Highland Master (38 page)

Ewan frowned but looked thoughtful rather than angry. “Ye’ve never done a cowardly thing in your life, Fin, unless ye’ve altered mightily since ye left home.”

“I did think that I must have changed and that others would say so, aye.”

Ewan started to speak but did not. He was silent long enough then to remind Fin that Ewan himself had been one of those “others.”

At last Ewan said, “Ye’ve made me think, lad. I had nae authority then and small understanding of such, or of men, come to that. Likely, I would have thought such a thing, and others surely would have. Ye might not have been safe.”

“I didn’t think about safety,” Fin said. “But there were other reasons, too.”

“D’ye chance to ken what happened to our father?”

“He fought near me, Ewan. I was with him when he died.”

“Bless ye, lad, that must have eased his way. Did he say aught to ye?”

Tension swept through Fin, but it carried no urge with it to equivocate. “He told me that I must swear to take vengeance on Clan Chattan, that he was bequeathing that charge to me as a sacred duty.”

Ewan said curtly, “Did ye not, all thirty o’ ye, swear at the outset that yon trial by combat would settle the matter betwixt our clans and result in our truce forbye?”

“We did swear so, aye,” Fin said, feeling his tension begin to ebb.

“And did not that vow lead to our current agreement?”

“It somehow kept you living at Tor Castle as well, aye. I have never heard how, exactly, that did come about after Clan Chattan won the battle.”

“It did because yon Mackintosh is a canny man, is how. ’Tis no for nowt that he has led Clan Chattan nigh onto forty years. Sithee, with all from our side dead at Perth, some at home suspected treachery. He kent fine that if he ordered us off our Lochaber lands, that truce would no have lasted a heartbeat longer. So, he proposed that if we’d honor the ancient agreement and begin to pay the yearly rent again, we could continue to lease our lands from Clan Mackintosh and be peaceable.”

“Did the Camerons really have such an earlier agreement, then?”

“Aye, sure, but don’t ask me when or why we stopped
paying. ’Twas before I was born. The old man kent fine the amount and said it would stay as it were till matters sorted themselves out elsewise. We’re content, and so are they, I think.”

“I did hear that you are now Constable of Tor Castle.”

“I am, aye. I collect the rents and act as host when the Mackintosh comes each Christmas to stay, as he still does. And when he dies, I’ll see that he’s buried in the graveyard there. But how the devil did ye come to marry his granddaughter? I’m thinking ’twas yet another canny move on
his
part, to see that we all keep the truce.”

“He said that if anyone did aught to break it, it would not be Clan Chattan.”

“We’ll see about that, I expect. He won’t live forever and nor will I—or our clan’s captain, come to that. So tell me about this marriage of yours.”

Fin explained what had happened, and although he thought that Ewan laughed at inappropriate times, the tale clearly entertained him. However, when Fin had brought him up to date, Ewan was silent again for a time.

Then he said, “This about the Comyns… D’ye ken aught more about it?”

“Only that they are weak and resentful,” Fin said. “The Mackintosh and Shaw have had occasional trouble with them for some time. Why do you ask?”

“Sithee, I keep lads out and about with their eyes open and their ears aprick, because our truce is central to the general peace. Of late, the name Comyn comes up whenever anyone talks of trouble anywhere east of Tor Castle. Some do say that the Comyns seek to aid the Duke of Albany by making trouble for the Lord of the North, mayhap by stirring the coals of our old feud into something fierier.”

“It is no secret that Albany wants his own son to replace Alex Stewart.”

“But d’ye ken aught more of what they all be up to? Sithee, I’m thinking that troubles for Alex may encourage Donald of the Isles to attack us here in the west.”

“I do know more, aye,” Fin admitted. “But as I told you, I serve Rothesay, so I cannot tell you all I know without breaking confidence with him. I will tell you that Donald takes more interest than he should in extending his power to the western Highlands. He wants more now than just his wife’s inherited lands.”

“I do ken that, aye,” Ewan said. “What more of Alex?”

“His interest is solely in Lochindorb and retaining the Lordship of the North.”

“Keeping it away from Albany, ye mean.”

“Aye, but I believe that he will also defend it against Donald.” A breeze stirred then, bringing a chill off the loch, so Fin sat up. Meeting his brother’s gaze, he said, “Are we good, Ewan, or do you still want to try giving me a drubbing?”

“Och, laddie, the past is gone, and I’m no one to be telling ye what ye should or should not have done whilst I were safe at home. I’m just thankful that your notion of vengeance against the Mackintosh was to marry his granddaughter.”

“Did I mention that her father is the Clan Chattan war leader?”

Ewan chuckled. “Ye left that out, but I’ll warrant ye don’t mean to murder either one, and I’ll thank ye for that, too. Peace is always preferable to war, but it will last only until it does not. So ’tis good to know ye’ve nae intention of breaking it. But I’ll expect to see more of ye now,
mind. Ye’ll come to Tor Castle to stay with us, the pair of ye, after ye’ve sorted out whatever ye be into now with Rothesay and them.”

