by Elise Ramsay
Something else was gnawing at his insides. His response to Annis was overwhelming. Just days before, she was the feral wee beastie he had, for so many years, gently poked fun at. Now, here she was in his arms, and he could feel excitement boiling within him. Annis wasn’t a wee lassie anymore. Laying here in his bed, her forehead resting on his chest, Annis was the woman he had never expected would emerge, and he wanted her badly.
The spell was broken by the sound of approaching footsteps. Cullen got swiftly to his feet, not wanting any shame to come to Annis. He straightened the blanket and stood solemnly at the side of the bed.
“Annis?”
“Aye?”
“You asked me the other day if I ever got bored.”
“Aye, I did.” Annis winced a little, remembering her former hostility towards him.
“Well, not anymore I don’t.” He smiled down at her and quickly squeezed her hand before the door opened and Gordon MacIver was led into the room.
Chapter Twelve
Logan was feeling extremely pleased with himself for taking charge of the situation. Brodie was naught compared with him. How quickly he had acted when he’d seen which lassie was being taken over to Kincaid Castle to act as a companion to Annis! One day, his intelligence and resourcefulness would be obvious to all. Not all ascending Chieftains were the blood kin of the one who went before. Sometimes, just sometimes, it went to the better man. In the years to come, nobody looking at the two of them would see Brodie MacIver as the better man. They would see what Logan saw. An idiot who couldnae think for himself. They would see the man whom Logan had carried on his shoulders since they were wee laddies. Brodie was so daft, he had never once suspected how much Logan despised him for his stupidity.
Annis, on the other hand, was as sharp as a knife. Thank God she was just a woman. Otherwise, Logan might have been concerned that he had met his match. Although it was true that she had thwarted his plan that day in the clearing, Logan knew it was just a coincidence that she had been in that place at the very moment Cullen Kincaid should have died. It had been nothing more, how could it be? Annis was good, but not that good. Whilst he had to admit that she had made herself look like the brawest wee lassie in all of Scotland with her antics, she was just a woman, and no threat to him and his plans. Unless, of course, she had seen them that day.
Already word had it that she’d seen naught of who had fired upon Kincaid, but Logan didn’t have the details. Well, that’s where Alison MacLeish would come in very handy.
As soon as Logan had discovered who was to act as a companion for Annis, he had made his way out into the grounds to find her. Glad that he had already winked and smiled at the silly wee lass once or twice, he felt that he could prey on her with some success.
Alison was carrying a small cloth, which she had twisted at the corners. Logan could see that she was carrying apples in its folds.
“Hey, give me a bite, lass.” Logan strode up to her with his most winning smile.
Alison, at only sixteen years, blushed at the comment, unsure if it was meant to be suggestive or not. Although she was shy, Alison liked a little bit of attention from the lads now and again, even if she didn’t really know what to do with it.
“Ach, come on! You’re blushing!”
Horrified, Alison giggled nervously and fumbled with the cloth. Apples began to break free and roll away from her. As she crouched to scoop them up, Logan crouched beside her, as if to help. Whilst the lassie busied herself with the apples, staring at them intently in her shyness, Logan leant towards her to whisper in her ear.
“I wish you weren’t going away,” he breathed.
Logan smirked as he heard Alison suck in her breath. She liked him alright!
“Ach, well,” She began, timidly, “It’s only a few nights.”
Alison tried to look up at him, all the while her shyness and inexperience threatening to swallow her whole. Eventually, she managed a quick look at him. Logan was a braw man. He was tall and strong and had such a wonderful smile.
Logan wished he could hurry this along. The dull wee lassie was getting on his nerves. He much preferred lassies who knew what was what. This shyness was an irritation. Time was running out, and he needed to secure an understanding with her before she left for Kincaid Castle.
“Aye, a few nights, but it makes me realise how much I’ll miss seeing you about the place.”
“Ach, really?”
“Aye, really. Listen, Alison...” He leaned into her again, bringing his lips close to her ear once more. “When you get time to yourself, will you come out and meet me?”
