Highland Master (13 page)

She had said that she tended to speak her thoughts aloud. The idea that such a thing might be contagious disturbed him. He had rarely revealed his thoughts even as a child. And, later, he had learned that it was safer to keep them to himself.

For one thing, he served a powerful royal prince who did not take kindly to having his actions or words discussed outside his presence. For another, his equally powerful enemy had ears in unexpected places, so one did not discuss one’s plans or anything else of import even in pleasant company unless one trusted the companion.

But now, Fin had a strong urge to tell her exactly what he was thinking and an even stronger one to kiss her thoroughly. He settled for kissing her cheek.

Her eyes widened as he did it, but he detected regret, too. The combination sent a surge of satisfaction through him, and something else, less pleasant.

“Don’t look at me like that, lass,” he said. “In troth, I’ve wanted to kiss you ever since I came out of the water this morning. But I should not have done it.”

“Well, don’t do it again!” Then, more gently she added, “I’ve enjoyed this walk with you, sir. But if my grandfather should hear even a hint of misbehavior on our part, he’ll not let me out of his sight again until you are safely gone.”

The dangerous moment had passed. He could not burden her with his problem, nor did he want to, but he felt no relief. Instead, a strong notion struck him that before long he would have to tell her the truth.

She would call him a coward when she learned that he had swum away from the battlefield at Perth, because anyone of sense would call him so.

At least, if she scorned him then, he would never have to reveal to her the sacred bequest that he had sworn to accept.

W
hen they returned to the castle, the midday meal was over and hours still remained until supper. Parting with Fin at the entrance and believing that he must be as hungry as she was, Catriona went down to the kitchen. Boreas followed her.

Because her rambles nearly always ended the same way, the cook was accustomed to her raids on his kitchen. He provided a sack with succulent slices from a leftover roast, two manchet loaves to eat with them, and scraps for Boreas.

Thanking him, she said, “This should stave off starvation till supper.” Then seeing Tadhg poking up the kitchen fire, she said, “Run up to the hall, lad, and tell Sir Finlagh that I have food if he is hungry. He’ll find me in the woods to the north.”

“Aye, I’ll tell him, m’lady,” the lad said, brushing ashes off his breeks. “Did they tell ye above that someone special be a-coming here anon?”

Hope leaped within her, “My lord father and my brothers?”

“Nay, nay, it be someone else,” Tadhg said. “Everyone be all secret-keeping about it, but he’ll likely be coming shortly, they say.”

“Do they say aught else about him?” she asked, amused by the lad’s ability to glean knowledge that he was not supposed to have.

“Aye, sure,” he said. “He comes from Perth and a host o’ men wi’ him. That will no please Himself, they say, ’cause he said the man shouldna bring so many.”

“Then is the one who comes here an enemy?”

“Nay, for the lads do be stirring their stumps so much to tidy up the place that ye’d think his grace the King were a-coming. But I asked, and he isna the one.”

Smiling, she thanked him, but he had stirred her curiosity. Recalling that Fin had ordered his equerry to Perth with a message, she suspected that his man must have let something slip. In any event, she was sure that Fin knew who was coming.

Clicking her tongue twice, she summoned Boreas, who hastily finished the last scrap the cook had given him and trotted after her.

“I have met your two men,” the Mackintosh said when a gillie admitted Fin to the inner chamber. “Your Ian Lennox told me that ye’ve a new tale to unfold.”

“Did he, sir?” Fin asked, drawing the stool up to the table, where the Mackintosh sat as he had before.

“Aye, but he said that the tale was not his to tell me. And since he did say that our Catriona was safe and I ken fine that two boats set out after men on our wall saw visitors approach ye, I’d wager that the pair of ye had an adventure.”

“We met Rory Comyn and two of his men,” Fin said. “He was displeased to find me with her ladyship and foolish enough to draw his sword.”

“I did tell ye that the lackwit expects to wed with her.”

“She says she won’t have him.”

“She says that, aye,” Mackintosh said. “But a lass does not always get her say-so, even an she declares it as frankly as our Catriona does.”

“So I told her,” Fin said, watching him carefully.

“ ’Twould be a foul thing to wed that saucy lass with a lackwit, though.”

“It would,” Fin agreed, satisfied that he had read him correctly earlier.

“Ye did not kill him,” Mackintosh said. “I warrant he’d have liked to put that sword of his through ye, though.”

“He might have liked to do that. But I knocked it into the loch. Then my equerry, Toby Muir, and Ian Lennox arrived with Comyn’s men in tow. Toby said they were gey careless and easily caught. There is one other thing, too.”

“Ye suspect that Rory Comyn had summat to do with your injury yesterday.”

“I do.”

“Aye, well, I suspected as much. He has shown himself on our land afore without invitation. But although he does delight in making trouble—”

“With respect, sir,” Fin interjected, “if he has been troublesome before, why have you not kept her ladyship on this island rather than letting her wander the hills alone? If Comyn wants her, what is to stop him from taking her?”

