* * *
The journey up north would have been nice if it were not for the many times Laird Roy Halkerston seemed to take pleasure in needling his success in Bruce Duncan’s face. The going was swift; there were no encampments along the way to slow their progress down. On the evening of the third day, Huna Castle hove into view.
“There’s the castle, Lady Laura,” Laird Halkerston said, reining in his horse beside hers. “An’ ye can see our lodge on the far side of the wall, where it catches the sun in the mornings.”
Laura replied in a wooden voice, “How lovely.” Then her memory seemed to jolt itself. “In which direction does the wee village of St. John’s lie? I hear it has the most delightful rivers and dells running down to the sea.”
It was the first time she had smiled since they had set out in the cavalcade of horses. Roy looked at her sideways and said in a louder tone, “That coastal hamlet where folks live like trolls under a bridge? Och, Lady Laura, ye need never worry yer sweet head about such places. Ye were born for better things.”
Laura could not help looking over at Bruce quickly. He was staring right back at her, and her heart skipped a beat. Mary and her father had given the two of them no chance to be alone since the night Bruce had come into her bedchamber. It was torture traveling with him only a few yards away from her at any given moment, but with no way to talk or touch. She would look over at him at every chance she had, but he would always be staring rigorously ahead like the well-disciplined soldier he was.
She gave him a small smile, hoping he would understand the message she was trying to get across. He looked tired and unkempt but still as formidable as ever. He gave a slight inclination of his head, and immediately, her day was brighter.
* * *
There was a light supper waiting for them in the lodge dining hall. “Will I be guessing right if I were to say ye have a feast prepared for tomorrow?” Laird Anderson asked Roy.
One of the reasons scouts were sent ahead of cavalcades was so that they could alert the kitchen to prepare enough food for how many people were arriving.
Laird Halkerston shook his head. “Nay, I ordered no feast. We will only make merry together once the lady has signed over her gold to me.”
It was said in such a casual way that Laird Anderson and Laura really did not know how to reply to it.
“Come, m’lady,” Mary said. “If there is no feast planned for tomorrow, we may as well sup in yer chambers.”
Laura gave one last look back at the lodge dining hall, hoping for a glimpse of Bruce to keep her warm through the night, but he was not there. Mary knew why her mistress kept looking backward.
“Never ye mind about yer braw warrior, m’lady. Remember what Laird Halkerston said about the men being housed in the ruined castle on the cliffs?”
* * *
Bruce strode over to Davey Torrens when he reached the castle barracks. “D’ye have that gold ready, Davey? I think ye’ll be needing to hand it over to me soon.”
“Hoots!” Davey Torrens looked shocked. “I thought it was all at an’ end between the two o’ ye, Duncan! Have ye been pullin’ the wool over me eyes all this time?”
“I don’ have to answer yer speculations, Davey, but I’ll be visitin’ me sister over in St. John’s now that I’m back, an’ I want that gold in me pocket before I go there.”
The McKay brothers clustered around with a few other Halkerston soldiers. “Remember the rules, Brucie, me lad!” Donald grinned. “A nice long kiss with plenty o’ passion, an’ it has to be done somewhere we can be watching!”
“When the lady goes out onto her balcony to watch the sunrise in two days’ time, I’ll do it. Just make sure ye are nae all hootin’ and hallooing down in the courtyard, ye hear me?”
He left the soldiers chattering amongst themselves and went to the lodge kitchen to eat his supper. Bruce had made up his mind to win the bet. Seeing Roy Halkerston crowing over his prize all the way along the road made Bruce want to crush the man’s head between his hands until the laird’s eyes went red. Just because Roy Halkerston’s ancestors had come to these lands hundreds of years ago, it gave him the right to marry Laura. It was so unfair. Bruce had a very good idea that Laura was being blandished into marrying Roy with the promise she might take him as a lover once the ring was on her finger. Then why bother marrying at all? All it would mean was the transfer of her gold from Castle Fisher to the lodge at Huna.
Would he even agree to such a complicated arrangement? He thought of the way her long brown curls bounced whenever she jumped her horse over a puddle and how her gray-green eyes sparkled with every smile, and he knew he would agree to be her lover, even if her husband were a jealous ogre. So he might as well claim his kiss and get the gold for Alice now that Laura had agreed to become Lady Halkerston. Laird Roy did not deserve such maidenly beauty in the first place.
“Losh, Bruce!” the lodge cook said as she brought him more bread. “Ye’ve bent yer spoon nearly in half! Whatever has managed to get ye so riled?”
“Ye dinnae want to ken, Cook,” he growled.
13
“What a piddlin’ place,” Laird Roy Halkerston sneered as they entered the village where Bruce had grown up. “Don’ these folk take pride in their homes or roads? Everything is covered in mud.” The servants and soldiers at Huna had thought it strange that their laird wanted to ride so far that day to visit St. John’s hamlet, a collection of small farmsteads, fishermen, and tradesfolk dedicated to living off the land in that harsh northern climate. But they accompanied him to the coastal hamlet nonetheless, arriving there just before noon.
Laird Anderson could see his daughter was itching to say something, so he quickly interrupted the laird’s criticisms. “Er…perhaps we can put that down to the fact that it is the season for spring rains? It hardly seems fair to nitpick at the state of the streets when every able-bodied man, woman, an’ child will be out in the fields planting wheat?”
There had been no chance for Bruce to send word to his sister that he had returned to Huna. That was the only reason why he had agreed to sign a bond with Roy Halkerston in the first place—to be within one day’s ride to his sister. The last few weeks away at Castle Fisher had been tough for both of them. He wanted to thank her for the letter and tell her she would soon have enough gold for Healer Kinney’s potions for the rest of her life.
He spurred Maegli up to Roy’s horse. “Me laird, please will ye grant me permission to ride up to the coast where me sister’s cottage lies? It will nae take more than a moment or two.”
