"Oh, give me time and you will see."
Sin was fool enough to doubt that.
Once they were washed and dressed, she led him downstairs to break the fast. Lochlan, Braden and Simon were up and eating at the long table, but Ewan was still in his bed, no doubt sleeping off the keg of ale they had split the night before.
The great hall was empty and the early-morning light spilled in from the windows high above their heads. His brothers and Simon were trading good-natured insults and taunts as they joined them.
Callie sat him at the table, then hurried off to find food for them.
"She's in a most cheerful mood this morn, isn't she?" Lochlan asked.
Sin grunted as he grabbed the heel of Lochlan's bread and tore a piece from it. "She's terminally pleasant."
"She wasn't last night," Lochlan said as he reached for his cup.
Sin frowned at the odd note in his brother's voice. "What say you?"
Lochlan inclined his head toward where Callie had vanished. "When I left her last night, she looked as if she were about to cry."
"Over what?"
"You."
"Me?" he asked, baffled by Lochlan's words. "I did nothing to her." At least not yet. It was what was to come that made him want to throw himself from the top of her castle.
Until the inevitable day came that would divide them forever, the last thing he wanted was to cause her pain.
"Aye," Lochlan agreed, "it's the not doing anything to her that was the problem. It seems she was upset because you barely notice her at all."
That was wholly untrue. Sin noticed everything about her, and therein was the crux of his problem.
He didn't want to contemplate a future without her. "You know better than that."
"It matters not what I know. Only what she perceives."
Braden clucked his tongue as he joined their conversation. "And after all that advice you gave me about Maggie. For shame, Sin. I thought you were a man of action and not one of talk."
"Braden," Simon interrupted. "I think you might be forgetting one small detail. Sin is here to find one of Callie's kinsmen for Henry. How do you think your Maggie would have felt had you been an outsider and done that to her?"
Lochlan stiffened as he turned back to Sin. "You wouldn't really do that."
Sin sighed. "I am honor-bound to it."
"Sin," Lochlan said, his voice thick with warning, "you know the code of conduct that runs thick through everyone with a drop of Scots blood. You don't betray your kin, and most especially not into the hands of their enemy."
Sin arched a brow at Lochlan's words and watched as color darkened his cheeks. Interesting, that his brother would expect better behavior from him than their father had shown.
"That was different," Lochlan said, knowing Sin's thoughts. "It was wartime and that was the only way to cease hostilities."
"And if I don't stop the rebels, it will be wartime again. Henry is out of patience."
"Then, for your sake, I hope the rebel leader is someone in this clan your wife isn't overly fond of."
Sin stared at the table as his stomach knotted. In his gut, he already knew the culprit, even though his heart argued repeatedly that it must be someone else. Anyone else.
But it was Dermot MacNeely, as sure as he sat at the table listening to his brothers. His wife would curse and hate him forever when she found out. But there was nothing to be done about it.
"Well, I never…" Callie's voice broke off.
They looked up as Callie came into the room bearing a tray of fresh-baked bread and sliced cheese.
"When I left, the four of you looked fine, and here I come back and it's as if the Second Coming were upon us. Should I ask what tragedy has darkened the mood of this hall?"
" 'Twas only the absence of your beauty," Braden said, grinning. "We dwell in absolute darkness without it."
Sin snorted and tossed his piece of bread at his brother. "You'd best counsel your tongue, little brother, else I will counsel it for you."
Lochlan smiled. "Better still, let me tell Maggie and she'll have his ears boxed."
Braden feigned indignance. "I try and smooth over the matter with your lady and this is the payment I receive? Very well, you're on your own with the matter. See if I help you again."
Sin watched as his wife approached. More beautiful than the very angels in heaven, she eyed him with a determined stare. "Remember your promise to me, Sin. Only smiles are allowed today."
He gave her a fake smile that showed his teeth.
She rolled her eyes. " 'Tis better than a frown anyway."
