Charming the Highlander Laird

by Verlin Underwood

  Colin, expectedly, was confused. “My pleasure?” he said in a question. “Tara, what’s going on? Unseelie Court? Aren’t those the malevolent fairies?”

  “I’ll tell you another time,” she hurriedly said. “I just… can’t right now. Let’s continue on, shall we? The sooner we get to Aengus, the sooner we can tell your mother to get her men ready.”

  She felt, rather than saw, Colin frown. “It won’t be necessary,” he said under his breath, but his words sounded doubtful. Perhaps he was finally starting to believe her? She didn’t blame his skepticism. It’s not every day that you hear someone saying your home will be destroyed by an evil fairy. If she told him the truth, however, would he then believe her wholeheartedly?

  He deserved to know the truth.

  After they finished packing up their campsite, Tara mounted her horse and held onto the reins with one hand. She felt more relieved than she had in perhaps her entire life. And all it took for her to see clearly was an injured shoulder. She chuckled to herself.

  The air was gradually getting cooler and the terrain much more mountainous. They were deep into the Highlands now and farther north than Tara had ever been. They were getting closer to the portal to the Seelie Court. From what Tara could recall, the portal was located in a forest near Inverness and was invisible to the human eye, disguising itself as a natural forest of birch trees.

  “Does your mother live in Inverness?” she asked Colin.

  “Not quite that far north, but close enough, yes. Near the northern tip of Loch Ericht,” he said to her. “We should be there by the day’s end.”

  Tara took that time to try practicing her magic a little bit more, but the effort was futile. She had spent whatever remainder of magic reserves she had left. And with her hurt shoulder, there was no way she was heading toward Dunaid as a bird or other animal.

  What good would a bird do in stopping a leannan sith, anyway? Tara had another thought, one that she had thought of before, but it had always frightened her too much to consider. What if she turned into her leannan sith form to try to defeat her mother? Would she be powerful enough to succeed?

  Or would it turn her completely evil?

  Dusk was starting to fall as a large, stone castle appeared in the distance.

  “Welcome to Aengus Castle,” Colin declared.

  Tara gazed around in wonder. It looked less like a normal Scottish castle and more like what she imagined the Seelie Court would.

  The castle was at least twice the size of Dunaid—and Dunaid was not a small place by any stretch. Aengus was sprawling, and all the windows were aglow with activity. There was a large garden outside of the castle and a cobblestone path leading up to the front gates with rose bushes gracing the sides. A hedge maze much larger than the one growing in Dunaid’s courtyard surrounded the castle like a moat.

  Even though it was winter, white and red blossoms were sprinkled around the cobblestone path, a startling sight against the Scottish gloom. The stone pathway looked scrubbed and polished, free of any horse or livestock manure, as was usually the case with commonly used roads.

  Oh, how Nellie would love this place! Tara thought with pleasure. Her sister-in-law loved to garden and took pride in her courtyard garden in Dunaid.

  “Are we gonna live here?” Baldric asked. Her heart warmed at how hopeful his voice sounded.

  “For a little bit of time,” Colin told the boy. He, too, had a wistful smile on his face. “Your grandmother lives here. She is going to be so excited to finally meet you for the first time, Baldric.”

  “What a gorgeous place,” Tara observed. “Did you mother do this all herself?”

  “She lives here with my stepfather and my grandmother. She and my grandmother both have been taking care of the estate. They don’t have much land, as my uncle owns the bulk of it, but they make up for it in grandeur.”

  “Indeed,” Tara said, staring up at a large hedge trimmed in the shape of a swan. “I’ve never seen the likes of this before. This is what I imagine it must be like to live like royalty!”

  Colin chuckled. “Wait until you see my mother.”

  Chapter 14

  Colin hadn’t seen his mother since the darkest time in his life, when he had sought refuge up north to get away from everything: his previous marriage, his past failures… All of the emotions he had thought he’d left were washing up to greet him again.

  I thought I was through with this, he mused as they neared Aengus.