“Knowing that Clan Chattan would wipe out every last Comyn if he dared such a thing,” Mackintosh said grimly. “Their clan is weak, unprotected by any other. I’ve bided my time to see if our young Lord of the North would
protect them, but Alex Stewart trusts them less than I do. Forbye, but ye need not worry about our Catriona. As long as she keeps Boreas close by, she’s safe enough.”

“The arrow that struck me could as easily have killed the dog,” Fin said.

“I expect that it could have. But that just puts us back to the Comyns’ weakness. They hope to gain power by allying wi’ us. Sakes, if I thought they’d change their ways, I would welcome them, because a confederation that grows is stronger than one that does not. Ye do ken that fact for yourself, I warrant.”

“Do I?” Fin asked, tensing.

“Ye do, aye. I have spent nearly every Christmas of my life at Tor Castle, lad. D’ye think I don’t recognize the son of Teàrlach MacGillony when I see him? MacGill!” He snorted. “Your da would clout ye good, did he hear ye call him MacGill. What were ye about to be saying such a thing of him to my lady wife?”

“In troth, sir, I thought it unwise to reveal my full identity whilst I was here for Rothesay. It might have stirred up
our
old enmity and complicated his dealings with you. My presence is solely as his envoy and has nowt to do with Clan Cameron.”

“But so ye would say, nae matter why ye had come here. Did Rothesay not consider the likelihood that your presence alone might complicate matters?”

That was getting to the core with a vengeance, Fin thought with reluctant admiration. But the facts would do. “Rothesay and I met when we were two of the winning knights at her grace the Queen’s Edinburgh tourney two years ago, sir, not long after he’d gained his dukedom. He knows me only as Fin of the Battles.”

“That be nobbut rubbish, that. Ye’ll not make me believe that that canny young scoundrel did not demand every detail of your past afore he took ye into his service. He’d do it just to be sure his wicked uncle hadn’t sent ye to spy on him.”

“You underestimate Rothesay, sir,” Fin said. “He knows some whom he
does
trust, and I was able to provide him with three such excellent references.”

“If he did not question ye, they must have been good. Who recommended ye to him, then, whose word he did heed? I might like to question
them
myself.”

“His grace the King, her grace the Queen, and his reverence the Bishop of St. Andrews were all kind enough to recommend me to his service.”

Mackintosh raised his eyebrows. “Bishop Traill himself?
And
their graces?”

“All three, aye, by my troth, sir.”

Mackintosh’s eyes narrowed. “Which of them recommended ye first, then?”

“Bishop Traill.”

“I see.”

Meeting that intelligent gaze, Fin had the feeling that it saw too much. But he did not know how the canny old man could know more than Fin had told him.

“Ye’ve given me nae cause yet to doubt your word,” Mackintosh said then. “But do not be thinking that the royal safe conduct Davy Stewart gave ye will protect ye against his uncle Albany if Albany learns what Davy is up to. Sithee, ye were right to say that Albany has nae scruples. But I have another question for ye.”

“Aye, sure,” Fin said, wondering what was coming.

“ ’Tis about our Catriona. For all her wild ways, she is
an innocent maiden. So I want to know if ye’ve spoken yet for any woman, elsewhere. Ye look to be about five-and-twenty, so it would be only natural if ye had.”

“Nay, sir,” Fin said, startled. “Nor am I on the lookout for a wife. I’ve not seen my own family for years, and my brother, Ewan, is our chieftain now. Until I see and talk with him, I should not be
making
any such plans.”

“I was sad to learn of your father’s death,” Mackintosh said. “I met him several times at Tor Castle. But ye say your brother be head of the family now.”

“He is, aye,” Fin said, hoping he was giving no hint of his discomfort with the direction their conversation had taken.

The old man smiled. “I see that I have touched a nerve with my questions, lad, but I’m curious withal. I ken fine that I can trust ye with her, and I like ye.”

Fin said nothing to that. If the old man trusted him with Catriona, it was more than Fin himself did. The lass was too enticing for any man to resist for long.

Catriona had gone to her favorite place, a tiny clearing just inside the woods at the north end of the island. A boulder there, perfectly shaped for sitting and leaning against, gave a splendid view of the north expanse of the loch and the lush green forest of pine, alder, and birch that covered the steep hills surrounding it.

Boreas lay curled at her feet, the clouds had gone, and the sunshine felt warm on her face. She loved to sit and rest her gaze on the water, turned dark green today where the woods reflected on its surface. She closed her eyes, opening them only when she heard Fin’s approaching footsteps.

He had come quietly, so he was nearly upon her when she heard them. He stopped when she opened her eyes.

“I hope I did not wake you,” he said with a smile that warmed her through.

Smiling back, she said, “Nay, I was just being lazy. I brought food, though.”

“So the lad, Tadhg, did tell me. Does he truly run everywhere?”

“Aye, to build his wind, he says. He told me that someone important is coming here from Perth. He did not know who it is, but I warrant you do. Tell me.”

He frowned, obviously disturbed by her knowledge. “I cannot tell you who it is,” he said. “Your grandfather knows, though, and approves. I was just with him.”