Her blush warmed him more than he could have imagined, the stirring scent of roses emanating from her skin, her hair, making him squeeze her fingers and step closer.
“Dare I hope that you bear feelings for me as I bear for you, Tira? I canna but tell you the truth. I love you and wish tae marry you…if you will have me.”
The rush of emotion across her face, wonder, aye, and joy, making him feel breathless, Errol could see she trembled even more and he longed to fold her into his arms.
“Oh, Errol, I’ve loved you since last I saw you. Could you not see it? Didna you know?”
He did pull her close then, her slender body fitting perfectly against him just as if they had been forged for each other.
Her sweet breasts pressed to his chest while his heart soared…and he kissed her hair, her temple, her cheek.
“I will speak tae your father—aye, today!”
Only then had he felt her grow tense in his embrace, and she had pulled away to look up at him and utter the words that had tempered his impatience, however reluctantly.
I pledge myself tae you, Errol, but you must wait tae ask for my hand in marriage. We lost my poor mother only three days past and my father and I need time tae grieve…
God help him, if he could only have known of the treachery that would tear her away from him! Those Mackay bastards had been tracked down and captured by Tira’s father and his men—and beheaded for their heinous crime—but not soon enough to prevent her from being sold to Orkney raiders. Fiends! Ravagers!
Groaning in fury and frustration, Errol stopped his pacing and pounded upon the door—only to have it open so suddenly that he nearly stumbled into the room.
Catching himself, he straightened and stared at a dozen or so men clustered around a long table spread with maps, and who stared back at him.
Errol had never seen the king before, but he knew at once that King Robert was the stocky, broad-shouldered man at the end of the table from the air of command that surrounded him.
“It took you long enough tae demand entrance, Sutherland. We were wondering if you had changed your mind and decided tae return home?—”
“Never, my lord king!” Errol cut him off, striding further into the room. “If you will only hear me?—”
“Och, man, I know of your plight from your father’s messenger two weeks past. Did you know he asked me tae try and discourage you from so dangerous a quest?”
Now Errol could only stare at King Robert, who had come around the table to face him a few steps away. The man’s feet spread and his hands fisted at his hips as he looked Errol up and down with piercing light brown eyes that seemed to bore into him.
“You favor Hamish, aye, you look strapping and strong—but he fears you’re not ready tae face a host of Orkney raiders.”
“Not ready?” Errol echoed, incredulous. “I’ve trained hard since I was a lad and can best any of my three elder brothers in a fight! I dinna understand why my father would discourage me from saving the woman I love—aye, the woman I will marry!”
“Mayhap he favors you above the others, as his youngest son, and doesna wish tae lose you. What are you now? Nineteen years?”
“Twenty-one, my lord king—and if you know of my plight, what is your answer? Will you give me a ship and crew or not? By God, I swear I will find another way tae rescue Tira if you deny me!”
“Ease yourself, Sutherland, will you rage so at the king?”
Errol had been shouting, and he clamped shut his mouth as a powerfully built warrior with thick, shoulder-length hair nearly as red as his own came around the table to stand beside King Robert.
“Gavin MacLachlan…once known as the devil of the sea,” the king said in a low-spoken introduction as again, he stared sternly at Errol as if still taking his measure. “Mayhap you’ve heard of some of these other lairds who have joined me in Dumbarton tae plan for war. Gabriel MacLachlan, the Earl of Argyll and a cousin tae Gavin.”
Errol nodded at the warrior who stood taller than the rest, and who gave him the barest acknowledgement with as stern an expression.
“Cameron Campbell and his brother Conall, both my trusted advisors. Those three saved my life seven years past when Seoras MacDougall sought to cleave my head from my body.”
“Aye, I heard of such events from my father,” Errol said as the king gestured to two more men standing by the table.
“Roger Douglas and his younger brother David, equally trusted. Your brother-in-law, Alec Mackay, trained for several years with Roger before returning home by my order taemarry your sister, Rowen. I demanded all strife between the Sutherlands and Mackays tae cease, and your father assured me in his message that peace prevails, aye?”
“Aye,” Errol murmured solemnly, in truth honored to be among so many renowned Highland warriors whose exploits were legendary in Scotland. “The peace holds as you decreed.”
“Good. I need all my loyal clansmen tae fight the English, and not each other—and that day is swiftly approaching. So you demand a ship and crew?”
