by Alisa Adams
“Yer were saying? Yer men?” Ina prompted him.
Ceena was looking at his sword with great interest. “May I?” she asked him politely.
Ina rolled her eyes again. Ceena was forever enthralled by new swords and weapons. She watched as the man stood up and tried to pull the giant silver sword out of its scabbard. It stuck, not budging. He tried again, and then again, laughing slightly with embarrassment.
Ina pointed to the leather piece around the hilt that connected it to the scabbard. “Ye must unhook that bit of leather on the handle,” she said with her eyebrow raised.
“Oh! Of course!” he mumbled while he quickly released the handle. He pulled the heavy sword out of the scabbard. His wrist bent at the weight of it, causing the tip to hit the stone floor with a loud ringing noise. He put both hands around the handle to regain the long sword’s weight and managed to hand it to Ceena. “It is more decoration,” he explained with a shrug and another charming smile that showed his beautiful teeth. “I would have it melted down to make a crown to adorn your fair head,” he said looking at Ina, “for you indeed look like a princess!”
Ina heard her aunts sigh in unison at the flash of those perfect teeth.
She watched as Ceena inspected the sword. It was a unique and beautiful piece of workmanship. And it had indeed seen a lot of use by the looks of it. This was no ornament. Ceena’s eyes met Ina’s with a troubling look.
“Yer men?” Ina asked him.
“Oh yes! Of course. My men,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her. “I would much prefer to talk to you. You are simply the most stunning women I have had the pleasure of meeting and I would love it if you would walk with me. Show me around your charming castle. I mean to ask you a very important, ah...question…” he said and smiled charmingly.
The two aunts nodded their heads vigorously at Ina.
Ina shook her head in annoyance. “Yer men?” she said again, in a stronger voice.
He stared at her and gave her another stunning smile, waving his hand in the air dismissively again. “It’s simple really. We were set upon by a thief. A vile vagabond of the forest. Took my men and their horses. I have no idea where they went! It was most frightening. Violent, he was. They fought bravely, but alas my men were overtaken.”
“But ye escaped?” Ina asked him sharply. “One man against all of yers?” she said doubtfully.
“Yes, my men fought on so that I could have a chance to take cover until I could escape. Of course. Tis their purpose.” He looked at Ina steadily.
“Where was this?” Tristan asked crisply. “And was this thief wearing tartan?” Tristan stared intently at the man.
“In the forest just west of here, and I am not sure if he was wearing a tartan. I do not think so, or perhaps I just did not notice if he was in tartan or even a kilt. It was all so fast and so terribly upsetting. The forest was dark, and thick with bramble and trees and boulders. And he moved so quickly, surprising us and darting all about, coming out of the cover of the rocks. I simply cannot recall if he was wearing tartan. I was most intent on staying behind cover, and looking for an opportunity to escape.” He paused and looked at Tristan and Ceena. His voice changed. “If he was wearing tartan, it would be against the law,” he said with a pointed look at Tristan.
Tristan growled low in his throat and Ceena put her hand on his arm. Before either could answer Ina took a step towards the man. “Ye are in a castle of the Black Watch Army, sir. The King allows the wearing of tartan and kilts by his army, which Lord Tristan is a leader of here at Castle Fionnaghal.” The last Ina said sharply. “As are meself and me sisters.” She waited for his reaction.
He continued to stare at her.
Unmoving, his cup held forgotten in his hand, his eyes giving nothing away.
“I am still waiting for yer name sir,” Ina insisted.
The man cleared his throat. “Of course, how remiss I am, I thought I had given you my name?”
“Ye didnae,” Ina said with great control. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Tristan crossed his arms across his broad chest, widened his stance, and stared down at the man at their table.
“I am…” He cleared his throat again. “I am Cruim Hay. Lord Cruim Hay.”
Aunt Hexy and Burnie both took their chins out of their hands where they had been gazing at him and sat up straighter. Aunt Hexy said, “From the lowland Hays?”
