The Highlander's Curse (20 page)

Damn
Cailen for putting me in this position.

After a
few more minutes of talk on how to cook herring, I was gratefully whisked off
to a seat at a table, right next to Ailsa. Cailen strode over as well and sat
right next to me, and despite my promise to his mom, I tensed.

“Ye
look verra bonny, lass,” the Highlander said, leaning in close to me.

“Well I
should, I guess. Apparently my future husband is here right now.” I peered down
at my plate as a woman plopped meat and bread on my plate. Another followed
right after, spooning some sort of soup into my bowl. Cailen still eyed me.

“Why
are you staring?” I snapped, earning a few shocked glances from other clansmen
and women.

“I wasn’ae.
I mean, I was. I just…” He sighed. “Elizabeth—”

“I told
you not to call me that,” I growled, keeping a smile on my face as people
glanced my way.

“I
thought that we might still be friends.”

“Friends?
Are you freakin’ kidding me? I bare my feelings for you, and you not only shut
me down, but work on selling me off to the highest bidder…and you want us to be
friends? If you wanted that to happen you probably shouldn’t have made me think
we felt the same way about each other.”

“Ye
two,” Ailsa whispered. “Mind both yer promises tae me. Behave.”

We were
all silent for a second before Cailen flicked his gaze from his mom to me. “Ye’re
no’ being
sold
, so I dinna ken why ye keep labelin’ me as some sort o’
monster. And aye, ye did tell me o’ yer feelings, but there isn’ae a damn
thing—”

“Cailen!”
his mom barked.

“—I can
dae about it. I’ve already told ye, I would if I could.”

“I don’t
see anything stopping you,” I countered, before turning to face his parents and
brother. “I really want to thank you for everything you’ve done, but I think it’s
time that I go to bed.”

Standing,
I walked away from the table, attempting to smile at a few late stragglers who
made their way to the banquet. Once inside my room, I shut the splintered door
behind me and pushed a heavy chest in front of it, locking out the rest of the
world.

****

“What did ye dae tae
her?” his mam snapped. “And what hae ye done tae yer hand?”

Cailen
peered over his shoulder at her, shrugging as he bent to grab a pan from the
chest. “Naethin’.” Of course his mother would blame him. He wouldn’t tell her
he’d gone outside and slammed his fists against the dyke until he bled. It was
none of her business why he’d done so, and he didn’t wish to invoke
questioning.

Una
shrank away from them and silently slipped out of the kitchen.

“Ye’ve
done somethin’. She willn’ae come out o’ her room. I’ve tried, yer da has
tried, e’en Emily and Una hae tried tae get her tae open the door, but she
refuses, e’en for food!”

“What
dae ye want me tae dae about it?” Cailen asked as he shoved the pan inside a
new satchel, along with fruit and bread.

“I want
ye tae go upstairs and talk tae her.” His mam stopped talking suddenly, her
eyes narrowing on what he was doing as his father stepped up behind her.

“What
dae ye think ye’re daein’?”

Cailen
eyed his da. “What does it look like? I’m leavin’.”

“Ye
canna just leave again,” his da argued. “Ye’re no’ a young lad anymore. Ye’re a
man. Ye’ve brought a lass tae our door. ‘Tis yer duty tae make sure she finds a
good husband.”

“Nae,
it isn’ae. I brought her tae ye. Ye are the leader here, ye can make that
decision far better than I could.”

“Ye’d
really leave her?” his mam asked, shaking her head as she put her hands on her
hips. Great, he was in trouble. “She doesn’ae ken anyone here but ye, and ye’d
just leave her?”

He
threw the bag over his shoulder and glared at his parents. Sighing, he strode
up the stairs and to Elizabeth’s door, banging his fist against the wood.
“Elizabeth,” he barked. “Come out. Ye canna stay in there. Ye must come out.”

When
there was no sound on the other side of the door, Cailen stomped down the
stairs, passing his parents. “There, I’ve tried. The woman wants naethin’ tae
dae wi’me.”

“Ye ken
as well as I dae that’s no’ true,” his mam replied. “I think she truly does.
Yer faither and I ken ye hae feelings for her as well.”

His
forward progression stopped and he turned. “What does it matter if I dae? When
hae ma feelings mattered? O’ course I want Elizabeth. I love her! But I hae a
duty tae ma family, and we all want Kieran back.”

