by Terry Spear
Which gave Avelina an idea. “If you want to make an alliance with another clan, you are the perfect one to do so. Any woman would be happy to wed you and if you make the right choice, she could help you to make an alliance with another clan.” Even if he wasn’t chief, he still had his own men to command.
Gwyneth’s surprised expression soured, and she looked sharply at Baudwin to see his take on it.
“Aye, I have plans to make this happen. Gwyneth, if you will give us a moment, I wish to speak to my daughter in private.”
Gwyneth smiled sweetly at him, though her smile looked strained, and she inclined her head, then left the chamber, closing the door after her.
Immediately, Avelina gave her da a warm hug, tears filling her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Da. Are you truly all right?” She’d never known him to take to his pallet when he’d been wounded in previous battles. He had to show his men he was ready to fight the next one, and many more after that.
“Aye, lass, and we’ll go down to the celebration as soon as everyone is able. Tell me what disturbs you so about marrying Cormac. You made no objection about Ewen, and you dinna know him either. ‘Tis because you killed Cormac’s brother in self-defense? He tried to steal Fenella for his own when he learned Cormac was arranging this treaty between our people and theirs.”
“Nay, he lies.”
“What would you know of it?” Her da was looking at her sternly now. He knew her well enough to realize she had some real knowledge of the situation, rather than that this was just her imaginings.
She explained about Fenella overhearing that the mercenaries they had tied up in the outer bailey intended to kill Quinn. That Quinn hadn’t known that Fenella hadn’t agreed to marrying Cormac, and that Cormac was the one who had sent his brother with the men to face their fate. Quinn hadn’t known that his brother was arranging to wed her cousin while making an alliance.
“Aye, and then you killed Quinn,” her da said, but the way he spoke the words meant he believed otherwise. “How would you know what Quinn knew or didna know?”
She could never easily lie to her da or to others whom she was close to.
“You were no’ helping the women who were without their menfolk while they were fighting the clans,” he accused, when she didn’t answer him.
“Aye, of course I was. You can ask any number of them. I always reach out to them and aid them with their chores, even fish for them when their men or sons are away. You know I would.”
“Aye, and I’m proud of you. Your mother would be proud of you. But if you dinna kill Quinn—”
“He killed one of Cormac’s mercenaries who was about to slice me in two, Da. I didna kill Quinn. He saved my life. And I saved his. He was badly injured, and the tide would have drowned him. But when I tried to move him to the hill, I was caught in the undertow, and he saved me. He repaired part of Judith’s byre, and when Lendon collapsed in a faint from the pain from his wounds, Quinn carried him into the croft to lay him on his pallet. He has done everything that could be called honorable. I canna marry Cormac. He is the most despicable of men.”
“You have feelings for this Quinn?”
“Aye. You have always been a fair and just leader of your men. Quinn is a good man. How would you feel if you had a brother who sent you to battle for him, but he was always trying to sabotage you so that he would be assured you would die?”
“My brother and I had a special bond. I held him in my arms as he took his last breath, his dying wish was for me to take care of Fenella like I would my own daughter. Which he knew I would, just like I knew he would have for me.”
“He was loved by us all.”
Her da’s expression darkened. “Why would Quinn’s brother wish to murder him?”
“Quinn doesna know the reason. Cormac saved his brother when they were young, but Cormac has been trying to kill him for the last couple of months. Some think Quinn is invincible.”
“I have an agreement with one or the other of the clans, depending on where I stand with the council and our men. You marrying Quinn isn’t one of the options.”
Then her da could make an alliance through his own marriage, but she’d decided what she would do.
“Where is he?” her da asked.
“Who?” she asked. Playing innocent wouldn’t work for her.
“If you didna kill him, and he just helped Lendon to his pallet, Quinn is on the island. Where is he?”
Avelina folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. “You will have him killed.”
“Nay, he deserves to participate in the feast. He saved my daughter. If he had not survived, and you hadna saved him, you wouldna be here today.”
“A feast. And after that? You will kill him.”
“He is Cormac’s brother. Even if Cormac wishes to kill his own brother, we willna do it for him. No’ when you could be marrying Cormac. Instead, Quinn can work for me. If he is so indestructible, a good fighter, and loyal, I could use another man. I’ve lost too many men as it is. If he can be trusted, where you are concerned.”
Now she had a choice. Pretend she hadn’t married Quinn and they would feign that there was nothing going on between them until they could plan to leave the island? Or tell her da the truth and still risk that he would have Quinn killed?
“Let me speak with him and see what he wants to do. Our people killed the mercenaries, and he has no reason to believe you willna have him put to death too.”
“You have my word. But you willna be going alone to meet with him. Hamish and two other men will go with you.”
“For heaven’s sake. I am safe with him. Your men may scare him off.”
“Take it or leave it, Avelina. You willna be seeing him alone again, and if we find him, and we will find him, who knows how he will react. If he fights our men, he could very well be killed. If you go to him now, accompanied, he may listen to reason.”
She chewed on her bottom lip. “All right. But no one is to hurt him.”
“Aye, as long as he doesna fight back.”
