Claimed by a Highland Knight: Scottish Medieval Highlander Romance

by Fiona Faris

  “It is the breakfast that I ate, Uielam Younger, and trust me when I tell ye that there is nothing wrong with it,” she said, finishing up her sewing for the day as she had a feeling that she would not be making much progress now that he was awake.

  “I daenae like it. Can ye nae bring me somethin’ else?” he asked, all but pouting as he looked at the bread and cheese on the table as though they were some abomination. “Some roast duck, perhaps? Or pottage with the meat of a wild boar, oh, I love that one, but perhaps for dinner instead.”

  He was musing to himself at this point as though she would really conjure up a meal at his whim. She stood, her hands on her hips as she glared at him.

  “Roast duck? Wild boar meat? Just where dae ye expect me to find these? Ye need to understand that ye are nae longer in the castle. Ye are under the roof of a commoner, and ye will eat as such. Also, ye need to come to terms with the fact that under me roof, I am nae yer maid. Ye cannae expect me to bring ye things, ye will have to dae everythin’ with yer own two hands and yer own two legs,” she ranted, making sure he got her points loud and clear.

  Despite her words, he only blinked in evident confusion as though he could not understand why he could not get what he wanted or as though he expected that she would give in at some point. She slapped her palm to her forehead even as he continued to eye the food on the table as though it were a rat found eating sacks of grain.

  “Ye should be happy. The bread is from the castle is still quality bread. The bread ye will eat from now on will be commoner bread. I hope that ye can adjust yer tastes quickly,” she said, taking her clothes to the line outside to sun again and picking the one she would wear to go to the market. Uielam followed her as she moved, like a petulant child complaining to his mother.

  “Why dae me tastes need to change? I am still The Younger despite livin’ in yer house. Besides, I will nae be here long,” he said, disgruntled as she headed for her mother’s room where she planned to change. As expected, she found that she needed an excuse to be away from him while he was awake. Although it was from annoyance rather than attraction that she was running away.

  “Please just go and have yer breakfast, Uielam Younger. I am goin’ to the market now,” she said, stepping into the room and moving to shut the door, but he stopped it with his foot.

  “Can ye nae buy me a roasted duck or boar meat at the market?”

  She gave him an incredulous look. Such meals were way too expensive for her pocket.

  “Dae ye ken how much those cost?” she asked. “An entire duck will cost me thirty silvers. Boar meat costs one gold coin a piece! A piece!”

  “So? Ye are nae poor, we gave ye quite a hefty amount of gold, are ye truly that stingy?” he asked, his expression unimpressed.

  Her jaw dropped, and she stood there staring, refusing to believe that he had just uttered such shallow words. To her, the gold she received was her ticket to living with even half of the comforts he had. It was the pathway removing herself from servanthood and making her mother proud by raising her social standing.

  Such importance was not something he could understand, seeing her whole future as nothing but a single year’s worth of boar meat.

  “If ye truly want some duck meat or boar meat, then I suggest that ye go find them yerself Uielam Younger,” she muttered before slamming the door in his face.

  She hated that she was so upset. What was she expecting? Uielam was not just wealthy and noble-born, he was also spoiled. There was no way he would understand. Although clan MacNab was rather well off, considering how much wealth the nobility had and the fact that even among the commoners, no one ever starved, the difference in status was way too large.

  The nobility had many more options and luxuries while the commoners lived a rather monotonous life with what they ate, wore, and did. Uielam was at the very top of all nobility in the clan. The gap between them was way too great. Perhaps it was frustration that was wrong with her. If she had also grown up with servants to do everything for her, she might not find anything wrong with his behavior.

  Everything he did irked her, but deep down it was probably just her anger at the fact that despite living under her roof, the gap between them could not be bridged and in his eyes, she would always just be a servant, and he would never be just a man, but still the Laird’s son.

  Nay! Daenae think such nonsense! Ye are angry because he is irritatin’ and completely self-absorbed. The only reason that ye are bothered is because his behavior is affecting ye.

  She shook herself out of her thoughts and changed her clothes quickly, making sure to take her pouch and counted ten silvers into it. She always made sure to have a little more money on her than was necessary so that she would still have enough. She opened the door and paused, immediately noting how quiet the house was.

  She stepped out of the room and checked the house, thinking that maybe he had just decided to sit quietly somewhere, but it was as she had first suspected; Uielam was gone.

  Chapter Nine

  The woods got denser the deeper he went in, but Uielam did not mind. He realized that Lilia was right. If she could not afford to buy him proper food, he could always hunt. It was also the perfect pass time. Apart from toying with Lilia and sleeping, there was not much to do in Lilia's cottage. He had noted the night before that he would get bored quite quickly at that rate.

  Who would have guessed that Lilia would provide the perfect solution just the next morning? He did not have all the necessary tools such as his bow and arrows, so maybe he would not try to hunt a boar. It was not wise to go after wild boars alone in the first place.

