The chief turned toward him. Recognition flared in his gaze, and he quickly said something to the two younger men at his side. The Lamont was a seasoned warrior who hid his reactions well, but the younger of the two men at his side was not. Jamie was watching them closely, so he noticed a flash of alarm that was quickly covered up. Was it simply because a Campbell had entered their keep, or were they hiding something? He would find out soon enough.
The Lamont strode toward him. For a man who must be past fifty years, he wore his age well and moved with the strength and agility of a formidable warrior.
“Campbell,” he said. “I would have been here to greet you myself had I known you were coming.”
Jamie smiled. They both knew the lapse had been intentional. Alerting the Lamonts of his arrival would hardly have served his purpose. If Lamont was hiding the MacGregor and his men, as Jamie believed, he wouldn’t give him a chance to spirit them away. With Jamie and his men watching, they would be forced to stay put.
The Lamont looked behind him, and his brows drew together. “You’ve come alone?”
In a time when a man’s power was equated to the number ofluchd-taigheguardsmen who surrounded him, it was unusual to travel without a retinue—not to mention dangerous. But Jamie didn’t need an army of men to protect him. He preferred to work alone or, in this case, with only a few handpicked men. “My men will arrive later.” After they’d finished scouting and establishing a perimeter. Jamie gestured toward the two men who stood protectively beside their chief. “Your sons, I presume?”
The Lamont nodded. “Mytanaiste,Malcolm, and my second son, Niall.” The elder resembled his father, with fair hair and green eyes, but the second—Niall—made Jamie even more confident that the lass in the tree had been Caitrina Lamont. In coloring they might have been twins, though Niall was a few years older. “Come,” the Lamont added. “Join us in the hall for a drink. The feasting will not begin for a few hours yet.”
Jamie agreed and followed the men up the wooden forestairs into the keep. As with most tower houses, the entry was on the first floor, above the vaulted ground level. In an attack, the wooden stairs could be easily removed or, if necessary, burned.
It was considerably cooler and darker inside. The thick stone walls were an effective barrier to both man and sun. They passed through the small entry into the great hall. The castle was well tended and comfortably furnished: Colorful woven rugs adorned the floors, paintings and tapestries lined the walls, and several silver candelabra were spread around the room. The Lamont was not a wealthy man, but neither was he a poor one. Still, everything had a well-worn appearance—the years of feuding with the Campbells had taken their toll.
They sat at the high table, and the Lamont instructed a serving woman to bring them some refreshment, which arrived promptly in carved silver goblets engraved with the crest and motto of Lamont—Ne Parcas Nec Spernas,Neither Spare Nor Dispose. When she’d gone, the Lamont turned to him and without preamble said, “Why are you here? What does the Earl of Argyll want with me?”
Jamie took a long drink of ale, watching the other man over the rim of his goblet. Directness was a trait he admired. He put the drink on the table and deliberately took his time in answering. But all three men sat perfectly still, betraying nothing.
“You are hosting the games, are you not?”
“You can’t mean to enter the competition?” Niall blurted out, unable to hide his astonishment.
Jamie gave him a hard look, guessing the reason for his reaction. The Campbells were an old and proud Highland clan, yet because of their connection with the king, too many saw them as akin to Lowlanders. “Iama Highlander,” he said, a warning edged in his voice.
Niall looked as though he wanted to argue the point, but he wisely held his tongue.
The chief moved to defuse the brewing tension. “I wouldn’t think Argyll would find the gathering worthy of the attentions of his most trusted hench”—he cleared his throat—“captain.”
Jamie raised a brow, well aware of what he’d been about to say. Henchman was one of the nicer names he was called. “My cousin takes a keen interest in all that happens in Argyll and Bute,” he said pointedly. He drew his finger over the heavy engraving of his goblet. “But there’s also the matter of your daughter.”
All three men tensed, looking as though they wanted to reach for their swords. The old chief recovered first. His eyes were hard and flat. “Why would my daughter concern you?”
“I’ve come to see for myself whether the rumors are true.”
The old man studied him carefully. Jamie watched him struggle with the implications. Although he might not like it, the Lamont was shrewd enough to realize that an alliance with the Campbells—particularly the trusted cousin of the most powerful Campbell of all—could not be summarily dismissed.
“And she is of interest to you?” the chief asked with surprising calm, though Jamie could see from the whiteness of his knuckles gripping the goblet that he was anything but.
“Perhaps.” He shrugged noncommittally, pleased that his ruse had worked. The Lamonts were suspicious about the purpose of his visit, but now they were also worried, and some of their focus would be directed on the lass.
Chapter 3
By midday, Caitrina was restored to her former state of dress, if not her prior good spirits. She’d put the episode in the forest out of her mind as best she could, but the memory of that kiss seemed permanently imprinted on her consciousness, leaving her unsettled.
She hurried down the stairs toward the great hall, hearing the sounds of revelry, knowing she was late. A fact that was sure to annoy her father. He would undoubtedly interpret her tardiness as another attempt to avoid her “duty.”
It just wasn’t fair. She was being paraded before a bunch of hungry vultures, and her two brothers, her twoolderbrothers, were left alone to do as well they pleased. Malcolm was almost five years her senior and he’d yet to take a wife. While her brothers dallied with every unsuitable lass on Bute, for the last year she’d been forced to fend off the steady stream of suitors who had presented themselves at the castle gate.
She knew her father thought he was doing what was best for her by forcing the issue of her marriage. He worried that she would grow weary and eventually resent caring for him and her brothers and that they’d kept her too sheltered. She’d never been beyond Bute, except to visit her uncle, the Lamont of Toward. But her father was wrong. She had no desire to go to court—or anywhere else, for that matter. Everything she wanted was right here.
She loved her family and had no intention of leaving Ascog anytime soon. And certainly not for one of the overbearing oafs who leered at her across the dining table night after night as if she were some prize to be won, or for one of the stammering youths who proclaimed their undying love not five minutes after meeting her. No, Caitrina was quite content where she was. She smiled. Even if she had to reject every man in the Highlands to ensure that it stayed that way.
This time, however, she wasn’t trying to avoid her suitors by being late; it had taken longer than she thought to bathe and have someone help her with her gown for the second time in one day. Actually, she was rather looking forward to the feast. Even if she didn’t like her father’s ulterior motive—namely to find her a husband—when he’d offered to hold the gathering at Ascog, it was an honor, not to mention exciting. And she could admit to a certain curiosity in discovering the identity of her bold warrior.
She paused in the stairwell just outside the great hall to catch her breath, sneaking a peek inside. The large, cavernous room was filled to capacity with the colorfully clad clansmen, boisterously celebrating the opening of the games with plenty of the Lamont’s best ale. Although the sun shone brightly through the four windows, the gentle heat of a late spring day did not have the strength to warm the lingering chill of an unusually persistent winter, and the smoky smell of peat from the enormous fireplace situated behind the dais filled her nose.