“Meet you?” She was pleasantly shocked. Logan knew she was falling for it.
“Aye, just head down to the wee stream at Glannoch. It’s only a few minutes’ walk from Kincaid Castle.”
Alison looked off into the distance, seemingly perplexed.
“But, how will you know when I’ll be there?”
“Don’t you worry about that, Alison, I’ll find you, believe me.”
Something in his voice excited her and frightened her at the same time.
“Aye, I’ll meet you.”
As they both rose to their feet, Logan took one of her apples away from her and took a lusty bite from it, never once taking his eyes off her.
“Alison?”
“Aye?”
“You make sure and tell nobody about us. I don’t want anybody poking their beaks into our business.”
“Aye, alright.” Alison felt thrilled by the idea of having a secret of her own at last.
Logan knew he would have to spend many hours wandering around the woodlands at Glannoch in hopes of finding Alison there. Still, he needed to know exactly what Annis had seen that day. He still didn’t know if she’d seen anybody at all, or if she knew exactly who had fired that arrow.
He knew that Annis liked Alison well and looked out for the younger Clanswoman. Logan pictured a scene whereby the two lassies sat giggling on Annis’s sick bed, trading confidences. Still, the only confidence he was interested in was what Annis knew. He’d known it was a risk to hope that the excited wee Alison would keep her meeting with Logan a secret, but it was a risk worth taking.
Chapter Thirteen
Annis had been relieved when her Da had gone away back to MacIver Castle. As much as she loved him, he’d questioned her over and over again about the incident. Initially, she feared he knew something of it or had his suspicions. In the end, however, she realised it was just a father’s complete astonishment that his wee lassie had done something so brave. Also, she detected a concern in him, as if he was playing out the events in his mind and watching as his own daughter was fired upon.
Annis tried to keep her manner light and cheery. It had been just a coincidence, nothing more. No, she hadn’t seen the man properly. No, she didn’t recognise him.
Whilst lying to her father had not produced the same depth of emotional torture that lying to Cullen had, still it hurt her.
As he left, to be replaced by Alison MacLeish, Annis had wept to herself. It was in some way the departure of her beloved Da, but more than that, she was relieved not to have to answer any more of his questions for a wee while. Annis needed the break, and friendly wee Alison would be a welcome relief!
When she did arrive, Alison managed to lift her spirits in no time. Although the lassie was starting to grow up, Annis could still see the child in her. Her constant chatter was exactly what Annis needed. With her own mind so full of competing thoughts and feelings, it was relaxing to sit up on her bed and listen to Alison rattling off tale after tale of goings on back home. Annis marvelled at the sheer amount of stories Alison had for her. Which lass was making eyes at which lad was the most common theme, occasionally peppered with who was arguing with whom over what.
Although only three years older, Annis could feel the age gap between them. Still, a lot of growing up happened in a very short time. Annis had found that out herself in the last few days.
Cullen had been
to see her once or twice, but with Alison there with her, there had been no opportunity for them to return to their intimacy of the other day. In fact, his manner was so much returned to what it always had been that Annis began to believe that he perhaps didn’t have the strong feelings for her that she had first thought.
Thinking back on that terrible, wonderful day, Annis had to admit that the fear and turmoil was enough to make anybody emotional. Each of them had faced death, to a greater or lesser extent, when that arrow had been fired. Perhaps it was only natural that two people who had shared such an experience would turn to each other for some comfort. Physical as well as emotional. Maybe he felt he owed her, she had risked her own life after all. Annis was tying herself up in knots. Cullen would feel what he would feel, and there was naught she could do to influence it. Tutting at herself, Annis resolved to return to the lass she had been. The feral wee beastie who didnae care about such things. Life had certainly been easier then.
Hearing Annis tutting, Alison stopped dead in the middle of her tale. Annis realised she had not heard a word of what Alison had been saying and felt guilty for it.
“Sorry, Annis. I’m running on. I’ll keep quiet for a wee while, shall I?”
