Adanel tucked in her side of the bed. “Last one, right?”
Kara nodded her head. “Only two seamen were here last night, and both left on their ship this morning. But Fearan told me another ship would be in before the sun set,” she said smugly, as if the information proved her prior claim. “And that he would stop by tonight to talk with the inn’s guard. He even said that he should speak with Nigel about adding another one. He’s worried about me with men staying here.”
Adanel raised her brows at that bit of information. Maybe it was possible Fearan had shown Kara more than just the casual interest of a friend.
The inn was not a large one, but it was the only one at the port that was clean, quiet, and not geared toward providing female company. Kara’s grandfather had started the business of taking care of seamen who wanted a clean bed and decent meal cooked over a fire versus a constantly swaying hammock and dried beef. Her mother and father had taken over, and upon their deaths, Kara and her brother Nigel had been running things.
Unfortunately, Adanel’s father was a greedy laird and not a good one, with no interest in the welfare of his clansmen. In his mind, he was the reason the port was active, which enabled his clansmen to earn a living and provide for their families. That the Mackbaythe clansmen owed him. Therefore, he periodically sent his guard to do random search and seizures of anything that looked valuable. As a result, to protect themselves, homes, and businesses against such intrusions, many families made sure at least one member of their family joined his guard. The aberrant symbiotic relationship ensured Laird Mackbaythe had an army large enough to guard the port and himself, and though he gave them little training and most held no loyalty for their laird, they did their job in order to protect their families and businesses.
“Nigel has always ensured you and the inn were safe,” Adanel responded.
“My baby brother assured me he has a trusted guard watching the inn every night, but you and I both know that people listen to and fear Fearan more than any Mackbaythe guard.”
Adanel nodded for Kara was right. Even her father avoided angering the port master. The man was a natural leader, and no one was better at ensuring ships got in and out of port and their goods on and off ships quickly without issue. Unfortunately for Adanel’s father, Fearan was also honest. A fact the laird had been able to circumvent by appointing a dockmaster to oversee all the goods in storage who was much more amenable to corruption. Fearan was aware of that fact, but he was smart enough to stay out of it.
Adanel sat down on the bed she had just helped to make and studied her friend. “Kara, you’ve been in love with Fearan for ten years now—”
“Twelve,” Kara corrected, sitting down on the other side of the bed.
“Fine, twelve years. And while it is noteworthy that Fearan has taken an interest in your welfare, I think he is just making sure you are doing well now that Nigel has been reassigned to the Fortress. Without your brother around, could it be that Fearan just wants to make sure everyone knows that this inn and you are still protected? I mean he did do the same thing right after your mother died.”
Kara sighed and picked at a loose string on the blanket. She had been thirteen years old when Fearan had first stepped into their lives. Nigel was a year younger than her and the two had been barely making it until Fearan had come in to help. It had been his idea to not offer breakfast or lunch anymore. Kara and Nigel would work in the morning, keep the rooms clean, and in the afternoon, she would make dinner. Fearan had worked with Nigel, teaching him how to haggle and get meat and goods for the inn. Whenever Adanel could, she, too, helped, which became almost daily after Nigel had been compelled to join her father’s army.
Both Kara and the inn had survived, even thrived, and that would not have happened without Fearan. Kara had known it, and since his first visit, she had been utterly besotted with the man.
Fearan’s appeal was a mystery to Adanel. The port master was brilliant and kind, with warm brown eyes that made one trust him, but he had graying black hair and a gut despite being a huge man. He rarely smiled, and his mind was always going in multiple directions, never slowing. His speaking voice was both gruff and loud, a definite benefit to being a port master. When he actually did intentionally yell, the sound boomed and hurt the ears. But the thing that probably kept most women from throwing themselves at him and the power he held was that he was hairy. Very hairy and all over. But it never once bothered Kara, and she scolded Adanel once for shivering at the thought of being naked with such a man.
“I knew you would not believe me,” Kara said, unfazed, “but if you had been here, you would have seen that he sees me differently now, Adanel, truly you would have. And it is all because of my idea.”
Adanel rolled her eyes and flopped back on the bed. “If that is true, and he learns what you did and how it was all a trick . . .”
Kara giggled and dropped down beside Adanel. “He already knows. Fearan knew it the whole time.”
Adanel pulled up so that she was leaning on her elbows. “Wait. Fearan told you this?”
“Aye. He said that I should never try to make him jealous again. That it was no longer necessary. Then he made me promise to save a dinner plate for him.”
Adanel flipped over to her side. “No longer necessary?”
“Aye, I told you it would work. Fearan just needed to realize what he would feel seeing me in the arms of another man. And he did not like it at all,” she giggled. “Stay for dinner, and you will see for yourself.”
Adanel reached out and clasped her best friend’s hand in her own. “I wish I could, but I have been told the MacCoinniches are visiting again, which means I must ready myself for my father will demand that I dine with them.”
Kara wrinkled her nose. “This is the fourth visit in as many months. I wonder why.”
