That was true and something Blaine would have to address, but he wouldn’t admit that now. “Only because it’s clear ye arenae a threat to aught but a gnat.” Blaine laughed at the men still standing with knives pointed at them. Only Blaine, as the man acting as laird in his father’s stead, carried a sword inside the keep. “Go home, and we will pretend ye never stepped foot on ma land.”
“We dinna leave until we have Lady Greer. She isnae married to Sinclair, but she is betrothed to Laird Arthur MacDonell. Edgar didna marry the laird’s daughter to secure the alliance to the MacDonnells of Loch Boom, so Greer will wed the mon himself. Ye willna be so mighty once the Gunns ally with the MacDonnells and MacDonalds. The Sinclairs, Sutherlands, and Mackays are naught compared to the MacDonalds.”
Matthew’s final comment caused uproarious laughter throughout the Great Hall during a time that warranted no hilarity. But his statement was patently false. While there were more MacDonald branches combined than tentacles on an octopus, they didn’t equal the mighty family alliance among the Sinclairs, Mackays, Sutherlands, MacLeods of both Assynt and of Lewis, Camerons, Rosses, and Mackenzies. They were the Highlands. Indirect family ties also allied them with the Campbells of Glenorchy and the MacKinnons of Skye, and the Kennedys in the Lowlands.
The MacDonalds and MacDonnells were welcome to try, but they would die for their efforts.
Matthew redoubled his efforts rather than back down. “Ye defiled Lady Greer when she was merely a lass. Ye got her with child and abandoned her. Now ye claim ye will marry her. Ye just want yer whore beneath ye again. Or on top, as we ken that’s how she likes it.”
Thor saw red. No one expected how fast he could move. Not even the men who saw him attack Drew in the lists. He launched himself at Matthew, his arm going around the older man’s throat as they collided. His free hand went to the back of Matthew’s head, grabbing a handful of hair. He was about to snap the man’s neck when Blaine and five Sinclair guards struggled to pull him free. Thor was beyond reason. He thrashed, head butting one of his men and thrusting an elbow in another Sinclair’s nose. He swung one man holding onto his arm like a rag doll. Only Blaine and one Sinclair guard kept their grip long enough to restrain him. Three more Sinclairs rushed forward to stand between Matthew and him. He tried to plow through them, but the men locked arms behind each other’s backs and made a wall.
“Move or I’ll kill ye, too.” Thor cared not that he threatened his own clansmen. He wouldn’t let anyone speak ill of Greer because he understood the threat it posed. Not only was she going to be his wife, she would one day be Lady Sinclair, Countess of Caithness. He would defend her honor and protect her name.
“Thor, stop.” Blaine positioned himself next to Thor and placed his hand on his brother-by-marriage’s shoulder, but he whipped it away when Thor released a feral snarl and glared at Blaine. “Cease or I will have ye confined to yer chamber. Then how will ye protect Greer?”
“Separate me from ma wife, and yer wife will be a widow.” He didn’t care that he’d just threatened to kill his twin sister’s husband. He didn’t care that it would be a long time before she forgave him for that. The only thing that made any sense in his mind was protecting Greer. He had eight years of penance to do. It clearly started today.
Blaine lowered his voice so only the Sinclair men could hear him. “Take him to his chamber and guard the door. Two of ye escort Lady Greer there. Neither is to leave until Lady Rose or I come for them. If ye dinna wish to tell Laird Sinclair and Callum that he’s dead, do nae move from outside that chamber. Thor, if ye dinna want us to knock ye out, go with them.”
It took a total of seven Sinclair warriors to get Thor finally up the stairs. He ceased struggling against them, but they didn’t trust leaving an inch between them lest he break through their wall. When they reached the landing, he looked toward the laird and lady’s chamber.
“Neither she nor Lady Rose will come out unless it’s Blaine or me who knocks. I want ma wife.” He turned toward the chamber, and the men were wise enough to move with him. They’d never seen Thor in such a state, but they’d been Sinclairs their entire lives. They knew what the men in that family were capable of when it came to their wives and children. None of them wished to die that day. Thor pounded on the door. “Greer, it’s me.”