  Tara saw his expression and frowned at him worriedly. “You look ill, Colin.”

  “I’m fine,” he reassured her. Should he tell her what happened to him? What would she think? Would she view him any differently? He held Baldric tighter in his arms, as though he were going to slip away from him, too. If he had learned anything in his world, it was that life was fragile, that what he loved could be torn from him at any moment.

  The dirt road turned into the cobblestone path, leading up to the castle gates. Colin noticed the way Tara held herself. Both shoulders were slumped, and she hung her head down as though it was heavy. Poor Tara. She looked so weary. He remembered her crying in his arms and how his heart broke to see her so downcast.

  She was certainly keeping many things from him, but he didn’t resent her for that. They both had their secrets that they nursed like an open wound. She seemed so vulnerable in his arms, and he knew how it was to feel so broken. He had looked much the same five years ago, before Baldric came into his life.

  What is it that I feel for her? Colin wondered. He’d had many fleeting relationships since his wife, but it never amounted to anything more serious than a night of passionate kisses in the hedges behind Wymond. Tara was different. He was beginning to realize that he actually cared for her and he wanted to find a way to make her happy.

  Her melancholic demeanor was breaking his heart.

  A grand staircase greeted them at the entrance to the castle. Two guards stood watch, swords tied to their waists and javelins clutched in their hands.

  “Wait here,” Colin told Tara, handing Baldric over to her to hold while she sat on her horse. He walked over to the guards and gave them both a quick nod. “Good evening, gentlemen,” he said to them.

  One guard walked in front of the door, barring the entrance, as though Colin was just going to barge in. “Who are you, sasunnach?” he asked suspiciously.

  The other guard gave him a hard nudge. “That’s Laird Morrison,” he hissed.

  The other guard straightened up and flushed with embarrassment. “My apologies, m’laird,” he said, bowing quickly.

  “Nothing to worry about,” Colin reassured him. “Can you let my mother know that I’ve arrived?”

  “Of course, m’laird.” The slanderous man gave him another shaky bow before opening the door and disappearing inside.

  “He’s new,” the other guard explained. It took Colin a while to remember that his name was Daniel. “Let me get your horses.”

  “Thank you, Daniel.”

  Daniel walked over to Tara and helped her and Baldric off the horse. “M’lady,” he said politely. Tara nodded her head and walked over to join Colin. Colin couldn’t help but notice the way Daniel’s eyes lingered on Tara as she moved.

  The first guard popped his head out of the door. “C’mon, come in. Lady McDougal is expecting you,” he said. The guard then noticed Tara, and his eyes widened. His mouth opened and closed like a fish. “M-m’lady,” he stammered.

  Colin forced himself to unclench his fists to keep from clobbering these desperate fools, then noticed the plainly uncomfortable look on Tara’s face. “Come on in, Tara,” he said hurriedly, leading the woman by her uninjured arm. The quicker they got away from those damn guards, the better.

  The doors closed behind them. Immediately, Colin noticed how warm it was inside, a stark difference to the perpetual chill of Scottish winters. He smelled baking; the kitchens were making something with cinnamon and cloves, and his mouth already began to water.

  C
olin glanced at Tara and was amused to see her eyes widen at the sight around them. Indeed, Aengus Castle was just as opulent inside as it was outside, if not more. Colin’s father had been wealthy and generous. Randel Morrison gave his mother anything she wanted, although Sorcha McDougal grew up wealthy herself. When she moved to Scotia after his death, it took a caravan of wagons to move all of her belongings up north to the Highlands.

  As much as she loved the finer things in life, his mother was a kindhearted woman and gave freely to those in need. He missed her every day and now wished that he had stayed up north with her, taking Baldric with him when he came into his care instead of staying at Eldron’s castle. But then how would he know how evil his brother really was?

  Before the guilt hit him like an arrow, he remembered Tara’s words: it wasn’t his fault.

