“Love is love, milady. What matters the most are the two hearts in question.”
Miran frowned and folded her arms over her chest. “Will ye play matchmaker now?”
“I will speak with Jamie when the time is right.”
“Leave that to Laird Alex,” Miran said.
“I believe your mistress wishes me to speak with her Highlander.”
Helen couldna hide the hope inside her heart. She needed to know what Jamie planned to do. It mattered greatly, for if she had someone to love, something to truly believe in, she’d fight harder for her independence. “Aye,” she said. “If ye think it will help.”
“Consider it done. Now shall we go to the solar and finish the missive? I am sure your father would like to know how his daughter fares.”
Seated at the table with Petro, she began to write out her thoughts. Though her lettering was legible, Petro had a practiced hand and would produce the final copy. Slowly, the words came to her, everything she’d kept locked up in her heart over the years. But it proved to be too much for her, and she set the writing implement down, her hand shaking.
“I will write for you, Lady Helen.”
Within a few hours, the missive was complete, and Helen read it a last time, hoping it would help her father understand her better and possibly forgive her for running away. She read the last lines aloud, “I implore ye to think about my mother, how she suffered in the end because ye dinna go to her sickbed. I carried that pain, Father. I feared what my life would be like. If ye’d treat me the same way, if I’d be forced to suffer the same, lonely fate. I beg ye to reconsider the marriage to Laird Munroe. He isna a good man, and I would rather commit myself in service to the Almighty, casting aside the ways of this world and live in poverty, than take this man as my husband. I beseech ye to think of my future happiness and of my love for ye, sir.”
“Tis a wonderful missive,” Miran said, wiping a tear from her cheek. “If yer sire doesna free ye from the bonds of marriage with that murdering Munroe laird, then he is not worthy of having ye as his child.”
“Thank ye, Miran.” Helen gave the parchment to Petro. “I am forever in yer debt.”
Petro bowed, then carefully folded the parchment and sealed it with the MacKay mark. “You are the poet, milady, I am only the vessel by which you were able to put your thoughts on parchment. Now if you will excuse me, I will let Laird Alex know it is ready to be delivered to Dunrobin Castle.”
Chapter Twenty
Three weeks later…
“The likeness to ye is unbelievable,” Keely said, hugging Ramsey to her chest. “He has been through so much for such a wee one.”
“Aye,” Jamie said, happy Keeley had taken to the babe so quickly.
“He isna two seasons old yet,” Alex observed. “He will grow up with his cousins.”
They had retreated to the women’s solar for privacy, to discuss Jamie’s future and his son’s.
“If Jamie wishes him to live here with us.”
“Aye, tis his choice. But where else would he live, Keely?”
“In Jamie’s home.”
Alex frowned. “I havena forgotten the conversation we started. Remember, hearing such news from one of my captains made me question everything about ye.”
Aye, Jamie had felt guilty ever since. “I dinna lie to ye, Alex. I wanted to wait until the right time, until I was sure tis what I wanted to do.”
Alex reclined on one of the padded chairs. “The MacKays are stronger than we’ve ever been.”
“Aye.”
“Our army is growing.”
“Aye.”
“I require strong captains, men of integrity. Men willing to fight for me.”
“Ye have ten captains who would die for ye without question.”
“Eleven,” Alex corrected.
“If ye include me.”
“I do.”
“The northern region of our lands is sparsely populated and in dire need of protection. Pirates patrol the coast in search of easy targets. The sheep herders are vulnerable and live in fear during the grazing season.” The MacKays owned some of the best flocks in all of Scotland, their quality wool in high demand. “The ship Nudar sailed on went unnoticed, Alex. What if a whole army had landed? What defenses do we have?”
“Patrols make regular rounds.”
“Between us, the Oliphants, and the Sinclairs, we doona have enough men to spare to guard the coastline properly. We need more ships, Alex. More men. More outposts.”
