How dare he think he could send her from the table like a child.
“It’s of no consequence, Mairi,” Blane spoke up. “I believe we’ve all finished here, aye? Perhaps the gentlemen would care to join me in my solar?”
The ladies rose, murmuring of adjourning to Rosalyn’s solar. Sallie stopped on her way out, an obviously feigned look of pity on her lovely face.
“Too bad you’ll have to miss the remainder of the evening. We are to finish details for the feast. If only you’d inherited the Fae grace of yer MacKiernan blood instead of that great clumsy body, eh?”
Anabella waited for the girl, watching closely, so Mairi clenched her mouth shut, saying nothing.
Sallie smiled sweetly and walked out.
“Shall I accompany you upstairs?” Ramos leaned close, interrupting the thoughts of what she’d like to do to her little cousin.
“That willna be at all necessary,” she snapped.
“Good. Then I’ll join the other men. I expect you to go straight to your room.”
If the others weren’t passing by at the moment, she’d tell him exactly what he could do with those expectations of his.
Ramos took one last look over his shoulder before walking out of the room. Mairi had risen from her seat and was headed toward the door.
If looks could kill…
Her expression could easily serve as early warning for major thunderstorms.
So be it. His task wasn’t to become her favorite person, only to keep her safe until he could get her home.
Perhaps the dark, wet stain covering her dress should evoke some guilt, but it didn’t. He’d hated to embarrass her, to draw more attention to her, but it was the best he could do on short notice. This way, she’d be in her room. Safe. That, after all, was his primary concern.
He nodded absently to himself as he entered Blane’s solar. Yes, it was for the best.
The way Sallie was pushing her this evening, anything might happen. One outburst was all it would take to have the MacPherson woman up in arms again. It was only Mairi’s docile behavior that had finally convinced the woman she was mistaken about Mairi’s identity.
And he didn’t for one minute believe docility was inherent in Mairi’s nature. No, she was a woman filled with barely checked emotion. Fire. Passion. He had seen it in her eyes, tasted it on her lips. Under other circumstances, he would already have…
“Whisky?”
Ramos started guiltily, turning his attention to Caden. “Pardon?”
“Did you want some whisky or no, man?” Caden smiled and glanced toward the door. “Yer mind is above stairs, is it no?”
Ramos frowned as he reached for the glass, ignoring the younger man’s chuckle.
“Navarro, is it?”
A chill raced down Ramos’s spine at the sound of the all-too-familiar accented voice. He could handle this. This man was no different from any other lowlife he’d come in contact with. Except, of course, that around six and a half centuries from now this particular lowlife would be his father.
“Yes, your grace?” He turned and forced the words past frozen lips, covering his hesitation with a quick drink.
Even up close, Reynard Servans was unchanged. Or rather, Ramos reminded himself, this man would change very little over the next several centuries.
“Laird MacKiernan tells us your home is in Spain?”
Reynard tilted his head as he spoke in a move Ramos recognized well. His father wasn’t making casual small talk. He was seeking something specific from this conversation. The realization sharpened Ramos’s senses, allowing him to push away any shreds of emotional reaction he might have had to the man. He needed to be on his toes. This was the enemy.
“It is.”
“You’ll forgive my presumption, but have we met before? There is something…familiar about you.”
“We have not met in the past.” Ramos danced on the fine edge of truth. “Unless you’ve spent time in Spain. Or perhaps while I was at university in London?”
Reynard pursed his lips. “No. And yet…”
Ramos resisted the urge to fidget under Reynard’s scrutiny. He would not be made to feel like the frightened seven-year-old who had gone to live with this formidable man, the boy who had spent his youth so desperately seeking his father’s rarely given approval.
“So it’s true you’re taking the MacKiernan woman to Spain to arrange a suitable marriage for her?”
Ramos acknowledged the arrival of Wyn Servans with a nod of his head. He met that man’s eyes as he answered his question. “That is correct, your lordship.”
The Duke’s brother held up a hand. “Just Wyn.” He chuckled. “As a younger son, I hold no titles.”
“And what about you, Navarro?” Reynard’s eyes scanned the room as he spoke, resting once again on Ramos. “Were you chosen as Mademoiselle MacKiernan’s guardian based on your family connections?”
“Like Wyn, your grace, I hold no titles. Although”—he smiled when the thought struck him—“my father is a duke. As eldest son, I suppose that one day I will inherit the title.”
“Lord Navarro.” Caden slapped him on the back as he joined them. “Son of a duke. You should have corrected us.”
“No need. As I’ve said before, Ramos will do just fine.” Ramos shook his head, his attention momentarily distracted as Reynard wandered away to join another group and launch into a discussion about King Edward’s policies toward France and Scotland.
Clearly he had just overlooked something important.
His father was nothing if not relentless. Once in pursuit of a goal, the Reynard Servans he had grown up with wouldn’t stop until he reached it. That must mean that whatever information he had sought from Ramos he had found.
Lifting the cup to his lips, Ramos frowned as he watched the Duke. What could Reynard possibly have wanted to know?
More important, what had he told the man?