Adanel shrugged. “I have no idea. They discuss nothing really, and I find the night extremely tedious and annoying. Laird MacCoinnich’s son stares at me the entire time while his father just sits there in obvious boredom listening to my father speak nonsense about how powerful we are becoming and how their alliance is mutually beneficial. Trust me, I would rather be here seeing for myself that Fearan has finally woken up and realized how lucky he is that you want him and no other.”
Kara sat up, beaming once more. “He is lucky, isn’t he? Thank God, he is finally realizing it. Before the year is out, he will be mine. You will see,” she said, sliding off the bed and spinning around.
Adanel felt a tear of joy escape. For three days now, she had not known what she was going to do if next week went the way she hoped. Once she explained everything, Adanel had little doubt that her soldier would insist on whisking her away from her life, never to return. Even if he decided being married to a Mackbaythe was not what he wanted, he would at least ensure she was safe. She knew that after he had told her about the battles he had fought and the group of friends with whom he had been close before joining the McTiernays. Her soldier was arrogant and far too good looking, but he was also honorable and protected those he cared about. And she would stake everything that he loved her as much as she loved him.
The only worry she had was that it meant abandoning Kara.
Their mothers had met when she and Kara had been barely a year old. Feeling the pull of kinship, they had bonded and soon became the closest of friends. This friendship instilled an even tighter bond between their daughters. Adanel did not think of Kara as a friend, but as a sister. Even her brother Nigel was more like family than her own brother had ever been. Eògan rarely acknowledged her existence, a fact of which Adanel was grateful.
For years, she, Kara, and Nigel were all each other had. Adanel had been racking her brain to try and find a way to bring her friend with her. But even if she had, it would have been pointless. Kara would never go anywhere without Nigel and talking him into going would have been highly unlikely. The inn was his home, as was the port and the people around it. And even if by some miracle, Adanel and Kara coul
d convince him to leave, there was no guarantee her McTiernay soldier would welcome either of them or guarantee their safety. The Mackbaythes were not just disliked by their southern neighbor, but despised and most of all distrusted. Because Nigel was a Mackbaythe soldier, there was a chance someone might assume he was a spy and execute him.
But if what Kara was telling her was true, then all her fears and worry were for naught. Her best friend would be fine. Fearan would ensure she was safe and happy.
Seeing Adanel’s tears, Kara sat back down. “Don’t cry, Adanel,” she said, her voice full of concern. “If anything, it will be better now. Your father listens to Fearan. Maybe he can convince him to let you go and have a life.”
Adanel shook her head and wiped her eyes. “I don’t need help. Honest. I don’t. And you know that my father has his reasons for not letting me go. He likes to dangle the possibility of a marriage to me as leverage. What I fear is that one day soon he will realize that I am too old to be considered a prize. A few months ago, I almost believed that had already happened.”
Kara stood up once again and stared at Adanel. “A few months ago?” she asked, her tone accusatory.
Adanel bit her bottom lip. “The good news is that come this Tuesday it no longer matters,” she said with a sly smile.
Kara stared at her wide eyed for several seconds. When Adanel returned the stare and gave her a small apologetic shrug, Kara clapped her hands and let out a squeal. “I knew it!” she yelped. “I knew there was more to your weekly rides than a need to just escape this place and your father. You met someone! And you like him,” she said, grinning and nodding at the same time. “More importantly, he likes you.” Then Kara slapped her hand against her forehead. “Mo chreach! What is your father going to do when he finds out?”
Adanel’s eyes grew wide, and she started shaking her head back and forth. “He can’t know. You cannot say a thing, Kara, not to Nigel or anyone. I’m not even telling Faden. By the time my father finds out, I need to be under the protection of the McTiernay army. Or at least that is my hope.”
Kara wrinkled her nose. “The McTiernays? How did you manage that? They don’t like us and with good reason. And knowing that your father is our laird is going to make your situation even more—” Kara paused, seeing Adanel fidget. Her eyes grew large as she accurately guessed why. “He doesn’t know?” she hissed. “Murt, Adanel, it is going to be Daniel all over again!”
“Nay, it won’t,” Adanel countered vehemently, and squared her shoulders. “Daniel was young, inexperienced, and a merchant. My McTiernay is a soldier and not only can but will protect me.”
Kara swung her arm open. “Every man in your father’s army would say the same thing. That does not make it true.”
“But unlike them, he has the scars of war and has seen plenty of battles. He would not be scared by my father or any of his men, including his hired mercenaries.”
“Hmmm. A soldier and a McTiernay. Smart thinking to seek out someone like him for help. But how did you convince him to take you with him next week?”
“I haven’t. As you guessed, we have been meeting each week and well . . . I fell in love. And based on what he told me when we parted this last time, he has too. I think he is going to ask me to marry him.”
Shock overtook Kara. “Let’s hope his impulse is to whisk you away to safety and not confront your father to defend your honor or something stupid. Thankfully you chose someone who can defend himself if necessary.”
“First, I did not choose him. We stumbled upon each other at Loch Coire Fionnaraich. And while I admit that his being a McTiernay soldier was the reason he first caught my eye, something soon changed. I realized that with him I was comfortable being just me.”
Kara’s hand flew to her chest, and she pretended to be injured. “Well, I just want you to know that I have never been comfortable with you either.”
