She was even more lovely than she had been when she happened upon them. No surprise there. She’d traveled far and had been at the end of her tether. Her determination and bravery in escaping an untenable situation continued to impress him, though he knew venturing out alone in the middle of the night or full daylight— even with her hawk —was a damnably foolish thing for a lass to do.
“Thank ye, I am. The healer visited and pronounced me well enough,” she told him. “I require naught but rest to heal.”
And protection from the man who chased her from her home, Stellan surmised, but kept the thought behind his teeth. He would not open that wound. If Mariota wanted to talk about it, she would bring it up.
“Yer healer is a formidable woman,” she said.
Anders laughed.
“It comes from riding herd on Sutherland men,” Stellan replied, “especially those who tend to need her services quite often. My brother and I included.”
“Ye have been wounded in battle?” Her hand lifted to her throat.
Stellan liked her show of concern for him. For them, to be sure, but her gaze remained on him.
“Mostly in training, and in the fights two growing brothers indulge in. There’s been nay permanent harm to either of us.”
She released a breath and nodded. “I’m glad to ken that. If ye dinna mind, I’d like to visit Valkyrie and see how she’s settling in.”
“I understand,” Stellan told her.
“I ken where it is, but I’d feel better if ye would come with me.”
She stood, so Stellan rose, too, and gestured to the door Anders had left open. Wise thinking. If anyone passed by, they could see that nothing untoward was taking place.
“I have something to take care of,” Anders said as they left her chamber. “So, I’ll leave ye to it,” he added as she closed the door. “I hope ye will find yer stay here to be all that ye need.” He glanced aside at his twin.
Stellan gave him a frown, reading more into his words than Mariota was likely to. Apparently she needed a husband. A Sutherland son for a husband, but nottheheir.
He escorted her out of the keep and across the bailey.
Mariota beamed when she saw Valkyrie, sitting calmly, well away from Sutherland birds, jesses securing her to her perch, hood in place but loosened so she could toss it off if she wished.
Stellan was struck by the realization that this was the first fully open smile she’d displayed. It entranced him and made him wish she’d turn it on him. But it faded as he watched to something… less… polite, but not openly glad.
“I appreciate that yer hawk master kept Valkyrie apart from the others. She needs time to settle in to her space. But ’tis clean, warm and dry.” She removed the hood and stroked the raptor’s head with a careful fingertip.
Though Valkyrie wasn’t hooded, and the remains of food she had been given told him the hawk master had done well by her, Stellan knew Mariota was wise to be cautious. Valkyrie might appear calm but in a strange place, being cared for by people she didn’t know, she could strike out unexpectedly.
“I’m well pleased,” Mariota said as she stroked the raptor. She turned to Stellan. “I canna tell ye how grateful I am to have encountered ye and yer men, and that ye chose to take care of me. To bring me here. I only hope I willna cause strife between our clans.”
“If it happens, ’twillna begin with Sutherland,” Stellan assured her. Her gaze remained on him, then dropped to her boots. What had made her suddenly shy? He sensed heat between them— his own, certainly, but hers, as well? He could be misinterpreting her gratitude for something entirely different.
“Ye must still be knackered, lass. Now that ye ken Valkyrie is well taken care of, let me return ye to yer chamber. Ye may wish to rest there until dinner.”
Her gaze lifted to his and she blushed. “Very well. Thank ye.”
Stellan escorted her back into the keep. On the way, he couldn’t help replay what he’d learned in the laird’s solar from his father. As he introduced her to people they met on the way, he stood aside while they exchanged greetings, thinking he could understand Mariota withholding that she was the MacKay heir. She didn’t know him or his men and could have feared being kidnapped, her return contingent on money or some other boon she couldn’t count on from a father who had done a poor job of protecting her. As they mounted the stairs to the level where shehad a chamber, he wondered if he should confront her about it? Or would he learn more if he waited for her to tell him? And how she chose to tell him?
At her door, they paused and she turned to him. He might be indulging in wishful thinking to presume that she was as attracted to him as he was to her. Her gaze remained on him as if she waited for… what? For him to kiss her? To ask to join her in her chamber? Or simply to say something polite and leave her to her rest? Even before he knew she was the MacKay heir, he should have known not to get his hopes up. Her presence here could cause trouble between their clans. After he found out, he knew there was no hope, but somehow, the attraction, or the idea of it, and the idea of holding Mariota again, kept running through his mind. And his blood. He lifted her hand, then dropped it.
“Rest well, lass,” he told her and, furious with himself, left her at her chamber door.
CHAPTER 5
At dinner, Stellan led Mariota to the high table as her station as the MacKay heir demanded. She seemed nervous when Stellan seated her where his father, after greeting her warmly, indicated, on his brother’s far side. But her gaze, when she turned it from Anders to Stellan, seemed to hold an air of awareness that heated his blood. He was glad their father was talking to Nan on his other side and not aware of the byplay.
It struck him that she didn’t know they knew who she was. Did she understand who he was? Or wonder which twin was the Sutherland heir? Their resemblance to their father, and their presence at the high table, made it clear they were his sons.