It shocked the men how calm he sounded after fighting like a taunted bull. Thor took a step back as they heard something scraping on the floor as it moved away from the door. Then the bar lifted, and the door unlocked. Rose opened it, but Thor could see Greer behind her. Rose was quick to move out of the way, so Greer could fling herself into Thor’s open arms. He held her tight as he kissed her temple.
“We heard everything,” Rose mouthed.
“I’m sorry I threatened yer husband, Rosie. But naught is separating ma wife from me ever again. I ken now how Uncle Magnus must have felt when Auntie Deirdre’s father took her from him.”
When Magnus and Deirdre were barely adolescents, they’d fallen in love. After years of courting from a distance, they handfasted. The moment Deirdre’s parents learned of it, they took Deirdre and hid her for nearly eight years. Magnus and Deirdre only reconnected when he discovered her at Robert the Bruce’s court, days before she was supposed to marry someone else. Neither of them had broken their handfast vows, and to this day, they both considered themselves still married the moment they handfasted. They always insisted that a Highland pledge like theirs could never be broken.
Thor tucked Greer against his side as they turned toward the stairs leading to the third floor. Thor looked back at his sister. “Thank ye. Stay locked in yer chamber until Blaine comes for ye.”
“I’ll stay,” Antony, a Sinclair warrior, offered. He knew Blaine wouldn’t fault him for leaving Thor’s detail to guard Rose. Thor nodded. He fought no one as he led Greer to the stairs. He swept her into his arms, fearful she was too overwhelmed not to fall. He also couldn’t bear another moment without holding her. She burrowed against his chest as she had so many times while they courted. They entered his chamber, and a guard pulled the door closed. He knew they would remain there until it was safe for Greer to leave. Ostensibly, they were there to keep Thor locked in, but he knew they’d keep anyone but Blaine and Rose out.
“Thor?”
“Wheest, wee one. Let’s sit by the fire, and we can talk if ye wish.”
He walked to the bed and leaned forward to grab the pillows. Still in his arms, Greer did it for him before snagging the Sinclair plaid from the foot of the bed. He carried her to the hearth and set her on her feet. They silently spread the plaid and pillows in front of the fireplace. He wasn’t certain how she wished to sit, so he waited for her to move toward him. He sighed when she wrapped her arm around his waist but laid down. She inched closer once his arm draped heavily over her waist. His arms encircled her, and she finally felt her racing heart calm. She’d feared she was dying from how it had continued to beat so fast once she was in Rose’s chamber.
“Please dinna send me away again, Thor. I canna do this alone again.”
“It’s a good thing ye werenae there,mo ghaol.I dinna want ye to see me like that. I was the mon I become in battle.”
“I’d rather see that than nae ken if ye were alive and coming back for me.”
“Greer, I will always come for ye. We broke each other’s hearts all those years ago, and we made ourselves miserable for too long. But there will never be a repeat of that. Unless ye tell me ye wish for me to put ye aside, I will nae let aught come between us. Even then, I dinna think I can oblige that wish. I dinna think I can survive being apart from ye again.”
“I still dinna ken if I can be a proper wife to ye, Thor. This only made those fears far worse. But I have nay doubts that I want to be whatever kind of wife I can be. I want us to marry in truth.”
“That last bit is all I need to hear.”
They held each other as Greer stroked Thor’s back, and he stroked her hair. Neither knew what continued to happen in the Great Hall, and for a brief time, neither cared. They were holding one another again. The moment was surreal for them both. Memories and dreams collided and coalesced into their private retreat. The world disappeared, and time no longer had meaning. At least, not until someone pounded on the door. Blaine’s voice passed through the thick wooden portal as though it weren’t there.
“Thor, ye’d better come out. King Edward’s men are here.”
CHAPTER8