The relentless rain had stopped for the moment, easing into a light mist.
Mairi leaned against the door she had passed through only moments before, breathing in great gulps of the cold, wet air.
Escape to the balcony had been the only option she could think of when she’d come this way. She hadn’t even cared if it was pouring rain. After the horrible meal she’d just endured, she needed peace and quiet or she would very likely wring her little cousin’s scrawny neck.
And Ramos? She wouldn’t mind having a go at his neck while she was at it.
Arrogant, overbearing bastard.
Though her room would be quiet without Sallie there, it was the last place she wanted to be now. Send her to her room, would he? Well, she’d just see about that.
The cold wind whipped around her, molding the stained, wet bodice to her chest. She did her best to ignore it as she made her way to the far end of the balcony, leaning out over the thick wall as if the air would be fresher there.
The moisture carried on the stiff breeze stung her face, but she welcomed it. Concentrating on the physical sensation cleared her mind.
Once she calmed, she was able to view the situation more objectively. She was nearing her breaking point with Sallie and that could be very bad. Out here, in the quiet, it was easy to understand why Ramos had insisted she leave the group.
He’d been right, of course. And that, more than anything, was what frustrated her at the moment.
No, that wasn’t quite true. If nothing else, Mairi had always tried to be honest with herself, and she could do no less now.
She turned, leaned against the balcony wall, and slid to the ground, drawing her knees up with her arms around them. Sighing, she dropped her head to her arms.
Her frustrations with Ramos went much deeper than simply his being right all the time. There was something about him that got to the very core of her, something she couldn’t begin to pretend to understand.
She could feel her world brighten when he entered a room, like some sort of warming cloak laid about her shoulders. She felt his m
ood changes as if they were her own. When she was near him, she could barely keep herself from touching him, as if she needed the physical contact like she needed her next breath.
And when he touched her, she wanted…
Her breath caught and her face flamed. Want. That described exactly the root of her frustrations with Ramos. He made her feel things she’d never felt before, want things she’d never wanted before. Somewhere along the way, she was going to have to deal with all these troublesome emotions.
But not right now.
For now, she was too busy dealing with the one other emotion she had regarding Ramos.
Guilt.
He gave her friendship and protection, and what had she done for him?
Stranded him in the thirteenth century, that’s what. Stuck there until she could figure out what it was her Faerie ancestors wanted her to do so that she could return them both to their own time.
She groaned and lifted her head, only to find herself the object of intense scrutiny. The Duke’s brother leaned against the door, quietly watching her.
“Do you make a habit of spying on women, yer grace?”
A look of surprise flitted across his face, quickly masked. Apparently he wasn’t used to being called to task for his actions, not even the rude ones.
“Please call me Wyn, my dear.” He walked forward slowly. “I apologize for intruding on your privacy. I had only thought to escape the incessant talk of the coming war when I stepped through the door. Too late, I saw you sitting here and realized the terrace was already occupied.”
“Should you no have thought leaving me alone the polite thing to do?”
He smiled down at her before lithely hoisting himself up to sit on the wall behind her, his own knees drawn up as he balanced there.
She glanced up to see him shrug before he answered, the smile still on his lips.
“If you’ll forgive my being so forward, my dear, you appeared to be in some distress. I couldn’t very well walk away and leave you like that.”
“So instead you chose to stand there, silently watching me?”
“I’ve never been particularly good at dealing with the ladies.”
“I find that hard to believe.” From his attitude and looks, it was much more likely that this man knew exactly how to deal with the ladies.
The musical notes of his laughter lilted through the air. “Nevertheless, my dear, what could possibly torment you enough to drive you out here on a day such as this?”
Mairi rose to her feet, making a great show of dusting herself off as she stalled for time. It wasn’t as if Wyn Servans were the type of person she would actually confide in. She squared her shoulders and readied herself to turn and tell him exactly that when the door opened once again.
Who could have imagined she’d actually be happy to see Sallie?
“I went up to my room, but you were no to be found,” the girl said accusingly.
Perhaps happy was too strong a word. Mairi waited, hoping there wouldn’t be another scene in front of the Duke’s brother.
“’Tis just as weel. We have need to talk, you and I, Cousin, so it’s good I’ve found you here alone.”
“Alone? I rather think his being here counts as something, dinna you?” Mairi gestured toward the low wall behind her. From the rustle of sound, she assumed Wyn had stood.
“Who?” Sallie put her hands on her hips and strode directly over to stand in front of her cousin.
“Who?” What was wrong with the girl now? Mairi turned and suddenly felt as if the air had been squeezed from her lungs.
The wall behind her was empty.
She surged to the rail and leaned over, peering through the gloom, searching.
Nothing.
“I dinna understand,” she whispered to herself. They were on the second level. It would be over a full story’s drop to the ground. If he’d jumped…She caught herself and stopped. Why on earth would he do something like that?
“It disna matter, Mairi, what you meant. I dinna care. There’s none here but you and me now.”
Mairi turned to find her cousin glaring at her through narrowed eyes. “What?”
