Highlands Forever Collection: A Highlander Romance Bundle

by Violetta Rand

  “I love to talk about the wee babes,” Miran said.

  “Good. Then join me. Bring us each a cup of wine.” Helen patted the empty chair across from her.

  “Milady?” Miran dinna understand.

  “Sit with me.”

  “Nay. I couldna.”

  “Tis a direct order.”

  She reluctantly poured two cups of wine, offered one to Helen, then sat in the chair, holding her cup between her knees.

  “Have ye never sat with yer mistress on a lonely, cold day?”

  “Nay.”

  “Let it be our secret, then.”

  “If ye wish, Lady Helen.”

  “I do wish. Now, about Master John and Mistress Rebecca?”

  Miran took a tentative sip of wine. “Both have thick black hair and blue eyes.”

  “Doona all babes have blue eyes?”

  “Aye,” the maid confirmed. “But we are counting on the color not to change.”

  “I believe ye told me John has unusually thick hands for a bairn.”

  “Indeed, he does. He will grow strong like his da and wield a sword as easily to protect our clan.”

  “And what if the young MacKay heir was born to be a priest or scholarly sort?”

  Miran took another drink of the sweet wine. “Laird Alex doesna need a priest, he needs a fighter, an heir to take his place.”

  Helen smiled sweetly. “I am sure Lady Keely has honored Laird Alex with a virile son.”

  “And a perfect daughter.”

  “Do ye think there will be more children?”

  “Aye. The way Laird Alex loves my mistress… I’ve heard him say if a man keeps away from his lady’s chamber for too long, the devil is after him.”

  Helen sighed.

  “What troubles ye, Lady Helen?”

  “I am overjoyed for my friend, she has found happiness at last. But I… Tis nothing worth discussing.”

  Miran shook her head. “Ye are the earl’s daughter—a powerful lady in yer own right. Should ye not have what Lady Keely has?”

  “If I had a sire who cared anything about matters of the heart. Or at least was willing to make a match where love might be possible over time.”

  “Laird Munroe is a murderer of women,” Miran whispered. “Did ye know one of the girls he bought for marriage jumped off a cliff a week before her wedding day?”

  A violent shiver went up Helen’s spine. She hadna heard that before. But rumors dinna mean truth. “Nay? Who was the poor soul?”

  “A commoner from the border lands. A pretty lass with a mother who birthed twelve sons. Twas the sole reason Laird Munroe sought the girl to wife. He was willing to forgo a dowry in order to guarantee himself an heir.”

  “And to this day, Duncan Munroe, his only nephew, remains his heir.”

  “Aye. Unless ye produce a son.”

  The thought of climbing into bed with such a cruel beast made Helen’s heart turn to ice. She’d rather burn in the fires of Hades than risk marrying Baran Munroe. “Now do ye understand why I must know what the men were discussing belowstairs? If it was about me…”

  “Only one man spoke against ye.”

  Helen swallowed, trying to guess. Surely not Jamie, for she couldna deny the way he stared at her—the way he licked his lips in anticipation whenever there was a chance for them to kiss. And how she wanted it—for the brawn warrior to risk one kiss with her, to give her a happy memory for the trouble of running away from Dunrobin. If she was forced into marriage with the Munroe, the kiss with Jamie would give her something to hold on to, something to fantasize about while Laird Munroe had his way with her.

  He might be able to rule her body, but her private thoughts were her own.

  “Jamie?” she whispered.

  “Master Jamie?” Miran clicked her tongue. “Twould be easier to bleed a rock than get that man to speak ill of ye.”

  “What do ye mean?” Helen snapped her head up, staring at the maid in shock.

  “Lady Helen,” Miran said. “I overheard yer words with him at the loch.”

  Helen’s shoulders sagged as she couldna deny her guilt at speaking so boldly with a man she hardly knew. “I am sorry for it.”

  “Doona be. Ye have attracted the best protector on MacKay lands, with the exception of our laird, of course. Master Jamie doesna warm easily to women.”

  “Nay?” Curiosity wracked her mind, perhaps even a hint of jealousy. What kind of woman did Jamie like? She’d be fearless and beautiful, of course, everything Helen wasn’t—everything she wished she could be.

