Highland Lover: Book 3 Scottish Knights Trilogy (44 page)

“I am, but it will gain them nowt,” Jake said. Turning to Mungo and seeing him still gazing blindly at Niall’s cloak-covered body, he said to Mungo’s captain, “Send one of your lads to meet Albany: Tell him the captain of the
Serpent Royal
desires speech with him here at his earliest convenience.”

The captain nodded to one of his men, who darted off. To Jake, the captain said, “I’ll tell the others tae stand down, sir. That might anger the master, but I’m thinking we’ll see nae more fighting tonight.”

Eyeing Mungo, Jake agreed. “I’ll keep my men as they are, though, until we know what Albany means to do.”

The captain nodded. “The master thought much o’ Master Niall. The lad were like his shadow, always following where he led. Ye could ha’ knocked me down wi’ a quill when he tried tae interfere wi’ him as he did.”

“Lady Alyson
was
Master Niall’s wife for a time,” Jake said dryly. “One might expect he’d take exception to anyone threatening her with a dirk.”

“Aye, perhaps,” the other said doubtfully.

The runner returned soon afterward, bobbed in Jake’s direction, and said, “He says he’ll see ye and hear ye oot, sir, if only tae hang ye straightaway.”

Jake nodded. To Alyson, he said, “You go on inside, love. You won’t want to see him, so slip on upstairs. I won’t be long.”

Hesitating, she reached out a hand to him. “Prithee, sir, aid me so I do not fall again,” she said. “Niall was heavy, and my leg went to sleep.”

“Aye, sure,” he said. Extending a forearm, he murmured in the same dry tone he’d used to supply Niall’s reason for protecting her, “Can you walk thus supported, madam, or shall I carry you?”

“I’ll manage, although it still feels as if pins and needles are shooting up my right leg.” To the messenger, who gaped at them, she said, “You did mean that the duke will be coming round here, did you not?”

“Aye, d’ye no hear their horses a-coming… m’lady?” he added hastily when Jake caught his eye.

“Then, prithee,” she said, turning to Mungo’s captain, “leave Sir Kentigern to grieve and take your lads and horses into the woods, where you may prepare for departure
whilst Sir Jacob and I make Albany welcome.” To one of the farmers, she said, “Gibby, prithee…” She gestured toward the peat stacks.

Nodding, he signaled his men and melted into the shadows with them.

Deducing that she wanted to speak privately with him, Jake dismissed the two waiting to tend Niall’s body. As they strode to join Mace and the others near the stable, leaving Mungo to a lone vigil, Jake said, “Sweetheart, I think—”

“We will see Albany together, sir.”

“In troth, I do think it wiser—”

“I ken fine what you think, sir. If we discover that my presence prevents needful discourse, I shall go in. Meantime, I’ll wait with you to greet the duke, if only to remind him whose property this is.”

Involuntarily, Jake’s mouth quirked when he realized whom she was really reminding, but he managed not to grin. It would not do to let the lass rule the roost entirely—not when he was at home—although it would be fun sometimes to let her try. She was eminently capable of managing any household. But he knew, just as she did, that he would have his say in theirs.

He said, “We’ll wait then and trust that he takes no offense at the lack of a formal welcome. One wonders if he expected to ride into a battle.”

“In troth, I think Mungo’s men are glad you avoided one. They must have seen that this land belongs to me. Faith, Mungo may still insist that it’s his.”

“He’d do better to accept disappointment,” Jake said.

Although Alyson hoped that Albany would validate Jake’s trust in him, she could not be as confident of the duke’s acceptance of her unusual annulment and marriage to Jake as Jake seemed to be. If Albany had promised her estates to Mungo in return for betraying Jamie, then…

Armed horsemen rounded the tower. The first two carried the royal banner and Albany’s personal one. They drew rein just inside the yard.

“Identify yourself,” the one on the right commanded, looking at Jake.

Alyson stiffened at the man’s tone and opened her mouth to explain that they were on her land. Slight pressure of Jake’s fingers against her hand stilled the words on her tongue.

He said calmly, “If ye’ll rein your horse aside, I’ll identify myself to your master. Ye’ll find that his grace, the duke, kens me well.”

“Do I?” Albany said coolly, urging his horse forward as the leaders made way. The duke wore all black, as usual, and rode a richly caparisoned black horse. Looking at Jake, he added, “I approve of the royal manner in which you address me, sir. But you are either too arrogant for your own good or a regrettable liar. You do not look at all familiar to me.”

“Aye, well, when ye clap your keekers on me in brighter light, I’m thinking ye’ll ken me fine, m’lord duke,” Jake said in a much stronger, much commoner accent than any Alyson had yet heard from him. “I’d be that same wretched bairn wha’ saved ye from them wicked assassins years back. Though I’ve growed since then, d’ye still say ye dinna ken me the noo?”

A brief but pregnant silence ensued.

“I do recall you, Jake Maxwell,” Albany said. “Step nearer, lad.”

Alyson could not tell what the duke was thinking. He gave nothing away by demeanor or tone.

When Jake did not immediately obey him, Albany made a slight beckoning gesture. Jake squeezed her hand, urging her forward with him.

She wondered if he had dared to give Albany the same look he gave her when he expected her to understand what he was asking of her. In any event, he’d interpreted Albany’s gesture to mean that they might approach him together.

Chapter 21

A
lbany said, “You identified yourself as the captain of the
Serpent Royal
, Jake Maxwell. I’ll wager you no longer call the ship so.”

“I call her
Sea Wolf
, my lord, which was what my fellow students at St. Andrews called me because of my skills on the water.”