“I watched yer performance at dinner, playing the modest lass. I’m telling you now, it willna work.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You ken verra weel what I’m speaking about.” Sallie paced back and forth. “The pink cheeks and the eyes cast down to the table—you acted the perfect wee maiden. But I’m warning you now, dinna you even think of going after the Duke. Or anyone else at that table. I’ve plans of my own for him.”
It took every bit of Mairi’s self-control to keep from grabbing the silly girl and shaking her. The only plans she had for that man were the ones to prevent his causing Sallie’s death.
“If my face was red in there, it was because I was embarrassed by yer hateful remarks. But you can relax. I’ve no the slightest bit of romantic interest in that Duke.”
“It’s difficult to believe yer no trying to entice a man like him.” Sallie came to a stop in front of her, hands back on her hips.
“Well, I’m no interested in him. And you, of all people, should know better than to chase a man simply for his position. For all yer talk of yer Fae heritage, yer completely ignoring the importance of the legacy, the whole reason for that birthmark on yer back. It’s there because of the Fae Prince’s blessing. The blessing that insures his female descendants the right to choose their own true love. The blessing that promises dire consequences to any who harm those female descendants or keep them from choosing the man they want. You should settle for nothing less than finding yer own true love.”
Sallie glanced away, her pearly teeth worrying at her bottom lip.
Mairi had to make her understand. “Yet here you are, chasing after some man for no reason other than he has a title. Why on earth would you do something like that?” If only Sallie could be convinced to give up this idea of pursuing the Duke. Maybe that would change things enough to allow the magic to work.
A little shiver passed through Mairi as she remembered Pol’s warning about the importance of her not changing the outcome of history. Still, the Fae had stranded her here for some reason. Perhaps this was it.
“It’s no what you think. I’ve no desire to waste my life like my mother.” Sallie’s words were barely above a whisper, her eyes filled with tears when she faced Mairi again. “She waited more than thirty years for her true love to declare himself. She spent her youth raising her brothers’ children. I dinna want that future. I’ll no wait my youth away for the right man to come asking for my hand. I’m no so patient as all that.”
“But Rosalyn was so happy with yer father. She told me those were the best years of her life.”
“Aye, they may have been so. But those following his death must have been the worst. You dinna see her then, her suffering. I remember it weel. I’ve no intent to watch my life pass me by as she did.”
“Yer a beautiful young woman, Sallie. I canna imagine that your true love will take so long to find you.”
“It’s no the finding that’s the problem. And I can promise you, looks have nothing to do with it. My mother was more than beautiful, tall and elegant with fine hair like the sunrise. In her youth, she would have looked verra much like you do now.”
“Really? I seem to recall yer comparing me to a great cow.”
The girl sniffled loudly before lifting her chin in defiance. “Aye, weel, it’s easier to compete with a cow than a great beauty, is it no? I spent my youth hearing stories of my cousin Mairi—the one who was murdered here, mind you. About what a free-spirited beauty she was and how my mother had loved her as a daughter. Stories about how much my mother missed the lass. I could close my eyes and see Mairi, I’d had her described so many times and in such great detail. I felt as if I knew her. And I hated her with a passion. Have you any idea what it’s like to compete with a ghost?”
Her cousin was jealous? Of her?
�
�Then I wake one morning to find a new Mairi has come to stay. A Mairi my mother canna stop talking about, canna keep from touching when she enters a room. A woman who looks so like her namesake, it’s as if that first Mairi has returned to haunt me in truth. To compete for the attention of those I hold dear. First to steal my own mother and then to win the man I’ve decided to claim.”
“There is no a competition between us for anything, Sallie. Though I can honestly say Rosalyn is very special to me, I could never mean as much to her as you do—we both ken the truth of that. And that’s as it should be. I only want both of you to be happy. As for the Duke, I have no desire to marry that man. None.”
“I would if I were you. He’s handsome and he’s titled. I’d no want to be dragged off to Spain to have someone find a husband for me. A husband no of my own choosing. Are you no terrified of who yer guardian plans to give you to?” Sallie shook her head, her eyes large.
“I dinna have any worries about my guardian marrying me off to someone horrible.” That much was true. “I have complete faith in him. I’d go anywhere and do anything that Ramos asked of me.”
“Then why didn’t you go to your room like I told you to?”
Mairi turned sharply at the sound of his voice. He stood just inside the door, an angry scowl on his face. How did he constantly manage to sneak up on her like that?
“Dinna be vexed with Mairi,” Sallie interjected. “It’s my fault she’s out here. I asked her to come with me. But we’ll go up to our room now, as you wish.”
The look on Ramos’s face conveyed his utter lack of belief, but he said nothing as Sallie grabbed Mairi’s hand and pulled her past him into the empty hallway.
The evening had been full of surprises.
From the bottom stair, Mairi took one last look over her shoulder. Ramos watched their retreat, a scowl still lining his handsome features.
She needed to tell him about her experience with Wyn Servans, about what she’d seen tonight, but now, with Sallie dragging her to their shared room, was not the time. She just hoped that when the opportunity did present itself, his irritation would have passed.
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