Adanel gripped the pillow behind her and chucked it at her friend, hitting her in the face. “He makes me laugh, I mock him, and then he just responds in kind. We tease each other, and despite his arrogance”—she paused and nodded with a slight grimace—“aye, arrogance, but I actually like it. Self-confidence is incredibly . . . stimulating, though I would never let him know I think that.”
“And despite this arrogance that you secretly like . . .” Kara prompted, wanting Adanel to finish her thought.
Adanel wiggled her brows and grinned. “He is incredibly attractive. Oh, Kara,” she said, her cheeks growing redder by the second, “he has a ruggedness about him that is so alluring. It’s hard to describe, but basically he is the most intensely, overwhelmingly male man I have ever met,” she said, throwing her hands up in the air. “Unfortunately, he knows it.”
“Hence the arrogance.”
“I have no doubt his ego has been stroked by many women over the years.”
“Sweetie,” Kara said with some hesitancy, “men like that don’t marry women. They play with them.”
“I would have agreed a couple of months ago, maybe even a couple of weeks. I mean he oozes confidence, so much that it can be annoying. And then I usually end up mocking him, which based on his reactions, is something to which he is unaccustomed. But instead of getting mad, he teases me in return. It becomes a contest of wits. We share all our opinions and thoughts, and argue—”
“—wait, argue?”
“Aye, argue. All the time. He actually likes the feisty side of my personality. He calls me his firebrand.”
Kara stared at her with her mouth open.
“What?” Adanel prompted. “You are making me nervous.”
“That’s because you love him.”
“Well, I do plan on leaving with him next week. My only hesitation in doing so was you, but if you and Fearan are truly—”
Kara waved her hand, stopping her from finishing her sentence. “I said you love this McTiernay. This is not just about him being good looking, stimulating, arrogant, or even a soldier who can protect you. You. Are. In. Love. It’s all over your face when you talk about him. You’re practically glowing.”
Adanel wanted to deny it. It was easier to lie to herself than to Kara. And her friend would not judge her. They wanted the same things for each other—love and happiness.
“I am in love, Kara. And I think he loves me in return, but I am so afraid that I am going to lose him.” She looked up, tears starting to form once again. “He doesn’t know who I am. He doesn’t even know I am a Mackbaythe. All he knows is that I hate my father.”
Kara went over and sat down, covering Adanel’s hands with her own. “You need to tell him everything, Adanel. No more waiting and no more secrets. If he loves you, he will accept you despite who your father is, but he won’t regardless of his feelings if he thinks you are lying to him.”
“But I haven’t lied.”
“That is good. Because all I know is that if Fearan thought I was intentionally misleading him, I doubt that—”
Kara’s last words were cut off by someone unexpectedly opening the door. Adanel fought off a groan seeing Faden. “Halò, is it time to leave already? Are you sure I have to come? I’m telling you Laird MacCoinnich cares not if I am present.”
Faden nodded. “Your father told me to tell you he wanted you to look especially nice tonight. There is to be an announcement.”
A feeling of dread washed over Adanel. Her father’s announcements were never good. And the fact that she was to be paraded as the unattainable bride once more in front of the MacCoinniches was worrisome. One did not tease powerful lairds or their sons. Thank God, this was going to be the last time she would have to endure such an evening.
Kara reached out and grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Four more days,” she whispered.
Adanel returned the grip. It was going to be the longest four days of her life.
Chapter Four
Late March 1318, McTiernay Castle
Dugan shot straight up, and immediately his hand reached for his sword. His body
was locked, and his jaw froze as he tried to ascertain what it was that had awoken him. He looked around the crowded area, and he could see from the moon’s light everyone was asleep. Something had startled him out of a dead sleep. He vaguely thought it had been someone running by him, but he was not sure. He had just fallen asleep, tired from all the Highland games that had been taking place over the weeks leading up to Conan’s wedding.
It had been something for the men to do, and Dugan had participated every day, giving all that he had until he was worn out with exhaustion. It was the only way he could sleep.
Dugan forced his body to relax. Lying back down, he stared at the night sky. Conan had gotten married just a few hours ago. The one McTiernay—hell, the one Highlander—no one thought would ever wed, Conan included, had actually said vows. He had even meant them.
Incredibly, the man had met a woman who had accepted him, loved him, and was his equal in every way. And what did Conan do? He had asked her to marry him. She had said yes, and now they were blissfully happy.
No one had believed it to be possible. Practically every Highlander in Scotland who was ever an ally or friend to the McTiernays had demanded to be present at the wedding. Dugan had never seen so many clans gathered in one area outside of battle. He almost expected Conan to back out from the pressure, but the man—in front of everyone—had proudly, without hesitation, claimed Mhàiri as his and only his for the rest of their lives.
Every fiber of Dugan’s being had been and still was jealous. For that should have been him.
Almost a year ago, he had met the woman God had created just for him. He had known it eight months ago when he turned his back on her, and he still knew it today. There was no one else for him. Unfortunately, he could never proudly claim his aithinne as his own. To her, he was nothing but a fool who had narrowly escaped her clutches.
How to Marry a Highlander Page 8
