His Highland Surprise (The Clan Sinclair Book 1)

by Celeste Barclay

  Once the chamber was empty, the king looked shrewdly at Ceit.

  “I would have you do another job for me.”

  Ceit stood there, dreading what would come next.

  “The Sinclairs, dear as they are, have become troublesome. So much in fact that I had to summon them to court to deal with the incessant complaints from various clans both in the Highlands and the Lowlands.” The king studied Ceit for a moment. “Once you are ensconced with the Sinclairs, I would have you send me periodic missives to keep me abreast of the goings on within that clan. I do not appreciate being taken by surprise when I must listen to complaints lodged against a clan I called family.”

  Ceit did not trust her own ears. All the blood drain from her face, and she shook her head before finding the words to refuse the order.

  “I canna do that, Yer Majesty. I canna deceive or betray Tavish like that.”

  “If you are unwilling to cooperate, then I will have to find a bride who will. You may consider the betrothal off. I am positive there are any number of young women eager to marry a man such as Tavish and to enter such a family as the Sinclairs. They also are eager to maintain their good graces with both me and the queen.”

  The blood rushed back to her head and pounded between her ears as her anger boiled.

  “Yer Majesty, it is too late to call off the betrothal.”

  “It is not. I have final say on noble marriages.”

  “It is when we already married.” Ceit was incapable of bringing herself to say the next piece of information louder than a stage whisper. “When I am wedded and bedded.”

  Ceit regained some of her courage and continued.

  “Considering all that happened with Magnus and Deirdre, I would dare say ye wouldnae want a repeat. There were several lairds who came to Magnus’s aid. I would venture it would be the same for Tavish. I’m shocked ye have any real doubts aboot the Sinclairs. They have been more loyal to ye than most. They have fought alongside ye time and again.”

  “I didna say I doubted them. I said they have become troublesome. In a word, I’m nosey, and more to the point, I wanted to be sure you love him as you would claim.”

  Ceit’s shoulders, which had creeped up to her ears without notice, relaxed, and she breathed again.

  The king sat back in his chair and leaned against an arm rest.

  “I shall consider what you have said.”

  The king signaled to a guardsman to open the doors. Tavish barreled through and made his way to Ceit. The other lairds filed to take inconspicuous places about the room, but their size made that impossible. The king looked at Tavish blandly as if he had not just demanded Ceit spy on her new family.

  “You both have been missing for several hours after being gone for days. We assumed you would be more eager for an audience.”

  Tavish looked beyond the king to where his uncle stood and shrugged. Tavish was sure that his uncle told the king they were married and retired to their chamber. He figured Ceit would have told him as much, too. The announcement they were wed would lead any Highlander to deduce they handfasted rather than stopping at a local kirk to say a quick exchange of vows. Tavish would play along with the king. He was not sure if the man was being aloof as his monarch or leading him into a jovial trap as his godfather. Tavish was not in the mood to dance either jig, but he would.

  “Ma wife and I were in need of a chance to refresh and make ourselves presentable before ye, Sire.”

  “Four hours? Tavish, you are not a man known for fripperies, and Lady Cathryn seems the practical sort. Four hours is rather excessive.”

  Tavish clenched his teeth before taking a deep breath.

  “We are newly married, Yer Majesty.”

  “Ah yes, about this business of being married. Was there a kirk you stopped at? Since the betrothal agreements have not been signed by either of you, I don’t recall a priest reading the bans.”

  Tavish glared at the older man.

  “You need not glower, Tav. I wish to understand the nature of your agreement with the young lady.”

  “The nature of the agreement is she’s ma wife. We are wed. May I introduce ye to Lady Cathryn Sinclair?”

  The king nodded to Ceit.

  “I am aware of whom you speak. However, I do not comprehend how you find yourselves married.”

  “Yer Majesty, dinna ye recall the tradition of handfasting?”

  The king broke into a wide smile.

