Ishbel stayed silent for a few moments, processing everything that Donal had told her. Then, she made a decision, a decision that she should have made much sooner.
She wouldn’t leave; she would stay right there, right by Angus’ side. She wouldn’t let war come between them. In fact, she wouldn’t let anything come between them, not when she knew that Angus must have felt just as strongly about her as she did for him.
“Donal . . . excuse me, I must find Angus,” she said as she shot up from her chair and began to run around the castle in search of him.
Donal sputtered, surprised by Ishbel’s reaction, and then he ran after her, the two of them searching for Angus.
They found him in his study, where he seemed to be most of the time those days. He was surrounded by his men, as they were discussing their plans for a surprise attack on the Keith clan, and Ishbel stood by the door along with Donal, the two of them going unnoticed.
“We shall hide until nightfall,” Ishbel heard Angus say. “We ken the land better than they ever could, and as long as they are still outside the first village, then we dinnae have anything to worry about. We will attack them from left and right, and we will surround them.”
“There isnae anywhere to hide in the north,” she heard one of his men say. “We’ll have to hide east and west, come out of these cliffs, and surprise them.”
“Aye, that’s a good plan,” Angus agreed. “They willnae see us coming from the cliffs. It will be easy to take at least half of them out like that and—”
As he spoke, Angus seemed to notice that Ishbel and Donal were there, and he frowned at them in confusion. Then, he turned to address his men once more.
“We will continue later,” he said. “I have something urgent to discuss with Laird Cameron.”
His men left promptly, and as they did, Ishbel entered the study, while Donal stayed by the door. Ishbel saw Angus shoot a curious glance at the other man, but Donal simply shrugged and pointed at her.
“Angus, I won’t leave,” she said. “If you’ll have me, I want to stay here with you. I don’t care if there will be a war. I don’t care if my life will be in danger. All I care about is being with you, always. Everything else, we can face it together.”
Angus didn’t reply. He seemed to be stunned speechless, and Ishbel, in her desire to get him to agree with her, kept talking and trying to convince him.
“I am sure that spending time with Donal and Vanora would be lovely, but . . . but I can’t simply leave,” she said. “I told you, your clan is my people now, too. I want to be with my people. I want to be with you, no matter what happens.”
There was nothing in Angus’ face that could betray his thoughts. He was simply looking back and forth between her and Donal, and the more time that passed, the more desperate Ishbel became.
“Ishbel, I . . . I dinnae think that’s verra wise,” Angus said. “We talked about this. Ye promised me that ye’d go with Donal.”
“Yes, I did,” Ishbel confirmed. “But now I have changed my mind.”
“And what made ye change yer mind?”
Ishbel hesitated. She glanced at Donal, who gave her a slight shake of his head that was almost imperceptible, but Angus seemed to catch it regardless.
“Donal, what did ye do?” Angus asked him. “I asked ye to come here to take her with ye, not to convince her to stay!”
“I didnae convince her to do anything,” Donal assured him. “I didnae say anything that could have changed her mind.”
“You did,” Ishbel said, pointing the finger at Donal. “He did, Angus, but perhaps he didn’t even realize. He told me about you and Vika, he told me what she did to you, and . . . and I thought I make you happy. Donal thought I made you happy, too. You’ve lost too much already, Angus. Why lose me, too?”
Once again, Ishbel could see nothing on Angus’ face, his expression blank as though she hadn’t practically confessed her love to him. It made her blood boil and rush to her head, but she tried to remain calm, her chest heaving as she took deep breaths.
“I’d rather lose ye and ken that yer alive than lose ye and ken that yer dead,” Angus said. “Ye speak of things ye dinnae understand, Ishbel. I tried to explain to ye that war, even a war that is only between two clans, is nothing that ye wish to live through, and it certainly isnae the way ye wish to die. If ye canna understand that, then I’ll have ye taken away from here by force if I must.”
It was those last words that sent Ishbel into a rage, her anger bubbling over and spilling out of her.
“By force?” she asked. She didn’t shout; she didn’t raise her voice at all. Instead, she spoke in a hiss, and it was her turn to slam her hands on Angus’ desk as she leaned closer to him. “You’ll have me removed from your castle by force? And you!” she said, turning around to look at Donal, who was slowly backing away from them, trying to remain undetected as he attempted to escape the room. “Will you allow him to do such a thing? Will you help him? Will you carry me out of here, screaming and kicking?”
Donal hesitated, his gaze going back and forth between Ishbel and Angus, who both looked at him expectantly. “I dinnae think that it’s my place to—”
“If you do such a thing, I’ll make sure Vanora hears all about it,” Ishbel said, and Donal nodded in understanding, giving the two of them a small, half-hearted smile before he disappeared, eager to get away from the two of them and their fight.
Then, Ishbel turned back to Angus, who hadn’t moved the entire time. The two of them stood across from each other, their hands on each side of the desk as they stared each other down.
