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Niall and MacKinlay’s eyes met. The chief was revealing little, but surely he must have someone in mind.

“’Tis too soon to discern,” the chief said finally. “But ’tis someone who wishes for our feud to begin anew.”

“You can think of none,” Kieran asked, “who would wish such a thing?”

As usual, the MacKinlay chief appeared less than pleased to be forced to converse with them. He would be cordial to his brother, though. Niall would ensure it.

“I can think of none who would be pleased to sit at this table as I do—”

“Ewan,” Lina admonished.

Their host chuckled.

“But neither does one person come to my mind as an obvious suspect. Our clan has grown these past years, and I cannae pretend to know the motives of all its people.”

Round and round they went until, finally, the meal was consumed. Enough ale to fill Niall for two evenings had been drunk, and Lina appeared as tired as he’d expect her to be.

“Perhaps we should reconvene on the morrow.”

Niall must have been looking at Lina, because her brother did the same. Her eyes widened, as if proving she was indeed awake and aware, but ’twas too late. When the MacKinlay chief then gave Niall a look as if to say, She is not yours to concern yourself about, Niall ignored him.

“Come.” Their host stood. “I will have you shown to your chambers, which are already prepared for you. On the morrow, I will make inquiries. In the meantime, you are my guests. If ’tis possible for your clans to make peace in this keep, then I shall gladly be the host to such an occasion.”

The look MacKinlay gave Niall refuted their host’s words. Neither was Niall inclined to make peace with the man, even if his feelings for the sister had become something of a problem. Thoughts of her occupied him when she was not in his direct line of vision. And when she was? Little was left for him to imagine as the woman made even the slightest movement. A lick of the lips. A peek at him, something she did often, though not as often as he’d like. When she shifted on her mount or adjusted her gown, Niall noticed all of it.

His promise of kissing her was never far from his mind.

“This way, my lady,” a maid said, guiding Lina away. By luck or fate, she did so directly his way. On a whim, as she passed him, Niall took advantage of the others’ distraction and whispered, “Leave it open a crack.”

Her head whipped toward him as Lina continued to be led away. Her eyes were wide, questioning. But Niall could say no more. Did she understand? Would she do it?

He would find out soon enough.

Chapter Twelve

Surely he had not meant. . .

Avelina paced the comfortable chamber. Though a manor house, Tannochbrae was nearly as large as her own keep, and the size of bedchambers reflected as much. The maid had prepared warm water for her to wash with, and now in nothing more than her shift, having used the lavender soap to scrub every bit of skin she could, Avelina could not lie in the bed. Surely he would not risk coming to her chamber. As the hour grew even later, she began to doubt she had heard the words correctly. Still, something kept her awake, the remnants of sleepiness she’d felt at the supper table long gone.

Back and forth she walked, sometimes over to the hearth, staring at the fire so long her eyes began to burn. And then back toward the canopied bed, where she resumed her pacing.

Just as she began to contemplate crawling into the very inviting-looking bed, its cream coverlet seeming to call her name, a quick knock at the door was followed by its opening.

Niall.

His shoulders filled the frame and then he moved inside quickly, the wooden door clicking shut behind him.

It was as if she had to relearn how to breathe. Niall’s presence in her bedchamber was so much more intimidating than in the hall or the open fields. His promise of a kiss was never far from her mind, but it was certainly not so now as he closed the distance between them.

“I was not certain you heard me,” he said, stopping short of her. His eyes dipped, and Avelina was never more aware of her own body than she was at this moment.

“I was not certain I had either,” she admitted.

Why did he appear so much larger in this chamber?

“I’d have come sooner, but I wanted to be sure I was not followed.”

“By my brother?”