  The reason why their meat was such a delicacy was because of how difficult it was to hunt one. Their tusks were sharp, and the stubborn animals definitely knew how to use them. He still remembered the boar he had hinted down with Osgar and his party of hunters. It had taken him jumping from a tree and lodging his sword in its skull to bring it down.

  Perhaps I will settle for somethin’ else for the time being… A deer!

  He decided as soon as he saw it, the young buck was traipsing through the woods and froze the moment he saw it to keep from making any noise. Once again, he noted the absence of his bow. He would need to ask Osgar to bring it to him if he was going to make hunting a regular practice.

  All he had was his knife and his sword. This meant that he needed to injure the deer and then go to the trouble of chasing it until it fell to exhaustion and then finally killing it. He grimaced, the thought of it highly unpleasant. It was a rather cruel way of hunting, and he did not like it at all, especially for something as simple as deer, which he could typically kill with one well-aimed arrow.

  There was nothing he could do about it at the moment, so he slowly drew his knife. Making sure he did not make any sound, he took aim, reaching his arm back and throwing the knife. The deer turned its head in his direction, but it was too late already, his knife buried itself in its side. Startled, the deer took off running, just as he had expected.

  Sighing, he gave chase, running after it as it bounded through the woods. Deer were very fast, and it was quite the workout chasing them this way. It was another reason he preferred to kill them in one go. His mind wandered as he chased the injured animal.

  It was harder than he had thought, adjusting to Lilia’s cottage. Her home was much smaller than he had imagined, but then again, he had never seen the inside of a commoner’s house before. The entirety of her house was not as big as his chambers.

  He had thought that being in such a small space with her would make them closer as she would have nowhere to run when things got heated between them. Instead, his difficulty adjusting seemed to be creating more space between them. He had hoped to create tension between them, but so far, he had been creating the wrong kinds of tension.

  He needed to turn up the charm very soon; otherwise, she would spend the entire time he was in her house being upset with him. He finally caught the deer as it’s injury wore it down. It had fallen
on its side and was breathing heavily, it’s eye rolled up to look at him as he approached and he almost apologized.

  He killed it swiftly to shorten it’s suffering and began the long journey of taking it back to Lilia’s cottage. He considered hefting it over his shoulders, but he did not want any blood on his clothes, so he dragged it by the horns instead. Hopefully, Lilia would cook it for him now that he had gone to the trouble of hunting one down and killing it. He was rather hungry now and wished he had some food from the castle left from what Osgar had brought him.

  He was approaching the cottage when he noticed that Lilia was standing in the doorway, talking to someone. His first instinct was to duck into the bushes, but before that, he recognized the man she was talking to. It was Osgar. Sighing in relief, he continued towards them. Lilia caught sight of him first, and she looked livid for some reason.

  Osgar turned, following her line of sight and spotting him. His friend let out a short laugh.

  “Uielam, ye cannae be serious,” hhe said as Uielam got close to them. He dropped the deer and looked between his friend and Lilia, who looked like she was a second away from strangling him.

  “What? Is somethin’ the matter? And Osgar, it is good to see ye, but what are ye doin’ here?” he asked.

  “Where did ye go? I stepped out of me room, and I found ye gone without a trace. How could ye leave without tellin’ me where ye were goin’?” Lilia demanded.

  Uielam blinked, taken aback. “I only went to dae as ye asked. Ye said that if I wanted to eat meat, I should go and get some for meself, so I did,” he explained, motioning to the dead deer at his feet.

  Lilia’s eye twitched in her annoyance as she looked from him to the deer and back again. “That is neither a duck nor a wild boar,” she said, glaring at him. Uielam shrugged.

  “I had to take what I could get,” he said. Lilia stood for a moment as though thinking of how to react. Seeming unable to decide, she spun on her heel and entered the house, slamming the door behind her. Osgar burst into a snicker once Lilia was gone, and Uielam turned to him.

  “I cannae believe that she asked ye to go hunt for meat if ye wanted some,” Osgar laughed. Uielam only let out a sigh, his friend was having a field day at his expense. It was only then that he noticed the basket Osgar had in his hands.

  “Is that food that ye brought me?!” Uielam asked, unable to keep the excitement from his voice. Osgar handed him the basket without further ado.

  “Aye, it is food. I was on me way to tell ye that the documents for the farmer are ready, and I remembered that we had not considered the fact that yer tastes are more luxurious than the food Lilia can afford. I thought to bring ye food for today and then perhaps offer her some extra gold to feed ye. I didnae expect that she would send ye out to hunt,” Osgar explained, beginning to guffaw when he mentioned hunting again. Uielam rolled his eyes.

  “It is good that the documents are ready, ye never cease to amaze me. And thank ye for the food, ye have just saved me,” he said.

  “Aye, and I believe ye should begin to tie a cloak over yer hair. It is yer most distinctive feature, and ye are goin’ to need to come out every now and then to practice once the games begin,” Osgar said, producing a cloak from within his own cloak and handing it over to Uielam. He then glanced at the dead deer beside Uielam and grabbed it by the horn.