“Cailen,”
his mam replied softly. “Ye canna still believe in the curse. It’s been years
and we’ve no’ heard from Kieran.”

“He
prob’ly took off like ye’ve done,” his da added.

They
still didn’t believe him. After all this time, they really thought Kieran just
ran away? “Ye haven’ae heard from him because that witch took him, and I’ve spent
the last two years searchin’ for the one who could bring him back. I dinna get
tae stop searchin’ and take the woman I want as ma wife or none o’ us will e’er
see Kieran again. And it wouldn’ae matter if I could marry her, because the woman
hates me!”

What
else was he to do? He’d tried to speak to her, to apologize for everything, but
she wouldn’t have it, and she’d stormed away from him.

It was
his mam that spoke. “So ye’ll leave the only woman who might make ye happy?”

“I need
tae leave. I canna stay here.” He gave his mam a hug and went tae dae the same
wi’his dad. “Just…find her a good man. Make sure she’ll be taken care o’.”

The
good Lord in Heaven kent the lass deserved to have something good in her life.

He left
his home without another word, stopping only to give Cameron a hug, and to say
goodbye to Gregor.

CHAPTER TWELVE

I sat down, leaning my
back against the small tower of rock I’d found days ago, and peered out at the
sea. So far, this was my favorite hideout from the day-to-day life I’d been
planted in. The sea called to me. I could’ve watched it any part of the day,
from sun-up to after the sun had gone down. Many times I could see ships in the
distance, some even closer as they crept into the channel between this isle and
the next, stopping at random places along both sides. The MacKinnons taxed
those ships for passage, and used that opportunity to trade goods with sailors
from all over the world. Even yesterday, a few of the MacKinnon boys had
happily skipped into town, carting baskets of chickens for the farms.

Down on
the beach not too far from my tower, there were three shipwrecks. Spanish
vessels, from what Conall had told me during one of our excursions. He’d taken
me down to see one of them, carefully leading me down into the hull, where I’d
been able to see where the Spanish sailors had slept and ate. From the beach,
he’d pointed out a few more sunken ships farther out, only visible by their
masts barely sticking out of the water. He’d mentioned how his sons had taught
themselves to swim so they could extract gold and precious stones from the
vessels. They’d built quite a family fortune from that alone.

Hugging
my knees to my chest, I couldn’t help but think of the man who’d brought me
here, only to abandon me.

At
first, I hadn’t believed Ailsa when she’d told me that Cailen had left. I’d
assumed she’d just been trying to convince me to leave my room and join her,
Conall, or Cameron on one of the adventures they’d been upselling. But for days
now, I’d been out in the village, talking to people, and I’d learned that he
really had left. It’d been two weeks since the night of that banquet, and two
weeks since I’d seen or heard from Cailen. The ache that left in my heart alone
compelled me to stay in my bed all day, to live in my own solitary bubble and
mourn what could have been. At other times, I gave myself a mental ass-kicking.
I knew my life would go on, and I’d done my best to not allow everything I saw
or heard remind me of him. It would just take time.

It was obvious
that Conall, Ailsa, and Cameron were sad he left, and even though they should
have blamed me for it, they didn’t. They’d all been nothing but nice to me,
letting me share in their family meals, and including me as one of them
throughout each day.

Conall took
me on horse rides, while Ailsa preferred showing me around their village, where
I met women of all ages and sizes, and witnessed firsthand the jobs they did
day in and day out. Cameron reminded me of Jason. He just wanted to hang out,
and seemed to like taking me to meet other teenagers his age. Cameron was the
reason I heard all the clan gossip. He snuck extra treats to me when no one was
looking, and he sat silently with me whenever I needed to get away from
everything.

It hadn’t
taken long for me to realize that no matter where I was or what I was doing, I
was on show for the eligible bachelors of Ardmoir. I received gifts of homemade
trinkets and jewelry, and was invited to go on walks around the outskirts of
the village.

“Elizabeth.”

I
turned my head, peering around the tower as Cameron hiked up the hill, his red
tartan kilt whipping in the wind. “Hi.” I smiled and patted the grass next to
me before he sat down. I’d come to admire the boy over the last few days. Even
though he was only fourteen, he seemed mature compared to the teenage boys I’d
gone to school with. Maybe it was because times were so different, which made
people grow up so much faster than in my own time. He was still in an awkward
stage, where his muscles from his long days of work hadn’t quite caught up to
his height. He was already taller than me, which had been the cause of constant
teasing, but he hadn’t filled out like Cailen yet. He had his mom’s eyes and
his dad’s hair, only it fell into his face, not quite long enough to tie at his
nape like his older brother. “I really wish you’d stop calling me that.”