Callie turned to face Simon and motioned for him to follow her. "My lord Simon, might I have a word with you in private?"
Sin arched a brow. "Why would you wish that?"
She reached across the table and touched the tip of his nose. "I merely wish to ask him a question away from your hearing."
"Why?"
"Because I don't wish you to hear it."
"Aye," Lochlan interjected, "what are you, Sin? Daft?"
Sin kicked the leg of Lochlan's chair and narrowed a hostile glare. "One day, brother, I hope to see a woman plot your downfall. Then I shall be the one laughing at you."
"Downfall?" Callie asked. "How ominous you make it sound. There is no downfall being plotted. Merely a question being asked."
Sin looked at her drolly. "Aye, and empires have been splintered apart over the mere utterance of a single word."
"But it's not an empire I wish to splinter. It's the ice encasing your heart."
Silence rang in the hall on the heel of those words. Sin sat in stunned disbelief.
Callie blushed as if embarrassed by her confession and tucked her chin to her chest.
Simon quickly got up and led her from the hall so that they could speak.
"Sin," Lochlan said from beside him. "I realize I'm not a man to be giving advice on this matter, but it seems to me only a fool would let a woman like that slip from his grasp. If I ever found a woman who could look past my shortcomings and still want to be with me, I would move heaven and earth to keep her by my side."
"You're not me, little brother. And I can't let myself be open to her when I know that in a short time she will hate me. Hatred and scorn are mother's milk to me, and yet I can't bear the thought of seeing it in her eyes."
"Then don't betray her."
He looked at Lochlan. How easy his brother made it sound. "All I have ever had in this world is my word and my honor. They are the only things that weren't stripped from my flesh. The only things I have never bartered or sold for my survival. And you would have me forsake them? You ask more of me than I am able to give. Nay, I must do as I promised."
And yet, as he looked to where his wife had vanished with Simon, he hurt from the pain of what his honor would see him do. But it wasn't just his honor that mattered. He knew Henry in a way few men did. If he failed to deliver the Raider, Henry would see this clan obliterated.
Silently, Sin ate his food while his brothers made their excuses and left him alone in the hall.
He had barely finished eating when Callie returned. She looked to the vacated seats. "They left already?"
"I fear my dour mood hastened them off. Now, are you going to tell me what you spoke to Simon about?"
"I have absolutely no intention of answering that." He shook his head at her. "You are a cheeky lass."
"I am that. Vexing to the point my father oft said that I would try the patience of Job."
She took his hand and pulled him to his feet.
"Now we're off to have our day of fun. Come, Sir Ogre, and let me see if I can keep a smile on your face."
Little did she know, her very presence kept a smile in his heart, and that was the biggest feat of all.
Sin saddled horses for them, and once they were mounted, Callie led him to the village of Tier Nalayne, where the bulk of the MacNeely clan lived and worked. It was a pleasant day and the village was rife with activity.
&
nbsp; Children ran and played games, rushing up and down the roads between the cottages and shops. Women and men paused along the way to gossip and talk while they went about their daily chores.
Callie had them dismount, leave their horses at the stable and walk about on foot.
It didn't take long before they became the center of hostile attention. Women grabbed their children and scurried away at their approach.
Callie took a deep breath and counted for patience at the way her people greeted her husband. It was a good thing he'd left his armor behind. She could only imagine how much worse they would behave had he come wearing his mail and sword.
The butcher's wife stepped out of her shop, saw them approaching, then ran inside, slammed the door shut and hung a sign on the door saying they were out of meat for the day. Callie glared at the sign, then looked to see Sin's reaction.
There wasn't one. He merely took her clan's disdain in stride as if he expected nothing better. And that made her maddest of all.
She'd known these men and women the whole of her life. How could they be so blind?
"Morna?" she called, seeing her stepmother talking to her best friend Peg outside of the cobbler's shop. Callie took Sin's hand and led him over to her. "How fare you this day?"
