“Aye. Beauty and the beast. Watch him, Barra, for I have no wish to kill the man.”
Kate paused in refilling Jaime’s tankard when she saw how he eyed the Laird of Rathmor. The size of Jaime fascinated her. She was a buxom, healthy girl, yet he made her feel like a dainty lass. She did not think him any less of a man because of his stutter. In truth, for the first time in her life she was really interested in a man. To watch him threaten her laird in his every look and gesture made her afraid of him. Without any thought except to calm him, she placed her hand over his and met his startled dark gaze.
“Nay, sir, the laird will have ye killed, and then ye will be useless to your mistress.” She wondered at the astonishment in his fine eyes when he looked at her. “There is naught ye can do to halt what is to happen.”
Jaime saw the concern in the woman’s pretty hazel eyes and nearly forgot what he was troubled about. His stutter was strong as he said, “Your l-laird means to d-dishonor Mistress Ailis. Aye, and he c-could hurt the wee lass. I c-canna bear it.”
“Ye can bear it and ye must,” Kate ordered. “Did your mistress not ask it of ye herself?” Jaime gave a reluctant nod. “If ‘twill ease your mind, I will tend to her come the morning. She may wish for a woman’s help.”
“Aye.” Jaime smiled at the girl. “Aye, that would ease my mind some. Thank ye, mistress.”
“Kate,” she murmured, slightly bemused over how his smile softened his broad, not unhandsome face and caused a softening within her. “Call me Kate.”
Alexander watched the byplay between Kate and Jaime then looked at Barra with his brows raised slightly and amusement turning his gaze a gentler blue. “The beast has a way with the lasses. Do ye see how our Kate moons over him, our cold Kate, who usually scorns men?”
Barra’s smile was real if small. “The lasses see the lamb beneath the lion, the loyal and mayhaps too soft a heart beneath the brawn.”
“Aye, ye have the way of it,” agreed Angus. “ ‘Tis wrong to think him a poor idiot as well. Aye, he may be a wee bit slow-witted, but he isna an idiot.”
His eyes narrowed slightly, Alexander studied Jaime as the big man shyly conversed with Kate. “Nay, not an idiot, but often thought to be one. He carries the mark of a man scorned or ridiculed at every turn. Ofttimes great size can stir such feelings. The MacFarlane wench chose well. A kind word and the brute is her slave.” He shook his head when he saw Barra stiffen, clearly preparing to argue that cynical observation. “I ken that Mistress Ailis means her kind words, so dinna rage at me again. Even I canna feel that she just feigns caring for the man.”
“Aye, the children care for him as well.” Barra frowned slightly. “Ye are right in thinking that his loyalty and need to protect the lass could prove stronger than his word. The promise could well be pushed from his mind as his concern for his mistress grows stronger. Is there no way to secure him for the night?”
Alexander slowly nodded. “Aye, we could place him in the dungeons. I hadna wanted to. It seemed an insult, a sign that we didna trust him to honor his word.”
“It could save the brute’s life in the end,” Angus said. “Far better to endure an uncomfortable night, mayhaps a sense of insult, than a taste of cold steel.”
With a sigh Alexander ordered some of his men to take Jaime to the dungeons. He was not worried that his men might think fear prompted his command, for his bravery was unquestioned and well proven. It was simply an expedient move to keep a man alive. Alexander truly did not want to have to kill Jaime.
Jaime sensed what was about to occur as soon as he was approached by four burly men. Fear kept him from acknowledging Kate’s soft promise to see him on the morrow. Ever since he had been a small child, he had feared dark places. He knew the MacDubhs meant no intentional harm, but they were about to inflict the worst kind of torture on him. He dragged his feet, but they treated it as a mild protest. He knew they saw his blank expression as stubbornness or stupidity and not the blind terror that it was. Fear stilled Jaime’s tongue so that he could not explain himself. Only his promise to Ailis to stay his fists kept him from using his great strength to break free.
A small whimper escaped Jaime as the door to the cell was shut, but no one heeded it. He sank down onto the cold stone floor as the light from the men’s torches faded. He curled up into a ball and tried to stave off the horrors his mind invoked. It would work for a while, but in the dark close space of the dungeon, Jaime knew that his fears could not be conquered, would only grow stronger. He called out for Ailis. But that did little to halt his growing panic, for he knew she could not help him, that she would soon be far too busy fighting the Laird of Rathmor.
* * *
As he finished off his ale, Alexander decided that he had savored his anticipation long enough. He rose from his seat prepared to savor reality. Alexander paused by his brother and noted the white-knuckled grip Barra had on his goblet. It was but one of many signs that heralded an uncommon tension in Barra. Although Alexander did not wish such dissension to exist between him and Barra, he was not ready to turn away from Ailis.
“Ye thought she was Mairi when ye first saw her,” he murmured. “Is there a great likeness?” As Alexander had hoped, the mention of Mairi caused an immediate softening in Barra.
“Aye, though Ailis is smaller. Mairi wasna only taller but rounder, fulsomer. Ailis is also a fighter. I fear my Mairi was not.”
“The woman risked a lot when she took ye as her lover. MacFarlanes are bred to hate MacDubhs.”
“True, but Mairi was ever afraid. At times she shook with fear, shook as if she had the ague. My Mairi was soft of spirit, but wee Ailis isna. Methinks Ailis would spit in their eyes.”
“Aye.” Angus chuckled. “The lass may be a MacFarlane, but ye canna help admiring her spirit.” A quick glance at Barra caused Angus to abruptly fall silent.
Barra guessed that Angus had wanted to make some remark about how that spirit could affect what Alexander planned to do. He looked at Alexander, intending to make one last plea. “Alex, canna ye—“
“Leave it, Barra.” Alexander leaned close to his sibling so as to ensure the privacy of his next words. “Though I have come to scorn the more tender emotions, I still savor the baser ones betwixt men and women. Ye say that Ailis looks akin to Mairi, so ye ought to ken why your pleas fail with me.”
Barra sighed, for he did understand. “Just dinna hurt the lass. I ken ye can get what ye seek without much force or fear. Use those skills of seduction ye had so finely honed years ago. Ailis has done naught to deserve pain added to the shame ye mean to visit upon her.”
Alexander briefly clasped Barra’s shoulder in a silent promise, then started out the hall. He understood Barra’s torn loyalties, and the lack of ribald comments as he left told him that others understood, too. Alexander was grateful since he sensed that Barra’s capitulation was far from complete. By the time he reached his chambers, however, Alexander’s only thoughts were upon what awaited him inside. The enticing sense of anticipation was heady as he entered his chambers.
Ailis eyed Alexander warily, and a bit unclearly, as he entered. On one or two occasions she had been drunker than she was at the moment, but she felt her state of inebriation would suffice. In fact, she was feeling decidedly free of tension and even a little cheerful. All moral questions aside, if it was not Alexander MacDubh who bedded her, it would be Donald MacCordy. She had no wish for either man’s services, but if given a choice, she would most certainly take Alexander. He simply wanted to humiliate Colin and the MacCordys. Donald wished to subjugate her. She also knew that Alexander MacDubh would accomplish the act with less brutality and more finesse than Donald. The fact that Alexander was the most attractive man she had ever seen did not hurt, either. In truth, she was a little worried that that could severely undermine her resolve to remain cold and distant.
When Alexander correctly judged Ailis’s state, he experienced a brief flash of anger. That eased when he realized that she was only slightly inebriated. It would probably make matters easier for him. He really had no wish to fight with her.