  “Many have tried to win his heart, none have succeeded.”

  “Did ye?”

  “Nay, mistress!”

  “And why not? Ye are a pretty girl—smart.”

  Miran held her head high. “Thank ye, but I will save myself for the right man. A promise I made to my mam and da a long time ago.”

  Helen reached across the space between them and patted the maid’s hand. “Ye are a dutiful woman, Miran. I will make sure Laird Alex knows what a faithful servant he has in ye.”

  “Thank ye, Lady Helen.”

  A knock on the door ended their conversation, and Miran jumped up. “Shall I answer?”

  “Aye.”

  But the door opened before Miran reached it, and Keely stepped inside the chamber.

  Helen squealed delightedly and stood up. “Sweetest Keely, why are ye out of bed?”

  Keely closed the door, then smiled at her friend. “I dinna break my bones, Helen—I gave birth. The midwife recommended a short walk, so I chose to visit ye.”

  Helen rushed into her arms, holding on tight. “Ye have grown more beautiful, more feminine than ever I remember.”

  Keely clung to her friend, too. “I missed ye so much.”

  “And I, ye.” Helen pulled back, keeping Keely at arm’s length so she could see her clearly. “Twins?” Helen gently patted Keely’s stomach.

  “Aye. Both are sleeping soundly. John and Rebecca.”

  “Please.” Helen took Keely by the hand and led her to one of the chairs by the fire. “Sit with me. Miran, a glass of wine for Lady Keely.”

  Once Keely was comfortable, Helen sat down. “Laird Alex is a handsome man. Ye are blessed above many women to have made such a match.”

  “God gave us both a second chance. And our babes…” Tears wet the corners of her eyes. “We both hated each other at first, I think. So much left unsettled between us. And when Alex and my family found out where I had been…”

  “Aye. My father is no friend to many of the clans in the Highlands. They fear him instead of respecting him.”

  “Then nothing has changed at Dunrobin Castle?”

  Helen shook her head. “If anything, he has grown more stubborn, more selfish.”

  “But he loves ye dearly.”

  “As long as I obey without question.”

  “Ye always have.”

  “Until a sennight ago,” Helen confessed. “Even I, the biddable, quiet daughter, have a breaking point.”

  “Ye are safe here.”

  “Perhaps not. One of the men on the council doesna wish me to stay.”

  “Who?” Keely asked.

  “I doona know his name.”

  “How did ye hear of this?”

  Helen shrugged. “Rumors.”

  Keely drained her cup of wine and stood. “We must go and find out.”

  “What?” Helen said, horrified by the prospect of interfering with men’s business.

  “Doona faint, Helen,” Keely chastised her softly. “Things are done differently with Clan MacKay. I, too, have a voice in affairs so closely linked to my heart.”

  “But…”

  Keely grabbed her friend’s hand and dragged her from the chamber and down the stone stairs. “Be brave, lass.”

  If Helen wanted to faint, it would be now, the moment she and Keely burst into the great hall where she could hear the men talking heatedly. As soon as Laird Alex saw his wife, he stood up, as did th
e other men.

  “Keely? What are ye doing out of bed?”

  “Laird Alex.” Keely curtsied. “It has come to my attention that the council may deny sanctuary to my friend and sister.”

  “Nay.” Alex rounded the high table and stepped off the dais. “Who said such a thing?”

  “Wait, milord. Please doona come any closer. I would have an answer first.” Keely eyed the men at the high table. “Are one of ye guilty?”

  “Keely…” Alex tried to soothe her with his soft voice. “Whoever ye received this information from has misspoken.” He gazed at Helen. “Are ye well, Lady Helen? Ye look pale.”

  “I-I…”

  “She is unaccustomed to speaking her mind with so many people, so I have chosen to be her voice of reason, her champion if I must.”

  “There is no need for that.” Jamie appeared at Helen’s side. “Keely.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek with genuine affection. “Rest assured I will fight for the lady and keep her safe.”

  Keely smiled at her cousin-by-marriage. “I am grateful and pleased ye have taken an interest in Lady Helen.” She encouraged Helen to say something. “Ye are safe here, Helen.”