Aunt Burnie shouted, “Did he say crumb?” Her cat immediately started howling again which got Aunt Hexy’s pet to start making its own raucous noise.
“He said Cruim, Aunt Burnie. Cru-im!” Ina yelled over the rising noise.
“Ruin?” Aunt Burnie said loudly. “He’s ruined?”
“No! Cruim!” Ina bellowed.
Aunt Hexy added, “It means crooked, Burnie. It’s an auld name.”
“He’s crooked?” Aunt Burnie asked. “Och, no, he is far too pretty to be crooked. I think he stands very straight meself,” she said as she tried to calm the cat that was moving agitatedly around under her wrap. The tartan wrap was bouncing and shifting in all directions and Aunt Burnie couldn’t seem to settle it all down. The hissing bump ended up on top of her shoulder under her tartan while Burnie tried to make a quick grab at it. She gave up and let it sit on her shoulder under her tartan, where it squatted peacefully. Aunt Burnie looked like an oddly shaped hunchback.
The sounds coming from under Aunt Hexy’s wrap increased. A small pink face with pointed ears poked out of an opening in the wrap. Small little fangs showed as the growling noise escalated.
“Really, Aunt Hexy...I dinnae think that is a dog,” Ina said cautiously.
Cruim stood up, moving warily away from the aunts. “You two must be witches, or selkies, or...or kelpies. That’s it! Riding your kelpie ponies.” He took a deep breath and realized everyone was watching him. He laughed a short, charming laugh and smiled broadly, showing his perfect white teeth again. “Showing me the path to this castle, that’s what you did, to now be ensnared by the captivating beauty of Lady Ina!”
Ina heard her aunts and even Ceena sigh at his words. She just crossed her arms and stared at him with one brow raised.
“Ye have come a long way then, from the lowlands to our highlands,” Tristan commented with an arched brow.
“Yes, I have. Perhaps you would be so kind as to show me to a room?” Cruim asked. “I plan on staying so that I may get to know this beautiful woman.”
Ina took a step back. “There’s no need for that. Ye see, I am not looking for a husband—” she began to explain.
“Yes she is!” the aunts shouted as one.
“No, Aunts,” Ina said pointedly at them, “I am not.”
“She is!” Aunt Hexy said emphatically again.
“It does not matter,” Cruim said nonchalantly. “I have a letter from the King. He values me, you see. He bids me meet Lady Ina and wishes me to wed her. If I find her amenable. Which I most certainly do,” he said. “He desires an alliance with the MacDonells through marriage. I had lost my way but thanks to your aunts, I have found you.”
Ina stared at him in shock.
Tristan stepped forward. “May I see this letter?” he asked, holding out his hand.
Cruim gave him a wide smile, pulled the letter out of his inner vest, and placed it in his hand. He kept the smile fixed on his face.
Tristan read the letter rapidly, then looked at his wife and then Ina. ”It is as he says. Evidently we made quite the impression on our King when we defeated the Munroes.”
“When you aided your King in defeating the Munroes,” Cruim corrected him.
Ina scowled fiercely at him and started to say something but Tristan’s hand on her arm stopped her. She looked up at her brother-in-law to see his jaw pressed tight as he signaled a servant to show Cruim to his room.
When Cruim had walked far enough down the great hall, Ina spun towards Tristan and Ceena.
“I willnae marry him!” she said with tears forming in her eyes.
“He is very handsome and elegant Ina,” Ceena chided. “He is everything ye have wished for isnae he?”
“No! I dinnae like him,” Ina exclaimed fearfully. Something about the man had seemed cold, and false.
“Och child, a more handsome man ye never could find,” Aunt Hexy said. “We came upon him in the forest. All by himself. It was as if he was sent here.”
