Highland Master

by Howell, Hannah

  “That is what Sigimor’s wife, Jolene, told me when I was fretting about ne’er being able to give Brian a child.” Arianna saw Triona frown in puzzlement and explained the relationship of the Camerons and the MacFingals. “I am certain that, if I had e’er spent time thinking on who my husband would be, what his family would be like, and how a life with them would be, I would ne’er have pictured anything akin to the MacFingals and the Camerons. They are an odd lot. Ye just cannae imagine how odd at times. They do make life verra interesting, however.”

  “Aye, I imagine so.”

  “So, what is to be done about this Sir John Grant?”

  “Struth, I dinnae ken what to do, and that is the trouble with it all. What he does is impossible to fight and impossible to prove. ’Tis all sneaking about and breaking things like some angry, spoiled bairn. We ne’er catch his men at it, so we really cannae go demanding justice. Despite how much his own people dislike him, I dinnae think they would betray him by giving us the proof we need. So for almost two years we have done naught but fight to get enough work done to survive, e’en as we spend far too much of our precious time fixing what new damage he has done.”

  Arianna frowned. “Is it because he cannae abide a lass holding this land?”

  “I am certain that is some of it, aye. He has verra little respect for women and thinks them weak-minded. And though I may be called the laird, we are nay fully a clan, nay like the ones to the north.” Triona set aside the rest of her mending and sighed. “Nay like the Murrays or the MacFingals. I am laird simply because I hold this land. Banuilt is close to the Lowlands and the Borderlands, so we also have a fair mix of people who call this land home. E’en a few true Highlanders. From what history I learned of this land, that has always been so. Many of the villagers are descended from drovers who passed through, liked it or found a lass, and once they had completed the business that had brought them this way, returned and settled in. There were even a few reivers who fled here and just stayed.”

  “As I said, it is a beautiful place and has all that is needed to be a rich, fertile land. That is such a blessing.”

  Triona nodded. “Boyd’s first wife’s forefathers kenned it. They also kenned ways to make what wasnae quite so perfect here even better. I have studied their writings verra carefully. Sadly, Boyd’s first wife’s father wasnae quite as clever, and Boyd had no interest in such things. None at all. The only thing he did care about was training with the men, hunting, and going off to dine with our liege laird or e’en to the king’s court.”

  “But ye did care and ye did the work, aye? Mayhap that is also why he left it all to ye. It might also be why Sir John wants ye bad enough to do all this trickery and sabotage, to try to force ye to wed him.”

  “I see that Nessie has been talking.”

  Arianna grinned. “She was ranting about it all as she helped me with my clothes,” she said and then grew serious. “Ye must nay let him force ye into a marriage.”

  “Were ye forced to marry Claud?”

  “Nay, not as Sir John is trying to force ye. It was a marriage my family badly wanted me to make, and when I first met Claud, he was handsome and verra charming. I truly thought we could have a verra good marriage, e’en a loving one, in time. No one kenned about his wife, or e’en heard the talk of her being his mistress for years. His family hid that verra weel. They needed the dower I brought to the marriage.”

  “As Sir John wants what I would bring to a marriage.” She grimaced. “And as Boyd wanted that coin I was bringing when he wed me. It would be nice to be wanted for oneself just once, to be taken as a wife simply because the mon cannae think of life without ye in it.”

  Before Arianna could reply, Angus rushed into the room, stumbling to a halt in front of them. “Men at the gate, m’lady.”

  “Grant?” she asked as she stood up.

  “Nay. Sir Brett says it be her husband,” he replied and pointed at Arianna. “The mon isnae verra happy.”

  “Och, nay?” Arianna stood up and put her hands on her hips. “Weel, ye can tell him that I am nay verra happy, either. Ne’ermind, I shall tell him myself.”

  “Wait!” Triona grabbed her cousin by the arm when she started to march out of the great hall. “I think ye shouldnae meet him outside, where all can hear what ye may have to say to each other.” She waited until Arianna took a few deep breaths and calmed a little. “Go to the sewing room. I will send him to ye. Then ye may have privacy to sort this out.”

