Chapter 1
Rab MacLaren shifted yet again as his backside complained about another day in the saddle. Rab tried not to wriggle too much, but his backside ached, and his upper thighs were numb. He’d been riding patrol along the MacLaren border near Campbell territory for more than a fortnight before setting off for Stirling Castle. When King Robert the Bruce requested an audience, both Rab and his father, Laird Caelan MacLaren, understood it wasn’t an invitation but a summons. Rab and half a dozen MacLaren guardsmen were once more on horseback. Their home in Balquhidder, at Edinample Castle, was three days’ ride behind them.
“You can stop squirming. I spy the battlements from here.” Cullen clapped Rab on the shoulder as the senior warrior grinned. Rab scowled as the rest of the men chuckled. But he’d seen them trying to find more comfortable positions for the past two hours.
What should have been a two-day ride had stretched into a third when torrential rain and gusty winds threatened to knock both man and beast from their feet. Rab and his guards sheltered amongst forest trees to avoid the storm. Being soaked and cold didn’t help any of their discomfort. But as Rab strained and stood in his stirrups, he returned Cullen’s grin. The men spurred their horses toward the town gates. It was market day, and the town roads were congested. Rab was certain he heard more than one of his men groan. It was his turn to chuckle.
Once they arrived at the castle gates, the entire party’s mood shifted, as if another dark cloud hovered above them. As Rab announced their arrival, the MacLarens watched the guards narrow their eyes, and their posture became defensive. The royal guards practically snatched the swords from the MacLarens’ hands as the latter turned them in to be stored in the armory. Rab struggled not to curse a blue streak, knowing he had his cousins to thank for the clan’s ruined reputation and the meeting with the Bruce. Much like when they were children, Rab’s cousins caused trouble, then left Rab to clean it up. Except this time, Rab was alone to face judgment while his cousins’ souls were in hell. At least that’s what Rab hoped.
The MacLarens collectively sighed as they led their horses into the stables. It relieved them to be off their mounts and to have made it through the gates without confrontation. None in the group had been certain how people might receive them or what news about their ongoing feud with the MacFarlanes had spread. It was clear plenty of people were aware, and opinions weren’t in their favor.
Rab dropped his saddle to the ground and pulled a curry brush from his saddlebag. He intended to lead his horse to a stall when he finished and shovel a mountain of hay for the trusty steed. He rolled his neck as he tried to ease the tension that seemed to compound now that they’d reached their destination. He heard the high-pitched voices of a group of women pass just outside the stable doors and grimaced. His head ached without having to deal with the inevitable gaggle of ladies-in-waiting who attended the evening meal and who moved throughout the castle.
“Perhaps some of them wish to chatter in ma ear,” David, another MacLaren guard, jested. “Who kens, mayhap they might even look in yer direction once they’re done ogling me.”
“There’s only one thing I wish for a woman’s mouth to do, and it’s nae talking.” Rab grunted as he rose from squatting and checking his horse’s hooves.
“And there’s only one thing a mon needs to do with his arse, and it’s not riding.” A feminine voice echoed in the now silent stable. “Your saddle doesn’t belong in my way. Perhaps those muscles could move it. Please.”
Catherine MacFarlane grinned at the men who faced her, but the man to whom she’d responded still had his back to her. Her gaze passed over the men, but none returned her smile. Instead, they all peered past her shoulder. She glanced back at her cousin Andrew and the other MacFarlane men who joined Andrew and her on their ride. She shifted her attention back to the MacLarens as the mountainous man she’d teased turned toward her. The blood drained from her face through her body and surely pooled around her feet.
“Kitty?” Rab’s hoarse whisper was barely audible, but Catherine watched his lips move. She suspected her voice was just as soft when she responded.
“Rab?”
“MacLaren.” AndrewÓgMacFarlane stepped forward, reaching for Catherine’s arm, ready to move her behind him. But Catherine pulled away and stepped forward. She hesitated to take another step, but her heart urged her to keep moving until she found herself in Rab’s embrace, her own arms wrapped around him. Andrew repeated himself, the warning sharp in his voice. “MacLaren.”
“Aye. I ken.” Rab released Catherine, but neither was in a hurry to step away. He took in the more worldly face he’d once known as a young man. The mischievous spark that he’d seen when he first turned around, the one he knew from before she arrived at court to become a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth de Burgh, had made her eyes gleam. Now there was caution and maturity. As Catherine moved back to stand beside her cousin, Rab turned his head to speak over his shoulder. “Leave.”
“What?” Cullen spluttered. “Nay.”
The MacLaren men watched their clan tánaiste in disbelief. They weren’t about to abandon him in a stable to their clan’s most reviled enemy.
“I didna ask.” The authority rang in Rab’s voice, and the men knew they had no choice. They edged toward the doorway, watching the MacFarlanes rather than Rab. Once his men were gone, Rab raised both his hands, palms forward. He moved to the closest hay bale and, keeping his left hand up, he used his right to pull a dirk loose from his belt. He placed it on top of the hay, then removed a knife from his boot and drew up his plaid to remove one strapped to his thigh. When the three knives lay on the hay bale, he raised his right hand and repeated the process on his left side. “Catherine, I need ye to wait outside. I need to speak to yer cousin.”
Catherine’s eyes widened as she shook her head. She feared what Rab’s men did: Rab would wind up dead.
“Kitty, this is the only chance I’ll have without a hive of gossips buzzing around or the king interrupting.” Rab’s gaze shifted to Andrew and remained there even as Catherine spoke.
“Interrupted? Mayhap intervene.”
“Nay. I’d speak to Andrew without others deciding what they wish to hear and interrupting. Please, Kitty. This isnae something I wish for ye to hear.”
Catherine nodded, understanding to which topic Rab alluded. She longed to listen to what he had to say, but she doubted she would like it. She knew Rab asked her to leave, not to be rude or to discount her value because she was a woman, but because he was doing it to protect her. She could only imagine what he planned to reveal. With a brief glance at Andrew, she walked out of the stables. Rather than leave, she moved to stand to the right of the door, where she could still listen.
“Leave,” Andrew barked. His men prepared to disagree, the same as the MacLarens had, but they knew Andrew’s authority as their clan’s tánaiste was as unwavering as Rab’s was with his men. Rab continued to hold his hands raised until there were no guardsmen from either clan left. He suspected Catherine hadn’t gone far, but he seized the opportunity to make his position known. He walked toward Andrew but stopped where they were still two arms’ lengths apart, each barely out of reach of the other.
“Óg.” Rab addressed Andrew with the diminutive “lesser,” which meant younger in Andrew’s case, since he shared a given name with his father. “I’m sorry.”
Rab’s directness surprised Andrew. He was unprepared for Rab to apologize.
“My father and I never sanctioned that raid.” Rab shook his head. “It never should have happened. I’m sorry for the heinous way ma cousins treated yer mother and sisters. I’m sorry for their deaths and the assaults on yer clanswomen. I’m sorry that I wasna there to stop them before they even left Edinample.”
“Sorry? That’s what you wish me to know?”
“Nay. But I wanted to start there. Ma apologies dinna bring back anyone or undo what ma cousins did. Ma father passed judgment on them and banished them. I carried out his sentence and ensured they will forever remain banished. It’s nae possible for them to return.”
“You executed them?” Andrew watched Rab, wary of his enemy but still shocked that not only had Rab started the conversation and then apologized, but he admitted he’d killed members of his own family. “Your father only ordered them banished.”
