“I dinna love John.”
“Love?” her sire scoffed. “If love had anything to do with marriage, the Highlands would be long gone.”
“I doona understand, Father.”
“Matches are made to benefit the future of our clans, not to sate the passion in yer heart. Alex was but a whelp. It was John who held the future of Clan MacKay in his hands.”
“John is dead,” she observed.
“Aye—put in an early grave by ye and his only brother.”
“Enough!” Alex slammed his fist on the table, startling Keely and her father. “John was killed defending our lands from Sutherlands.”
“His death is convenient for ye, too, is it not?” Matthew accused. “For look at ye now, Laird MacKay.”
“Father…” Broc stood.
“Sit down, lad. I’ll have my say.”
“At what cost?” Alex asked.
“She is my child.”
“Keely is my wife.”
Silence swallowed the room.
“Does my happiness mean nothing to ye?” Keely asked.
“Where did ye run to, Keely?” Broc asked.
“Dunrobin Castle,” she said.
“Jesus Christ,” Broc growled. “Ye chose the Sutherlands over us? Over John? Over anyone else? I canna stand being in the same room with ye!”
Broc slapped Keely’s face hard enough for her to cry out. Not from pain, Alex knew, but from the shock of it. Broc wasna a violent man.
Alex kicked his chair aside and rushed Broc.
Keely shielded her brother, standing between Alex and him. “Nay, Alex. I willna let ye retaliate. I deserved it.”
“No one has the right to strike ye, Keely.”
“Nay? I’d rather be kicked in the gut than have ye all tugging me in different directions.” She covered her face with both hands, then let out a strangled sound. Squaring her shoulders, she looked between her husband and father. “I doona wish to witness any more hatred.” She stormed out of the solar and slammed the door.
Laird Oliphant was the first to speak. “She has always been a biddable lass.”
Alex laughed bitterly. “Ye doona know yer daughter very well, sir. For she’s anything but obedient, and I wouldna wish her to be anything else.”
*
Keely ran down the stairs, then marched through the great hall. She’d meant every word she had said to Alex and her sire. When would they consider her feelings?
“Lady Keely,” Mathe called, following her outside.
“I doona wish to speak to ye, Mathe.”
“Ye’re not allowed to wander about without an escort.”
She clenched her hands. “Get behind me, devil,” she swore. “I have reached my limit, Captain. I will walk alone, and if ye send anyone after me, I will punch him in the nose.”
Mathe gaped at her for a brief moment, then bowed. “Aye, milady.”
Satisfied he had taken her seriously, Keely headed for the loch. She perched on one of the boulders, admiring the water. Happier times had been known there. She and Alex dinna have to worry about anything. And they’d fallen in love so easily.
Her solitude dinna last; she heard the crunch of grass and gravel beneath someone’s boots.
“Lady Keely?”
It was Petro.
“Did Alex send ye?” If he had, she’d send the scholar back to him.
“No. I excused myself and decided to find you.”
“I am glad,” she admitted. “Ye’re the only person I could tolerate right now.”
“And how did I win such favor?”
She gestured for him to sit on the rock next to her. “By not making any demands of me and by treating me as an equal.”
He sat down. “I’ve always found women more intelligent than men.”
“Aye?”
“Why else would God bless you with the ability to carry children and give birth?”
“I think most women have been taught it’s a curse, punishment for Eve’s sins.”
Petro chuckled. “Men wrote the holy book, Lady Keely. And men are the ones to teach it. How different it might be if women were entrusted with such things.”
She stared at him in shock. “Have ye shared these thoughts with anyone else?”
“Never.”
“Good,” she said. “I think ye better not. If Father Michael overheard ye, he might have ye burned at the stake.”
“Which only proves my point.”
“So it does,” she agreed.
“Do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“Nay.”
“Why did ye run to the Sutherlands?” he asked.
“I will not apologize for my choice.”
“I do not expect you to.”
“I couldna face my sire. By leaving John, I betrayed the MacKays and my family. I sought refuge in the one place I knew no one would look for me. Though I never intended to stay there for five years.”
“And Earl Sutherland was only too happy to oblige.”
“I was made welcome from the moment his men discovered me.”
“Alex has mentioned the earl’s youngest son, a bastard, I believe.”
“Struan.”
“You spent time with him?”
“Aye.”
“Did he ever make demands of you?”
Keely dinna understand. “Demands?”
“Did he show ye affection? Ask you to marry him?”
“Twas mentioned on occasion. Not only by Struan, but the earl, too. An impossibility, for at the time, I believed myself married to Laird John. Why do ye ask?”
Petro reached inside his tunic and produced a missive with a broken wax seal. Keely immediately recognized the Sutherland crest and her heart plummeted.
“I am able to act on Laird Alex’s behalf concerning all forms of business. I intercepted this missive yesterday. It is from the earl, expressing his displeasure of your marriage to Alex. He claims you for his youngest son.”
“I-I…” she stumbled on her words, rendered speechless by the news.
“Worry not,” he assured her. “Your marriage to Alex is binding. But convincing the earl will be another matter altogether. From what I hear of the man, he’s prideful and does not like to lose.”