“I
would, but ye haven’ae given me another option,” he said, a little breathless.

I
rolled my eyes. “I’ll let you pick what you want to call me.”

“Elizabeth
it is, then.” He grinned, shoving his shoulder into mine and making me laugh. “I’m
surprised tae find ye up here.”

“It’s
my favorite place.” I shrugged. “I like how far out I can see. How I can spot
travelers even though they probably can’t see me. And, I dunno, I guess I
really like to watch the fog roll in and out around the isle.” That part
reminded me of
him
.

“I see.
Hae ye started tae settle then? Ye seem more comfortable now.”

“Yeah,
I think so.” I reached down and played with my dress, not wanting him to see
whatever pain might be showing in my face. How could I tell someone I really
wanted to go home, even though that wouldn’t exist for hundreds of years?

“Yer
thinkin’ o’ Cailen,” he said suddenly, turning a sad smile toward me.

“Why do
you think that?”

“I’ve
seen it often enough on yer face. I wasn’ae sure what troubled ye at first, but
I realized ye hae a certain…expression whene’er yer thinkin’ o’ him.”

I
swallowed, hard. “What does it look like?”

“Like
ye wish he were here wi’ ye, rather than runnin’ off like a bloody coward.”

“Hey,”
I snapped. “Cailen is not a coward. He just doesn’t want me.”
And I hadn’t
handled it all that well.

Cameron
snorted, shaking his head. “Daft lass,” he muttered, reminding me way too much
of his brother. “He wants ye. He’s just afraid tae go after what he wants
rather than what he was told.”

“What
do you mean?”

“Oh.”
His face reddened and he plucked a blade of grass out of the ground. “It’s
naethin’. Just forget I said anythin’.”

I
leaned against the tower and stared out at the ocean, wondering exactly what it
was Cameron wasn’t telling me.

****

“I’m grateful ye were
willin’ tae join me for a ride,” Conall said as he steered his horse through
one of the many wide, open fields on the outskirts of Ardmoir.

I
nodded, bumping my heel against my horse’s side, urging him to follow. “Yeah.
Thanks for inviting me.”

I’d
been introduced to the MacKinnon’s horses a few days ago, my favorite being the
one that looked exactly like my little Bud. This one was a male though, but no
less beautiful in my eyes, and maybe even more fitting for my own version of
his name.

“There
is somethin’ I’ve been meanin’ tae speak wi’ye about. Dae ye ken a man by the
name o’ Donnan MacDougall?”

I gaped
at him. “Yeah, that’s the guy who tried to force me into marrying him. Why?”

“That’s
what I thought. Cailen told me o’ yer troubles wi’someone from another clan,
but he didnae mention any specifics. One o’ ma clansmen came tae me early this
morn, and he said the MacDougalls are on Mull, searchin’ ev’ra town for ye.”

Crap. I’d
been afraid that would happen sooner or later, and Cailen and I had even
discussed the possibility of it happening, especially since Donnan had
recognized Cailen’s clan tartan.

“It
seems he means tae make ye his bride. He claims that one o’ our clansmen
kidnapped ye, and he aims tae rectify it.”

“Does
he know where I am?”

“I
dinna believe so. He’s searched other towns and villages on MacKinnon land, but
none o’ them ken ye. It willn’ae be so easy tae keep ye hidden from him if he
comes tae Ardmoir though. Too many folk ken ye.”

And the
last thing I wanted to do was to bring trouble to Conall and Ailsa’s door. “What
should I do? Should I leave?”

He
grunted. “I’d no’ turn ye out, lass. But as far as what ye should dae, that
depends. Dae ye want tae marry MacDougall?”

“No.” I
shook my head. There was no question about that. I didn’t want anything to do
with him.

“Good.
That’s what I’d prayed ye’d say. I’ve thought hard on what might be done tae
help ye, and I ken yer no’ so pleased wi’Cailen for bringing ye here, but I
think he was right tae dae so. We can only hope that ye’ll be mairrit before
MacDougall comes. If ye’re another man’s wife, then he canna exactly stake any
claim on ye, aye?”

I knew
he was going to say something like that. But really? Stake a claim, like I was
some kind of property? The eighteenth century was so effed up.