“Ye willnae stay here, and that is final,” Angus said. “I willnae bury ye, do ye understand?”
“It isn’t something that you can decide,” Ishbel insisted. “It’s my decision to make and mine only.”
“I told ye, ye’ll be removed by force if ye dinnae go willingly,” Angus insisted. “Leave noo. I dinnae wish to argue about this any longer.”
Ishbel didn’t move. She didn’t speak either, though, as she didn’t know what else to say to convince him. They had been going back and forth with each other for days, and nothing she said seemed to make any difference to Angus.
Ishbel slammed her hands on the desk once more, a frustrated groan leaving her lips before she turned around and stomped out of Angus’ study. He was a fool if he thought that she would give up so easily, though, as a plan was already forming in her mind.
She was determined to stay there, with Angus. She knew that despite everything that he was saying, he wanted her there as much as she wanted to stay there with him, and there was only one way to make such a thing happen.
She had to make Angus realize that he was a fool and that he wanted her. She had to make him jealous.
Ishbel was running out of time, though, and soon Donal would be on his way back home, dragging her with him.
She had to find him again. She had to force him to stay, just a little longer.
Ishbel could only hope that he wasn’t as stubborn as his best friend.
Chapter Seventeen
“What do ye mean ye wish to stay?”
Ishbel had been expecting that reaction from Donal. She had been preparing herself for it as she looked for him around the castle, and had finally found him in the courtyard. Even so, when the time came to give him an excuse, she had nothing to say. All the lies that she had come up with, all the justifications had left her mind, and all that was left was the truth.
“I wish to stay,” Ishbel repeated. “If you want to head back to Vanora, you are, of course, free to do so, but I won’t come with you. I wish to stay here with Angus.”
Donal let out a long-suffering sigh, a hand coming up to tangle in his hair. Ishbel could have sworn that she saw him tugging at his own hair, as though he wanted to rip it out, out of sheer frustration.
“Why do ye two always put me in the middle of yer arguments?” Donal asked. “I dinnae wish to be in the middle, and I certainly dinnae wish to have
to argue meself with either of ye.”
“No one is asking you to argue with anyone,” Ishbel pointed out. “I told you, you are free to go.”
“And what do ye think Angus will do when he finds out that I have left without ye?” Donal asked. “Do ye think he’ll take it weel?”
Ishbel hesitated. She didn’t want Donal to be in trouble, of course, especially not with his own best friend. She didn’t want Angus to blame Donal for her own decisions.
Then again, she simply couldn’t leave. She couldn’t bring herself to abandon Angus when he needed her the most, whether he would admit it or not.
“I love him,” Ishbel said. “I love him, Donal. And I know that he loves me, too. How can I leave when I know that?”
Donal remained silent, but the look that he gave Ishbel was all that she needed to know what he was thinking. His gaze was soft, understanding, but there was also a hint of what seemed like pity to Ishbel.
“I understand,” Donal said. “I ken that ye do, and I understand, but do ye really wish to stay here? What Angus is asking of ye is for yer own protection. Besides, ye said ye wish to travel. Weel . . . now is yer chance. Ye’ll have the gold to travel wherever ye wish. It’ll be better for him, too, that way, Ishbel. Ye ken that.”
“No . . . no, I don’t,” she said, shaking her head. “I thought that you and Angus were right. I thought that I would be nothing more but a distraction to him, but that is not true. He needs the support, Donal. He needs the support, and I can give it to him. He can’t go into this war all alone. He may have his men, his warriors, but he doesn’t have anyone close to him in this castle. No one but me.”
Once again, Donal didn’t speak for a long time. Instead, he gazed into the distance, seemingly lost in deep thought.
When he finally spoke, he didn’t say what Ishbel thought he would.
“Yer right. I shall stay, too. I shall stay and help him.”
That was certainly not the kind of answer that Ishbel had been expecting, and for a moment, she didn’t even know what to say.
“But . . . but what about Vanora?” she asked. “She must be expecting you back soon, and she’ll be worried sick when she finds out that you stayed. What about her? What about the babe?”
“They will both be fine,” Donal assured her. “Dinnae ye worry about that. Vanora kens that I willnae do anything foolish . . . weel, nothing too foolish, at least. Angus is like a brother to me, and yer right, he doesnae have anyone else. If I dinnae stay and something happens to him, then I will never forgive meself.”
Ishbel couldn’t argue with that. Besides, if Donal stayed, as well, then it was yet another reason for her to stay, too. She could hardly leave Knapdale without him, after all, especially not when the Keith clan seemed to be so close to their land.
“How do ye intend to change his mind?” Donal asked Ishbel. “He is a stubborn lad, Angus. It’s never easy to change his mind.”
Ishbel knew that well, but she hoped that her plan would be enough to force Angus to see that he was foolish.
“I will make him jealous,” she said.