“Is that what ye consider Sands Airgid? A mere outpost?”
“Nay. I want it to be more. But it is an important start to what ye need to do to make yer legacy last for young John and Rebecca.”
“Alex?” Keely said.
“Aye?”
“Jamie speaks wisely.”
Alex sat forward and rubbed the back of his neck. “I know, sweet wife. The already existing branches of MacKays occupy the southern regions. We are blessed and cursed with the largest holdings, with the wildest and most inhospitable land.”
“Our gardens have a high yield, Alex,” she said, shifting Ramsey to her other knee. “Think what Jamie could do as a chieftain. Expand the crops, the herds, and build new ships. Together, the two of ye make an indomitable pair.”
“If I consider it…” Alex began.
Jamie quickly went to his cousin and knelt before him. “I will safeguard ye and yer family forever.”
“And what of yer son?”
“I am Ramsey’s father. His place is with me.”
“He needs a mother. And ye need a wife and heir.”
“Ramsey is my firstborn.”
“He will never inherit the laird’s chair, Jamie. He can’t. Though he is a Highlander by birth, half of his blood comes from…”
“Doona say it,” Jamie warned.
“I willna. But if I allow this, make ye a laird, ye will sign a contract with me. One of the conditions will be that Ramsey will never be permitted to become laird, even if ye fail to sire more sons.”
Jamie rose to his feet with mixed emotions. Did Alex have the right to set such conditions? To target his son because his mother came from another country? “Will ye pick my wife for me, too?”
“Do ye think it is easy for me to look upon the child in such a way, my own flesh and blood?” Alex asked.
“I think ye should answer my question.”
“Nay, take what wife ye choose. But she must be from the Highlands.”
“What other stipulations do ye plan?”
“A tax.”
“Tax?”
“Aye,” Alex said. “A third of yer annual profits on the wool I know ye will sell in foreign markets.”
“All right. Does this mean…”
“Doona jump ahead of things yet, Jamie. I promised to seriously consider it. I will let ye know what I decide.”
Jamie gazed at Keely. His son was fast asleep in her arms, his round, cherub face a precious reminder of how important starting a family was to Jamie. Especially now that he knew Alex would likely rule in his favor.
“What of a wife?” Alex asked. “Do ye have a lass in mind?”
“Helen Sutherland.”
Alex’s face remained stone cold. “Have ye taken her innocence?”
Jamie fisted his hands. “Believe me when I say I wanted to—every moment of every day, she is nearly all I can think about.”
“What stopped ye?” Alex asked.
“Alex…” Keely shook her head. “Some things are not meant to be said aloud.”
“I have every right to question Jamie. Lady Helen is under my protection. What would her sire say, what would our people think if Jamie bedded her without a promise of marriage?”
“Ye think so little of me?”
“Nay! I’ve seen the way the two of ye gaze at each other. Can ye conceal the light of the sun or moon?”
Jamie smiled then. “’S ceart-leth m’ anama i.” She is the very half of my soul.
; “Then go to the lady,” Alex encouraged. “Ask for her hand in marriage. I am feeling generous. I also fear once her sire receives that missive, he will come for her. If ye marry her, she has another layer of protection.”
Stunned silent, Jamie stared at his kinsman. “Weeks ago, ye told me to stay away from the lass. What has changed?”
“Ye.”
Jamie left the chamber with much on his mind. Had he really changed? Aye, he’d fallen in love for the first and last time in his life. Lady Helen had won his heart without trying. And though they had never spoken the words to each other, Jamie knew she loved him. But would she accept him as a husband and take his son as her own?
*
The Earl of Sutherland finished reading the missive his only daughter had sent. She was hiding in plain sight, as he had guessed, at the MacKay keep with Keely, the lass who had nearly become his daughter-in-law. He folded the parchment and set it on the table in his solar, then gazed across the chamber at Laird Munroe.