Her stepmother beamed a happy smile at them, while Peg inspected the contents of the basket she was holding. "We're fine, aren't we, Peg?"
Peg looked up and raked a sneer over Sin. "I need to be getting back to me chores."
Sin said nothing, nor did his face betray even the slightest offense.
"How are you, milord?" Morna asked.
Callie saw relief flash in Sin's eyes for such a brief time that she wondered if she imagined it. "I am quite well, milady, and you?"
"Oh, posh, no milady here. I'm just simple Morna, especially to the man who helped my Jamie. You know, you're all he talks about."
"And I'm certainly far from noble myself. Call me Sin. As for Jamie, he's a good boy. You've done a fine job with him."
Morna beamed a smile at him. Her eyes glanced over Sin's shoulder, then she looked to Callie. "Let's see if we can bash a few stubborn skulls and make the others see what we do."
Before Callie could ask Morna what she meant, Morna grabbed Angus as the old man walked past. His long gray hair was tangled and his beard was so full that no one knew what he really looked like. Still, he was one of the most respected men in the clan and if you could get Angus to like you, the rest would follow suit.
"Angus, my love," Morna said cheerfully, "have you met Callie's new husband?"
The old man curled his lip as he took in Sin's English clothes. "I've no desire to be meeting a—"
Morna cut his words off by clearing her throat. "Don't you think you should judge a man by his deeds and not by his birth?"
"I know the deeds of his kind."
Morna sighed as Angus hobbled off. "Don't take it to heart," she said to Sin, "They're good people, really."
"Believe me, I don't even hear it. I fear Callie is the only one to be hurt by such comments."
He might say that, but Callie didn't believe it. How could it not hurt him?
Callie glanced to see a group of eight men, led by Fraser, headed toward them. Oh, this wasn't good. By their swaggers, she could tell they meant harm.
Fraser glared at her. His sneer twisted his reddish blond beard. "Why did you bring him here?"
"I wanted to show him the village."
"Why?"
"Because we live here and I thought he might like to see it."
Fraser's eyes were dark and menacing. "You might live here. He is visiting. At least he'd best be."
Sin scoffed as if amused by Fraser's words. "Let me guess. If I don't leave soon, you'll make me wish I had gone home. Or better yet, you'll make me wish I'd never been born, or some other worthless cliché meant to frighten me."
Fraser opened his mouth to speak.
Sin spoke before he had a chance to. "I know already that you don't want me here. You've no use for me or my kind. You don't even want to be bothered having to see me in your midst." Sin cut a hostile glare at the group of men that made several of them take a step back. "Fine, then. Hand me the Raider and I shall gladly go."
"The only thing we'll be handing you is your head."
"Ooo," Sin breathed. "Scary. Have you ever thought of making up children's tales? You might actually succeed in frightening a two-year-old."
Fraser gave Sin a disgusted glare. "I really don't like you."
"The feeling is quite mutual."
Fraser took a step toward Sin, who didn't move at all. Callie held her breath, waiting for them to fight. The two of them reminded her of rams about to lock horns and she had no idea how to diffuse this situation.
Not that Fraser would even let her. The man really had no sense, to be pushing her husband, and she had to admire Sin's control. Any other man who possessed half of Sin's fighting skills would already have Fraser on the ground whimpering.
When Fraser spoke next, his tone was disrespectful and cold. "You think you can come in here and tell us how to live. Look down your English noses at us." He looked to Callie. "Take our women while we do nothing. Well, if you have any sense at all, then you'd be headed home by nightfall."
Sin's smile was evil. "What can I say? I have no sense."
Fraser swung at him.
Sin ducked, caught Fraser's arm and held him in place with a fierce grip. "Listen to me," Sin said in Gaelic. "I will speak slowly so that you can understand me. I have no wish to embarrass you in front of your friends and family by hurting you. So go home and take your men with you."
He released Fraser.
