Taming the Wild Highlander 04 (11 page)

Footsteps hastened in their direction. Angus tensed, hoping he, Niall, and Edana would not alarm Lady Allison when she discovered Edana was not who she claimed to be.

A woman rushed
into the room, her hair and eyes dark brown, her expression turning from excitement to alarm as soon as she saw the woman who pretended to be Eilis. She didn't know Angus either, and she hadn't seen Niall standing slightly to the right of the door. Before she screamed, Niall clamped his hand over her mouth and shut the door to the room.

Edana finally found her tongue and quickly said,
"'Tis all right. We have just come to speak with you. We would have talked to Keary, but they said he is no' here."

Angus said,
"We wish you no harm, Lady Allison. Lady Eilis would have come to see you if she could, but she is unable to travel."

Niall removed his hand from the lady
's mouth, her eyes still wild. "She is ill?" Allison asked.

"
With child," Angus said.

Allison
's eyes still huge, her apprehension didn't appear to abate. "What do you want?"

"
I am James's youngest brother, Angus. You remember Niall?"

"
Aye. He is the only one I knew. Why did you lie to say you are Eilis?" she asked Edana.

"
I am Edana, daughter of the chief of the Clan Chattan."

"
We have word that her brothers might have…had some trouble," Angus said, not about to tell how they had come of the news, and he didn't want to accuse her half-brother of locking the Chattan brothers in the dungeon.

"
What has that to do with me?"

"
We would have spoken to Keary, but he isna here," Angus said, repeating Edana's words, trying not to sound vexed.

"
You…you think…what?" Allison asked. "I dinna understand."

"
Is there a woman here by the name of Oppida?" Edana asked.

Allison
's jaw dropped.

Angus did not take that as a good sign.

The door suddenly opened and everyone turned to see Keary standing there with two of his men, his bright expression changing to surprise, then anger. He looked at Edana. His brows rose, and then he scowled at Angus and Niall. "Arrest the men."

"
Nay," Edana said, grabbing Angus's arm as if she could protect him. "We are here seeking my brothers."

"
And you are?" Keary's eyes traveled over her body in a salacious manner.

Angus already had his hand on
the hilt of his sword. He didn't like the way Keary looked at Edana—as if she was available when she was
supposed
to be Angus's wife.

"
The daughter of the chief of the Chattan clan," she said.

Her scowl seemed to amuse Keary
as his mouth curved up. "Why the ruse?" he asked.

"
We wished only to speak with you," Angus said, repeating once again the same sentiment, "but you were no' here."

"
About?"

"
Her brothers," Allison quickly said, and Angus feared that meant Oppida was Keary's mistress.

"
Come, 'tis time for the nooning meal. Let us eat," Allison said, taking hold of Edana's arm. "Tell me all about your brothers."

Angus
watched the two ladies leave the chamber and hoped Edana didn't say anything that could get them all thrown into the dungeon.

Edana didn
't know what to think. Was Oppida Keary's mistress? And had he locked Edana's brothers in the dungeon? But what bothered her most was the way Keary had looked at her as though he'd love to make
her
his new mistress.

She noted Angus scowling and though he
'd kept his hand on his sword hilt when Keary first entered the chamber, his men had quickly disarmed both Niall and Angus before they went to eat.

Now in the great hall, i
ntent on her words as the servants served food from thick fish soup to dove stew, Keary listened to Edana speaking to Allison about her brothers. The lady seemed quite interested in meeting them. Which meant Allison was very good about keeping a secret. Or she didn't know what her half-brother had been up to. Or Edana's brothers weren't here.

Edana
wanted desperately to ask about Oppida, but after Allison had changed the subject so quickly, Edana had assumed the topic was too sensitive to discuss.

Angus had unsuccessfully attempted to engage Keary in conversation, also trying to learn what he
could. But Keary seemed way too interested in what Edana had to say.

"
Lady Eilis is married to James," Keary said, using his knife to spear a chunk of white meaty halibut floating in his soup. "Which means that you are not married to him. So…what
of
you?"

"
She is married to me," Angus quickly spoke up.

Keary offered Edana a ca
lculating smile, not glancing in Angus's direction. "Truly?"

Her
cheeks burned and had to have flushed a brilliant red. She knew he was reading her expression, realizing she was not married to Angus as he had said.

"
I venture to say your father would be surprised to hear it," Keary continued when Edana didn't respond. She was afraid to give herself—and Angus—away.

What did Keary
know?

"
Why would you say that?" Edana asked, trying to sound as indignant as she could.

Keary
buttered his brown bread.

She barely breathed.

Keary looked up at her and gave her another smug smile, his dark eyes glittering with amusement. "Because the two guards and a maid who came here searching for you said you were alone."

Her escort. Her heart pounded. He knew she had not been with Angus
.

"
Naturally, I myself and several others have been looking for you ever since. I had just returned home to see if you might have reached my castle and was informed Lady Eilis was here. You canna imagine my surprise to learn you were no' she. And here you are the lady I have been searching for. Only you were no' alone. Your da wouldna be pleased to learn—"

"
My da," she quickly informed him, "sent Angus to come for me. We agreed to the marriage. Both of us. We even had witnesses."

"
Witnesses?"

Her heart did a little skip as she realized her mistake in including Gunnolf.
"Well, Niall, and so 'tis done."

Keary
glanced at Niall who appeared as though he'd rather be anywhere but here right now. He looked in Angus's direction who nodded just once.