“No Highlander likes to lose, Petro.”
“What about you, Keely. Have you lost anything by marrying Alexander?”
She considered her new friend, then shook her head. “If I were honest, I would say I’ve gained more than I lost. I know Alex doesna love me yet, Petro. But it is worth the effort to win back his heart.”
“You are very wrong, Lady Keely.”
“He used to love me.”
“Aye. And still does.”
She’d reserve judgment for a future time. “What of the earl?”
“He wishes to see you.”
“And Alex?”
“The request is to see you alone.”
“Why? I am a married woman, and Alex willna let me leave.”
“I suspect he requires the same as your sire – explanation for why you left so suddenly. I will make the necessary arrangements.”
His offer filled her with a determination to set things right. “Ye’d risk everything to do this?”
“If it gives Alex and you a chance at peace? Aye.”
“Thank ye.”
He patted her hand. “Do not thank me yet. If we are caught, Alex will never forgive me. But I would spare him this added burden when there is already so much for him to do.”
“When will we leave?”
“After your father and brothers go home.”
“That could take a while, Petro. My sire is slow to forgive.”
“I will dispatch a reply to the earl.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Arguing accomplishes nothing,” Alex said, growing weary of Laird Oliphant’s temper.
“Ye broke trust with me, Alex.”
“I could say the same of ye.”
The two men exc
hanged hard looks.
“The king willna approve of this unsanctioned marriage.”
Alex dinna care. “By the time he grants ye an audience, Keely will be heavy with child.”
“I am not leaving here without my daughter.”
“Then ye will not be leaving at all.”
Laird Oliphant grunted as he sat down in the closest chair and rubbed his temples. “The news of yer brother’s death saddened me.”
Alex took a deep breath. “The Sutherlands will pay dearly for it.”
“Ye are no match for the earl.”
“I willna wage open war on the man,” Alex said. “But my brother will be avenged.”
“Ye’d make my daughter twice a widow?”
“Does that mean ye accept our marriage?”
“I canna say yet. I am not a cold-hearted bastard—Keely’s feelings do matter to me. More than anything, I want to know why she ran to the Sutherlands instead of coming home. I dinna have a heavy hand with her as a child. If anything, I spoiled the lass.”
“Keely doesna need to be here to explain. The answer is simple. She tried to keep her word and married John out of obligation.”
“What else is there? Our fathers took wives chosen for them. Romantic entanglements are for the young who doona have titles and lands to secure,” Laird Oliphant said. “I commanded her to marry yer brother for strategic reasons.”
“Father,” Broc said. “If what the scholar told us is true, surely ye can appreciate Keely’s reason for not coming home. Would ye have let her stay? Though I will never understand why she chose the Sutherlands.”
“Of course not,” the laird said emphatically. “She would have been sent back to her husband.”
Alex knew there was no way to change the man’s mind yet. It would take time. So instead of deepening the resentment between them, he decided to invite him to stay. “Perhaps the best way to see that our marriage deserves yer blessing is to spend some time here.”
“Ply me with food and drink? Is that what ye plan to do?”
“I think it will help.”
Laird Oliphant rewarded Alex with a toothy grin. “I like the way ye think, MacKay.”
“Then it is settled?”
“Temporarily. Who am I to refuse eating and drinking on someone else’s gold? My sons are gluttons, and so are my retainers.”
“There is plenty of meat and bread on my table every night, Laird Oliphant—Father.”
“Doona get too comfortable throwing that title about, lad.”
Alex would wear the old man down little by little, until he had no choice but to accept him as a son-in-law. They left the solar together and returned to the great hall in search of Keely. When Alex dinna find her there, he sought out Mathe.
“Where is my wife?”
“At the loch.”
“Is she all right?”
Mathe cracked a rare smile. “When I informed her that she wasna free to traipse about unescorted, she threatened to punch me in the nose.”
“Aye?”
Mathe nodded. “I couldna risk it, Laird Alex—yer wee bride might pack a good wallop.”
Alex gripped the captain’s shoulder. “Ye made the right choice.”
Things were far from settled between Alex and his bride, but while her father was in his house, he must be more lenient with Keely. He couldna fight all of Clan Oliphant and hope to win. He walked outside and headed for the loch.
He found her alone.
“I dinna expect to see ye alive again.”
“Have ye so little faith in yer husband?” he asked, standing next to her.
“Tis not a lack of belief in yer abilities, Alex. I know my father—he’s a temperamental sort, believes any worthy cause should be settled with fists or swords.”
“A family trait, I believe,” he said humorously.
“What do ye mean?”
“Ye threatened my captain with violence?”
“Aye. I dinna need him following me about.”
“Yer escort isna just to make sure ye doona run away, Keely. I wish to keep ye safe.”
“From who?”
“Sutherlands.”
“And why would the Sutherlands wish me any harm?”
“Because ye’re my wife.”
Her blue gaze stayed on him as she absorbed his words. “I doona like to think that the earl or his sons would hurt me to get to ye, Alex. And I know ye hate them and have every right to.”
“Desperate men strike without warning or purpose, Keely. Men of honor meet on the battlefield.”
