“Women are so often liars,” Logan sighed. “And ye are nay different, lass. It’s a pity. Ye are goin’ nowhere.”
Megan let out a long, ragged breath.
“Och,” she whispered. “It was ye. It was always ye.”
Logan’s gaze flickered, but he still kept his eyes on Hamish.
“Ye are a clever woman, Lady Megan,” he said at last. “I meant it when I said that ye were a good choice for Ryder. Ye would have made a fine Lady MacCulloch. Ye still could, really. But ye cannae save Alaina from her duty.”
“Duty?Duty?” Alaina almost shouted. Tears glinted in her eyes, and she forced herself between her uncle’s sword and Hamish. “All these years, me sister and I thought that ye loved us, if nae for our own sakes, at least for our maither’s sake. We thought that yecared. We thought that ye wanted to raise us because ye loved us, but it was only ever so that ye could marry us off to suitable men to better yerself. This laird’s son that I’m supposed to marry will probably form a good alliance for ye, willnae he? There’ll be money, I imagine. There’ll be a treaty. And when Sophie is old enough, perhaps ye will marry her off, too. Although why wait? Why nae marry her off now?”
“Enough,” Logan barked, eyes blazing. His lip curled, revealing sharp white teeth. “Ye talk too much, niece. Marriage is a woman’s duty just as battle is a man’s.”
“But Alaina is nae a woman, is she?” Megan spoke up quietly. “Nae yet. She is only sixteen. She cannot be wed for years yet. And I think that she is right—ye cannae afford to wait years. If ye take Alaina from here, ye willnae even wait weeks. Ryder will come for ye. He’ll kill ye to rescue his sister if he has to. Will ye rush her into marriage, if ye ken that Ryder will still come for her?”
Logan did not flinch. “Alaina’s marriage will set in motion things that even Ryder cannae undo. I will be too powerful for him to fight, with a Campbell army behind me.”
“And mercenaries bought with Campbell money, nay doubt,” Megan breathed. “Ye plan to attack Ryder himself, daenae ye? Ye want to obliterate Clan MacCulloch and make it all into Clan MacAdair.”
Logan sneered. “As it always should have been. Alaina, her sister, and her wretched braither allowe me.”
“We owe ye nothin’!” Alaina shouted, although her bravado was quickly wearing thin.
Logan’s eyes glazed over. “Ye think nae? I gave me sister to the old Laird MacCulloch. It was a fine match, and one which should have made me the most powerful man in the Highlands. Instead, I only received half of the payment I should have gotten, and none of the soldiers.”
“Perhaps Laird MacCulloch did not support yer warmongering,” Megan observed. “I bet ye asked for land, too much of it. Perhaps he agreed to wed yer sister. They loved each other, ye ken.”
“Love is a weak emotion. It has nay bearin’ on the exercise of power. This lass here,” he aimed the sword point at Alaina once more, “will marry who I say, and when I say it. She owes it to me.”
“She owes ye nothin’,” Megan hissed. Logan did not even seem to hear her this time. She glanced around frantically for a weapon.
I’ve carried a dagger and me bow and arrow around all over the Highlands,Megan thought heavily.And now that I need them, I’m unarmed. Wonderful.
There were no guards near here. In this remote part of the corridor, she could not even hear the noise of the Feast Hall. There were no footsteps, no voices. She could shout for help, but it seemed unlikely that Logan would let her do that more than once.
There were three of them, of course, to Logan’s one, but he was tall, strong, and an experienced warrior.
An experienced madman, more like.
He would gut Hamish from navel to chin as soon as look at him, and Megan was not too sure whether he’d balk at killingher,either. He would want to keep Alaina alive, but once he’d carried her off, she’d be as good as dead.
If she is married to Laird Campbell’s son, they’ll work to keep her hidden. They’ll move her from place to place, keepin’ her away from Ryder, hopin’ that he loses interest.
It seemed likely to her that Laird Campbell believed that Logan really did have the right to marry Alaina off as he pleased. Then, if the marriage happened and Logan attacked the Campbells, they would retaliate in fury at a perceived injustice. War would spark up, a flame that would consume the Highlands if left unchecked.
She shuddered.
“It was ye who sent the bandits, was it nae?” Megan said aloud.
Logan glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
“Brides are snatched every day, lass,” he countered. “It’s nae unheard of. As usual, Ryder ruined me plans. Fortunately, he was too stupid to leave any of the soldiers alive for questionin’. However, he’s nae here now, is he?”
“I daenae need Ryder to save me,” Megan snapped, before she could stop herself.
Chuckling, Logan threw her an amused glance. “Oh, nay?”
“Aye. Nay.”