  Arianna nodded and Triona walked beside her as they left the great hall, Angus following close behind them. Triona’s plan to keep her cousin’s marital discord private ended just outside the doors of the great hall. A tall, black-haired man strode in, coming to a halt the moment he saw Arianna, and then he glared at her.

  Triona’s first thought was that her cousin had married a very handsome man. Then she saw the anger in his dark blue eyes. Afraid for her cousin, she looked at Arianna only to find the woman glaring right back at her husband, no hint of fear in her stance.

  “Have ye lost all your wits, woman?” he demanded in a voice that echoed throughout the hall.

  “Woman? Did ye just call me woman?” Arianna responded in a voice that was not much softer, yanking free of Triona’s grasp and walking right up to her husband.

  “Why did that make her so angry?” Angus asked Triona, leaning in so he could be heard over the yelling that Arianna and her husband were indulging in. “She is a woman.”

  “Angus, it wasnae the word, it was the way he said it,” Triona replied and sighed, wondering how she could get the furious couple out of sight of the people now gathering in the doorway or slipping up into the hall from the kitchens. “E’en the most sensible word can become an insult if ye say it in the right way, and he did.” She was a little surprised to see Angus look thoughtful as he slowly nodded.

  “Och, now that is odd.” Angus frowned. “How can a mon forget a wife?”

  “A very good question, but I think they shouldnae be discussing that right here.” She moved quickly to grab her cousin by the arm. “Arianna, this should be private.” She shook her cousin a little when the woman ignored her.

  “What?” Arianna snapped, and looked at her. “I need to make this fool understand a few things.”

  “I am sure ye do, but mayhap ye should make him understand in a place that is a wee bit more private. Ye are drawing a crowd,” she added more quietly.

  Arianna looked around at the people avidly watching her and Brian fight, and then blushed. “Where is the sewing room then?”

  Knowing the angry man staring at his wife would follow, Triona led Arianna to the sewing room, opened the door, and pushed her inside. Sir Brian followed just as she had known he would. Triona wondered if that grunt he made before shutting the door after him was the way he thanked her for showing them to a more private place. Then the shouting began and she sighed. They might be behind a closed door, but privacy was lost unless they finally lowered their voices.

  “Ne’er seen Brian so furious,” said Brett as he stepped up beside her.

  Triona looked at him and then looked at the door, frowning in sudden concern for her cousin. “He willnae hurt her, will he?”

  “Nay. I would ne’er have let ye send them in there alone if I thought he would. The mon would ne’er raise a hand to her.” He winced when Brian bellowed something about foolish women not giving a man a chance to defend himself. “’Tis clear he has no trouble raising his voice to her.” His eyes widened at Arianna’s somewhat coarse reply. “Nor does she have any problem shouting right back. Marriage to a MacFingal has certainly given my cousin a lot more spirit than she used to have.”

  “Weel, emotions are running high, I believe.”

  “Och, aye, they certainly are.”

  Triona turned to see a lot of her people plus Brett’s men and six new warriors all crowded around. “They may nay have the sense to keep their voices down, but this is a private matter between husband and wife. It would
be nice if we left them to it, dinnae ye think so?”

  Callum grinned. “Nay, but for ye we will do so.”

  She watched everyone move away and then looked at Brett. “Is Callum your cousin?”

  “Nay by blood. The connection comes through my father, who was fostered, and Callum was found and taken in by my cousin when he was but a boy. A long, sordid tale, but it turned out verra weel for the boy.”

  “He is verra good to children. It has been a long time since I have seen the children here so taken with a mon they were nay kin to, and see that mon return all their attention and affection.”

  “Aye, Callum loves them. When he was a lad he made an oath to be a protector of all children. His keep, left to him by his grandfather, fair swarms with them. ’Tis rare that we pass through any village or town where he doesnae collect another poor waif. And God help any mon or woman he finds who is being cruel to one.”

