Stellan mouthed to her,faint. He nodded and directed his gaze to the floor.
Mariota frowned. She understood, but she didn’t want to. True, she could distract the lairds and it might even give her father a chance to prove he truly cared about her— or not. But she was stronger than that. She’d just stood up to him in front of the Sutherland and his heir. She was her clan’s best archer and a hawk mistress. She didn’t want to give up any ground she’d gained with him by appearing weak, so she gave her head a subtle shake.
Stellan’s frown deepened. He studied the lairds for another moment then turned his gaze back to her, shrugged, and again mouthed,faint,with a more forceful nod toward the floor.
The lairds had continued to harangue each other while she and Stellan traded glances. Their voices had grown louder, their shouts more insistent. Rather than having their fathers come to blows, or worse, she sighed and dropped into a heap on the cold, stone floor.
Stellan foughtthe urge to rush to her side. The only reason Mariota had done this was to distract their fathers. That wouldn’t be much of a diversion if he rushed into the fray. And his father was not so distracted that he would not note which son had gone to her aid. He couldn’t betray his interest in her, not here. Not now.
“Ach, fer... why?” MacKay groused and pointed at her. “Pick her up and put her in a chair,” he told his men.
Sutherland looked askance at his sons, but all Stellan could do was shrug or he’d give away Mariota’s ruse to her da. Sutherland clearly knew it was a feint to break up the escalating tension in the chamber. Anders shook his head and started forward to help, but Stellan grabbed his arm and held him back. Let the MacKay men deal with her, or the Sutherlands would be seen as interfering. Still, despite the fact that this ruse was his suggestion, Stellan was appalled for Mariota’s sake. The men handled her like a sack of grain while her father looked on, his expression annoyed, lips twisted and jaw tight. Stellan saw not one bit of fatherly concern in MacKay’s expression or his posture. Or was he annoyed by how the men handled her? His gaze tracked their movements, but in doing so, he watched his daughter, too.
“Does she need the healer?” Sutherland asked, trying to elicit something other than annoyance from her father.
MacKay shook his head. “Nay. She’ll come around soon.”
Stellan didn’t know how she managed not to react, but Mariota defied her father by remaining limp. Slumped in the chair where the MacKay men had dropped her, she kept her breathing slow and her muscles loose. Stellan wanted to applaud her performance, but the only thing both he and Anders could do to help her was to reinforce it by acting concerned. “I’ll carry her to the healer,” he offered, “or her chamber.”
“I’ll help ye,” Anders spoke up.
But one of them had to stay in the solar with the lairds. Both twins knew someone had to remain to observe, and possibly to help their father keep the MacKay from doing something ultimately harmful to his daughter or her future. Anders’ offer finally succeeded in galvanizing the MacKay to action.
“One of my men can take her, if one of yer lot will show them the way.” He frowned. “She should have come ’round by now.”
To Stellan, the MacKay still sounded more irritated than concerned, but to be fair, his frown could indicate either. Still, Mariota’s situation at home was becoming more and more clear, the more he learned from her and observed her father. Behind his back, out of MacKay’s sight, Stellan clenched his fists, angry and heartbroken for her.
“Anders, show them the way,” his father directed.
With a glance at Stellan, Anders complied. One of the MacKay guards lifted Mariota out of the chair and followed him.
Stellan kept his gaze on Mariota as the MacKay guard carried her out the door. He hoped the man didn’t drop her. The way he kept shifting his hold, Stellan feared for her. But he couldn’t follow. The lairds were also watching her departure.
Then they turned back to each other. “I hope yer daughter will be well,” Sutherland said. “’Twas never my intention that she suffer harm in our care.”
“She hasna,” MacKay told him in a much more level tone than he’d managed during the last minutes of their exchanges. His color had improved, as well, with only a slight stain of the former red that had suffused it.
“Would ye like to go with her?”
“Nay. Yer healer will see to her. My men will advise me if I am needed.”
“Very well. I ken how a father can worry over his bairns. I worried over my lads while they were fostered away, and found that I missed them, but I was confident the experience would be good for them.”
Stellan knew his father was trying to appeal to MacKay’s paternal side, but it still warmed him to hear that their father had cared about them. And missed them. While his decision had seemed harsh at the time, he and Anders had told Mariotathe truth when they said they had learned from the experience. They’d had many opportunities since then to understand how very wise their father could be.
Stellan hoped that held true today.
MacKay crossed his arms over his chest and Stellan feared he would choose to renew their arguments rather than following his father’s lead.
“At least ye had sons to follow after ye. Mine?—”
He stopped and appeared to be gathering himself. Was he going to bemoan having a daughter for an heir yet again?
“I spoke out of anger,” he finally said.
Stellan glanced toward his father, but the Sutherland’s attention was fixed on the MacKay laird. Stellan wondered if his father was as surprised by the admission as he was.
“I am still willing to consider a betrothal with yer younger twin,” MacKay continued, “but I believe the best thing I can do for Mariota after her adventure with ye is to take her home. For both of us to have time to deal with problems there before entering into such an agreement.”