“Ach, nay. It’s not you Alison. God knows, I’m so glad you’re here with me!”
“You’re sure?” Alison looked a little hurt.
“Aye, of course I am. I’m tutting away at myself.”
“Why?”
“Ach, just cross with myself for letting my mind wander. Thinking about...” Annis broke off.
“Thinking about a lad?” Alison smiled cheekily. Annis could hardly put her off.
“Aye. And it does you no good, believe me, Alison!” Annis ended with a laugh. She didn’t want to discuss Cullen or anything that had happened between them. Fortunately, she didn’t have to as Alison seemed lost in her own thoughts. Seeing the wee secret smile that had crept over her companion’s face, Annis thought that Alison might well have a man in mind for herself.
Kyle kicked angrily at the small wooden stool, sending it flying across the room and crashing into the stone wall of his chamber. What a pair of useless fools! Why the hell had he trusted them? That Brodie MacIver was one of the most witless men in the Highlands! How on earth had they managed to shoot Brodie’s own sister?
Kyle knew that the Kincaid’s would be suspecting him to be at the root of this. Whilst he had wanted them to know, but not be able to prove, that he was behind it, he had wanted that to be attached to a very different outcome. Kyle wanted them to know that he had ordered the death of Cullen Kincaid. He did not want them to know that he was foolish enough to use men who couldnae shoot straight! They had humiliated him, albeit there was not proof enough for the Kincaid Clan to bring it to his door. Still, knowing that they were sensible of the mistake he had made caused the ever ready rage to boil up within him.
Logan Munro and Brodie MacIver would pay for this. One way or another, Kyle would see to it. Without a plan in mind, he dispatched a messenger to wander the area until he happened upon one or the other of the idiots. He was summoning them back to their meeting place. What he would do when they got there, Kyle had yet to decide upon.
Logan Munro was wondering if Alison was ever going to be of any use to him. Their first meeting had been painfully fruitless. The stupid lass just blushed and peered at him through the long hair which the breeze kept lifting and dropping over her eyes.
So far, he could find out nothing of what Annis knew. He had questioned Alison gently. Whilst she certainly wasn’t the brightest lassie at the Castle, still he did not want to arouse her suspicions. He blew out his breath sharply, thinking of the irritation at having to hold her small hand, still puffy with childish fat, all the while trying to coax her into betraying whatever confidence she might have picked up. After the hours he had wasted lurking in the woodlands, hoping Alison would have some amount of time to herself, Logan had come away with naught. He was just about to kick his heel angrily into the side of his horse when the sound of an approaching rider stopped him dead in his tracks.
The horse and rider were upon him before he’d even had time to think.
“Logan Munro?”
“Aye.” His heart began to thump. Who could be seeking him out? He didn’t know this man.
The rider stayed on his horse and drew slowly up alongside Logan. Pulling a sealed paper from his shirt, the man handed it over and, with a nod of his head, turned his horse and rode off. Logan spent a few moments slowing his breathing. Throughout the entire encounter, he had somehow expected to be injured or slain. This business was making him far too jumpy!
When his pulse had returned to normal, Logan opened the letter. It was from Kyle Sinclair! Logan realised that he should not have been quite so surprised by it. Of course, Kyle would hear of the shooting of Annis MacIver. Sinclair was not a stupid man, he would have guessed immediately what had taken place.
With a hammering heart, Logan took in the letter’s contents. It was a demand for Logan and Brodie to return to the same meeting place two days hence. What could they do? There was no way to avoid this. Kyle Sinclair was an almost exact version of the man his Da had been. Cruel, twisted and with no compunction about taking human life.
If Logan didn’t come up with something soon, something he could take to the meeting and impress Kyle with, he and Brodie were dead men. He would have to get something more useful out of Alison MacLeish and he no longer cared how he did it.
Chapter Fourteen
Alison liked Cullen Kincaid. He seemed so much more friendly and approachable than the rest of the Kincaid Clan. Not that she thought any ill of them, but being there inside the biggest Castle she’d ever set foot in, Alison felt somewhat intimidated.
