“I love her, I truly do,” Hamish plowed on. “I want to marry her. When… when there were all those attempts to contact her, all those strange occurrences that ye thought were kidnap attempts, all of that was…” He paused, gulping, “All of that was me. I was trying to get notes to her, but ye guarded her so well. That first incident—that kidnap attempt—it wasmetryin’ to get to her. I hired mercenaries. I never thought… I just wanted to get her out of the Keep, because I kent that was what she wanted! Alaina kent all about it. I… I cannae live without her! It… it was foolish, I ken, but I justhadto speak to her.”
Ryder let out a long, ragged breath. “That was ye, then? Dear God. Ye tried tokidnapher?”
“It’s nae kidnappin’ if I kent what was happening!” Alaina chipped in. “I wanted to go with him. And then once ye found out, we couldnae tell ye the truth!”
Hamish hung his head. “Oh, I ken it was wrong, me Laird. But Alaina wants to be with me, truly she does!” he paused, glancing at Alaina as if for support. She gave him a tiny, encouraging nod. Ryder glanced between them, narrowing his eyes.
As he watched, Alaina’s hand crept out toward Hamish’s, her small fingers winding through his larger ones. Ryder stared, transfixed, at their hands.
They really do care for each other,he thought, baffled.
Misinterpreting his stare, Hamish uneasily pulled his hand away from Alaina’s. Clearing his throat, he stepped forward. To his credit, the boy met Ryder’s eyes firmly. Breathing in, visibly steeling himself, he stepped forward.
“I am a guard here at the Keep, as ye ken, me Laird,” he said firmly. “I have kent Alaina for some years. I daenae remember when I started to feel drawn to her, but I was. I am. I love Alaina. I’m only a guardsman, with nay money and nay prospects. But I suppose that ye ken that already.”
“Aye, I do,” Ryder responded tightly, moving back to sit on a heavy trunk at the bottom of Alaina’s bed. He nodded to Hamish to continue.
“The plain fact of it is, I cannae live without her,” Hamish admitted, with a self-conscious laugh. “I ken that she’s a lady, and she’ll have to marry a laird one day…”
“Never!” Alaina interjected angrily. “I would nae abandon ye to marry a laird, Hamish, never, never!”
“Nay laird would have her with a temper like that,” Ryder remarked, and earned himself a glare from his sister.
“He is being unfair, Megan! Tell him!” she said, appealing to Megan.
Ryder deliberately stayed silent, waiting to hear what Megan would say. He realized he was curious.
“Yer braither is tryin’ to listen to what ye and Hamish have to say, Alaina,” Megan said quietly. “He is listenin’. So, talk to him. Daenae ye think that’s fair?”
This seemed to surprise Alaina. She blinked, cleared her throat, and glanced away.
Megan didn’t look at Ryder. He found himself staring at her, vaguely surprised.
Well, I didnae imagine that me reluctant bride would be on me side,he thought, biting back a grin.What a pleasant surprise.
Alaina took a moment to compose herself, clearing her throat and smoothing out her gown, then stepped forward.
“Brother,” she said, her voice tight and formal.
“Aye?” he responded, faintly mocking. Alaina rolled her eyes.
“I daenaereallyhate ye. But I daenae like ye very much at the moment.”
“If this is yer attempt to get what ye want, I must say that it is nae goin’ very well. Flattery generally works better. Just a wee tidbit for the future.”
“I am trying to tell ye that I love Hamish, Ryder! I love him, and I want to spend me life with him.”
Ryder sighed. “We all want lots of things when we are sixteen. That’s nae to say that they’re the right things for us. When I was fourteen, for instance, I wanted a particular stallion, which I was sure I could break in just fine. faither said nay, and of course I raged at him. But if I’d been allowed to ride it, it would have thrown me like it did the next man who mounted it, and I would probably have broken me back. Do ye see what I am tellin’ ye, Alaina?”
“Nay,” she responded flatly. “I daenae. And ye are bein’ unkind. This is entirely different.”
“Are ye sure?”
“Aye! I daenae want to be taken away from Hamish and forced to marry some dull old laird, Ryder! I willnae do it! I willnae, I willnae, I willnae!” She punctuated eachwillnaewith a stamp of her foot, fists clenched at her sides.
Ryder took his time answering, letting the silence hang in the air. Alaina’s face had gone red with her outburst, and the color gradually faded away. She cleared her throat, swallowed hard, and seemed almost ashamed.
“First of all,” Ryder said softly, “I would like to ken where ye have gotten the idea that I would force ye or Sophie into an arranged marriage with any dull old laird. Do ye think that is somethin’ I would do? Push ye into a marriage against yer will?”
