Highland Rake

by Terry Spear

  The two maids tasked to help Alana to dress arrived and they quickly moved into the chamber, looking just as disheveled as Alana. They hurried to dress her in a léine, then covered her in the brat and pinned it with his grandmother's brooch.

  The maids tried to plait Alana's hair but she could barely sit still. He watched her, her face flushed, her teeth worrying her lower lip, her eyes downcast as she looked at the floor again. She'd seemed so at ease among his people, but now the reality of the situation seemed to be setting in with the lass as well.

  When the maids finished with her hair, they stepped aside to let Dougald comment. He smiled at her. "You are beautiful, Alana. Come, we shall see your uncle now."

  She didn't make a move toward him and looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears.

  It killed him to see her so distressed.

  "Go," he said to the maids, then crossed the floor to Alana as the maids left. He cupped Alana’s face and looked into her eyes. "You are my wife. You have naught to fear."

  "What if my uncle wants to kill you?"

  "My brother willna allow him to."

  She frowned at Dougald. "No' here. When we return to my home? What if you have an untimely accident?"

  He pulled her into his embrace, loving the warm soft feel of her. "'Tis hard to kill me, lass. Many have tried and have proven unsuccessful. If he throws me in your dungeon, I have it on good authority you will slip down there and free me."

  "Or half a dozen other lasses will do the deed before I even have a chance," she said, smiling up at him through her tears.

  He chuckled. "I wouldna leave the dungeon until you came for me." He sighed. "As long as you dinna say I have harmed you in any manner…I would think the Cameron would be pleased to have me as his nephew."

  "You are a rake," she said, "like my brother. My uncle willna be pleased if you…"

  Dougald silenced her with a kiss, deepening it, wanting to pull the pins out of her hair so he could run his fingers through her silky tresses. He wanted to return her to bed and make love to her again.

  When he looked down at her, he found her eyes closed, her lips swollen, her face flushed. He smiled and shook his head at himself. "Come, lass, 'tis time we speak to your uncle before I take you back to bed and forget he is wanting to see you. The maids willna like it if we have to call on them to plait your hair again. And you know how they would talk."

  "You are a rogue," Alana said, but she was smiling when she said it.

  "Only where you are concerned, my lady." Then he kissed her forehead and tucked her arm into his and hoped James had disarmed the Cameron, just in case. He could fight well, if he had his sword, but in an attempt to show that he only wished peace he was not carrying it.

  He walked with her toward the stairs, found her step reluctant, and wished he had something he could say that would settle her worry. And hoped her uncle wouldn't be too incensed with her for leaving or Dougald would forget wanting peace with the Cameron.

  ***

  Alana was terrified. She had been so concerned about spending her first night with her husband, she had let that rule her thoughts completely and had forgotten about her uncle. She knew he would be furious with her. Her marriage had always been his decision to make. Would Hoel MacDonald, if that was who her uncle had made arrangements with to marry her, be furious she had wed another? Would the MacDonald clan want her still? Or would they be glad not to have her in the family?

  And her uncle? How angry would he be with her? Especially after she had been with Dougald and his clan for so long without a maid to ensure propriety.

  How would her people act toward Dougald? She hadn't really given it much thought since his people had only treated her with kindness. She could just imagine the rumors—Dougald had despoiled her, and she was no longer fit to wed Hoel MacDonald. Then James had forced Dougald, the man with a roving eye and hands, to wed her out of a sense of decency and honor.

  She gritted her teeth. Would her uncle treat him ill?

  Standing taller, she realized just what she had to do. Aye, his people had been her people's enemy for longer than she'd lived. She would protect him, show her kin he was a good man. Of course if he strayed to any of the lasses in her uncle's castle, she'd let her uncle clamp him in irons, and she'd keep the key herself. She smiled.

  Dougald glanced down at her and smiled also. "Good. You appeared as though you believed you were about to be beheaded. I am pleased to see you are no' taking this so hard now."