If he dinna need those blasted ships, he might reconsider the marriage contract. The earl refused to spend his own gold to build his own fleet. Unless… With six daughters, three of them of marriageable age… The earl’s sons were all unmarried. It had been his intention to see Helen settled first, then worry about his boys.
“Baran,” the earl said. “Come and sit with me.”
Laird Munroe stood and walked across the room. “Ye’ve heard from her.”
“How did ye know?”
“I watched ye read the missive. And the messenger, he’s a bloody MacKay. Last I heard, my nephew headed in that direction, and I’ve a growing desire to visit Laird Alex myself.”
“For what purpose?”
“Would I find her there?”
The earl took a deep breath. Perhaps he had acted too hastily in choosing the Munroe as his future son-in-law. Greed often affected the earl’s good judgement, a weakness he’d had since his youth. Baran wasna an old man by any means. He was a famed warrior with a substantial fortune and valuable lands. But the men of the isles were different; some still worshipped the pagan gods, and not in secret.
“Did ye kill yer wives?” the earl asked.
Deep lines appeared on Laird Munroe’s forehead as he formulated an answer. “I loved my first wife, Alvina, an English lass. I lost her on the birthing bed, and my only son perished with her. She left me with three young daughters. What was I supposed to do with them? I married again after I finished mourning my first wife.”
The earl propped his elbow on the edge of the table and rested his chin on his hand. “What about yer other two wives?”
“Why do ye inquire about my past now?”
The earl pushed the missive across the table. “Read it if ye wish.”
Baran picked it up. It dinna take long for him to grunt and look up at the earl. “She accuses me of many things.”
“I find there is always some measure of truth in rumors.”
Laird Munroe returned to reading, and when he was finished, he dropped the parchment on the table, looking completely disgusted. “She has nay right.”
“Maybe not,” the earl said. “But I will have an answer. Did ye murder yer wives?”
“My second wife took her own life. She couldna bear living with me or my nephew. As for my third wife…”
“Aye?”
“She committed adultery with one of my soldiers. I starved her to death—well within my rights as a laird and husband.”
“And her lover?”
“Boiled alive.”
The earl tried to digest everything Baran had told him. Aye, the earl had killed and ordered the executions of many men is his lifetime, but to starve a woman, his own wife, and to boil a man alive, well, it dinna sit well with him.
“The MacKays are yer enemies.”
“We have never been allies. But there’s been relative peace between us these last few years.”
“And will ye let yer daughter make a fool of ye, a mockery of yer clan?”
“Helen is a level-headed young woman. And until I read her missive, I never realized how intelligent and self-preserving she really was, or how much she loved me.”
“What are ye saying? Ye have no right to cancel the betrothal.”
The Earl of Sutherland chuckled. “I am a fair man, Laird Munroe. How many men escorted ye here?”
“Thirty.”
“Do ye care to make a wager?” The earl enjoyed games of risk, especially if he dinna have to get his hands dirty.
“What do ye have in mind?”
“If ye can bring Helen back to Dunrobin Castle, I will bless yer union. But she must remain unharmed.”
“And what do ye gain if I fail?”
“Yer ships.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Taking afternoon walks with Master Jamie had become routine for Helen. She found herself looking forward to their time together more and more. They spoke of many things: family and faith, how the Highlands were changing, and what futures they wanted. She undoubtedly loved him, if love for a man set yer stomach aflutter, gave ye sleepless nights, and made ye lose yer appetite. All of these she suffered gladly, for it was a small price to pay for the continuous smile on her face and the joy in her heart.
“Tis almost time to meet Master Jamie in the bailey,” Miran said, securing Helen’s cloak around her shoulders.
“Aye,” she said, “I wouldna miss it for anything.”
“Ye are happier, milady, settled.”
“I am slowly learning to enjoy this newly found freedom, to believe it might last. I thought my father would have sent his men, or at least one of my brothers, here by now. I can only hope my missive touched his heart and he has chosen to give me some time.”