The look on Donal’s face was one of bewilderment. His eyes widened almost comically, and Ishbel couldn’t bite back the laugh that threatened to escape her lips.
“That is yer plan?” Donal asked, and it seemed to Ishbel as though he was torn between laughing and chastising her. “That isnae a verra bright plan, lass. Perhaps ye should rethink it.”
“I don’t think so,” Ishbel insisted. “I have given it plenty of thought, and I think that’s the only way to make Angus see that he can’t simply send me away. Will you help me?”
“Help ye? How would I help ye?”
“Tell him that staying here, in Knapdale, was your idea,” Ishbel said. “Tell him that you stayed because you wanted to help him, and I’ll take care of the rest. I’ll . . . I’ll find a way to make him jealous.”
Donal sighed, seemingly hesitant to agree. Ishbel could understand his hesitation, of course; he didn’t want to do anything that could endanger his friendship with Angus. Ishbel wasn’t asking that much of him, though, and she was determined to make her plan succeed.
“Please, Donal,” she said. “Wouldn’t you have done the same in my position? Wouldn’t you have done the same for Vanora?”
Donal looked at her then, and she saw the fondness in his gaze at the mention of his wife’s name. In the end, Donal nodded, finally relenting.
“Fine,” he said. “But I dinnae ken anything about yer plan to make him jealous, do ye hear? If he asks, then tell him I didnae ken. It’s yer plan, and I dinnae wish to have anything to do with it.”
“I understand,” Ishbel assured him. “You have nothing to worry about. He won’t know a thing.”
With one last nod, Donal left Ishbel, and then it was time for her to put her plan in motion.
Who could be a good choice of a man to make Angus jealous? It had to be someone who would agree to such a thing, as Ishbel couldn’t bring herself to fool any man into thinking that she had fallen for them and then string them along just for her little plan to succeed.
No, it had to be someone who would be willing to help her, and someone who wouldn’t—willingly or unwillingly—reveal her plan to Angus.
There was one man that came to mind, and Ishbel knew that if he agreed to her plan, then Angus would be furious to see them together.
Ishbel hurried back inside the castle, searching for Euan. She finally found him in the kitchens, where he seemed to always wander in and out with a treat in his hand, and she took a deep breath, mustering up the courage that she needed to ask such a request from him.
“Euan . . . may I talk to you?” she asked him, just as he shoved a piece of pie in his mouth.
“Aye,” Euan said around the mouthful of pie, following Ishbel outside. “What is it, lass?”
Ishbel hesitated. She didn’t know how to say what she needed to say. After all, there was no easy way to say it without feeling like she would embarrass herself completely, to the point of no return.
Euan could laugh at her; he probably would. The thought of that made Ishbel want to change her plan completely.
“What is it?” Euan repeated, this time sounding concerned. “Did something happen?”
“No, no . . . nothing happened,” Ishbel assured him. “I wanted to ask you something. I . . . I don’t know if you know, but Angus and I . . . we . . .”
“Aye, I ken,” Euan said, sparing Ishbel the embarrassment of having to explain. “Everybody in the castle kens. Even the chickens in the coop ken by the noo.”
Ishbel could feel the blush creeping up her cheeks, her ears feeling as though they were on fire. So much for sparing her the embarrassment, she thought.
“Well . . . then you might also know that Angus wants me to leave before the war with the Keith clan,” she said, to which Euan nodded. “I don’t want that. I won’t go. But I need to make him see reason, Euan. I need to do something to show him that he doesn’t wish to push me away.”
Euan watched Ishbel with narrowed, suspicious eyes. He was a clever man, that much Ishbel knew, and from what he had already gathered from her words, he seemed to not like where the conversation was heading.
“And what do ye need me for?” he asked.
“I need to make him jealous.”
There was the whole truth. It had been hard to utter it out loud, but Ishbel thought it was the best course of action. After all, she didn’t have the time to dance around the topic forever.
Euan groaned, his hands coming up to cover his face. He shook his head violently as he paced in a circle around Ishbel until he found the nearest wall and leaned against it.
“Nay,” he said. “Nay, lass, that is a verra bad plan. I canna explain to ye just how bad of a plan it is.”
“Why?” Ishbel demanded. “What is so bad about it?”
“Have ye seen yerself?” Euan asked. “Ye look just like Vika. What do ye think will happen when ye do this? Do ye think
Angus will take it lightly? Do ye think he’ll laugh when it’s all over?”
Ishbel was taken aback by Euan’s words. She hadn’t considered that before, but she didn’t think her resemblance to Vika would cause any problems. Before she could say anything else, though, Euan continued.
“I may disagree with the Laird often, but I respect him,” he said. “He’s a good man and a good Laird. I dinnae wish to play such games with ye on his expense.”
Highlander’s Veiled Bride: Scottish Medieval Highlander Romance (Highland Seductresses Book 2) Page 13