  “Ye Sinclairs be all the same. Cut from yer father’s mold, for sure. Is there a one of ye that hasnae handfasted because ye canna wait to ken yer lovely brides? Ye’re a right lot.” The king allowed himself to slip back into his brogue, and Ceit stood in shock. “Come here, the both of ye. I would greet ma godson and newest goddaughter.”

  The king clapped Tavish on the back and pulled him in for a bone rattling embrace. He took both of Ceit’s hands and brought them to his mouth, lingering long enough for Tavish to growl. He gave her a benign kiss on each cheek before releasing her.

  “The queen has been beside herself with worry over ye. After everything with Lady Deidre, the queen has been like an angry badger with a burr in its backside. She hasnae given me a moment’s rest. She insisted I send men out to find ye even though I told her more than once that Hamish and these lairds,” he gestured over his shoulder, “were informed of the situation and handling it.”

  “You would call me a badger in front of company?” the queen glided in with a wide smile. She tilted her head in acknowledgement as she walked past her husband and went straight to Ceit. “Lady Cathryn, I am most relieved to see you returned to us and in fine form. Lord Tavish, thank you for taking such good care of one of my lambs.”

  Tavish bowed while Ceit curtsied to the queen just as they had done for the king.

  “Ye summoned us, Yer Grace?” Ceit interjected. She was growing impatient and a bit faint now she realized how little she had eaten over the past three days.

  “Yes,” the king switched back to his courtly accent, “there are several questions that need answers, and I would have an update from you. Depending on what I learn, I may have need of you.” The king’s tones were hushed so they only reached Tavish and Ceit. Ceit tensed. This was not the way she anticipated their conversation’s end.

  “Nay.” Tavish’s one word was said quietly, but its meaning echoed.

  “I beg your pardon, Tavish.”

  “I said nay.”

  “I must still not hear you correctly. I seem to be creeping to my dotage because I could swear you said no, but that cannot be.”

  “It absolutely can be and is.”

  Tavish crossed his arms and widened his stance. He did not care if he was speaking to his godfather or the king, or the man who was one and the same. He refused to entertain the notion, or allow anyone else to, that Ceit would continue spying.

  Ceit clasped her hands in front of her. She found she wanted to follow suit and cross her arms too, but it would have been too great a breach of etiquette while the queen lingered nearby.

  “I don’t recall asking a question, so there should be no need of an answer.”

  “Ma wife is done.”

  The king may have held Tavish when Tavish was still a newborn, but he was now a man who would allow no one to endanger his wife.

  “That is not for you to decide.”

  “If I may, Yer Majesty, I find I am unable to carry on ma duties to the court since I am now wed. I cannot remain a lady-in-waiting, and ma husband canna remain here indefinitely. He has responsibilities to his clan, and I would nae keep him from them any longer. We intend to leave in the morn.”

  What is he doing? He relented, and I thought he didna expect me to spy on the Sinclairs.

  The king turned his dark gaze at Ceit, and his displeasure radiated from him. Tavish stepped in front of her, and for once, Ceit did not resist. This was a battle better fought by Tavish than her. He had a familial connection she did not.

  “Sire, Ceit ceased being yer spy t
he moment we married, and I planted ma seed inside her. There’s always the chance she vera well might be carrying our bairn already. Ye, nor anyone else, will risk ma wife’s health and that of any bairn she might have growing within her belly.” Tavish looked at the king with a resolve that came only with the weight of responsibility for caring for a family. “Please dinna push me or test me on this, Sire. I willna concede, and I dinna want to cause trouble for ma da, so please release her from yer agreement. Ye have kenned me ma entire life, and I have never asked aught of ye. None of us have even though we have a king and queen as our godparents. Ye chose me to marry Ceity because ye asserted I was the best mon for her. Let me be that. Let me take her home where she will be safe and loved.”

  The king stood considering Tavish for so long that both Ceit and Tavish worried he would not relent.

  “Ceity is it?”

  Tavish blushed, and Ceit smothered a laugh.

  “Aye, Sire.”

  “Lass, do ye have a name for him?”