"
Aye," Niall said weakly.

"
Under the moon and stars?" Keary asked.

He knew the answer to that question. He was playing with her to see if she would spill the truth. But she had told the truth. Even if she and Angus only meant it as a ruse.

"The weather hasna been agreeable always," she said.

"
Forgive me if I dinna believe any of you, will you?" Keary said. "But I have been looking for a bonny lass to wed and I trust you should do nicely. I will send word to your da that you are safe with me and ask him for your hand in marriage. Your honor will remain intact that way."

He wanted her b
ecause she was a clan chief's daughter? Until he learned of her special ability. At least Angus was coming to believe in her. But she worried that if her father did get an offer for her hand in marriage, he would jump at the proposal. No one else was stepping forward to ask for it. And he was so angry with her for spying on him with Zeneva in his bed, Edana had no doubt he no longer wished her to reside at home.

Angus rose from his seat.
"The lass is mine," he growled. He looked like a dangerous wolf as determination and anger hardened his voice, his posture, his expression. But Keary had wisely disarmed both Angus and his cousin, so other than his fists, he had no way to protect her. Thankfully, she still had her dirk hidden under her skirts.

"
You were alone with the lass," Keary said. "And I suspect her da has no knowledge of this union between you. So you have compromised her as well. I doubt you truly have, or I would kill you myself. Suffice it to say, I will do with you as James's did with me. When he took me prisoner—"

Angus
's eyes widened.

"
You didna know that? Aye, you had suffered a wound in battle and were staying with your older brother Malcolm. Niall knows the truth of it. James made me help repair the fortifications on his wall."

Niall contradicted the telling of the story.
"James worked alongside you."

"
Aye, true enough. But I willna make you work. Unless you wish it."

"
Angus and I are married," Edana said vehemently, more than worried Keary would try to force the issue with her. "If you deny us our right to be together, both my clan and Angus's will be forced to deal with you—
harshly
."

Keary
smiled, but the look was more self-satisfied rather than jovial. "Verra well. I will have you married in our kirk. Then you can tell your story to all who wish to attend the service. Allison, do you have something the lady can wear to her special ceremony?"

Allison looked on—horrified.

Angus did, too.

***

If he wasn't in such a serious situation, Angus would have laughed. How in the blazes had he gotten himself into this? Gunnolf would have slapped him on the back and laughed. Niall looked as though he himself was condemned to marry the fae.

Not that Angus didn
't care for the lass. He did. He was certain something about her faeness had captured him all those years ago and even now he had a devil of a time breaking free of her enchantment. He'd never thought about any woman so long or hard or often as he had the fae lass. He'd told himself his interest in her had only been due to curiosity concerning her odd abilities. Yet, when he had seen her fairly naked, and then slept with her the last three nights, his body awakening in a fevered pitch every time, he tried to tell himself he would have felt that way with any woman.

To an extent, aye, but with her, he wanted to go further. Now he had his chance. James would kill him. But he shouldn
't have sent him on this mission. And her father would kill him. The lass herself didn't want this to be everlasting—not when she had agreed this arrangement was only a ruse.

They w
ould have to do this and annul the marriage as quickly as possible.

They wouldn
't share the same pallet again.

They
'd be married according to spoken words only.

They would not consummate the marriage.

He couldn't read Edana's expression. Oh, aye, she was red-faced and embarrassed. He could see that plainly enough. But he didn't know if the whole idea of marriage horrified her or she was coming to agree with the notion. Mayhap she feared her father would say yes to a marriage between Keary and her. And Angus could be the lesser of two evils.

That
's when Angus decided that he couldn't allow Keary to have her. He was certain she didn't wish to marry Keary—not with the way she had quickly explained again how she and Angus had already married. Threatened Keary even with her father's men and his in battle! Angus could see her da possibly agreeing to Keary's offer if no one else wished the lass's hand in marriage. Keary was now a laird of his clan.

But Angus
couldn't see her belonging to the man.

"
So when do we do this?" Angus asked, more demanding than asking as if
he
was going into battle.

Edana
's lips parted and he thought about how kissable they looked, only now her cheeks had turned ice white.

***

It was all set then. Wearing his cleanest tunic and plaid, Angus stood in the small kirk with a gathering of Keary's clan members. Normally, Angus would have worn a dirk and his sword, but Keary had not returned his weapons to Niall or him.

He was anxious, waiting for Ed
ana to arrive. Niall appeared just as nervous, his gaze shifting from Angus to the door and back to Angus again. Keary stood near the altar, arms folded across his chest, looking superior as he watched the entrance to the kirk.

Angus h
ad the impression that Keary expected either Edana or him to back out of the arrangement. Angus wouldn't, if it meant saving Edana from Keary. He thought Edana wouldn't, yet women were known to change their minds so he truly couldn't predict what she would do.

When she walked into the kirk with Lady Allis
on, Edana looked astonishing, wearing a lovely pale blue léine, her skin scrubbed clean, her hair plaited. Murmurs of approval rent the air. He wanted to take her in his arms and kiss her, release her hair, and make the faux marriage real. She looked apprehensive and he hated Keary for forcing them to do this in front of his people. He gave her a small encouraging smile, but then her gaze shifted to the left of him, and he turned to see Keary stalking toward her. He noted Allison was biting her lip, holding Edana's hand, her focus on her brother.