“Aye.”
“Send Hamish to me, and then you and he and two others will go in search of this Highlander.”
“Thank you, Da.”
“Be sure to return in time for the celebratory feast.”
“Are you sure you should attend?”
“I must. If I stay in my chamber, who knows who might be in charge by morn.”
She had to speak with Quinn alone and see what he thought they should do. They were in this together.
She hugged her da, and then hurried out of his chamber. She practically ran into Fenella coming up the stairs, just as she rounded the curved wall.
“Fenella!” Avelina said, throwing her hand to her breast.
“What news?”
“I’m to send Hamish to see my da. We have to go fetch Quinn, and he’ll be welcomed to the clan.”
Fenella’s eyes widened. “Your da doesna mean it.”
“He said they wouldna kill him.”
“You trust your da? The other men?”
“Aye. They want Cormac’s clan to ally with ours, so they willna want to kill Quinn. Though all bets are off if anyone knew he’d been kissing me, and well, mayhap the rest.”
Fenella’s cheeks reddened, then they hurried down the stairs. “Your da willna let you wed him?”
“Work for him, aye. Wed him, nay.”
“What are you going to do? You have to tell your da the truth.”
“For Quinn’s sake, I will have to go along with bringing him to the keep, until we can decide what to do. He would be safer living among our people, than being hunted down. And you know my da would do it to keep us from meeting in a clandestine way.”
“But you are already married. Will he no’ want to claim you for his wife? I doubt Quinn would go along with pretending no’ to have claimed you for his own. No’ as braw as he looked.”
“He willna have a choice. I’m to go with Hamish and two other men. Once we can find a way to speak private
ly, Quinn and I will talk of our plans. We are in this together. I canna tell my da until Quinn is in agreement. No’ when this will affect both of us.”
They saw Hamish speaking with a couple of the guardsmen, and when Hamish caught her eye, he seemed to know she needed to have a word with him.
“How are you doing, Fenella?” Avelina asked her cousin, not wanting to be insensitive to Fenella’s loss.
“Holding it together. I still canna believe my da is gone, or…or that so many changes will be taking place. I’ve heard men trying to make alliances, figuring who would be next in charge, and discounting your da as a viable leader. Everything is unsettled. I just…just never expected him no’ to return with the others, though ‘tis always a concern when the men go off to fight.”
“Aye, the same here. I just expected them both to return as they always do, a little battered, but no really serious injuries.” Before they reached Hamish, she added for Fenella’s hearing only, “Mayhap Quinn can help my da keep his position.”
Fenella’s expression brightened. “Aye, because he can never die.”
Avelina let out her breath. “Anyone can die. He’s no’ invincible.”
Hamish waited for her to reach him, and when she did, she said, “My da wishes to speak with you.”
“Aye.” Hamish turned to the other men. “I’ll be right back.” Then he took off for the stairs.
“How is your da?” Dar asked, his black hair tied back, his beard trim. She’d overheard him saying once to some of the men how he wished he’d had a chance to wed her, but he knew he couldn’t because of her da’s position in the clan.
“He is well. Ready to fight again. You know how he is.”
The two men exchanged glances. She knew then that they truly believed he was bedridden for the time-being. She folded her arms and looked crossly at them. “He will be down for the celebration.”
They smiled then.
“We didna doubt it,” the other man said. Fagin was a redhead, his bushy brows knit together, his beard not nearly as neat as Dar’s.
Dar agreed.
Sure, they didn’t. But what worried her most was what would happen when she took them to see Quinn. She prayed she could call out to him, and he wouldn’t come out fighting. They would kill him.
11
Quinn had repaired the roof on the abandoned croft so that he would stay warmer and drier this eve, and for however long he might stay here. He wished he had time to help Judith out also.
As soon as Avelina had left to return to the keep, he kept expecting a troop of men to arrive, and take him prisoner, then drag him to the keep where he would be whipped and tortured. Then killed.
Not because she would tell on him, but the more people that knew of his being here, the more of a chance the truth would slip out.
After cleaning her brother’s plaid and laying it out on the shore, he swam in the loch to wash off some of the dirt and sweat from rebuilding the croft. Wolf had been paddling around in the water nearby, but he suddenly perked up his ears, looking in the direction Avelina had gone. Wolf swam toward shore, and Quinn headed in, worried that someone was coming.
Wolf reached the shore and shook off the water from his fur. Then he raced off. Quinn swam as fast as he could to reach the shore. Once he climbed out, he dried off, and dressed in Avelina’s brother’s shirt and Quinn’s own plaid. He grabbed his sword belt and fastened it, though he wouldna fight Avelina’s kin if they showed up. He thought maybe Avelina was coming to see him, the way Wolf ran off like he was greeting someone he liked, not racing off to attack someone, or chasing a deer. But he could be reacting in the same manner if it was any of her people. They would be considered his pack.
“’Tis Avelina, come with some of my da’s men,” Avelina called out from beyond his sight. “They wish to welcome you to our clan, Quinn.”
She didn’t sound like she was speaking under coercion. He was certain she would have shouted for him to run away, if she knew the men were planning to attack him. On the other hand, they may have led her to believe they meant him no harm, when they meant just the opposite.