  “Thank ye, Master Jamie, Laird Alex. I am…” A thick fog settled in Helen’s head and her legs suddenly felt unnaturally heavy … shaky. The last face Helen saw before she collapsed was Jamie’s.

  Chapter Nine

  Jamie caught Lady Helen before she tumbled to the floor. Cradled in his arms, he carried her to the main hearth and lowered her into one of the padded chairs, the very place he first set eyes on her. Kneeling beside her, he felt her cheek and forehead for fever. She felt unusually cool instead of hot to the touch. Worried, he looked to Keely for answers.

  “I doona know,” Keely said, as worried about Helen as he. “I visited her chamber briefly and urged her to come belowstairs with me. Perhaps I acted too hastily—she has always been soft-spoken.”

  Alex hugged his wife from behind, pulling her into his chest, and resting his chin on the top of her head. “Doona blame yerself, Keely. Yer heart was in the right place. Mathe is the only man that voiced any concern about Lady Helen staying here. His concerns are valid, but as ye know, I have the right to overrule the council if I see fit to do so. In this case, the vote was nearly unanimous—Lady Helen is welcome for as long as she wishes to stay.”

  Keely turned in her husband’s arms. “Aye?”

  “Aye,” Alex said.

  Jamie smiled when Keely hugged him tight. “Thank ye. I’d better get her to her chamber, she needs to rest.”

  Just as Jamie was about to offer to carry her abovestairs, Helen’s eyes fluttered open, confusion on her pretty face. “W-what happened?”

  Jamie cradled her delicate hand in his. “Ye fainted from overexertion, I think.”

  Helen gazed into his eyes. “I doona remember… Lord. The idea of confronting the council overwhelmed me.” She sat up. “Please doona think I am so delicate, Master Jamie. I am quite capable of standing on my own.”

  Jamie took a step back but dinna let go of her hand. He’d been searching for an excuse to touch her, to prove a deep attraction had burgeoned between them. He’d not deny fate, but he’d do anything he could to fight against it if the outcome dinna meet his needs. And in just that innocent moment of holding her hand, his insides were aflame with desire.

  Helen tested her legs, standing up slowly, relying on Jamie’s strength to keep her steady on her feet. “Forgive me for once again disturbing the peace in yer home, Laird MacKay.”

  “Doona apologize,” Alex said. “Before my wife brought ye to the great hall, the council voted to grant ye sanctuary. And I couldna be happier to offer ye a home. Though the MacKay keep lacks the luxury of Dunrobin Castle, my people are kind and accommodating. Whatever ye need, ask.”

  Lady Helen curtsied deeply, lowering her head in gratitude. “Thank ye, sir. Are there any preconditions to my staying here?” She straightened, meeting his steady gaze.

  “Preconditions?”

  “Aye,” Helen answered. “I believe my sire would consider it costs for yer generosity.”

  Alex looked at his wife and Jamie, then back at Helen. “I do believe ye are a Sutherland, Lady Helen.”

  “My father is a shrewd man, used to getting what he wants.”

  “If ye must refer to it as a precondition, aye, there is one.”

  Helen nodded.

  “Within a month’s time, I will send a missive to yer father and let him know ye are alive and well. The council and I strongly agree that no father should be left in the dark about his child.”

  Helen sucked in a wary breath.

  “Worry not. If he sends the might of his army to retrieve ye, my men will fight to protect ye.”

  Jamie observed how the color once again drained from Helen’s face. The shock of her circumstances, the hard ride from Dunrobin, and perhaps the hardship of missing her family, even though she denied it, had taken its toll on her. “I think it best if ye rest now,” Jamie said.

  “Aye,” Keely agreed, placing a hand on Helen’s shoulder. “Let us go abovestairs together. We can visit the bairns and their nurse after ye rest.”

  As Jamie watched the women depart, he shook his head. “If given in marriage to Laird Munroe, she’ll be dead within a fortnight.”

  “Ye doona think the lady strong enough to withstand a devil like Munroe?”

  “I doona think any woman could survive a night in his damnable bed.”

  “Would Lady Helen be better served in yers?”

  Jamie opened his mouth to say something in his own defense but quickly shut it. Alex was his laird and cousin. He knew Jamie better than anyone else and couldna lie to him, even if he wanted to. “Aye.”