Fraser staggered back as he raked a malevolent glare over Sin's body. "You and I are going to have this out."
Sin cast a frustrated look at Callie. "How mad at me would you be if I hit him really hard? Just once."
She glowed at the realization that his respect for her was the only thing that had kept him from pulverizing Fraser. Whether he admitted it out loud or not, her husband did have feelings for her. In that moment, she could kiss him.
" 'Tis Fun Day," she said simply. "So, if it will give you pleasure, I might be swayed to forgive you."
Sin smiled at that.
Until a scream rent the air.
Women and men started grabbing at children and running for cover. Callie froze as she saw a crazed bull running down the village street, attacking anything and everything that got in its way.
Before she could move again, Sin grabbed her up in his arms and tossed her to the low-hanging roof of a nearby cottage. She scrambled up the roof, making room for him to join her.
He didn't.
Fraser grabbed Morna and did the same with her, then ran for a little boy who'd fallen in the street. He reached the boy just seconds before the bull and managed to get him to a rooftop, but before Fraser could get out of the way, the bull caught him about the leg and gored him with a toss of its great head.
Callie cringed at the way the bull attacked. There was no hope for poor Fraser. He was dead.
Or so she thought, until she saw Sin seize a huge wooden laundry swatter and plaid kirtle where one of the women had dropped her laundry. While the bull toyed with Fraser, Sin smacked the bull across his flanks and clucked his tongue at the beast.
The bull whirled around and eyed him angrily.
"That's it," Sin said, taunting the animal. He wrapped the kirtle around the swatter to make a banner of sorts that would entice the beast. "Run after the idiot who has no sword."
He waved the banner before the bull, which now stood still as it watched the motion Sin made. It stamped twice, put its head down and charged.
Sin spun about and ran for the woods as fast as he could.
"Nay!" Callie shouted as her husband and the bull disappeared. She scrambled from the rooftop, down to where a group of people surrounded Fraser.
With the danger past, people flooded the streets.
"
That was the bravest thing I've ever seen," old Angus said as he and several others helped Fraser to his feet and inspected his injured leg.
"We have to go help him," Callie said.
Fraser's brother, Gerald, grabbed a bow from his waiting wagon. "English or not, I owe him for my brother's life."
Six others came forward to help. When Callie started off with them, they refused to let her join them.
Angus stopped her. "He didn't risk his life to see you harmed, lass. Now stay here and let the men handle it."
Though it went against her nature to stand by and do nothing, she didn't argue. It would only cause them to delay their rescue when they needed to be finding Sin as quickly as possible.
Consumed by terror, Callie watched as the men left the village, and she prayed for her resourceful husband to have found some way to outmaneuver the bull.
Time seemed to move on the back of a snail as she waited with the women. Fraser's leg had been sewn and bandaged. Still no sign of the men.
Callie prayed and prayed, hoping he was all right.
At long last, she heard a cheering roar from the people of the village. Turning around, she saw the group of men coming toward them.
And in their midst…
Nay. It couldn't be.
Callie frowned, then blinked, trying to see if her eyes were deceiving her.
Angus was the first to reach the village. "I'll beat the first one of you who laughs," he said in warning. "No mon who fights like that for our women and children will be mocked. You hear me?"
"We wouldn't dream of it, Angus MacDougal," Peg said.
Choking on her laugher and filled with tremendous relief that he was unhurt, Callie ran to her husband and wrapped her arms around him. Her heart pounded at the feel of his strong arms holding her close. Och, how she loved this wonderful man. She kissed his cheek, then pulled away to look him over one more time and make sure he really was unharmed.
Again, she had to purse her lips to keep from smiling.
In truth, she had no idea how the village refrained from laughing at the sight of her proud husband. He only had one boot on and his breeches were shredded. The kirtle he'd wrapped around the swatter was now wrapped around his body in a poor, ill-fitting state. He was covered in mud and looked like some half-formed fey beastie.
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