  Colin finally noticed how crowded the castle was. It was brimming with people. But instead of their wearing fancy clothes, as was the usual scene when visitors were at Aengus, they wore rags. Their eyes were tired and their cheeks gaunt. A child with a puppy in her arms stopped in front of them and looked up at Baldric with dark circles smudged underneath sad eyes. The puppy’s ribs were showing, and he wagged his tail halfheartedly at them.

  “Hullo,” Baldric said to the girl. Before the girl could respond, a woman who appeared to be her mother took the girl by her by the arm and led her away quickly.

  What was going on here?

  Tara looked confused as well. “Who are all of these people?” she asked him.

  Colin shrugged. “I’m not sure,” he told her. Was his mother housing refugees?

  “My Colin, is that you?”

  A woman dressed in an expensively-colored scarlet dress stood at the top of the balustrade that overlooked the entrance hall. She had jewels on her fingers, in her ears, and around her neck. Her golden hair was plaited and tied up in an ornate headpiece. Her lips and cheeks were tinted with rouge. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tara flatten down her own hair, which she had let go wild during their travels.

  “Mother, it is lovely to see you!” Colin smiled at the woman.

  She glided down the stairs and embraced her son. “Your hair has gotten to be so long you can plait it like mine!” she exclaimed, tugging at his curls lightly with her elegant hand. He thought he heard Tara snicker softly, but his mother failed to notice. “And you brought Baldric with you!” she squealed, taking Baldric in her arms and twirling him about. A bubble of laughter escaped from the boy. “My, you are much more adorable than that portrait Colin sent me. You are like a real cherub that has come down from the heavens.”

  “Baldric, this is your grandmother,” Colin explained to him.

  “Oh, and what a beautiful boy you are,” his mother crooned. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

  “Hullo, granny,” Baldric said shyly. “Can I give you a hug?”

  “You most certainly may,” his mother said.

  She looked over Baldric’s shoulder and finally noticed Tara. “And who is this lovely lady?” she asked. “Colin, is this another one of your...”

  “Mother!” Colin hissed, feeling his face turn almost as red as his mother’s dress.

  His mother’s face turned a similar color, and she looked at Tara apologetically. “Oh, my goodness. I am so sorry. I didn’t mean—it’s just that…” She sighed dramatically. “It’s been a long week, so why don’t I start over? My name is Sorcha McDougal. I am Colin’s mother.”

  “My name is Tara Maxwell,” she said to her. Colin was impressed with the way she held onto her composure. His mother tended to have a loose tongue, especially after she had a drink or two. And each time he wrote a letter to her, he’d mention a different woman he was interested in, so he could hardly blame her slip.

  “Ah, another Scot. How wonderful.” She put her long arms around Tara. “And another tall woman to boot. I think we will get along nicely. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tara Maxwell. Are you of relation to the Maxwell clan?”

  “Aye, Adam Maxwell is my brother.”

  “Really? He’s a handsome sot, of no mistake. What are you doing here so far from home, traveling in the middle of winter?”

  Tara bit her lip. He knew that she was debating how much to tell this woman she had just met. “We met her on the road,” Colin told his mother tightly before Tara could say a word.

  “Of course,” his mother said. “There are a lot of people on the road with what is going on in the Lowlands.” She waved her arm at the sea of people behind her. The jewels on her wrists tinkled like tiny bells.

  “Who are all of these people?” Colin asked. His mother’s castle was big, but the stream of people that walked by seemed endless. Young people, old people, people carrying babies... His mother seemed to be housing a small village!

  “They’re refugees, Colin,” his mother explained. “They’ve escaped when they heard word of King Edward razing Lothian. Many came to Aengus asking refuge, and I couldn’t deny them it.” She gave them both a good look. “And by the looks of you two, it seems that you have come from Lothian as well. Am I wrong?”

  Colin nodded. “We barely escaped from Haddington when the king’s men first attacked.”

  The woman nodded her head sadly. “What a shame. However, I am glad you are safe.”

  “Do you have enough room for these folks? Do you have enough food?”