“I am sure it helps that Lady Keely lived with ye for all those years. Perhaps yer father knows ye are safe here.”
Helen tied the laces on her cloak and slipped her feet into the boots Miran set on the floor in front of her. “Aye. The earl liked Keely verra much. In fact, he often complimented her wit and suggested I learn from her.”
Miran smiled. “Lady Keely is a strong woman.”
“And the best of friends.”
They left the bedchamber and went belowstairs, walked outside, finding Jamie and Kuresh waiting.
“Good afternoon, Lady Helen and Miran.” Jamie bowed.
“Lady Helen. Mistress Miran,” Kuresh greeted them.
“Where is Petro today?” Miran asked.
“He is busy with Laird Alex,” Kuresh answered. “I hope you don’t object to me walking with you today instead of Petro.”
“Nay,” Miran said. “As long as ye can keep up and entertain me with stories like the scholar does.”
“Miran,” Helen said, shaking her head. “I welcome ye, Kuresh.”
Once they reached the loch, Kuresh invited Miran to walk on. But she hesitated.
“Tis my duty to stay with Lady Helen.”
“And I am relieving ye of that duty for a bit,” Jamie said. “Her reputation willna suffer a fatal blow by sitting with me alone here on the rocks.”
“Well…” the maid looked at Helen.
“Would you like fresh rabbit for dinner?” Kuresh asked.
“Rabbit?”
“Yes. I set traps two days ago and need to check them. Will you help me?”
Miran licked her lips. “I will.”
Helen watched her walk away, stopping several times to look back.
“She is verra protective of ye,” Jamie said.
“Aye, she’s a Godsend. From the first night she treated me kindly.”
“Miran is an unusual lass.”
“Aye?”
“She’s my cousin.”
“I am sure ye have hundreds of cousins here.”
“What Highlander doesna?” He chuckled. “Not a distant kinswoman. She’s my aunt’s daughter.”
Helen dinna know. That would explain Miran’s training and ability to read and write. “Then why does she
live as a servant?”
Jamie shrugged. “Boredom. After her parents died, the lass withdrew, stopped eating and talking for a time.”
“How did they die?”
“The way many of our people did, in unprovoked attacks,” he said gravely and looked away.
Helen knew immediately who was at fault. “My father?”
“There’s no definitive proof. Yer father is a calculating enemy, Helen. He sends mercenaries to do his bidding, not Sutherland soldiers.”
“I-I…”
Jamie took her hand. “I will never blame ye for what the earl does. But I will never lie to ye if ye ask me questions. Ye have a right to the truth.”
Sometimes she thought it might be better not to know how far her father’s treachery stretched across the northern Highlands. As the wealthiest and most powerful noble in the region, Helen thought her sire had a responsibility to make peace with the lesser clans, not use his superiority against them. “If he is to blame for the deaths of Miran’s parents, I am incomprehensibly angry and sad.”
“Nothing can change it, Lady Helen.”
“Nay, but I can work doubly hard to make sure the lass has a good life.”
“Miran isna like other women her age. She’s stubborn and outspoken. And has a dowry large enough to attract any man she wants.”
“Truly?”
“Her father was a merchant. He travelled to Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, and Paris, selling his wares and our wool.”
“I wish her every happiness, Jamie. I’ve begged her to come with me wherever I must go.”
“And what did she say?”
“This is her home.”
“She’s verra loyal.”
“And inscrutable!”
“Aye, that she is.”
“Where shall we walk today?” Helen asked, hoping to lighten the mood between them. It seemed no matter where she went, her father’s notoriety overshadowed her.
“I doona wish to walk anywhere,” he said, facing her. “This place holds special significance for us, aye?”
She gazed across the loch, then at the woods surrounding the area. Aye, they’d spent much time together there. Shared their first kiss, had their first argument, and discussed everything under the sun and moon. “Aye,” she agreed.
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