“According to him, he was Aunt Hexy,” Tristan said with a frown. His brows were furrowed as he watched Cruim follow the servant up the stairs. “The King has sent him to meet Ina…and if he so chooses, to marry her. A polite way of saying he is ordering Ina to accept Cruim.” Tristan’s eyes narrowed as he continued to watch Cruim.
“No! Please no,” Ina pleaded in a harsh whisper. “That man does not even know that his own horse is not a mare, but a stallion!”
When they just stared silently and sadly at her, Ina turned and ran out of the main hall.
4
Ina ran out the front gates of the castle and across the wild grasses and heather that grew all around. She leapt over the many small rocks that jutted out of the earth, for they lived on the sea cliffs. Rocks were everywhere. She stood at the edge of the hill path that meandered down to the beach below Fionnaghal. She swallowed tears she did not want to let out.
She took the sand path down to the beach. A good swim in the cold waters was always refreshing. She sat on the sand and pulled her boots off, wiggling her toes in the deliciously warm sand, then unbuckled her wide leather belt and pulled her skirt and blouse off. She piled the masses of her hair on top of her head and tied it up, then, clad only in her shift, she waded out into the waves. She swam over to some rocks and leaned her back against them as she moved her legs lazily in the water, holding her face up to the sun.
Some splashing interrupted her peace and she opened her eyes.
There was the stranger, swimming with strong, broad strokes around another rock outcropping. Ina watched as he stopped and stood up in the water, a grimace of pain on his face as he moved his shoulder, rubbing it with his other hand.
Ina stared at his shoulders; they were broad, muscular, and powerful. His chest was wet and glistening in the sun. He shook his head and droplets flew from his long, dark hair. Then he reached up and slicked it back off his face. He ran his hands over his beard and threw his head back, closing his eyes as the sun shone down on him. The water was waist-deep where he stood and Ina wondered what he had on under the water, then blushed at the thought. She stared, transfixed, at this beautiful man before her. He did not know she was there, so she took her time studying him.
Suddenly she felt a sharp stab to her foot. Something had her foot in sharp pinching claws. Ina let out a shrill scream and started sliding down off the rocks into the water as she thrashed her foot about.
He was at her side in a matter of moments, supporting her in the water with his hands at her waist. The water was deeper where she was, and neither could stand. She grabbed at his upper arms as she flung her foot about.
“Something has me foot!” she managed to get out.
“Let me see,” he said as he sank down into the dark water and trailed his hand down from her knee to her foot.
Ina blushed bright red. This stranger had just felt her leg…and her ankle…and held her foot in his hand!
He came up with a surge of water sluicing over his head and shoulders and threw his head back again. He ran a hand quickly over his face and hair to get it out of his eyes.
Ina’s eyes were wide as she took in the sight of him.
“Twas only a crab,” he said with a grin as he held up the crab. He flung it out into the sea.
A small wave came and threatened to wash over Ina but he clasped her waist once again and she grabbed at his shoulders. The wave gently picked them both up and set them down with a lulling ease.
He stared down into her eyes.
She looked up into his.
Another wave lifted them, pushing them together as they held each other. It set them down and they drifted apart, but not enough to let go of their hold on the other.
Another wave came, pushing them back together.
And then another.
And another.
“You,” he finally said in a deep, husky timbre.
“Yes, me,” Ina whispered, then blushed. What a silly thing to say, she thought. But she could form no words.
As they treaded water there in the sea they could only gaze at one another. Their legs entangling as their bodies drifted together. It was as if the sea was playing with them, pushing them together with each gentle lift of the waves.
He wrapped his arm around her waist as another wave, larger than the others, pushed at them both, flinging them flat against each other, then lifting them up on its crest before setting them back down.
Ina held tightly to his upper arms and looked up at him. She blushed as her breasts kept bumping into his chest. Her legs were pushed up against his and she could feel the length and strength of them. She thought desperately for something to say. Goodness me mind leaves me when I look at him, she thought to herself.
“Thank you for getting the crab to let go of me foot,” Ina said quietly.