  It was Ceit’s turn to blush as she nodded. The king cocked an eyebrow waiting for her answer. Her face fell. Tavish’s use of her nickname slipped out. She had no desire to share what she called him in private. Tavish brought her beside him and wrapped her in his arms before nodding.

  “Brodie.”

  “His middle name? That isnae some great secret.”

  “But it was private,” Tavish muttered.

  “Haud ye wheesht. Ye’re worse than an auld bodach.”

  “I amnae a cranky old mon,” Tavish replied indignantly.

  “Maybe sometimes,” Ceit laughed. It was the only moment of ease she had since the king seemed to have reneged on their agreement.

  The king became serious as he looked at them.

  “As sweet as this is, the issue still has not been resolved. I expect Lady Cathryn to remain in my services until such time as I am sure her family does not remain a threat. She can now travel further from court since she has you, Tavish, to travel with her. I require her to visit her family near Aberdeen. It will be an opportunity for you to meet her father and announce your marriage, which by the way, still needs to be sanctified by a priest.”

  This is new. This isnae what we spoke aboot. He was testing me earlier. He didna want me to spy on the Sinclairs but rather fooling me into relaxing, so he could manipulate me.

  “Nay,” Tavish repeated.

  “Are we back to this?”

  “Aye.”

  “Tavish, I may be your godfather, but I am still your sovereign.”

  “And I may be yer godson, but I am this woman’s husband.”

  “You deem that trumps my decrees.”

  “The Lord said a woman is to cleave unto her husband nae her king.”

  “You despised your lessons, and now a scholar,” the king mused dryly.

  “I maynae have enjoyed them, but that doesnae mean I didna listen.”

  The king looked annoyed by Tavish’s ongoing defiance.

  “And what would your father say?”

  Tavish snorted and several snickers went around the room.

  “If I were Da, and Ceit were ma mother, the conversation would have ended with ma first nay, and we would be halfway to the Highlands by now.”

  The king’s lips flattened into a line when his questioning was only leading him astray.

  “I did not say what would he have done at your age, I asked what he would say.”

  “In that case, he would tell me to say nay and be on ma way to the Highlands. Who do ye suppose taught me to defend ma wife and family before all else? Who do ye suppose taught me to value ma wife such commitment?”

  “Before your king and country?”

  “I best serve ma king and country when I ken ma family isnae in danger.”

  “You are making a mountain out of a molehill, Tavish. Your wife was never in any real danger. Nor will she be. I admit scuttling messages back and forth was not without risks, but beyond that,” the king shrugged, “there was more danger of her traveling to that rotten inn than anything else.”

  Tavish had had enough. He looked around the room and saw varying degrees of disbelief, even shock and disgust.

  “Ye told me yerself that her life was in danger, and that’s why ye wanted me to take her to Dunbeath. Ye turn a blind eye to sending a woman unprotected onto the roads to an inn by herself. To trade information aboot and from one of the most dishonored men in Scotland who would have let his own niece die, have her killed in fact. Ye now want her to spy on her father and betray a mon, who for all accounts and purposes, has tried to appease ye and serve his people, or what’s left. Kenning what I do, ye expect me to assist her or worse turn a blind eye while she does this? Ye would ask me to forsake ma honor and that of ma father and ma clan by allowing ma wife to risk her life to betray her own family? It was one thing when it was Buchan who plotted against ye, but her father has done naught. With all that ye have experienced with the women in your life, ye would do this to her and to me. Ye would make me less of a mon, less of a Highlander? If I havenae ma honor, then what type of husband or father would I be? Yer ask a dear price. One I dinna ken I can afford.”

  “Yer Majesty, if I may,” Laird MacLeod stepped forward. “We already ken Buchan is dead. That means both John Comyns are now at the hands of our maker. Alexander Comyn seems intent on keeping the peace, and if he doesnae, then the Gordons arenae that far from where they have made their home.”

  “I would agree to that,” chimed in Laird Gordon.

  Ceit’s body went rigid when the name Gordon was spoken. She glared at her husband.

  Has he been dallying with another mon’s wife? So much for fidelity.