  Triona began to express her admiration for Callum’s kindness when her cousin suddenly wrenched open the door and marched out. Arianna looked as furious as any woman she had ever seen, her skin flushed with anger, her eyes alight with it, and her small hands clenched into tight fists. It suddenly occurred to her that there was more behind her cousin’s anger than hurt that her husband had not told her everything about his past. Arianna was smart enough to ken that few men told their wives everything they had done before meeting them, and while forgetting to mention a previous wife was a bit extreme, it should not be tearing Arianna up as it was. Triona did not think all this high emotion could be fully blamed on the fact that Arianna was with child, either.

  “We are nay done talking,” said Sir Brian as he stood in the door.

  “We are for now,” Arianna snapped. “I just cannae talk to ye anymore.”

  A look of something that resembled fear went through the man’s eyes as he watched his wife stride away. Triona had the strange urge to pat him and say something soothing. Then he scowled at Brett.

  “She isnae listening to sense,” he complained.

  “I think ye both need to take a wee breath,” said Brett. “Tempers are too high right now. Ye should step carefully, Brian. The lass is carrying your child, and raging at each other cannae be good for her.”

  The man actually paled and Triona was compelled to say, “’Tis nay so verra dangerous, either, Sir Brian MacFingal. Just nay verra good, as it could cause her to feel a wee bit ill or the like.”

  “She lost a bairn once, and she is terrified that she will lose this one. ’Tis why I cannae understand why she did this.”

  “This is nay my business, but since ye are here in my home, if I might just ask ye something?”

  “Ask,” he said, cocking his head to the side and studying her carefully.

  “Arianna was wed before, and I ken that he was a bit of a liar.” She ignored the way both men snorted in amusement at her understatement. “And that lie concerned another woman in his life.” She nodded when Sir Brian’s eyes widened. “Watching her just now, I thought it seemed that she was far too upset about this, and I couldnae think it was just because she is with child. I wonder if there is something from that past, that mon and what must have been a miserable marriage, that has added to her upset. I am nay sure but . . .”

  “Ye are right,” he said. “I was so angry that she left, put herself and the bairn at risk when she should have just stayed and talked to me, that I wasnae thinking clearly. I must think on this.” He started to walk away and then stopped to look at her. “That is, if we are welcome to stay for a wee while.”

  “Oh, aye. I will see to finding ye all some place to sleep.”

  As she watched Sir Brian walk away, part of Triona had to fight the urge to do a little dance at the thought of having seven more big, strong warriors at Banuilt. Her more sensible side began to wonder how she would feed so many men. It also wanted her to pause and think of how angry this would make Sir John.

  “This willnae please Sir John,” murmured Brett.

  She frowned at him. “Just what I was thinking, but I would rather ye didnae remind me of it. For just a wee while I wanted to be happy to have a few more big, strong warriors about.” She sighed. “But, aye, and he will hear about it soon. I have no idea how he will react to it, either, so no way to protect myself from whate’er he decides to do.”

  “Increase the watch.”

  “Aye, that is at least something.”

  “And I believe I will gather up a few men and go hunting. Big, strong warriors can empty a larder verra quickly.”

  “Oh, thank ye. Thank ye so much. I was a wee bit worried about that.”

  Brett reached out and pulled her into his arms. “I think it would be nice if ye thanked me with a kiss.”

  “Ye havenae caught anything yet.” She grinned when he laughed.

  He kissed her before she had even stopped laughing, catching her with her lips parted. Triona had to cling to him to steady herself as he kissed her with such passion it made her head spin. She was still clinging to him when he began to pull away. It took her a moment to clear her head enough to realize she still clutched his plaid, and she quickly released him. Her only comfort was that he was breathing as heavily as she was. Then he gave her a grin and walked away.

  “That be a verra fine mon, lass,” Nessa said, and then laughed when Triona squeaked in surprise at her approach. “That one be a mon a lass should try to hold on to.”

  “He is only here because of his cousin, Nessa,” Triona said, fighting down the embarrassment she felt over being caught kissing a man.

  “Doesnae mean he might nay be persuaded to stay when she leaves. Ye should work on that.”

