‘Here, ye will do as I command, Cora…’
She glared at the closed door. The need to rebel was brewing inside her. It didn’t make any sense.
Well, logic and emotion were always at war within her.
It was simply the way things were.
And it would seem that when it came to Chief McKay, she would have to submit to his authority.
“Toad,” Cora muttered as she started to undress.
Faolan wasn’t a toad. Far from it.
Wolf.
He was dark and effective. His small band of McKay Retainers was his pack, and he would do what he thought best for them.
And for the moment, she was in his den.
*
McKay Castle…
Noreen Grant had been raised to be mistress of a large household. Part of her duty was to see to the letters, both opening and responding to them. It was easy to become isolated in the Highlands. One reason for taking a noble bride was that, as a wife, she would continue to maintain friendly bonds with other noble daughters and ladies.
“Mistress.”
Noreen looked up from her worktable to see a McKay Retainer in the doorway to the chamber, which served as her study. He was an experienced man. One of her husband’s captains, declared by the single feather sticking up on the side of his cap.
“Yes?” she inquired.
“Urgent missive.” The captain inclined his head as he entered her chamber. Her personal attendant was nearby, yet it still wasn’t quite proper for the captain to be there.
Laird McKay was a possessive man. A jealous man. And Noreen wasn’t going to see her authority undermined by something so petty. It was, after all, far more to her benefit to keep the laird of the McKays smitten with her.
The captain laid a letter down on the edge of the table and retreated. Clearly, he knew her husband’s reputation for being jealous, too. Yet, how could anyone not know it? Castles had many, many dark corners where gossip flowed as freely as rivers did in spring.
Noreen broke the wax seal and read the contents. She sat for a long moment, considering the words on the parchment.
So, Cora Mackenzie was missing.
It seemed the rumors of the way the only sister of the Mackenzie laird was indulged were true. Laird McKay would have had his sisters flogged if they ever set one foot outside the McKay fortress without escort and permission. To some, such a way of thinking might seem harsh, but Noreen understood just how grievous a fate might befall a female who found herself alone in the Highlands.
The weather was the least of anyone’s concern.
A high-born girl could be wed without contracts. While some men might see it as a way into a powerful clan, Noreen knew the truth of what would happen. The girl could be cut off. Her new groom would most likely abandon her the moment he accepted that she wouldn’t bring him the connections or dowry he’d craved. If she were lucky, she’d only be ruined. If Fate was unkind, though, she’d find herself begging her kin to take her back with a bastard in her belly.
Buchanan Mackenzie was a fool. Both for allowing his sister such freedom and for sending out letters, making it known that she was missing. The letter exposed his weakness.
Of course, Noreen might decide to do nothing with the information.
But life was hard, and it was important to make the best of every opportunity. She hadn’t managed to wed the laird of the powerful McKay clan by being nice. Malcolm McKay hadn’t been the eldest son of the last laird. Together, they’d risen up. Certainly, there were those who said their positions were gained by walking over their opposition, but there was no point in taking a position that no one else coveted.
To be winners, there had to be losers.
And there was always blood on the victor’s hands.
Chapter Four
“Well, now, ye’re a bit of a surprise.”
Cora turned around from where she’d been repositioning the contents of the ovens. In the doorway of the kitchen, a woman was grinning at her.
“I am Brynna,” the girl introduced herself. She swept the kitchen with her eyes, and the corners of her lips rose. “Well, this is indeed a fine surprise. Rumor had it this place was an inch deep in filth at best.”
“It was,” Cora informed her. “But I do nae fancy food poisoning, so I cleaned it. I am Cora Mackenzie.”
Brynna was working to open a short cape that had a hood. She looked up as Cora shared her name. “A long way from home, aren’t ye?”
“Aye.” Cora agreed. “Yet grateful to have found shelter from the storm which carried me here.”
“It was fierce,” Brynna continued. “Kept most of the women who were ordered to come with me back at the main castle. Not that they put forth too much effort, mind ye. As soon as the rain turned to snow, they were turning back.”
“Yet, ye made it,” Faolan spoke from the door, which opened into the yard.
Brynna looked toward him and lowered herself briefly. “I prefer the chill of winter to the icy treatment Orla has been giving me.”
Brynna was similar in age to Cora and had a pile of blonde hair secured to her head beneath the hood. She pulled the hood off and gave it a good shake. But she wore a small linen cap, proving she’d been subject to the codes of modesty imposed in most households.
“I’ve a fine rabbit-pelt lined hood and leggings,” Brynna declared. “So, if the Head-of-House at McKay Castle wants to banish me here, thinking it will keep her son from wedding me in the spring, so be it. I will no’ hide in the back passageways like the other maids who have earned their banishment through far more sinful conduct.”
“Ye will be going back,” Faolan said. “Eat and return to the yard. With a bit of luck, we’ll make it there before the light is gone.”
“What are ye talking about?” Brynna questioned. “I’ve been sent here for the winter, and Orla has made it clear I am no’ welcome back at the castle.”
“Ye will serve as a chaperone. I need to return Mistress Cora to the castle, and it is nae proper for her to be on the road alone with me and me men.”
He looked at Cora as he finished speaking. Brynna’s mouth slacked open, but Cora was busy clenching her teeth to avoid saying anything she’d regret.
She’d not beg him to stay.
Are ye mad to even think such a thing?
She must be. Her feelings were a jumbled mess as she turned and scooped up a ladleful of stew for Brynna. Cora dumped it into a wooden bowl before she turned around to deliver it.
But Brynna was eyeing her. The girl might have been the same age as Cora, but her gaze wasn’t young. No, her blue eyes held a generous amount of experience and frank understanding.
Brynna laughed softly. She sat down and grabbed a spoon. “Well, now. Today is far more interesting than I might ever have imagined.”
Whatever else she might have said was cut off as she began to eat.
Cora filled another bowl for herself. The pot of stew would be her last offering to the men of the remote tower. She wanted to linger over eating it, draw out her final moments here.
Why?
She didn’t have a good answer.
“According to the women back home, Chief McKay is a cold man,” Brynna remarked as Cora turned to face her. Brynna pointed her spoon at Cora. “It would seem ye have undermined his icy demeanor.”