  “His brother’s widow. I dinna, or rather didna, touch other men’s wives. It hurts that you would countenance such of me.” Tavish whispered in her ear.

  Ceit lowered her head in shame.

  I was quick to condemn him. Yer eyes must be green now instead of hazel.

  “I was, or am at times, vera jealous. I’m sorry. I dinna like it, but I canna help it,” she whispered back.

  Tavish squeezed her.

  “Fair enough. I dinna ken what I will do the first time I see a mon flirt with ye. He may walk away less two eyes and two hands. Mayhap even less a tongue.”

  “Men dinna flirt with me.”

  “I dinna agree with that for a moment.”

  “I’m shy, remember?”

  “Bah! That is the greatest ruse going at court. Ye are nae shy. And it may nae take a mon talking to ye but just looking at ye to set me off. I would keep ye entirely to maself.”

  “Ye already are,” she grinned, “and I rather like it.”

  “If the two of ye are done whispering to one another, ye might be aware the king has granted yer request. Now would be a good time to thank His Majesty.” Hamish boomed.

  Tavish and Ceit looked towards the king sheepishly. They had not a clue what the king arranged, but they were relieved to learn Ceit was released from the king’s service.

  I now have to be released from the queen’s. This may prove even harder. I maynae be a lady-in-waiting, but if I become one of her matron’s, I may never leave court.

  As if reading her thoughts, the queen stepped forward after being so silent most forgot she was present.

  “Lady Cathryn, I would offer you a continued place in my household. You would be a lovely addition to my matrons. I expect they shall love having you. You have such a beautiful reading voice.”

  “Yes, Your Grace.” Ceit slipped back into her courtly speech when addressing the queen.

  “Nay.” Tavish’s tone was less bull headed than when he spoke to the king. “I regret that willna be possible, Yer Grace. I have a duty to ma clan to lead training for our warriors. Ma wife goes where I do. We leave for home in the morn.”

  Ceit held her breath as she waited for the queen’s silent explosion. She hid her temper well, but she was accustomed to getting what she wanted.

  “And if I have need
of your wife’s talents?”

  “Then ye will need to look for a replacement sharpish.”

  Ceit feared she really would faint.

  “You were not raised to be so spoiled, Tavish. I was under the impression you learned to share with so many siblings,” the queen mused.

  “The opposite, Yer Grace. I learned to keep what is mine vera close and to treasure the few things that were ma own.”

  The queen glided forward to stand before Tavish.

  “That much is true. I remember when I would give you sweets to take back to the others. They would never say thank you, and I was shocked your mother had not trained you children better. It was after the fourth time I learned the others had nothing to be thankful for. You kept them all.”

  “Sweet tooth too? Ye never asked for any of ma candies.”

  “I asked for far sweeter treats,” Tavish whispered in her ear, and Ceit blushed.

  The queen must have heard him because she released a peal of laughter that had everyone staring at her.

  “Very well. Lady Cathryn, it seems your husband makes compelling arguments. You are no longer a member of my household or in my services. You are welcome to leave for Dunbeath and the Sinclairs in the morn.” The queen turned away and took several steps but stopped to look at Tavish. “You would do well to learn to share with your wife or learn to go without your treats.”

  Tavish gawped at the queen’s bawdy humor and nodded gormlessly. The others looked on curiously at their exchange but surmised it must be a family affair. The queen was aloof around her courtiers but had always been a kindly aunt to the Sinclair children. Tavish stepped forward.

  “A moment, Yer Grace.”

  The queen nodded, and Tavish kneeled on one knee before taking her hand. He kissed her ring and said, “Thank ye. I shall take yer lesson to heart.”

  “Och, get up, ye lumbering giant. Dinna blether aboot.” She pulled Tavish to standing, pecked him on each cheek, and disappeared behind the tapestry that took her into the Great Hall.

  There was a stunned silence. The queen had never allowed anyone to hear her own burr since she married the king.

  The king stepped forward and clapped Tavish on the shoulder.