Life at MacIver Castle was very different. Their lands were so much smaller and, at times, Alison longed to be home where she felt more comfortable. The Kincaid Clan were much more formal than her own. It was much easier to tell who were Clan elite and who was on the edges at Kincaid Castle. MacIver Castle was much more relaxed. She smiled to herself as she thought of Logan Munro striding through the MacIver Castle as if he were blood kin. Nobody minded, things were so different there.
Here, when she had encountered Lachlan Kincaid, she had felt small and tongue-tied. Alison loved her own Chief. Gordon MacIver was a nice man who always had a friendly word for her when he saw her. Lachlan was very much more reserved, and the line between their respective statuses was almost visibly clear. Gunn was exactly the same. He looked like his Da, walked like his Da, and talked like his Da. His effect on Alison was much the same as Lachlan’s was, and she was glad not to have to encounter them too often.
Yet Cullen was different. There was naught about Cullen to make her feel afraid. He was nice, even friendly with her. Not once had he expected her to take her leave when he had visited Annis in the chamber.
Alison liked to listen to Annis and Cullen talk. They were very funny, always taking little swipes at one another. Alison could hardly believe sometimes the things that Annis dared to say. She was so mocking and cheeky, but that was Annis. Alison had always liked her, even when they were both wee lassies.
Cullen had brought a handful of wildflowers in with him, for Annis. Alison felt a little jolt in her heart at the romantic gesture. Maybe one day, Logan would bring her some flowers. She hoped she would get some time to walk down to the wee stream at Glannoch later.
“Verra nice, well done Cullen.” Annis took the flowers from him. Since there had been no return to their previous intimacy, Annis was careful to keep her spirits high and her banter even higher. Still, the flowers gave her hope. Hope that she would turn over and over in her mind after he had gone.
“Ach, well, they’ll maybe get you on the mend and get you out of my hair lass!” He laughed so good-naturedly that Alison felt a little jealous. She hoped Annis could see that the man was falling for her!
“So, what have been working at?”
“Ach, this an
d that, Annis.”
“Pleasure again, then? What a great help you must be to your Da,” Annis teased him gently.
“Actually, my wee know it all, I have been making arrangements for the next gathering here.”
“Aye? When is it to be? Will there be a tournament too?” Annis sat up straighter. She had always looked forward to these gathering and always attended when her small Clan was invited.
“Interested, are you? Maybe you fancy yourself in the archery games?” He scoffed.
“Only if I’m up against you, Cullen Kincaid!”
Alison let out an unexpected peel of laughter. Annis and Cullen turned to her, and the lass reddened violently.
“Ach, I’m sorry Annis... It was just...” She was lost for words.
“Nay, Alison, you’re right to laugh. Your mistress is a witty wee thing. Or at least, she thinks she is.” He winked at her, and Alison felt her colour returning to normal. Annis joined them in laughter for a while.
“So, when is it to be?”
“Fourteen nights come tomorrow. The MacIver’s are invited, of course. Will you be well enough, do you think?”
“Ach, aye, Cullen. I’ll be back to my old self by then.”
Alison busied herself making a wee posy of the flowers Cullen had fetched, and listened happily as he and Annis discussed the upcoming gathering.
Brodie was a nervous wreck as he and Logan rode off for their meeting with Kyle Sinclair. Logan had tried to convince him all would be well, but Brodie could see that Logan did not feel so sure of that himself.
Logan did not want to listen to Brodie whining. Instead, he wanted to rehearse his speech once more. It would have to be convincing if he and Brodie were to make it out of this alive. In truth, Logan was beginning to regret starting any of this. Now, he could not back out, not if he wanted to save his own skin. Cullen Kincaid would have to die this time, no matter what. Logan was furious with himself. His scheming for power, for a better life, had brought him nothing but trouble. He was trapped now, in a prison of his own making. There was nobody to help him, save this whining wee idiot trotting along at his side. How he wished he could put it all on Brodie. If he could have found a way, he most certainly would have used it.