  “How about I take this for ye. I will have it prepared and return it to ye tomorrow. I daenae think Lilia would be willing to dae it for ye as it stands,” he added.

  “Thank ye,” Uielam said, truly grateful. Osgar was an indispensable friend. “Dae ye ken, why she’s annoyed now?”

  Osgar chuckled, “Ye left the cottage without tellin’ her. She was worried about ye, and I would have been as well if I didnae ken ye better. Ye should have told her if ye were going somewhere, just as ye dae with Flora and me when we are together.” Uielam blinked. He had not considered it in the slightest.

  “Ah… I didnae think that I would need to. I never used to explain to the maids in the castle before I left before,” he said.

  Osgar raised both his brows but laughed, tapping him on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

  “I daenae think Lilia is yer maid in this situation me friend, but I cannae answer every question for ye. Ye will have to deal with this yerself,” Osgar said. With one last pat, he turned and began to make his way back to where his carriage no doubt waited.

  “I will see ye tomorrow,” he called as he left.

  “Aye, thank ye again,” Uielam responded before turning to the door, which had been shut in his face.

  …

  Shug walked through the market, certain that the circles beneath his eyes were darker than his hair. He had spent all day and night making his way back to the town surrounding the Laird's castle, and he was as hungry as he was tired. He hoped to buy some bread, and perhaps some mead then worm his way into an inn to rent a bed.

  He tried to keep his face as neutral as possible so as not to draw excess attention to himself from his annoyance and bloodthirst. Where would The Younger be hiding if he was expected to be at the Southern border? If he remained in the castle, surely there would be some gossip of it.

  He wanted to get information as quickly as he could, but he needed some proper rest first to make up for his wasted effort. He kept his gaze distant as he glanced at the people milling about around him, but he was intensely irritated by all of them.

  He caught sight of a bread stall up ahead and made a beeline for it, his stomach grumbling. He hadn't eaten proper food in four days. Reaching the stall, his ears immediately picked up his mark's name on the lips of the two women a few feet away.

  "Certainly every young woman has had daydreams of Uielam Younger, it is like a rite of passage at this point." A stocky brunette was giggling as she looked over meat strips with her friends.

  "Aye, I have been infatuated with him since I was just a wee lass. Me sister and I used to imagine being swept up in his arms, suddenly becomin' a lady and havin' him look at us with those blue, blue eyes. We'd dance around the room narratin' these daydreams." Her friend laughed.

  Shug rolled his eyes as discreetly as he could, motioning to the seller that he wanted some cheap bread. Of course a brat like that would have the adoration of women. It was all those types were good for, dazzling the female folk and being easy prey for an assassination. He eyed the women speaking from the corner of his eyes. Neither of them was particularly good looking, but then again that was to be expected, the whorish types who lusted as they did rarely ever were.

  "I would really love a husband that would be even a wee bit like The Younger." The brunette said dreamily, clutching her hands over her generous bosom. He wanted to strangle her slowly, just to keep her from ever speaking again.

  "Sure, if ye want a spoiled, self-centered piece of work, be me guest,” another voice mumbled disgruntledly behind him, and if he was not trained to pick up the slightest sounds, he might not have heard her.

  He turned in amused surprise, not expecting that a woman would have something bad to say about his mark. Since he entered the clan, women of all status seemed to do nothing but swoon at Uielam's name.

  Her brown eyes widened when he turned to look at her as though she were horrified at having been caught speaking ill of the Laird's son. He found himself smiling before he knew it. She was quite lovely with long brown hair and the beautiful curve of her lips in her strong face.

  Her skin was lovely as well, the paleness making him want to mark her with his teeth. Oh, she was undoubtedly his type. She looked the sort to make a good home. He smiled his most charming smile.

  "Ah, ye are a strange one? Nae many a lass would speak such things of The Younger. From what I've seen, they're all head over heels for the lad," he said.

  The young woman looked like a sheep caught by wolves as she tried to find a suitable excuse for her words.

  "Ah, nay, I wasnae… I didnae..," she stammered. Shug laughed, liking her more and more. He t
ried to make it a point not to prey on women while he was on a mission, but with how much he liked her, he was beginning to consider it.

  "Daenae worry lass, I will nae speak of it." He winked, causing her to let out a breathless laugh, wringing her fingers nervously. He eyed her hungrily, now that he thought of it, it had been a while since he had played with a woman. He had done three missions back to back without taking time off to rest and find entertainment. He would have been resting after his second mission, but the brat Uielam had quite the hefty sum on his head.

  "Oi, yer bread," the seller called, alerting him to the loaves that had been dropped on the counter while distracted by the young woman. He turned, smiling apologetically before dropping his coppers unto the counter and moved out of the way to let her buy bread. She spoke politely to the seller and reveled in her voice. She seemed like the type to scream.

  "Me name's Shug. What's yer name lass?" he asked. She glanced at him as she put her bread into her basket.