum looked up then and saw the look of disbelief on Alex’s face that was quickly dissolving into anger.
“Aye, well, that’s just what I heard.”
“From whom? Her?” Alex bit his tongue before he used the wrong name. She was not Brighde to his family, and he could not get used to calling her Mary.
“Nae exactly. Siùsan may have mentioned it as we finished negotiating our wager.” Callum could have kicked himself. When was he going to learn to think before he spoke when it came to members of his family. He was a gifted tactician but almost hopeless when it came to tact and the people he cared about most.
“What bluidy wager?” Alex came to stand toe to toe with Callum. “Dinna try to hold back. Ye’ve gone too far to take any of it back. Why the hell is she going to Iona? And when exactly does she think she’s going? Who the bluidy hell does she think is going to take her?” Alex’s voice was getting progressively louder with each question.
His Highland Prize (The Clan Sinclair Book 3) Page 14