  Triona watched Nessa walk away and sighed. Aside from the fact that she was not even sure if she wanted another husband, she had no idea how to work on that as Nessa suggested. She had known no men before Boyd, and he had not taught her anything about how a man and woman flirted or played lovers’ games. Despite having been married for six years and becoming a mother, she had all the experience in love of a sheltered virgin. And, she confessed only to herself, it was love she wanted if she ever let a man into her life again.

  Shaking aside all thoughts of the handsome Sir Brett Murray declaring his love for her, Triona went to find her cousin. It did not surprise her to find Arianna sprawled on her bed, a linen cloth clutched in her hand and tears trickling down her cheeks. Finding a woman who was with child, crying, was all too normal.

  “Cousin,” she said as she sat down on the edge of the bed, “ye should try to keep in your mind that the mon came after ye, hunted ye down.”

  “MacFingals are verra skilled at hunting people down,” Arianna murmured.

  “Did he explain why he ne’er mentioned his first wife?”

  “Aye, he forgot.” She nodded when Triona grimaced. “He said there was naught to tell. He wed her, moved to her clan’s lands, they had a verra short marriage, she died, and he came home empty-handed and then decided to make his own fortune.”

  “Nay the best of answers for all your questions, true enough. I did have the thought, however, that ye may be letting some of what happened in your first marriage disrupt this one.”

  Arianna frowned. “I do my best to try to forget that marriage, as it was a miserable one and a lie.”

  “Exactly. It was a lie. He already had a wife before he e’en wed ye.”

  Triona waited as she watched Arianna think about that for a moment. She hoped her cousin was as sharp of wit as she thought, because it would be hard to try to explain what she thought the woman was doing. And if Arianna did not see how she was letting the lies of her first marriage affect her judgment of her new husband, it would be difficult to get her to believe it. Yet, Triona was sure that was exactly what Arianna was doing.

  “Weel, aye, but his wife was still alive,” Arianna grumbled and then blushed. “Aye, I ken what ye are saying. And ye may weel be right. It was the lie, but, even more important, it was a lie about a first wife. I can see now that t
hat may have been part of what made me so blindingly angry.”

  “It may have also made ye see it as far more humiliating than it was. Mayhap made you think those who care for ye see ye as a blind fool, when they ne’er did.”

  “Oh, be quiet.” Arianna laughed and dried her face. “Aye, it was a bad memory as much as anything. The MacFingals are probably wondering if I have gone mad, running off as I did. They certainly wouldnae have seen anything truly wrong with Brian forgetting about his first wife or simply nay thinking it worth mentioning.”

  “I will admit that I think the mon deserves some scolding simply because he forgot his first wife and she deserves some sort of place in his memory, nay matter how brief or rare it might be. On the other hand, it does tell ye that e’en though he ran off with a woman meant to be his brother’s bride, something we women would see as romantic and passionate and all, he didnae truly love her, did he. A part of me would find that verra acceptable.”

  “And now that ye mention it, I can see that, and, aye, a part of me finds that verra acceptable indeed. Poor Mavis. Forgotten and ne’er truly loved, either. Verra sad. But, as for that fool of a husband now stomping about your keep, I willnae let him just come and take me home. He needs to suffer just a wee bit, I think.”

  Triona nodded. “He does indeed.”

  “And I will keep in mind that I am making him pay for things Claud did. Brian isnae anything like Claud. I do ken that my Brian loves me, but he needs to ken that that means I shouldnae find out about things like a first wife from others. He should tell me such things.”

  “Weel, he will be staying until ye forgive him, so I had best go and sort out places for him and his men to sleep.” She stood up and brushed down her skirts. “It might help to nay call him a dimwitted, rutting bastard whose brains are all in his braes, too.” She laughed along with Arianna.

  “Thank ye for watching out for her,” Brian said to Brett as they stood on the walls of Banuilt and looked out over the land. “I was stunned to find her gone. She has been so afeared of losing this bairn, I just didnae believe she could ride away like that.”