“You studied with Bishop Traill, then.”

“I did, for my sins.”

A gleam touched Albany’s eyes but whether of humor or something else, Jake could not determine. The duke said, “The
Serpent
is still on the water?”

“She is, aye, and will be for years to come,” Jake said. “In troth, although I am most grateful to you, sir, loving her as I do, I think you were right daft to leave her for me to claim at my coming of age.”

“As I recall the matter, despite a regrettable impudence in your manner then, which I see that you’ve failed to overcome, you
had
rendered me a signal service. But how is it that we find ourselves together now? I came here to meet Sir Kentigern Lyle. Is he indisposed?”

“You might say so, sir,” Jake said. “He ran into my fist.
Perhaps, before I explain, I should present the lady Alyson MacGillivray to you.”

“I do recall her ladyship from events at the royal court,” Albany said with a nod to Alyson. “She married Master Niall Clyne, did she not?”

“Aye, she did, but the Papal Legate annulled their marriage.”

“You interest me, lad. How came
that
about?”

“The matter is personal to her ladyship, sir. ’Tis sufficient to say that the legate deemed their marriage null and married her to me.”

“Two estates were included in her marriage settlement to Clyne.”

“Not only does the annulment render that settlement moot, my lord, but her father deeded this estate and the other one to Lady Alyson as part of her tocher.”

“You are
certain
that Farigaig deeded the land solely to her?”

“I am. More to the purpose,” Jake went on, “Niall Clyne is dead by Sir Kentigern’s hand. It was an accident, witnessed by many. As you see, Sir Kentigern remains distraught,” he added with a gesture toward Mungo, ten yards away, his body revealing grief in every line as he kept vigil over Niall’s body.

Albany’s lips pressed together. “I do see that Clyne’s death must have been unintentional,” he said. “However, your marriage to her ladyship seems most extraordinary. If it should be deemed unlawful…”

Jake needed no interpretation of his meaning and nor, by the way she gripped his arm, did Alyson. When women owned land that the acquisitive duke wanted, his behavior was well-established. He made those women royal wards
and took their lands under his own control or gifted them to men he sought as allies.

But Jake still had arrows in his quiver, and he let them fly. “By my troth, sir, we present no danger to you,” he said. “But by law, the estates must remain her ladyship’s. Not only does her father still live and retain the right to dispose of them as he chooses, but Sir Kentigern Lyle can have
no
lawful claim on them. Despite what Lyle may have told you, any claim that her erstwhile husband
thought
he had ended with the annulment of their marriage, not to mention his death. The most pertinent fact, though, is that Niall Clyne, although fond of her ladyship as a friend, was—utterly, completely, and widely known to be—under
his
friend Lyle’s thumb.”

Silence ensued. Although it lasted long enough to make Jake uneasy and pray that Albany was as swift of mind as he believed him to be, he became aware that the hand Alyson still rested on his forearm had relaxed. His peripheral vision revealed that her expression was again serene. Whatever fears Albany had stirred in her, Jake’s words had extinguished, to his relief.

He did not want to have to explain his certainty about Clyne’s proclivities, or Lyle’s, any more clearly than he had.

Albany, too, glanced at Alyson. Then, after a slight nod to Jake, he awarded him a smile warmer than any he customarily offered anyone. He said, “You have not changed much since last we met, Jake Maxwell. I admired your courage then as I do now. I also respect your way of thinking and expressing your thoughts. By my troth, lad, if you would swear fealty to me, I’d welcome you to my service.”

Alyson’s hand on Jake’s forearm remained motionless.

He said sincerely, “You honor me, my lord duke. But I must decline. Donald of the Isles is still my liege lord. I also owe fealty to my wife and her family. Alyson and I will take some time to ourselves here and then remove to MacGillivray House until Bishop Wardlaw’s consecration.”

With a half smile of his own, he added, “Afterward, we’ll take the
Sea Wolf
into the Moray Firth and have a look at the Ardloch estate.”

Alyson’s hand twitched on his arm then.

“I see,” Albany said. “It occurs to me that in explaining your marriage, you said naught of how the two of you came to meet.”

Meeting his gimlet gaze, Jake wondered for the first time if he’d have been wiser to invent a tale to tell instead of the truth. Since he had not, he said, “My lads and I came upon the
Maryenknyght
whilst she was sinking, sir. The pirates who seized her took captives, including Orkney and James, then abandoned the ship. Her ladyship and a young friend of James’s remained aboard. I rescued them and brought them back to Scotland.”

“To St. Andrews,” Albany said.

“Aye, your grace. I thought Wardlaw should know what had happened.”

Horns sounded in the distance, and Alyson said, “That din doubtless heralds the arrival of my kinsmen from the Highlands, my lord duke. They will ride on from here to MacGillivray House, but we’ll provide supper for them first and would be pleased to have you as our chief guest.”

“Thank you, my lady,” Albany said. “But my men and I will ride on to the Blackfriars, rather than impose on your hospitality. You’d liefer enjoy your family. Moreover,
there is much yet for me to do in town and naught more to do here.”

Signing to his men, he reined his horse around, only to pause and look back. “You will not want to house the men who rode here with Lyle, so I’ll take them with me… Lyle, as well.” Directing two of his men to see to it, he urged his mount forward again. His other men swiftly made way for him before following.

Hearing a sigh from his lady, Jake put an arm around her, drawing her close.

After a short time, she looked up at him and said, “Prithee, sir, what are ‘assassins’? You mentioned the word earlier, and I had never heard it before.”