Page 47 of Edge of Yesterday

“Unless you are an earl or a wealthy knight, ye would do well to forget about Lady Julianna. Lady Ravenstone has high hopes for Lady Julianna on her second marriage.”

“Lady Julianna has been married before?” Cailean asked.

“Two years ago, her husband Walter died and left her childless. His brother inherited most of his property. Lady Ravenstone claimed the land should have been theirs, but Sir Grray refused to fight.”

Cailean nodded, recalling what renowned medieval historian Bernard Mackay had written about the knight. “Sir Grray was a fierce knight, but he didn’t fight without good cause.”

Brody frowned. “Was?”

Cailean broke from his thoughts.

Brody regarded him through narrowed eyes. “You speak as if he is dead.”

Val really was forcing him to act as if he were living in the fourteenth century.

“No’ dead,” he answered in a deep Highland burr, “I only just remembered what my father told me of Sir Grray. He fought alongside him at the Battle of the Shields.”

Brody stared at him for a long moment, then grinned. “Fought alongside him against the mighty Sinclairs, did he?”

Cailean nodded. “Aye. My father said he was one of the fiercest warriors he’d ever seen. He swore the Clan Gunn laird even named the fight after Sir Grray’s plan to scatter men in the hills around the fighting ground and then order them to beat their swords against their shields in timed waves so the Sinclairs would think more clans came to join the Mackays and the Gunns.”

“That is so.” Brody chuckled. “Clan Gunn would be dust today if no’ for our help in that battle. Sir Grray is a brilliant leader. And he was still young then. One of the finest battles he ever fought was down at the cattle market at Crieff. Two clans hired brigands to steal nearly all the beasts there. Sir Grray rode right through a stampede, swinging his blade left and right, cutting down the fleeing thieves and no’ hurting a single beast in the herd. Ye should have seen him.”

“I wish I had,” Cailean said, and meant it. “The bards claim his sword weighs upwards of twenty pounds.”

Brody nodded, clearly pleased with Cailean’s praise of his laird. “He is a good man. And a strong one—as the storytellers love to sing.” He hooked his thumbs in his belt, rocked back on his heels. “Fair, and slow to wroth.”

“I have wanted to meet him,” Cailean said.

“Mayhap you will,” Brody said. A speculative light entered the big man’s eyes. “Do ye like cider, Cailean?”

Cailean grimaced. “I’ve had your cider. Gave me a bloody hangover unlike any I’ve had since I was a boy.”

Brody’s brows rose. “If a little cider gets ye drunk, then you are in need of more practice drinking it.”

“I didn’t say it got me drunk. I said it gave me a hangover.”

“An ale-head?” Brody laughed good-naturedly. “Say what ye will, lad. Come on, let me show you how to drink cider.”

~*~

Julianna hadn’t missed Lennox and Cailean’s arrival—and the way Cailean studied her and her mother. She’d been careful to keep her mother’s attention focused on her. Lady Ravenstone was as sharp as a hawk, and just as quick to swoop in on prey. If she got the slightest hint that Julianna had noticed any of the warriors in the room, she would seek out that poor man and interrogate him about every aspect of his life. Any warrior who fell short of her mother’s expectations for Julianna’s prospective groom would be summarily cast aside and thrown from Raghnall if he further displeased her. If Cailean remained as evasive with her as he had been with Julianna and Lennox, Mother would start by having him flogged.

Julianna wanted to scream when Lennox left him with Brody. Brody was incapable of remaining inconspicuous. A man stepped into her view. Julianna recognized Sir Lawren and started.

He glanced at Julianna before turning his attention to her mother. “Lady Ravenstone.”

“I am pleased to see ye, Sir Lawren,” Lady Ravenstone said.

“I am pleased to be here, my lady.” He inclined his head, then shifted his gaze to Julianna. “Lady Julianna, would you honor me with a stroll in your mother’s garden?”

He smiled gently, but she read in his eyes the memory of their last encounter. She had considered their meeting this morning when she’d broken her fast with Lady Ravenstone in her chambers, as they did every morning. Lady Ravenstone had given no indication she knew that Julianna had been out of her room last night. But it would be like her mother to remain quiet until she had enough information to confront Julianna with whatever demands she felt were necessary to bring Julianna to heel.

But it was unlikely Sir Lawren had told Lady Ravenstone he’d caught Julianna outside her room. After all, he was wooing her into marriage, which meant she traded one master for another. Would he be an easier master than her mother? A twinge of guilt surfaced, but she did not allow the reaction to gain a foothold. Lady Ravenstone loved her children, protected them at the risk of her own life, but she ruled them with an iron hand.

From the corner of her eye, Julianna glimpsed Cailean sitting at the table to their far left. His shoulders filled out his shirt even more snugly than Brody’s. He laughed heartily at something Brody said. Warmth rippled through her and she realized she was smiling. His eyes turned toward her. Julianna dropped her gaze, heart pounding. By the Saints, she’d been staring.

“Julianna.” Her mother’s voice broke into her thoughts. “Go along with Sir Lawren. I can manage here without you.”