“Is that what ye think the earl is, desperate?”
“He is now,” Alex said. “He must live with the uncertainty of when and how I will retaliate for John’s death, and the murders of my tenants.”
“Doesn’t that make ye equally desperate?”
A fair question. Did it? Alex rubbed his chin. “Perhaps I am.”
“There must be a way to avoid more bloodshed.”
“Nay. I canna overlook what has been done. If I did, word would spread throughout the Highlands of how weak the MacKays have become. An eye for an eye.”
“And whose eye do ye wish to take?”
“I willna settle for any less than one of his sons.”
Keely nodded, but Alex dinna miss the worried look on her face. “Is my father ready to speak with me?’
“Aye—he’s accepted my invitation to stay with us for a while. I wish ye to have some time with yer da, Keely, and yer brothers.”
“And where will ye be?’
“Fortifying the west villages and recruiting new soldiers.”
“How long will ye be gone?”
“Days at a time. But never too far away, lass.”
She hopped off the boulder and smoothed the wrinkles from her skirts. “I doona wish to keep my father waiting. He deserves the truth.”
Alex offered his arm. “I will take ye to him.”
*
Surrounded by her brothers and seated across from her sire in front of the main hearth in the great hall, Keely couldna keep from smiling. Her brother Simon tugged on a strand of her hair.
“Ye’re glowing,” Simon teased.
“Tis warm in here,” she said.
“Are ye happy, lass?” Broc asked.
As a child, Keely had been immeasurably happy. Her sire had indulged her, perhaps too much, because he felt guilty for her mother’s death. Everything changed when she was sent to the MacKays for that first summer at the age of thirteen. Laird Oliphant thought it would benefit her immensely to spend time away from home, in preparation for when she would marry and be expected to run her own household.
Whether her da had planned it or not, Keely did fall in love with one of the MacKay sons. And Alex’s father had always been affectionate with her, inviting her back every year. She looked about the familiar space and frowned when she saw the sheet again.
“What troubles ye?” Gavin, her second eldest brother asked.
“Tis nothing.” She dinna want to ruin the moment.
“Keely…” His eyebrows arched.
“The bridal bed sheet is an embarrassment.”
“Why?” Her other brother, Justice, asked. “The proof of yer purity is an honor to yer husband and all of us.”
“I doona want it there,” she complained.
“Very well.” Broc yanked it down and balled it up. “If anyone complains, send them to me.”
Keely jumped up from her chair and hugged her brother. “Thank ye, Broc. All of ye. Father.”
“For what, lass?” the laird asked.
“Coming here.”
“Ye are an Oliphant. And we take care of our own,” her father said. “But doona think all the pleasantries mean we’ve forgotten yer sins. What ye did was wrong. And I require an explanation.”
Her shoulders drooped as she slipped back into the chair and faced her sire. “I am sorry that I disappointed ye, Father.”
He blinked. “I am accustomed to disappoint
ment, lass. With seven bairns, a man gets used to it. Tis the deception that’s eating a hole in my gut.”
“Deception?”
“Running off in the middle of the night instead of facing yer problems like a woman.”
Keely folded her hands on her lap. Aye—she’d acted irresponsibly. She’d given up her heart’s desire as her father had demanded. Her flight from the MacKays hadn’t been premeditated. “I dinna plan to run away.”
“Did John harm ye? Force ye to do anything? Curse ye?”
“Nay.”
“Did ye feel unwelcome here?” he continued.
“Father,” Keely started, eyeing her four brothers in search of support. “It had nothing to do with how I felt about Laird John or Clan MacKay.”
“Ye’re being deliberately difficult, girl.”
“Nay. I just want ye to understand why.”
“I’ve asked ye a dozen questions and am more confused than I ever was.”
Gavin and Simon snickered.
“She’s a woman, Father,” Simon offered. “Doona try to make sense of it.”
She leaned back in her chair, waiting while her brothers laughed at her expense. The years apart hadn’t diminished the true affection she had for her family, nor had her siblings matured.
“I couldna face ye,” she admitted, deciding to keep the explanation simple. Truth was truth no matter how she expressed it. Her body belonged to her, and as far as she was concerned, that meant her choice in husband should belong to her, too.
“Do ye have anything to be ashamed of, lass?”
“Nay, Father. Unless there’s shame in loving a man.” She watched her da for a long moment. Would he accept her reasoning? More importantly, would he bless her marriage, allow her to stay with Alex?
Laird Oliphant tugged on his beard. “Tis my fault, I shouldna have expected a mere girl to do a woman’s work.”
Finally, something they could agree on!
“I will have a full accounting of what transpired while ye were with the Sutherlands. And doona think the earl willna be held accountable. If I had taken his only daughter in without sending proper word, the man would have been banging on every gate in the Highlands until he found her.”
“Aye, Father.”
“Furthermore,” he boomed. “Ye will promise to never run away again.”
Just as she was about to swear, she remembered her earlier conversation with Petro. In truth, taking a secret trip to Dunrobin Castle would be considered the same as running away, wouldn’t it?
Highlands Forever Collection: A Highlander Romance Bundle Page 15