“It doesnae surprise me that the Buchanans are trying to take advantage. Their laird is a bitter auld mon. Dennis is nay better. He’s smug to everyone else while also trying to crawl so far up the king’s arse that the Bruce may never sit straight again.” Catherine peered in the keep’s direction. “Dennis has tried to gain Óg’s attention, but blessedly, Óg willna even consider him. He doesnae trust Dennis, and Mòr doesnae trust the clan.”
“Keep yer distance, Kitty. He is a conniving mon and wouldnae think twice aboot forcing ye into marrying him by deed or by rumor.” Rab tightened his hold around Catherine as she continued to lean against him. She laid her right hand over Rab’s chest beside where her cheek rested. His silent strength reassuring her when she didn’t want to admit aloud how uncomfortable Dennis Buchanan made her. Andrew was never out of reach whenever the man was nearby. But Rab made her feel safe in a way no cousin ever could.
“Things have been quiet by courtly standards of late. We had some unwelcome excitement while Alexander Armstrong was here. I’m nae sure if ye’ve heard, but the Scotts wounded him in battle. He’s lost the use of his left arm and has a horrible scar on his right cheek. Somehow, he didna die, but he isnae the same mon he was. King Robert ordered him and Angus Elliot to appear at court since they were both involved in the battle with the Scotts. I dinna ken the details or what the king decided, but it angered the Scotts enough to hire gallowglasses to go after Alex.”
“At court? The bollocks on Laird Scott,” Rab mused.
“Aye, well, it turns out it was Sullivan, nae the auld laird. The auld laird is dead, and Sully is rotting in the king’s dungeon. His cousin is now laird, and it seems he’s prudent enough to stay far from the Armstrongs and the Elliots.”
“I suppose where the Armstrongs go, the Kennedys now travel alongside. Innes has been loyal to the Bruce since the king was merely an earl. After what I learned happened with Cairren and the Munros, I doubt King Robert can afford to anger Innes ever again.”
“He canna. Anyway, after Caitlyn and Alexander married and left, we came to find out that a few of the gallowglasses followed Caitlyn through the keep while she was with some of us, then they chased her when she was alone. It was scary to ken they were so intent upon getting to her they followed a group of ladies-in-waiting.”
“Were ye in danger?”
Catherine felt the tension building with Rab. “Nay. I dinna ken all the details, but someone or other told me the leader was originally a Highlander or a Hebridean. I dinna ken which, but he doesnae allow women to be targets. These men defied him, and I’m pretty certain they are dead for it. But it was scary kenning they were here and nearby.”
“Tell me the truth, Kitty. How dangerous is it here?”
“I always have ma guard up. I dinna go many places alone, and I never leave the bailey without at least two MacFarlane men to accompany me. But that’s the case anywhere but at home. Some men are too forward at times, but between how often Óg has been here during the last year and discovering I carry more than one dirk, I dinna feel in danger.”
“I noticed the bow ye carried.” Rab smiled even though Catherine couldn’t see.
“It’s the only one I use. It’s both painful and comforting to have it. It hurts kenning, or rather it did hurt to believe, I wouldnae see ye again. At the same time, it was a comfort to have something that was once yers that ye gave to me. I still have the ribbons, Rab.”
At each gathering, he’d bought her ribbons for her hair and for her gowns. She kept them in the false bottom of her jewelry box. She gazed at them each day, running her fingers over them to where spots were nearly threadbare.
Rab leaned back and reached into his sporran, withdrawing two ribbons. One was a canary yellow and the other a shimmering teal. It was obvious they weren’t freshly cut from a spool; instead, slightly discolored spots showed where the material had thinned. Catherine recognized the cause because they resembled the ones she’d touched over and over as a comfort and reminder.
“I bought these the day everything went wrong. I’d planned to give them to ye after we talked to our lairds; one to say I love ye, and one to celebrate our official courting. Before I could, I was chasing down ma father as he bellowed for our clan to break camp and saddle up. I couldnae search for ye because ma father mounted and was ready to leave. I tried to tell him I had something I had to do, but the look he gave me told me he knew I was talking aboot ye. I was ready to argue with him, to disobey him, but then ye rode past sandwiched between Mòr and Óg.”
“I stomped on Óg’s foot and tried to knee him in the bollocks to get free of him and to find ye. But Mòr tossed me onto Timber’s back. I considered sliding off the other side, but ma aunt’s expression warned me nae to. I never imagined watching ye mount yer horse as I rode out was the last time I’d lay eyes on ye in three years. I never imagined I’d spend three years believing that was ma last chance to ever see ye.” Catherine ran the back of her fingers over the bristles on Rab’s left cheek. “Ye ken I planned to say aye, even if Mòr hadnae agreed under better circumstances.”
They sat in silence for several minutes, both trying not to think about the time lost, but neither avoiding their thoughts.
“Kitty, Óg kens there’s something between us. If he isnae watching me, then he’ll be watching ye. Are ye certain this is a wise place to meet? What if a stable boy says something to him or he hears aboot it from someone else?”
“He’d likely skelp ma arse and run ye through. But I willna let him find out. I think he may ride back to Inveruglas in the next day or two. Ye ken both the Keith and a MacDonnell of Keppoch are interested in ma dowry. He’ll have to speak to ma uncle before he can make any offers or accept them. Since it’s aboot the same distance there as it is to Edinample, it’ll take him two-and-a-half days each way. We likely have a sennight without him interfering.”
“And if he returns with yer uncle’s permission to sign contracts? Or worse, what if he arrives with signed contracts?”
Catherine flinched. She wanted to believe Andrew took her feelings into consideration and would tell her uncle about the men’s interest but recommend that it go nowhere. However, she couldn’t be certain, definitely not now that Andrew was motivated to keep her from Rab.
“Without a betrothal ceremony, they are but pieces of parchment. I willna speak any promises.”
“And ye ken that as the woman ye dinna have to. Either Andrew could do it on yer behalf.”
“And nay priest in Scotland will marry an unwilling woman. Unwilling is an understatement for what ma temper will be. Besides, Mòr kens what ma father wanted for me. He canna promise a loving marriage like ma parents had, but he kens Da wanted me to marry a mon who honors me and respects me. Neither the Keith nor the MacDonnell are like that. They merely want ma dowry and someone to tup. Mòr kens that too. Neither the Keiths nor the MacDonnells of Keppoch can offer much beyond a bride price. The Keith laird likely took interest to thumb his nose at Edgar since the Keiths and Gunns dinna get along.”
“And allying with the MacDonnells of Keppoch will help yer uncle keep us at bay. He might ally himself with another of our rivals. Does he plan to marry Óg off to the Buchanan’s daughter?”
Catherine hesitated since she’d heard her uncle suggest that very thing more than once. She hadn’t understood Andrew Mòr’s interest until now.
“So he has. And is Óg willing?”
“Nay,” Catherine snorted, then giggled. “Óg thinks she has a face like a plow ass, is long in the tooth, and is as bright as one. Poor lass sounds like a braying ass too.”
“Yer uncle might consider that MacDonnell more closely than ye think.”
