Someone rapped on the door. Before Constantine could give entry, his cousin Hilary threw open the door. When her eager gaze found Ismay, her expression darkened.
“Is it true, then?” she demanded. “Did ye kill my great uncle Roderick MacDonald?”
Ismay’s color drained again, and it was like seeing the sun through a cloak of charcoal clouds.
“Hil,” Constantine warned her in a low voice.
His cousin threw him a stunned glare. “Does it not matter to ye, Cousin?”
“Do ye know what ’twill do to everyone when they find out ye have sold yer soul to the enemy?”
“Hilary,” Ismay interrupted quietly, her voice tainted with guilt. “I dinna want to be yer enemy. I—”
“Are friends deceitful to each other, Ismay?” Hilary snapped at her. “Aye, we are enemies—no matter what my traitor cousin feels fer ye.” She turned for the door, giving up her fight and leaving in a hurry.
“Roderick MacDonald’s servants took me in when I was two summers old,” Ismay’s words stopped her. “I was raised in the kitchens with the other scullery maids.”
“Why did ye not tell me before this?” Hilary asked her, sounding less angry.
“The chief began striking me when I was four,” Ismay told her, continuing on. “If I was slow to a task, I was punished. Many times I had to eat a taste of his food before he did to ensure that I would die rather than him if ’twas poisoned. If I refused, I was punished. I only refused once. Most times I wished ’twas poisoned. I was punished fer everything. I grew wishing I would die.”
Hilary turned her stricken gaze to her cousin, but Constantine was quiet, hearing the full weight of Ismay’s tale.
“When I was eight years old, he dragged me to his room, but he didna hit me. I would have rathered he killed me. He threw me to his bed and when he came near, I took hold of his dirk and sliced it across his neck. When I fled his room covered in blood, it was quickly discovered what I had done. I was promptly dragged outside and tossed into the square. More and more people were hearing of what happened and they gathered with the rest until there was a crowd. A few picked up stones, and then the rest followed, shouting that I was a murderer. They were going to kill me. But no rock was thrown. I was rescued by a man passing through the burgh. He took me away from my would-be executioners and raised me as his own. His name was John MacPherson, Baron of Raigmore. He left the earth and his bereaved daughter four months ago.
“After being promised to another cruel man, I fled my father’s home and my betrothed. And ended up here.”
Hilary wiped her eyes and sniffed deeply. “Och, Ismay, I didna know yer lifehad been so…”
“’Tis better now,” Constantine’s bride told her.
“Fergive me fer being so cruel and cold to ye,” Hilary cried and ran into Ismay’s arms.
Watching them, Constantine prayed the rest of his kin would be so forgiving.
He quickly got rid of his cousin by practically pushing her out the door. Locking the door behind him, he turned to Ismay and motioned for her to have a seat on one of the carved chairs facing the hearth. He poured them both a cup of spiced mead from the clay jug on the small table behind her chair.
“If ye hadna killed him, I would have ridden oot to do it myself,” he told her, coming around her and handing her a cup. “He didna deserve…” He stopped himself, biting down on his teeth. His Creator knew what kind of man Constantine could be. Constantine preferred that Ismay remain ignorant of it.
“I intend to help ye ferget those days,” he promised, debating whether or not he should fall on his knees before her or sit in the chair facing hers.
“Ye already have,” she told him softly and with warmth spreading to the depths of her eyes while he sat. “I could never love ye as I do if ye didna make me ferget the past. Ye brought yer radiance and lit up those dark corners, exposing them, and helping me vanquish them.”
Hearing this, he slipped out of his chair and bent his knees before her.
“Bonnie Ismay, we may be facin’ difficult days ahead from some of my kin. But I will protect ye from all. I will stay by ye and destroy anyone who tries to take ye from me.”
She nodded and he knew she believed him. It made his desire to protect her even more passionate.
“What shall we do about everyone out there?”
His gaze revealed another promise. One more inviting and intimate. “Let them wait.”
He moved up her body until their lips met in an eager, urgent kiss that left them both breathless.
*
Ismay stood atthe door to Constantine’s solar, ready, after tidying her appearance and blushing when Constantine cast her scandalous smile. She smoothed her skirts and patted her hair, then nodded. Whatever was to come from the Camerons and the MacDonalds, she would face head on.
