Kieran studied his mother before responding. “Untouchable by you.”
Adeline’s eyes widened before her lips pinched together. She knew Kieran was aware of just how much she and Abigail spent in his absence.
“That isn’t a response,” she snarled.
“But it is, Mother. I will invest the coin she brings into the clan’s business, and the land will remain in her name as her dower lands while it secures our border with the Sutherlands in Assynt. In other words, it’s not your pin money. You can’t spend it as you have the massive amounts of the whisky and wool profits.” Kieran looked around as the Great Hall filled with people arriving for the evening meal. “We will speak of this after the meal in my solar. I’m going to my chamber to bathe and prepare for the meal.”
“We are not done yet,” his mother threw down the gauntlet.
Kieran stepped close to his mother, so only she and Abigail heard.
“We are done whenIsay so. You may be my mother, but I am your laird. Never disagree with me, or command me like that in front of our people again. You will find yourself with none of your luxuries if you test me. You know where Madeline is. Would you care to join her?” Kieran stalked away before he lost his temper and couldn’t retract what he said.
* * *
The evening meal grew tense with little said among Adeline, Abigail, and Kieran. Kieran focused his attention on his second-in-command, Kyle. They’d grown up together and were second cousins. Kyle was Kieran’s most trusted advisor and warrior. When Kieran had to be away, he remained confident that Kyle would ensure the clan’s safekeeping. They’d fought at each other’s backs since they entered the lists as adolescents. They had an easy comradery that Kieran appreciated as his mother fumed and his sister babbled incessantly to no one in particular. Abigail sensed the tension and tried to ease it; instead, the sound grated on Kieran’s frayed nerves.
“How have things been?” Kieran asked around a mouthful of roast duck.
“Quiet. Blessedly quiet. At least outside the keep.” Kyle grinned at Kieran as he looked past his commander and cocked an eyebrow at Adeline and Abigail. “The weather hasnae been on our side the last fortnight, but we finished refortifying the northern wall. The repairs you ordered on the mill are underway, and another lot of lambs are aboot to drop. All in all, things have been running smoothly.”
Kieran sighed as he sat back and sipped from his chalice. He’d filled his with whisky that night rather than the wine and ale served. He was still chilled despite the hot bath, and he needed the liquid courage to go another round with his mother.
“Remember the woman I told you aboot?” Kieran was careful that his hushed tones didn’t float down to his mother who was only a few chairs over to his left.
“Aye. The Sutherland lass.”
“I’m leaving again as soon as I can. I’m going back to Stirling and will return with her as my wife.”
“You really are going to marry her.”
“That’s my goal. She’s unlike any woman I’ve ever met. I just worry aboot how Mother and Abigail will treat her. This latest disaster with the accounts, and how Mother responded to my intention to wed someone other than her choosing, now has me concerned that they won’t be much better than Madeline was. I’m second guessing whether it would be right to bring her here. I don’t know if I should break things off.”
“Can she nae manage without a warm welcome?”
Kieran glared at Kyle, who put his hands up.
“She can manage better than anyone I know. She’s had to far too often. She’s survived my sister and serving at court for almost a year. She has a backbone of steel, but she’s reserved. People underestimate her because of it. She’s bonnie as the day is long, but she’s not what most would consider beautiful, or at least not what most women would. Men, on the other hand, are entirely too appreciative of what they can guess lurks beneath her kirtle.”
“And have you sampled that?” Kyle leaned away as he asked.
Kieran’s hand made a fist on the table. If anyone else had asked, Kieran would have driven that fist through his face. He forced himself to unfurl his hand and place his palm on the table.
“She’s a maiden and will remain such until we wed. But aye, I’m attracted to her. More so than any other woman I’ve ever seen. It’s as though she’s in my blood. I crave her like some men do whisky. I trust her council, and I’m certain she’d manage this keep a far sight better than my mother. The clan will like her, but only if Mother and Abigail approve. The others won’t go against them, so I fear they’ll snub her. Madeline made her life difficult, but she’s overlooked my sister’s sins and judged me for who I am, not to whom I’m related. Mother’s outburst when she learned Maude is a Sutherland leads me to believe she won’t be so openminded. Kyle, I love her.”
“Love? That’s a rather soft thing to say.”
“I’ll watch you tell that to your father. I can see him from here, and I believe he has his arm wrapped around your mother’s waist.” Kieran strained to see over the heads at several tables before grinning at Kyle. “And I believe he’s feeding her a bite of cheese.”
Kyle pretended to grimace but couldn’t help but smile. Unlike Kieran’s parents’ arranged marriage, Kyle’s parents had married for love. It showed in everything they did, including how they raised their children. Kyle was courting a woman from the village as they spoke.
“As long as you dinna tell Glynnis, I should survive. How soon will you leave?”
“I’d go tomorrow, if I could just to escape Mother, but I have too much to do here before I can. It may be close to a fortnight.”
“And you dinna worry aboot leaving her behind at court?”
“No.” It was an easy answer to give since he trusted Maude implicitly, but he also recognized she was uncomfortable with the attention she’d garnered of late. He suspected with him away, she would wear more practical hairstyles and return to being a wallflower. “Maude can be rather shy. People mistake it for timidity, but she would rather observe and take everyone’s measure before joining in.”
