“And where was his sorry arse? I didnae see him in the short time I was there.” Dougall wondered where he’d been.
“He’s gone to the Matheson’s to retrieve Greer. I’m sure he wished to avoid ye. We all knew ye’d nae be happy about marrying Greer.” Logan’s discomfort became even more apparent. “Do ye ken, mayhap tis why yer father sent us off. Mayhap he didnae wish ye to interfere with Lady Greer’s arrival at Castle Treun.”
“I believe ye could be right,” Dougall said. There wasn’t anything he could do about it now except pray that Helene didn’t have the misfortune of dealing with Lady Greer while he was away. “Ye said Fingall is to marry. Who is she?” The bitter taste in Dougall’s mouth at this turn of events was made worse by the knowledge that his brother was now off escorting his bride back to Castle Treun. He could only hope Fingall had found himself in a similar circumstance.
“He’s marrying Lady Greer’s younger sister, Lady Gillian.”
“And is he happy about it?” Dougall asked.
“Aye. I believe so. He’s known Lady Gillian for many years and they are in love. I believe ’twas he suggested that ye could marry Lady Greer.”
“Grrr…” Dougall was seeing red. His brother and father were like two peas in a pod. “I have to put a stop to this. I cannae and willnae marry Greer.”
“I dinnae ken how you’ll do it,” Logan said.
“I’ll nae ask fer yer help. I dinnae wish to jeopardize yer standing with me Da.”
“I’m sorry, Dougall. I want to help ye. I do. I’d be banished or worse and I’ve nowhere else to go.”
“Ye could come back to the MacKenzies,” Dougall stated.
“Aye. I could. Do ye think they’d still want me?”
“Of course. Ye were such good friends with Cailin and Cormac. Ye saw how happy they were to see ye back at Breaghacraig. They’d welcome ye back with open arms. I’m sure of it.” A light of hope began to grow within Dougall. With Logan’s help he may just be able to escape Castle Treun with Helene and have the life he wanted instead of the life he was being forced into.
“Then I’ll do what I can to help ye, Dougall.”
“Yer like a brother to me, Logan. The brother I should have had.” Dougall laughed at the irony of his situation.
“Ye’d best do as yer Da asked first. We’ll patrol the lands and ye’ll get to know the men. ’Tis what he wished. By the time we return we’ll have a plan in place to rescue Helene from Paddraig and get us all back to Breaghacraig before they can stop us.”
“Thank ye, Logan. Yer a good man.”
“Shall we continue on then?”
Dougall signalled to his men to follow along behind him. They rode to the farthest reaches of the MacRae lands. Dougall did his best to act as if nothing was amiss. He knew almost all of these men from the days when he lived here under his father’s thumb. He hadn’t seen any of them for many years and despite the fact that his father expected much from them, they all respected the MacRae and would never betray him.
Chapter 8
Unaware that a guardwaited outside her door, Helene decided to venture out of the room in search of Dougall. He’d been gone a very long time and she was concerned that something was wrong. She no sooner stepped out than she was grabbed roughly by the arm and jerked into the body of a rather tall man who’d obviously been standing right outside of her door.
“Where do ye think yer off to?” he growled.
“I’m looking for Dougall.” Helene’s voice quivered with fear.
“He’s nae here,” the man said trying to shove her back into her chambers. As he did so, another man approached.
“Ye saved me the trouble of coming in to get ye. The laird wishes to see ye in the great hall,” he said to Helene.
“Where’s Dougall?” she asked again. He promised he’d be right back. He said they’d be on their way home.
“He’s gone,” the man said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the man stationed outside her door.
“Gone? What do you mean?” Confusion clouded her thinking. He’s here somewhere. He wouldn’t leave without me.
“I mean what I said. He’s gone.”
Helene’s mind was reeling at this news. Surely this man was mistaken. Dougall would never leave her here all alone. She started to speak, but the man interrupted her.
