She let out a harsh laugh, still facing away from him. “He’s not hunting ye,” she said softly. “He’s hunting me.”
Malcolm released a slow breath. “Then he will have tae go through me first.”
He wouldn’t allow Edna to be hurt in his presence.
Neacal swept into the great hall, his boots ringing loudly on the stone floor.
“Wot is the meaning of this?” Laird Mcgregor announced, rising from his dinner table. Neacal looked over the laird and to the man seated at his right, the very man that he had talked with weeks before.
“Yer daughter has killed mah brother!” he replied, hearing the gasps ring through the otherwise silent hall. “I demand compensation!”
Erik McGregor rose from his seat along with the laird, his wife pressing a hand to her mouth in horror at what he had just said.
“Wot sort of trick is this? Edna would never—”
“She did,” Neacal interrupted angrily, slamming his fist on the table. The dishes rattled as he did so, but he was in no mood to pay it any mind. “And I demand tae be compensated.”
“Here now,” the laird demanded, bracing his hands on the table as he glared at Neacal. “Ye cannae come into mah hall—mahkeep—and make such demands! Where is yer proof, Laird?”
“Mah daughter was taken!” Erik added, his eyes hard. “She is nary a killer as ye so claim.”
Neacal gave them all a smooth smile. He had anticipated that they wouldn’t outright believe him and, on his journey, had worked on his tale of woe so well that he was quite proud of it. “I have witnesses,” he started, clasping his hands behind his back. “Witnesses tae Edna McGregor threatening mah own brother. Ye see, Edna has been a guest in mah keep for a matter of weeks. She, well, she decided tae take mah proposal tae heart and spend some time with me and mah clan.”
“Nay,” Finlay stated, rising from her seat. “She wouldnae. She had nary an interest in wedding ye.”
“Well now,” Neacal continued, as if she hadn’t spoken a word, “she will be mah wife, or ye will pay for wot she has done.”
The aging laird eyed him, and Neacal met his gaze straightforward. “Wot sort of compensation would ye have with her as yer wife if she killed yer brother, lad?”
Neacal’s smile faded. He was no lad. He was a laird, just like the old Scot before him, and he wanted tae be treated as such. “She will serve her penance as being mah wife. I demand her body and her hand as payment if no compensation can be offered.”
“Ye’re mad,” Finlay stated, her face full of rage. “I willnevergive mah daughter over tae ye!”
Neacal motioned for his advisor to come forward and handed over the parchment he had prepared on behalf of Neacal’s demands. “This is wot I require,” he growled, throwing the rolled parchment on the table. “Nothing less, or else ye will hand over yer daughter.” He then braced his hands on the table, meeting the angry gaze of Erik McGregor. “And if I find out that ye are withholding her from me, I will tear this clan apart.”
Erik’s jaw clenched tightly, but Neacal was already striding away, his warriors falling in line behind him in case there was some sort of attack as he exited the keep. He was already in talks with some of the clans that didn’t care for the McGregors and their talks of peace, along with a few rogue bandits that would like nothing more than to take the spoils of the farming clan.
He had to bide his time. He knew that the McGregor clan didn’t have the means to gather the coin he had asked for, so they would either face ruination or give up Edna.
Either way, Neacal would be the victor.
14
The trip to the McPearson clan took three days. Edna gritted her teeth as they covered the last bit of road that would lead to a village she knew well, glad that they were almost there. Torrential rains woke them three days ago, forcing them to seek shelter in a nearby empty cave from their campsite. The rain lasted all day and night, but when the sun finally peeked out from behind the morning clouds, their horse was missing.
Malcolm had tried to find the horse, spending much of the morning walking through the wood, and by the time he had given up, the sun was already high in the sky. They barely covered half of their journey before night fell, delaying them further.
But as the sun crested high in the sky on the third day, Edna spied the farms that dotted the borders of the McPearson land.
It wasn’t just the horrid few days that had her on edge, but also that she and Malcolm hadn’t said more than a few words since their kiss.
The kiss. Her stomach still fluttered at the thought of how it had felt to have Malcolm’s lips on hers, how he had tasted, and how her own body had reacted. His kiss, well, she wanted so much more. Even though he was continuing to tell her that he wouldn’t wed her, Edna wished that she could kiss him once more.
No, she craved his kiss, and it irritated her.
“Finally,” Malcolm muttered as they reached the village. “I cannae remember another time that I have been so happy tae see the keep than I have at this moment.”
“Aye,” Edna replied softly, following him through the paths that led to the keep. She supposed she was grateful that they were here, that she would be surrounded by members of her family, even if it weren’t her sister or parents.