“My da wishes me to marry a man named Ewen, or your brother, Cormac, depending on the position he ends up with. I will wed neither, if he loses his position. In the meantime, he welcomes you to our clan for saving my life. ‘Tis all right. I vouch for these men.”
She couldn’t really mean to wed either man. Not when they had wed each other. He assumed she hadn’t told her da the truth yet.
“I am here,” Quinn said, still not trusting the men, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to outrun them. He didn’t know the island like they did. And if her da was being honest about allowing him safe passage, Quinn would be willing to attempt an alliance with the man. Maybe her da decided not to kill Quinn because they thought his brother would be angry with them for ending his life. Little did they know…
When the three men and Avelina came into view, Wolf dashed off to greet Quinn as if he hadn’t seen him in eons. Avelina didn’t look happy. No doubt she had some concerns as to how safe Quinn was as much as he did. If he were to stay with her kin, he knew he and she would never be allowed to be alone together again until they told her da they were married, or they slipped away to the mainland. He suspected her da would not be happy to see him either, knowing fair well that Quinn and his daughter had been together without anyone chaperoning them.
Quinn eyed the men—all looking ready to draw swords and end his life, their expressions dark and foreboding.
“This is Hamish, Dar, and Fagin. The feast will begin shortly. Come with us,” Avelina entreated, unsmiling, trying to look at ease, but her shoulders were stiff. “You will be safe.”
“Baudwin has said you will be allowed to keep your weapons, as long as there is no trouble,” Hamish said, frowning at him. He had to be the leader of this group.
The other men continued to look just as hard-faced.
Quinn knew they were angry because she had taken care of a wounded stranger in secret.
“I will be honored. And if I can be of assistance to you and your people, I will be happy to oblige,” Quinn said.
“You planned to steal Fenella away,” Hamish accused him, growling the words.
Before Avelina could object, her mouth opened to speak on Quinn’s behalf, he said, “Cormac, my brother, said she wished to marry him. I would have learned the truth from her and let her be. I am no’ in the habit of stealing women away from their kin.”
The men looked at Avelina, and her cheeks turned red.
Well, yes, he had planned to steal Avelina away from her people, so that much was true, but he had no intention of speaking of it, as long as she didn’t. He trusted the men would beat or torture him, just to learn the truth about what had gone on between Avelina and him. Still, they’d allowed him to keep his weapons, and that helped to lessen his concern a little.
Avelina and Wolf led them back toward the keep, the three men walking beside him, guarding him in case he bolted, he imagined.
He hated to admit he felt somewhat anxious about making a good impression on Avelina’s da, in particular, and her people, in general—if he had any hope of gaining their approval for him marrying Avelina.
When the castle came into view, he considered the fortifications, the stone wall surrounding the keep, two towers, the keep in the center. The portcullis and gate were open, and he moved with the others into the outer bailey. Another wall stood between them and the keep and the inner bailey.
Men and women stopped doing their chores to stare at him, most likely believing him to be just like the mercenaries his brother had employed. They were probably also wondering why Avelina was helping to escort him through the bailey with a guard force. Maybe wondering why he was still armed too.
He couldn’t help but glance around at the fortifications—the fifteen-foot thick stone walls, the guards posted on top, watching him, not the surrounding area, the guard towers—and the wounded being taken care of on pallet
s next to the stables. Bread was baking in the bakery, filling the air with the aroma.
“Keep moving,” Hamish said brusquely, though Quinn hadn’t slowed his pace while observing the place. He didn’t like that Quinn was tactically checking out the fortifications.
Avelina was ahead of them, but she looked over her shoulder at Quinn as if wondering what he was up to. He gave her a wee smile, trying to reassure her that everything would be all right, though he wasn’t sure at all.
She didn’t smile in return, but the men were all watching her behavior, so he understood.
They entered the inner bailey where more people stopped to watch the procession. He kept his bearing straight at all times, despite that his ribs and his arm were hurting again. He’d done too much work on the abandoned croft, and now he figured it was all for nothing unless someone was brave enough to use it for their home.
They passed the well where a woman was gathering water and then they climbed up the steps to the keep where tapestries hung on a couple of the walls and trestle tables were set up for the festivities in the great hall.
A redheaded man was seated in the middle of the head table, his back to the wall. His beard was long and curly, his blue eyes settling on Quinn in a judgmental way. Avelina had her da’s coloration, blue eyes and red-gold hair. Everyone else began filling the great hall as if his arrival let them know it was time to feast.
Everyone who’d been conversing grew deathly silent, all waiting to see what Baudwin would do.
He shifted his attention to Avelina, and she looked at Quinn and took a deep breath. She inclined her head to him, as if she wished she could say something to him, but instead, she moved around the head table to take her seat.
“You are Quinn of the Clan MacDuff,” her da said.
“Aye, brother to Cormac, their chief.”
“Your chief.”
“No longer. I would have died in battle for my brother, but I willna fight for him any longer. No’ when he has tried to have me murdered on several separate occasions.”