Page 206 of Tales of Highland Loyalty

"So then lad, are ye gonnae tell me it, then?" asked James, his eyes raising quizzically. Malcolm sighed. "All about ye an' the fair an' lovely Ainslee?"

"Ah, James, ye dinnae ken the half o' it,lad," Malcolm said, laying back and trying to get comfortable on the rough and ready bed. It was impossible. Giving up, Malcolm propped himself up by the elbows and gazed out.

"We were betrothed to marry," he said, wistfully. James' eyes caught the light.

"Betrothed?" he said, his eyes almost split open. "As in wed, ye?"

James spat the words as if they were curses, Malcolm could not help but laugh at his fright.

"Aye, och, well, almost," a doubt curdled in Malcolm, as his mind went to his father's clan ring. The one he planned to give her when they married. "I gave her a bonny wee posy ring, twas just between her an' me..."

Malcolm's heart panged. Ainslee was no longer wearing the ring. Idly, he wondered whether she still had it.

"Sounds verra romantic," said James, his brown eyes blurring into the darkness. Malcolm squinted. It was hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

"So, ye an' her, were secret sweethearts?" he said, with a conspiratorial air. Malcolm nodded.

"Aye, well, sort o', we werenae quite official," he explained. Even as he was speaking, Malcolm was hit by his own regret.

Why weren't they official? What had taken him so long to propose? This, and a million more questions throbbed through Malcolm's tired head.

"Well then, where's the problem?" said James, sitting right up and watching in a matter of fact way. "Ye just carry on from where ye left off?"

"If only," muttered Malcolm, burying his head in his hands. Waves of tiredness crushed him. He had not realized just how exhausted he was, yet James was suddenly keen on talking.

"Ye just pick up where ye left off... an' wed her!" declared James, with a straightforward grin. He fixed his arms around Malcolm, squeezing hard.

Shaking off his grip, Malcolm dissented.

"Och, I would love to, but she'll nae hear o' it, especially noo," lamented Malcolm. "Nae, that ship has sailed!"

James looked at him uncertainly. "How do ye ken? Have ye asked her?"

This was so preposterous, that Malcolm just snorted. "Nae! Tis doomed. She doesnae want me, an' that tis putting it mildly!"

James looked at him, slightly put out.

"Well maybe ye should try again... this time dinnae give up, til ye get the answer ye want!" he said, looking at him seriously.

Malcolm yawned, and watched the embers glowing in the fire. But James did not take the hint. He was wide awake.

"Ah, lad, imagine it, ye an' Ainslee, me an' Marisse, they will keep a bonny house for us, an' when we're home from sea, we'll be looked after right... Imagine it, lad... The life we could have..."

Malcolm sat up. "Whit, ye mean, marrying... an' then go back to sea?" he said, incredulous. Inside, his flummoxed head was spinning.

But James was animated, taking a dram, he sat up, smiling. Malcolm caught his face briefly in the flitting light. He seemed earnest. "A bonny double wedding, ye an' me, whit do ye say, lad?"

Something stirred in Malcolm. "I dinnae ken," he said, stretching, and looking up.

Despite his overwhelming need to be asleep, James had awakened something in him. Instead of James' fanciful plans, he had thoughts of his own.

"Whit is that?" said James, raising his head. Malcolm shook his head. His mood had turned serious.

"I cannae think o' that," he said. "Only what I am here for, an' that is finding the clan, an' overthrowing Bruce. We need to plan, get the clansmen on oor side. I cannae think o' wee things like weddings!"

James' face changed. He nodded. But Malcolm knew it would be no easy task.

"We must make plans... The morrow, we go to the clan, an' get the lie o' the land. Then, I find my murderous brother, an' make him pay - everyone will see him for what he is!"