  If only he knew where her thoughts had travelled.

  As soon as she saw her stern-faced uncle, although he was travel weary, he stiffened to see her, and she faltered.

  When he rose from the chair to greet her, it was all she could do not to run across the hall like a little girl and into his arms to hug him. She had not wanted to worry him like this, and she still was afraid of what he'd think of Dougald.

  "I am sorry, my laird," she said, rushing to bury herself against his chest, the gruff father he'd been since her own had died, hugging him as he wrapped his arms around her with a bear of an embrace.

  Ever the indomitable Cameron laird, he said, "I canna pardon what you have done, running off to see Odara—"

  "She lied," Alana said, looking up at her uncle with tears in her eyes. She could see her uncle was fighting tears of his own, so glad to know she was alive and well, yet how could he show that side of himself to his enemy? Even to his own people he might seem weak. So she knew why he acted the way he did, though she still didn't want him to believe she had left the keep for some other reason, such as to escape a marriage agreement he was in the middle of arranging.

  "Aye, lass. But you shouldna have left the castle grounds while I was away for that long. You could have been killed." His voice choked a little on the words. He said to James, "I wish a word alone with my niece."

  Dougald spoke before James had a chance. "Lady Alana is now my wife, Laird Cameron. Should you wish to speak to her, you may say what you will. We will have no secrets from each other."

  She wanted to tell Dougald it was all right for him to leave her alone with her uncle. She knew he only wished to ensure she hadn't been bullied into the marriage or that she was able to speak her own mind without Dougald and his brother in the great hall listening in. Further, she was certain her uncle wanted to ask her questions she did not want Dougald or his brother to hear. At the same time, she needed to show allegiance to her new husband, and if she dismissed him—which she assumed wouldn't work anyway—her uncle would not respect him as much.

  "Dougald will stay as he is my husband and it pleases me," Alana said.

  "I will be in my solar should anyone need me." James raised his brows at Dougald and gave him a hint of a smile as if to say this was now his affair and bowed out.

  Thankfully, her uncle did not seem perturbed with her for what she'd said, and motioned to the table. Dougald and Alana sat across from him ready for the interrogation. Dougald took Alana's hand in his, warm, strong, reassuring as she realized her hands were freezing. She smiled up at him, although she was certain her smile was filled with apprehension still.

  He held her hand in his lap, saying she was with him and he was with her every step of the way. Her uncle noticed. She realized—though she had not considered as much until now seeing her uncle and his witnessing her with Dougald—he would not be used to observing her in any kind of intimate way with a man. Her whole body heated as she thought about how she had so easily grown accustomed to Dougald's touching her and how her uncle must still view him as an enemy of their clan.

  To Dougald, Cameron said, "Your brother assured me you were no' forced into this arrangement."

  "Nay," both Dougald and Alana said, even though she knew her uncle was only asking Dougald. She wanted to make it perfectly clear that she had not been coerced to take Dougald as a husband either.

  Her uncle studied them both, then appearing to have reconciled that they genuinely felt something for each other, he nodded.
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  "If you are to uphold this marriage agreement—though there has been no real agreement with me—I will have your word that you will live among the Cameron and our allies until which time I step down from my position. If my people vote to make you their clan chief at some date in the future, you will follow in my place, Dougald MacNeill."

  "Aye, this is acceptable to me," Dougald said.

  Alana let out the breath she was holding. Dougald smiled down at her. His expression was a combination of warmth and acceptance and wicked interest. She believed he was still thinking of returning her to bed and what all that would entail.

  "Good. I expect you to be a good and faithful husband," Cameron warned.

  Dougald grinned. "All a man needs is a lass who he will love like no other. Alana will be that woman for me." He looked down at her, and she was reminded of the conversation they had had the first night they had camped together.

  She swore she heard her uncle give a soft snort of disbelief, appearing not to take Dougald seriously.