“Liam Black
came tae see me today,” Conall continued after a few seconds’ silence. “And
verra timely, I might add. He’s asked ma permission tae marry ye.”

I
blinked, trying hard not to show any emotion as I stared straight ahead of me,
doing my best to focus on where Bud the Second was taking me.
Breathe, Scar.
You knew this was going to happen sooner or later.
But why had I been
waiting for Cailen to come back home and profess his love to me?

Liam
was one of the guys I’d hung out with a little bit over the last couple of
weeks. He was nice, around my age, and he was good looking. My problem was
that, whether I’d meant to or not, every man I met was automatically compared
to the way Cailen had been before he betrayed me, and not one of them stacked
up.

“What
did you say to him?”

“I’ve
agreed tae the match. I’d been ponderin’ on what tae dae wi’yer predicament,
and I didnae believe ye wanted tae marry Donnan MacDougall, so I accepted on
yer behalf.” He shrugged, giving me a half-smile that looked so much like
Cailen’s that my heart lurched. “I’ve seen the two o’ ye talkin’. Ye seem
comfortable wi’the lad, and he’d make a fine husband. He comes from a good
family, ye ken, and he’s plenty o’ money tae support ye and any bairns that’ll
come.”

Ice prickled
up my spine and through my limbs. I couldn’t do anything more than nod as
Conall listed all the reasons I should be happy to be engaged to a man I hardly
knew. And what was worse, if I didn’t go through with it, then I was going to
be forcefully married to a man who scared me.

“…one
week’s time.”

“I’m
sorry, what?” I asked, focusing on him.

“He’s
chosen one week from today. He wanted tae speak wi’ye himself, tae make ye a
proper proposal, but he and his da left early this morn tae find a pastor. If
one might be found before then, then ye’ll be mairrit as soon as may be. If ye
really dinna want Donnan MacDougall, then we must act fast.”

Holy.
Freakin’. Shit.

I
couldn’t tell which I felt more now, the blistering heat that erupted through
my body, or the prickly icicles that scraped slowly through my veins,
iceberging it toward my heart. I knew the lesser of the two evils. Liam seemed
nice and gentle. I hadn’t seen even a glimpse of that pushy, chauvinistic
dominance that Donnan had shown me from the get-go.

“Ailsa
asked Emily tae start mending a dress for ye,” he added when I said nothing in
response. “I dinna ken why she’s taken such an interest, but she wants tae make
sure yer gown is perfect. I think ye’ve made quite an impression on ma wife.”

“Umm,
okay.” I pulled on Bud the Second, bringing him to a halt. “Do you mind if we
just stop for a minute?”

“No’ at
all. Are ye all right?”

“Yeah,
I’m just…Yeah.” I was sick and breathless. The feeling washed through my body
and took me down before I had a chance to slide off of the horse. The ground
rose up to greet me, and pain erupted on the side of my head as the entire
world began to spin.

“Lass!”

Conall’s
face came into view, his eyes darting over my face just before everything went
hazy and darkness overtook me.

“…dear.
Oh, Elizabeth, dear. Can ye hear me? It’s Ailsa. Dearie, can ye hear me?”

I
groaned and pressed my palms over my eyes, blocking out the light I could see
through my eyelids. “What happened?”

“Och,
thank the Lord.
Conall!
”

Lifting
my hands from my face, I blinked up at Ailsa. The second I got a good look at
her, I realized I was in my own bed at their house. “How did I get here?”

“Ye’re
verra lucky Conall was wi’ye. Who kens what might hae happened if ye’d been out
there on yer own.” She shook her head and patted my hand. “I take it yer
upcomin’ marriage came as quite a shock?”

I
chuckled and sat up, earning a glare from the doctor as he felt my forehead. “You
could say that.” When Doctor McCrary finally stepped away from me, I glanced at
Ailsa. “Where I’m from, women get to choose who they marry.”

Cailen’s
dad chose that minute to stroll through the door, and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Glad tae see ye’re up.”

“Yeah.
Thanks for bringing me back.” Or maybe not. Why couldn’t I have woken up in 2013,
after traveling while unconscious? Just like last time. Being back in Ardmoir
meant that I was getting married in less than a week. “Do you know what
happened?”

“Conall
said ye stopped breathin’,” Ailsa replied. She pressed a cold, wet cloth to my
face and I hissed in a breath as she pressed it to the left side of my head.