“He was not there. I know that, and so does my family. If he had been on that raid, my aunt and cousins would still be alive. For all you mock us Highlanders aboot our sense of honor, you’d do well to find some. Do not use my grief and my family’s loss to play your games, Sarah Anne. I promise you, you will not win that match.”
“How can you defend a mon from the very clan who caused that grief?” Evina asked softly.
“Because I know Rab MacLaren, and I know his father. I know what my clan dislikes aboot them, but I also know that they are two men who do not fight their battles through women. King Robert will bring their clan to bear their punishment, as they should. But it was not Rab’s fault. Gossip aboot whatever you want, but bring my family into it again, and I will make your life the worst kind of hell. If you don’t believe me, ask Andrew. Ask him what I’m like when I’m truly angry.” Catherine’s voice remained calm, but there was an ominous tone no one missed. It was so unlike the Catherine they knew, or at least thought they knew, that the table fell silent until the meal ended.
* * *
“Are you all right?” Blythe whispered as she walked beside Catherine to the stables. Once outside and on the way to watch the royal hunt begin, the other women returned to chattering. The sound reminded Catherine of magpies. She offered her friend a tight smile and a nod. “Are you riding out today?”
“Aye. The queen requested I come. She knows I don’t mind the hours of riding, and she knows I grew up hunting with Andrew.” Catherine stepped aside as stable hands brought out stallions, geldings, and destriers. Among the enormous steeds were a few sidestepping and nickering mares. Catherine recognized the horses that stood alongside her own mare, and she breathed easier. Catriona, Evina, and another Highlander named Sileas Gunn, joined Catherine as the queen’s attendants. Sileas was Edgar Gunn’s cousin, and Catherine had once been close to becoming the woman’s family-by-marriage. She liked her roommate and was close friends with Catriona, so it relieved her to know that she didn’t have to watch over her shoulder for both wild animals and the fellow ladies-in-waiting.
“I wish you well, Catherine. Mayhap the fresh air and space will do you some good.” Blythe offered a sincere smile and squeezed Catherine’s forearm before she walked away. Before gathering her mount’s reins, she found a barrel of apples, grabbing one for her horse, Timber. She’d named her mare for her coat’s color, the same golden brown of freshly sawed maple wood. As she reached out her hand, palm up with the apple on it for her mare, another horse neighed before nudging her shoulder. She turned around, coming nose-to-nose with an animal she recognized.
“Bolt, do you remember me? If I’d known you’d come say hello, I would have brought you a treat too. But Timber has eaten it all. I haven’t aught to offer you.”
As if the horse understood, the stallion nodded several times. Catherine ran her hand along the broad nose, stroking up between the animal’s eyes. Ever since she met Bolt nearly a decade ago when he was little more than a spindly colt who liked to run away from his owner, it had always surprised her that he allowed her to get so close when he was as cantankerous as an old man with almost everyone else. She supposed it was because Rab introduced her to his steed when the animal was still young. She always marveled at how the beast knew her, even with her back to him. The horse’s massive head nudged her shoulder again before resting against it.
“You had better not nibble on my hair this time. Do you know how long it took me to get your drool out of it last time? Have you learned any manners yet?” Catherine teased as she ran her hands over the stallion’s neck, appearing to return the horse’s embrace.
“Nay, he hasnae. Nay matter how hard I try.” Rab approached, but he’d been watching Catherine and Bolt since his horse turned away from him and wandered toward Catherine. He’d known it was she who Bolt spotted because there was no one else at court, not even among his men, for whom his horse so brazenly ignored him.
“I think ye like yer wee beastie just as he is. I dinna think ye’ve tried.” Catherine lapsed back into her brogue, relishing when she didn’t have to think about each word as she said them. She spoke more to Bolt than Rab, but they both knew it was to keep it from being obvious that they chatted. Rab stood on the horse’s opposite side.
“Are ye hunting today, Kitty?”
“Nay. I’m to keep the queen company. I didna bring ma bow.” Catherine wished she were part of the hunt rather than merely the queen’s companion, but she didn’t regret that she wouldn’t be amid the crush of men vying for the king’s attention, both in conversation and by bringing down the largest stag or boar.
“Do they fear ye will show them up?”
“I only do that to you, Douglan, and Óg.” Catherine’s tinkle of laughter spread heat through Rab’s chest. Tall enough to peer over his horse’s neck, he watched Catherine’s gentle hand as she continued to stroke Bolt’s neck.
“Ye mean to say, ye’ve been here all these years, and nae one mon here kens ye’re the best of the lot?” Rab asked with playful disbelief.
“I canna think of too many men, Lowlanders in particular, who want to be shown up by a lass, and a Highlander to boot.”
“Kitty.” Rab’s voice grew serious, making Catherine direct her eyes at him. “If ye want to hunt, I’ll speak to Óg. I’m certain he can arrange it.”
Catherine’s mouth hung open for a moment before she gathered her thoughts. “Ye’d speak to Óg twice in two days, and this time simply so I might have a turn hunting? It doesnae matter that much, Rab.”
“If it’s what ye want.”
“Óg already asked, but he and I ken the queen willna allow it. If she’d wanted me to join the hunters, she would have told me to bring ma bow. I’m to ride with her. But I thank ye for yer thoughtfulness.” Catherine offered Rab a tight smile before stepping toward Timber. She gathered her horse’s reins as she added, “Good luck and be careful.”
Catherine’s expression warned Rab that the courtiers wouldn’t receive him well. She’d said the same thing to him plenty of times in the past at the various gatherings, but her tone held warning rather than good cheer. He nodded before swinging into the saddle. Andrew stepped forward, startling Catherine, who hadn’t realized he stood close enough to eavesdrop on her conversation with Rab.
“You play a dangerous game, cousin. I haven’t said aught to anyone, and mayhap I should have. But the men have been gossiping more than a village of fishwives. They want to know when I will challenge Rab to single combat. They’re trying to outdo one another with outlandish suggestions for how the king will punish him. If anyone sees you nattering on like auld friends, you will end up the subject of their speculation. Your reputation and you will not come out unscathed.”
“I know, Óg. If you learned what we said, then you know he was being thoughtful, and his horse was being playful. But I understand that isn’t how it might appear to others.”
“Catherine, you said you didn’t mind not hunting. It didn’t sound that way when you talked to Rab. Do you wish to?”
“What I wish and what my duties are, are not the same. I can’t, even though I want to.” Catherine shook her head but grew quiet as the royal couple approached. She watched as King Robert helped his wife into the saddle before swinging onto his stallion’s back.
“Lady Catherine.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Catherine dipped into a low curtsy as she answered the queen.
“Catriona’s uncle is practically insisting I allow her to hunt. I don’t want her alone in the mix of men. You will join her. One of your guards is coming with your bow.”