  Alana hoped this rake—unlike her brother—would truly settle down. Mayhap if her brother had also found a woman he had cared for, he would no longer have looked any further. Or mayhap Dougald appreciated her now, but when she was older or breeding, he may wish someone younger or prettier. She frowned at herself. She would not give into such negative feelings. He would treasure her always as he had said.

  "That remains to be seen," Cameron said. "As to this other matter concerning Alana, James was afraid she was sent away from Cameron lands to ensure her safety. If so, who sent her into MacNeill lands? Aye, the kitchen maid, Pelly, and the shepherdess, but they had to have done so under someone's orders. I intend to learn who was behind this. James suggested it could have been to keep Alana from marrying Hoel MacDonald. If that was the reason, why the concern?

  "He also mentioned Alana's father's unsolved murder. And her brother's murder as well. We found no evidence left behind in the forest where her father and the rest of our men were killed to give us a clue as to who the murderers were in her father's case. As to Connell, the man responsible was the husband of the woman Connell had been seeing. We know that for a fact. So no conspiracy there," Cameron said.

  "Yet by eliminating Connell, you no longer had an heir to lead the clan," Dougald said. "And you were left with having to find a suitable husband for Alana who would be willing to stay with your clan. Could there be something more to his murder than an avenging husband ready to do battle?"

  It was bad enough knowing Connell had been murdered for his own transgressions, but even worse if someone had set him up to be murdered because it would be so easy to do with his reputation, Alana thought.

  "You are saying that the woman enticed Dougald into relations for the sole purpose of providing an excuse for her husband to murder him?" Cameron asked, his tone skeptical.

  "'Tis possible. Because everyone knows how he was with the lassies, no one would suspect foul play," Dougald said.

  Connell stalked across the great hall to join them, scowling, catching Alana's eye, and she twisted around to watch him.

  "I will kill them both! To think I had any remorse for what had happened!" Connell roared.

  Had he any inclination, thinking back on the circumstances prior to his death, to believe he might have been set up? Why had she not considered it before? Because like everyone else, she believed him guilty and the reason for his death justified at least from the enraged husband's viewpoint.

  Dougald squeezed her hand. Her uncle was watching her with worried blue eyes.

  "He knows I see them, Uncle," Alana said quietly to him. "Dougald is all right with it."

  Cameron considered Dougald for a long moment. "Is this true?"

  "Aye." Dougald's face brightened with a wry grin. "As long as Connell stays out of our bedchamber, I accept him as a brother." He said to Alana, "He realizes we are married now, does he no'?"

  "Aye, he was at the wedding watching the proceeding as well as was your sister."

  Dougald's eyes widened. "You have seen my sister?"

  "Aye. She is well, but she and my brother have had a rocky start."

  Cameron was observing her speaking to Dougald as if anyone might have such a conversation with her husband and it was perfectly acceptable.

  "I may have misjudged you," Cameron said to Dougald. "I believe you might fit into my family after all."

  Alana couldn't believe the huge concession her uncle was making. Then again, he had no idea how Hoel MacDonald would have treated her had he learned she could see and speak with the dead. Mayhap that had worried her uncle. Hoel might have wished to drown her in the loch as a witch if he'd learned the truth.

  "Do you have any problem with my investigating Connell's death?" Dougald asked Cameron.

  Connell spoke up as if Dougald had been talking with him. "No' at all. If you discover the two of them were in on it, I wish my murder avenged."

  "Connell wishes it," Alana said to Dougald. "I wish it."

  Dougald was waiting for her uncle to agree though. They were his people and Connell was no longer with them, as far as anyone else in the clan thought.

  "If I said nay, I fathom you would investigate the matter anyway, would you no'?" Cameron asked.

  "Aye," Dougald said. "I understand that some may no' wish me looking into the matter. Mayhap this is tied into Alana's marriage betrothal or her father's earlier murder. Or mayhap no'. Until I prove otherwise, I am concerned for Alana's safety."