  His mother smiled at him sweetly. “I’m making do,” she said. “I can’t just let them starve out there, while I’m plump, warm, and content in here. I was thinking of perhaps having them build houses and farms on my land. They can pay rent once things calm down and they’re able to establish a trade. But for now they’re hiding. Besides, the Stewards are also giving me a helping hand, as many of these people have escaped from their own lands.”

  “How are the Stewards? Well enough?”

  “Aye, they’ve escaped far from the conflict, yet I know not what their plans are.”

  “Aren’t you worried King Edward will come up here, too?”

  “I have faith in the good Lord,” his mother said, reaching to her chest to hold a small, golden crucifix studded with jewels.

  She has faith in her money and her prestige, in other words, Colin thought. King Edward would give her castle a wide berth. That was, if Tara was wrong about Una coming up to Aengus to attack. With so many people now housed in the castle, such an event would be an utter tragedy.

  His mother nodded. “It seems as though you have a story to tell,” she said. “But first, Tara, dear, would you like a bath and some fresh clothes? We look to be of similar size, and I can lend you one of my gowns.”

  Tara looked relieved. “I would love that, actually. I haven’t had a bath since Haddington, and my clothing is singed from the fires and in need of a good washing.”

  “Come along, m’dear. What color gown would you like?”

  Tara considered it, a sparkle in her eyes that Colin hadn’t seen before. “I do like the red you have on,” she said rather shyly.

  “Ach, I have about ten different dresses of the same color. Let’s see which one becomes you the most.”

  As his mother led Tara up the staircase, Tara turned and gave Colin a reassuring smile. He should’ve warned her that his mother was somewhat of an eccentric.

  “Well, what about us?” Colin asked Baldric, who was still sitting patiently in his arms. “Are you hungry? I know I am.”

  “Yes, Da.”

  “Baldric, you can call me Colin again, if you’d like. Nobody here believes me to be your father.”

  “But I like calling you Da,” Baldric insisted.

  And I like him calling me Da, Colin thought, his heart swelling.

  “Then call me that if you wish,” he told him, patting him on the head.

  They went to the kitchens and coaxed the cooks into giving them a freshly-baked cinnamon apple tart, which they ate with relish. The two had just finished licking their fingertips when they were interrupted.

  “M’lair
d.” He looked up to see a young woman with her hands crossed demurely in front of them. “The Lady McDougal asked me to take care of the young Laird Baldric.”

  Aye, I guess the boy needs a good bath, too. “Very well,” he said. “What’s your name?”

  “Sofie, m’laird.”

  Colin crouched down beside Baldric. “Sofie is going to clean you up and play with you a bit,” he said. “And then I’ll see you at suppertime, all right?”

  The boy gave him a nod and followed after the maid. Colin felt his heart tighten. He had been with him for so much of the journey, it was hard to part with him, even if they were under the same roof. It’s for the best, though, he reasoned. The boy needed to grow up sometime… and the sooner, the better.

  Colin sat alone for a while before thinking that he would also benefit from a bath and a change of clothes. He was about to get up from his chair when his mother entered the room as gracefully as the image of the swan cut from the hedges outside her castle.

  “I imagine Tara is being taken care of?” he asked her.

  “Pampered as a lady should be,” his mother said, linking arms with him. “Come, let us sit and catch up. I know that you have much to tell me.”

  His mother led him to a sitting room with expensive lounging chairs surrounding an oaken table. A maid came in with a serving tray, which held a pot of tea and two mugs. “Tea?” she asked her son.

  Colin grabbed a mug and sipped it. It tasted of herbs and a spice he could not identify. He imagined it came from somewhere in the Far East.

  “Tara is a beautiful woman,” his mother said after taking a bite out of a pastry. “And intelligent as well. Are you thinking about marrying her? I would be delighted if you did. I think it’s time to settle down after what you’ve been through. You deserve to be happy again.”

  Marrying her? Colin almost choked on his tea. He cleared his throat. “The idea has not crossed my mind,” he said truthfully. But was it something he would consider? His mission to bring Baldric to safety had been on the forefront of his mind. But if Baldric was now safe, then what?