Lara’s stomach knotted within her. She knew she must do something, but what? He went to tell the rest about his new position and his new responsibilities, and her absence from his side would cause gossip and problems. He had tried to accommodate her. He had listened when he could have ignored her pleas and her deepest needs.
“My lord? Pray thee, I would come with you to the hall.”
Sebastien stopped and, without facing her, waited for her to catch up to him. When she’d reached his side, they walked to the stairs, down to the yard and to the entrance of the hall. So many were gathering that a crowd spilled out onto the steps. His men began cheering as they noticed him, and the crowd parted to allow them through. Sebastien took her hand to guide her to the front of the hall.
Catriona broke away from her own maid and ran to Lara’s side. At but six years, the girl had no idea of what was occurring, and she clung to Lara, wrapping her small fingers in her sister’s. Cat tended to slip back to the nervous child she’d become with the arrival of so many strangers in their home.
With the death of her stepmother in childbirth, as her own had as well, Lara was the only person close to acting as a mother to Catriona, although lately Margaret served such a role as well. While the innocence of her age allowed her a smoother passage through the events of these last weeks, the changes and upheavals here unnerved the girl, and she usually remained in her chambers or in the solar when Lara was there.
Sebastien left her and called Malcolm to him. Philippe followed and Sebastien leaned over to speak with both of them. She’d never seen three more serious faces as the conversation went on for several minutes. Then Malcolm smiled widely at something Sebastien said to him, and he nodded. Without another word, Malcolm came to stand next to her. As Sebastien began his address to the crowd, she felt her brother’s hand slide into hers and squeeze it.
He stretched up so he could whisper in her ear. “Sebastien says that we are his now and that he will care for us.” She nodded to him without answering. He tugged her hand and she leaned down once more.
“He said we have nothing to fear from him.”
She imagined that those words were the very ones spoken by the devil to Eve as he enticed her to sin. Lara glanced across the small distance that separated them and met his clear, green gaze. There he stood, the devil incarnate, tempting her to forget who she was and who he was.
The very worst of it was that she was very tempted to do exactly what he wanted.
Chapter Ten
Dunstaffnage transformed before her eyes over the next weeks—from home of the MacDougalls to prison to the home of the newly elevated Lord Sebastien. No longer restricted to the north tower, Lara was free to roam, and found no guards at her heels as she moved around the keep and the castle grounds.
Malcolm adored Sebastien and spent most of his time dogging his every movement. Catriona had taken a liking to him as well and had been drawn in by the small gifts he always seemed to bring her at supper. Margaret fancied herself in love with Sir Hugh and, although Lara suspected the knight had a nefarious purpose in mind, no words or warnings could convince the maid of it.
The new laird ordered barracks to be built a short distance from the castle, and the men still living in the hall moved there as soon as they were completed. His men seemed to find stationary living very different than their normal situation, but they all adapted to it. Sebastien organized a daily routine of patrols and training that suited those now stationed at the castle. Lara noticed that he stopped wearing his mail and armor while going about his duties—a sure sign of his confidence in their occupation of Dunstaffnage.
True to Sebastien’s word and promise, all remaining soldiers and servants were given the choice of swearing loyalty to him and his king or exile. Although a few chose to leave, most stayed behind and merged into the fighting groups under his command or were assigned new duties by Etienne or Callum.
She overheard Sebastien tell Hugh that this was how Robert would govern once all of Scotland was in his control—in addition to his loyal vassals holding their own keeps, a system of castles under royal governance scattered across the land. Dunstaffnage was simply the first demonstrating this change in the way Robert the Bruce ruled his country. From ragtag groups of warriors, moving in stealth under night’s cover, to well-provisioned and armed castles, the Bruce’s force was stretching.
She continued to gather scraps of information and pass them on to her cousin, although she never heard much back. One day Lara discovered the list of planned supply movements and told Eachann about it. She even described Sebastien’s method of having a heavily armed escort come to Dunstaffnage to travel back to where the provisions were needed. Over the next few weeks, his men were attacked by raiding parties and there were some injuries, but nothing serious enough to bring about retaliation from Sebastien.
Sebastien split the job of steward, assigning Callum to oversee those duties that pertained to the running of the castle itself, and assigning Etienne to oversee the task of moving supplies, men and weapons to and from Dunstaffnage as required. Now, with Callum taking care of things again, it almost felt like home to Lara.
Almost.
Nearly every task she’d done in the past—being in charge of the keep, its supplies and foodstocks, its servants and villeins, everything that did not involve her father’s own duties—was now handled by others. Etienne never consulted her on matters pertaining to the villages or farmlands. Callum listened to her words or requests, but never sought out her opinions or suggestions or followed any orders she tried to give.
Everyone there seemed to know their place, and thrived under the care and control of the new Laird of Dunstaffnage. All but her. The worst part was that she could feel and see the ones she loved the most slipping away from her. And with discouraging news that arrived with each visit of her cousin or his man, Lara felt more and more lost and unneeded. It appeared that other than gathering facts and details for Eachann, she seemed to have no purpose here.
Mayhap, if Sebastien pressured her or forced her to the marriage bed, against her will, she would feel better about her spying. If she could hate him for the way he behaved toward her or her siblings, the passing of information and the subsequent attacks would feel more rewarding.
Instead, he treated her with infinite civility and politeness. After her rebuke of his request on the battlements, he’d not approached her about anything personal again. Strangely, they continued to share a bed. Each morning she awoke clinging to the edge on her side, as though afraid of reaching out to him while asleep. And if she tried to sleep in her chair, she always found herself in the bed and Sebastien gone when she woke.
If she were honest with herself, it was getting very difficult to ignore him. He dealt with everyone in his jurisdiction fairly and protected her family as he’d promised to. He’d created a home in Dunstaffnage where even her sister now moved freely and comfortably on her own.
Although his attempts to physically seduce Lara stopped, he did try to entice her with promises of a return to her previous duties, but she understood the cost of such a thing and could not accept the bribe. She managed to escape from such encounters, though it was growing more difficult each time.
The thing she could not escape from were the memories. Of his kisses. His touch. The way he made her body ache and then satisfied it. Memories invaded her sleep and she found herself watching the way he walked, the way he touched Catriona’s small hand, the way he grasped his sword when training in the yard. Lara longed to reach out and touch the scar on his cheek and to feel the heat in his chest, but pride and fear kept her from doing so.
Eachann had called her a whore and she did not want that to be true. She could not lie with the enemy and keep her self-worth intact. She must continue to thwart his and his king’s plans, and part of that was Sebastien’s plan for her.
As was her custom, Lara was working on her embroidery in the solar when Malcolm sought her out. The morning had dawned clear and sunny and warmer than usual for a mid-September day.
“Come, Lara. Lord Sebastien asks that you join us on the firth,” Malcolm said, grabbing and tugging on her hand.
“I am busy here, Malcolm. Please give Lord Sebastien my regrets.” She shook free of his grasp. Errant thoughts of him now invaded her waking hours as alluring daydreams, and so the less she was in his company the better.
