“What would Laird Jamie do to me if one hair on your beautiful head was harmed?”
She trembled against him, losing the battle of wills in such close proximity to the man she couldna accept wanting. “Why did ye come here, Kuresh?”
His features grew stormier at the mention of his former name. “Never call me Kuresh again.”
“Why? Ye canna remove yer past, even if ye wish it away, even if ye live in denial as to who and what ye are.”
“The way ye have all these years?”
“Aye,” she admitted without hesitation.
“Why do you insist on bringing my past up so often, Miran?”
“Because I canna believe a man from Constantinople, a prince, would give up so much to serve as the captain of a minor Highlander laird’s army. Surely ye are hiding something.”
“As ye know, my father betrayed me.”
She waved her hand as if dismissing his excuse. “Tis the way of the Highlands, too. Fathers and sons, mothers and daughters are often at odds with one another. Especially when lands and power are at stake.”
“We had no lack of land and power. My father sold the one thing I hold more precious than anything else.”
Admittedly, their situation required resolution, not furthering their differences. She had been so deeply entrenched in her mistrust and misplaced hatred for him, she had failed to understand what inspired such a brave and loyal man to cast off his superior title and life. But from the look on his face, he was about to remind her.
“Do you know what I’m speaking of?”
She nodded.
“My freedom, Miran.”
“Aye,” she said hoarsely, once again ashamed for provoking him. One of these days, the tight rein Kai kept on himself around her would snap, and deservedly so. What would follow would be her fault.
“Nothing means more to me than my freedom. By the grace of God, Laird Alex did not want a slave in his ranks. He required me to go with him willingly, to serve him wholeheartedly or not at all.”
That detail she had never heard before. And it fascinated her and made her sad at the same time. Sad for him. “Ye had a choice to stay or go, even after yer da sold ye into slavery.”
“Aye.”
“Why did ye no’ stay?”
He swallowed hard before he answered. “Because I would have killed my father and broken my mother’s heart.”
“Did yer father make any provisions for ye? For yer brothers?”
Kai snorted with revulsion. “Nay. Nor would I have accepted anything from his wicked hands. But my mother allowed me to take whatever I wanted from her palace—valuable gifts given to me—items that have ensured my independence and my own personal wealth here.”
She wondered what exotic things he possessed. Diamonds and sapphires, silks and golden-threaded carpets? “Ye are a lucky man to have such a mother.”
“I am.”
Plagued by her own bittersweet memories, Miran would sacrifice anything to have a father who betrayed her but still lived. Twould be better than visiting the graves where her mam and da were buried. “Once again, I am humbled by yer unfortunate circumstances and how well ye have recovered in such a short time.” Then, wishing to give up on the conversation, she sighed and chose to pay closer attention to the details of the landscape.
Though the sun had nearly set, the sky was on fire with streaks of orange and purple. Wide open fields covered in inches of snow stretched out before them. And if she cleared her mind and took a deep breath of the crisp winter air, she could taste the salt from the sea, which must only be a few miles away.
“How far is the water?” she asked.
“The ocean?”
“Aye.”
“Ten miles, north.”
What she would give to run away and find a ship headed for some faraway place where she could choose her own future. But then… She remembered Helen and Jamie. A bairn on the way. And Alex and Keely. The MacKays needed her, and she needed them. Her future children would be leaders for her clan. Maybe even a laird, or a laird’s wife. Nay, she was stuck there forever.
“Look, lass,” Kai teased in a perfectly mimicked Scots brogue. “I see light up ahead.”