  “She’s been here but two days.”

  “I dinna say I wanted to marry the lass.”

  Alex snickered. “Ye dinna need to.”

  *

  Frustrated with the events of the day, after the evening meal, a very intoxicated Jamie slinked into the bowels of the keep where Duncan Munroe slept. Several guards were on duty, and they greeted him.

  “Has the bastard said anything?”

  Young Remus nodded. “He hasna shut up.”

  “Give me the key to his cell and go to the great hall to get some ale.”

  “But Laird Alex…” another guard began.

  “I will deal with my cousin. And I am more than capable of keeping Duncan safe.”

  Remus eyed Duncan, then Jamie. “He cursed the lady—called her a worthless whore. If I had the right to break his wee neck, I would.”

  After the soldiers left, Jamie unsheathed one of his dirks and started to clang it between the metal bars of Duncan’s cell. Startled awake by the noise, Duncan sat up on his raised pallet, staring at Jamie.

  “Where have the guards gone? I am hungry and thirsty.”

  Jamie cast him an evil grin. “Ye lied about Lady Helen.”

  “I dinna. And who are ye to accuse me of anything?” Duncan climbed to his feet. “I demand an audience with Laird MacKay.”

  “Denied,” Jamie growled. “If ye have anything to say, I will listen.” He sat on a three-legged-stool situated only feet away from the cell door and pulled a wineskin from within the folds of his cloak. The blasted cold in the dungeon always made him thirsty for spirits. He uncorked the skin and drank greedily.

  “Why are ye here?” Duncan asked.

  “To watch ye squirm like the wee worm ye are.”

  “If there weren’t bars between us, ye’d not speak so recklessly.”

  Jamie grunted. “The way ye curse a helpless woman?”

  “What are ye talking about? Ye’re drunk.”

  “Did ye nay call Lady Helen a whore?”

  Duncan edged closer to the front of the cell, squinting at Jamie in the dim torchlight. “I merely described the woman as I know her to be. She’s betrothed to my uncle and ran away. Only one thing could drive a noblewoman to leave the safety of her hom
e in the middle of the night, alone. She has a lover. And before my uncle makes the mistake of marrying her, I will expose her for what she truly is.”

  Jamie stood, Duncan’s damning words about Helen a call to battle in his mind. “To a sensible man, Lady Helen did what any poor lass in her situation would do, run as far away from yer devil-of-an-uncle as fast as she could.”

  Duncan shook his fist at Jamie. “Why do ye disrespect Laird Monroe in such a way?”

  “I have more of a right to disparage him than ye do a right to question Lady Helen’s chastity.” Though somewhat wobbly on his feet, Jamie unbuckled his heavy weapon belt and let it fall to the floor. He held up the key to the cell door so Duncan could see it. “This is yer only chance at freedom, Duncan Munroe.”

  “W-what do ye mean exactly?” The man’s voice trembled as he eyed the key.

  “I am at a serious disadvantage at the moment,” Jamie said. “Drunk and out of my mind with lust. Makes me an easy mark, doesna it?” He chuckled. “But spirits also make me more intolerant of men like ye.” He paused and slipped the key into the lock on the cell door and waited to hear it click open.

  Realization hit Duncan, and he backed away from the front of the cell, hiding in the shadows as best he could.

  “Light will shine out of darkness.” Jamie opened the door and stepped inside the cell.

  “Doona come near me,” Duncan called.

  Jamie ignored his weak command, his cowardly-voice. “I will set ye free if ye can knock me down.”

  “Knock ye down?”

  Jamie paused and stared at Duncan. He wasna overly large or small, thin with beady eyes and black hair—actually resembled an underfed crow. “Have ye ever fought a man?”

  “With a sword?”

  “With yer fists.”

  “Nay.”

  Jamie sighed. “But ye’ve wielded a sword in battle?”

  “I’ve killed three men in my life.”

  “Three? Were they facing ye, or did ye stab them in the back?”

  Duncan gritted his teeth as if he dinna want to answer.

  “Well?” Jamie pressed.

  “Two in the back, one I executed at my uncle’s behest.”