  "As am I," Cameron said. "Alana, can you ask your brother more about what happened that fateful night?"

  She was so surprised that her uncle would ask this of her, given that he bade her never speak of being able to commune with the dead with anyone, including himself, she didn't respond right away. Then she overcame her shock and said, "I can. He may know naught more than what you and our men discovered, but because he believed the same as we all did concerning the situation, he had never considered other possible reasons for his murder."

  Seana's expression alarmed, she hurried across the great hall to speak with Alana. "I just learned your uncle was here. If you are leaving, I wish to go with you, Alana."

  Connell folded his arms and studied Dougald's ghostly sister. "I told you that you canna come with us when the Cameron arrived if you are going to throw pots around. You will have my uncle's staff in an uproar."

  "I am no' going with you," Seana said indignantly. "I am going with her." She pointed to Alana. "She can talk to me. Everyone else just screams, runs off, faints, or calls me names. You are another matter."

  "You would need Laird Cameron's permission to stay with us. I doubt he would give it if he knew how angry you become at the slightest provocation," Connell said, a devilish glint in his eye.

  Alana realized he was teasing Seana. Even in death her brother was still a flirt and a tease with a lass!

  "Our uncle would permit it, Seana," Alana said. "Just you quit provoking her, Connell."

  She turned from the two of them to see Dougald and Cameron's mouths agape as they stared at her. "You were saying, Uncle?"

  Chapter 19

  In the morning, Dougald and Alana would face Cameron's men, not to mention his own clansmen who would not be happy about the Camerons residing on the castle grounds. But for now, it was very late, and Dougald and Alana said good night to Cameron as he retired to a guest chamber after he'd discussed matters long enough with them.

  Dougald took Alana back to bed, wanting to make love to her in the worst way, but knowing that she needed her sleep. He wished her well-rested for the feasting tomorrow and for the return trip to Braniff Castle. He also realized as new as she was to lovemaking, she would be tender.

  Because of that, when he woke very early that morning and so that he wouldn't get ideas, he left the bed before she woke, dressed, and slipped down to the great hall. Sleeping with his wife had been overly enticing enough. He'd never stayed with a woman all night long, and he couldn't help but love how it felt snug
gled up to her on the chilly eve and how much he looked forward to a lifetime of cuddling with her on such nights.

  When he went down to the great hall, he found several servants were preparing for a feast, and his brother James and Angus were organizing things to an extent as they drank tankards of ale. Niall soon joined them and Gunnolf, too. Everyone looked expectantly at Dougald.

  He raised his brows. "I believe Cameron has accepted me into the family—for now."

  Everyone smiled and slapped him on the back as a servant hurried to give him a mug of ale.

  Angus folded his arms. "We were laying bets on when you would come down to join us. None of us won."

  Gunnolf shook his head. "We didna expect to see you until much later this morn."

  "She is a sweet innocent," James said, coming to Dougald's defense, surprising him. "When you have such a lass to call your own, you will understand the need to take it a little slower. Even if it verra nearly kills you."

  They all laughed.

  Dougald loved his brothers, including Niall and Gunnolf, who were just as much brothers to him as the other two.

  The servants were setting up the trestle tables and benches, a lot of movement and talking and noise, but Dougald saw Alana approaching, despite all the commotion. He turned, smiled, and headed for her. He was surprised to see her this early as late as they'd been up.

  "The servants are preparing the feast for later, lass. You are looking lovely." He leaned down to kiss her mouth with good measure, and she blushed furiously, then glanced around him at his brothers, Niall, and Gunnolf.

  They all wished her good morning with cheerful smiles.

  She wished them the same, but she looked a little anxious, her hands clenched together in a tight little fist.

  "Is there something the matter?" he asked, frowning down at her.

  She took his hand and tugged at him. "I…I need to speak with you in your chamber."

  He tossed over his shoulder, "I will return shortly."