“You’re welcome,” he said gruffly. “Thank you for seeing to my wounds. And my horse. Is he well?”
Ina nodded, trying to think of something to say. She was tongue-tied for the first time in her life. But finally she said, “Arnae ye in pain? Weak?” she inquired.
“Some, but I must regain my strength,” he answered. “I took the bandages off. The sea is good for my wounds.”
She nodded her head. Another wave pushed them together and she grabbed him tighter as his arm circled her waist in his strong grasp.
“Ye know that it was I that bandaged ye?”
“Yes,” he said simply. “I heard your voice.”
“I talk too much,” she frowned.
“No,” he said.
“Yes, me sisters say I do.”
A wave came and threatened to wash over Ina but he lifted her, gently.
“You are very small,” he said in a hoarse whisper.
Another wave hit them and pushed her up flat against him. She wrapped her arm around his neck and held on as the big wave lifted them up, up, and then gently back down.
“You are very large,” she said with a shy grin as she unwrapped her arm from around his neck.
“It was interesting to watch you with that man, and your sisters.”
Ina lifted her chin. “Oh?” It was difficult to act the lady when her body kept drifting into his and she was clinging to him in the water.
“You are very strong, and very passionate too,” he said. “For a woman,” he added, cocking his head slightly as he studied her.
She arched an eyebrow at him. “For a woman?”
“Yes, very unusual. Interesting, in fact. And the rest too,” he said, continuing to study her.
Ina groaned. “Ye heard it all, dinnae ye?”
“Aye,” he said huskily. “Ye wish a blissful marriage,” he said softly with the smallest upturn of his beautiful lips.
“Ye are teasing me,” Ina said quietly.
“No,” he said and grinned crookedly.
“Aye, ye are. Tis not kind. I have saved ye,” she said and tried to look stern.
“Och, ye have, have you now? That may be. And now I have saved you from that terrible crab.” His voice rumbled with amusement.
“It was just a crab, which does not count as saving me,” she admonished him.
“Very well. I do thank you for helping me,” he added.
“Ye are vera welcome,” she said regally, smiling.
“May I ask you something? You rejected those men who offered for your hand because you want a marriage based on love. You do not desire a marriage that raises your status?” he asked curiously.
“I do not,” she said firmly.
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Tis true! And me sister and h
er husband have promised I may have a say in the choice of me husband,” she answered pertly.
“Then ye are a spoiled and cosseted girl,” he surmised.
“Certainly not!” she said indignantly. Then she frowned. “But now I have no choice. The King has sent a man who I am to accept if he decides he wants me as his wife.”
Another wave came and she grabbed at him again.
“I have you,” he said, his voice so low and deep it rumbled from his chest straight through hers. His large hands on her waist held her gently but securely.
Ina’s mouth opened slightly. She stopped the retort that wanted to come out of her mouth. She took a breath instead. “I suppose I should go back up to the castle now.”
“Aye, I as well.” But he continued to hold her.
“Aye, ye should be resting. You must let go of me,” she said, but not letting go of him.
“Yes, I suppose I should,” he said as he looked into her eyes. The clear blue of her eyes were lit up by the sunlight and he could not look away from her. Her hair was a riot of curls and flyaway strands on the top of her head. Her silky legs kept brushing against his and her lush little body was pushed up against his chest. He felt he could hold her forever.
“Well,” she said, “I can swim.”
“I don’t know about that. You looked like you were about to drown when I heard you scream.”
“Twas the crab that made me scream!”
“Ah, I see.” He grinned down at her. “Then you can let go of me.”
“Very well,” she said. She let go of his arms and turned towards the shore just as another wave picked them up.
Ina instantly was pushed back against his body. Her buttocks floated right up against his hips. He grabbed her waist again. Ina looked over her shoulder and up at him.
“You can let go of me,” she said as she kept drifting back against him, blushing wildly.
“I tried, but you came right back to me.”
“I did not!”