“The Mackintosh granted me a charter for life occupancy of Castle Raitt as a wedding gift,” Fin said. “My lass loves her home, and Raitt lies but two miles from it, so I expect I may find myself a Highlander again before I know it.”

“Ye’re a Highlander born, lad. Ye cannot be aught else.”

Fin drew a long breath and let it out, feeling a sense of ease that he had not known since long before he had flung himself into the Tay. He had not told Ewan everything, because he had not mentioned Ivor’s part, but his brother now knew more than anyone other than Bishop Traill did about what had happened at Perth.

Catriona paced Castle Moigh’s great hall, wondering how much longer Fin and Ewan would be. Her hair was dry, she was freshly gowned, and she was hungry.

She had gone out to the rock where she assumed that Ewan had meant for them to swim and had found their clothing there. Seeing no other sign of them, she had returned to the castle but only because it was the courteous thing to do.

Ewan might be one of those rare men who preferred not to parade naked where women, particularly his new good-sister, might see him. And she was in no hurry to see any man naked but Fin.

That she looked eagerly ahead to that made her wonder if all newly married women felt the same way. She
remained uncertain about the future, because she was sure that she and Fin would frequently argue about all and sundry, as they had. But she hoped that he would also continue to elicit the strong responses she had felt with him that morning just as frequently if not more so.

Consequently, she paced, and when the two men finally strode into the hall, she greeted them with, “At last! Faith, but I was beginning to fear that you had both drowned and I would have to go without my supper!”

“You may have to go without your supper in any event if that is how you greet a guest of this house, madam wife,” Fin said before he caught her by the shoulders and kissed her thoroughly.

Pushing him away as soon as he would let her, she swept Ewan a curtsy. Rising, she said, “If you are as daft as your brother, sir, and believed that I meant aught but teasing, I do humbly apologize and swear that I will mend my ways.”

Laughing heartily, Ewan said, “I think you are just what he needs to keep him out of trouble, my lady. If ever I can aid you in that task, however, you need only ask. Sithee, he has earned a drubbing, so he still treads on thin ice with me.”

“Even so, I trust that all is well between you now, sir,” she said.

“It is, aye,” he replied, smiling at Fin.

Fin said, “As I do not see Ian here, I shall require your help to don a clean tunic for dinner, lass. You may come with me and see what
you
have earned.”

“I, too, want a fresh tunic,” Ewan said. “I doubt that ye’ll need my aid in managing him just now, Lady Catriona, but if ye do—”

“Nay, sir, I will not,” Catriona said. Despite her confident words, though, she did wonder if her saucy greeting might have irritated her husband.

As they turned toward the inner chamber, he put an arm around her shoulders, but he did not speak. She hoped he was just giving her back some of her own for teasing them, but she could not be sure. Looking up, she saw that he had pressed his lips together, which was an ominous sign.

Aware of her unease, Fin was enjoying himself a little, believing that it served his wildcat right to wonder if she had overstepped the bounds of what he would tolerate. Heaven knew, she had a bad habit of speaking impulsively and would be wiser to take more thought before she did offend someone.

Nodding at the young gillie who hurried to open the door of the inner chamber for them, he urged Catriona inside but did not release her when the door shut quietly behind them. Instead, he turned her to face him.

Looking sternly at her, he said, “Do you know what you deserve for teasing your husband and his guest so?”

“Aye, sir, more kissing.”

Having no desire to argue about that, he kissed her again but did not stop there. Scant seconds later, he had opened her bodice and was gazing hungrily at her enticing, rosy-tipped breasts as he stroked them.

Scooping her into his arms, he carried her to the bed and, stripping her of her clothing, began to discover just how fast her body would respond to his touch. He wanted her hot for him. At the same time, he did want to teach her a small lesson.

“Lie still now, lass, and close your eyes,” he said, casting aside his mantle and boots. “I want you to think only about what you feel.”

Retaining his tunic, he climbed onto the bed and straddled her, catching her wrists and pressing them to the bed before bending to kiss her again.

She opened her eyes wide and gazed into his but responded eagerly to his kisses. Capturing her mouth, he eased his body lower, still pinning her wrists and bearing his weight on his elbows and legs. Knowing that his tunic was rough enough to tease her nipples, he moved so that it brushed against them.

She tried to free her hands and then tried to pull her mouth away from his, clearly wanting to speak.

Briefly freeing her lips, he murmured, “Hush now. Just let be.”

“But I want to hold you, too, and touch you.”

“Nay, sweetheart, not yet. For now, you will be as meek and obedient in bed as you vowed this morning to be. That is to say,” he added, “you will do as I say now if you want to have a try later at being meek and obedient at my board.”

“I’d remind you, sir, that ’tis my granddad’s board and not yours at all.”

“Ah, but here at Moigh I am
his
guest. And you ken fine that a guest in any man’s house may command his own pleasure.”

“Aye, and so you may until I shout for the servants.”

“Do you think that any one of them will disobey me if I countermand an order you give?” he asked gently.

Seeing the answer in her grimace, he murmured, “Just so, sweetheart. Now, do as I bid you. I promise, you will
not be sorry… well, not in the end, at all events,” he added conscientiously.