CLAIMED BY A HIGHLANDER (THE DOUGLAS LEGACY Book 2) (25 page)

“What news do ye have of Hector?” Rory asked as soon as they had settled around the small table.

“He arrived two days ago at Fairburn Castle,” Malcolm said, “in plenty of time to answer the call to the gathering, if he were so inclined.”

“Fairburn is Hector’s home here in Eastern Ross,” Rory explained to Sybil. “’Tis only a four-mile ride from here.”

“I’d say we should drag him out of Fairburn, but it would be a bloody fight,” Malcolm said. “He’s brought at least a couple hundred MacKenzie warriors with him from the west and northwest who are loyal to him.”

“Damn him,” Rory said. “By bringing those men here, he’s leaving us vulnerable to an attack by the MacDonalds.”

“That’s not all he’s doing,” Alex said. “He’s also spreading rumors about your birth.”

“Ach, those old tales about our parents’ irregular marriage will gain him nothing,” Rory said. “I have chieftain’s blood, and that’s what matters.”

“The lies are not about your legitimacy.” Alex cleared his throat. “Hector claims you’re not our father’s son at all.”

Rory slammed his fist on the table. “What exactly is he suggesting? That our mother was unfaithful?”

“He and his supporters are telling anyone who will listen that our mother was already pregnant by another man when she wed our father.”

“Hector goes too far this time,” Lovat said. “I’ll have his head for maligning my sister.”

“Our father openly claimed me,” Rory said. “He even had us legitimized through the church, or so I was told.
”

“He always meant to,” Lovat said. “It was only in that last year when his health was failing that he finally did as I’d urged years before and sought a papal bull sanctioning his marriage to my sister Agnes and declaring the three of you as legitimate.”

“If the church did legitimize us,” Alex said, “no one could question whether Rory has chieftain’s blood without questioning the authority of the Holy Father in Rome.”

“I never saw the papal bull,” Lovat said, “but I believe it arrived in that chaotic time around your father’s death.”

“That could be what Duncan of the Axe was looking for at Killin,” Rory said. “If that’s where Mother kept it, it’s in cinders now.”

“It could take years to get a copy from Rome. Such an important document, however, which is signed by the pope himself, would have passed through our old bishop’s hands and been recorded,” Alex said. “I’ll look for a record of it at Fortrose Cathedral.”

“Do that,” Rory said with nod to his brother. “Has anyone seen or heard from Catriona?”

Sybil squeezed Rory’s hand under the table. She knew how much it distressed him to not know his sister’s whereabouts.

“I received a message yesterday,” Alex said.

“And ye waited until now to tell me?” Rory said. “Where in the hell is she?”

Alex hesitated before answering. “The message was from the new Munro chieftain.”

“Why would he send a message about Catriona?” Rory asked in a low, dangerous voice.

“Apparently he has her,” Alex said.

“The bastard has taken our sister!” Rory shouted.

“The tone of his missive was courteous,” Alex said, raising his hands in a gesture of caution. “He assures us that Catriona is safe and well in his care.”

“If the Munros have laid a hand on her, I will murder every last one of them,” Rory said. “There will not be one left to mourn their dead.”

Rory got to his feet and started toward the door. Sybil and Alex exchanged a look and jumped to their feet as well.

“What do ye intend to do?” Sybil asked, and clasped his arm.

“I’m going to gather the men and collect my sister.”

“This may not be what ye fear it is,” Alex said. “The Munro chief neither asked for a ransom nor made a threat.”

“He wants something,” Rory said. “Why else would he take her?”

“We should wait and find out what it is before starting a bloody war we can ill afford,” Malcolm said. “The Munros have a legitimate complaint against us. I suspect their chief merely wants assurance that the raids under Hector’s direction will halt.”

“No matter how just his complaints may be,” Rory said, “he made a grave mistake taking Catriona to get what he wants.”

Alex shot Sybil another look asking for help.

“From what Alex said, this Munro chief took pains to assure your family that your sister is safe,” Sybil said. “Have ye considered that launching an attack could put her in danger?”

“Damn it to hell,” Rory said under his breath, and clenched his jaw.

“Sybil is right. ’Tis safer for Catriona to wait for the Munro’s next move,” Alex said. “Besides that, the hall is filled with people expecting your wedding on the morrow.”

The wedding.
Dear Lord, she had almost forgotten.

***

“They’re celebrating over at Castle Leod,” Big Duncan reported.

Hector poured more whisky and imagined the clamor filling the hall as Rory stood on the dais beneath the great stag head as the warriors took turns kneeling before him to take their oath. That should have been him.

That
would
be him one day soon.

The plan had been for Buchanan to deliver Brian to the crown for imprisonment, leaving Hector to continue ruling in his nephew’s name without the impediment of his nephew’s annoying presence. When Hector learned of Brian’s death, he realized he had been thinking too small. He was meant for a greater fate.

Wielding power through another had run its course. It was his time now. Time not just to rule with the authority of the MacKenzie, but to
be
the MacKenzie.

And Rory had snatched it right out of his hands.

If he’d known Buchanan was going to kill Brian, he would have been at Castle Leod and declared himself the new chieftain before most of the clan even knew Rory had returned from wherever he’d gone.

Somehow Rory had learned of Brian’s death first and outmaneuvered him. It would not happen again.

He rubbed the talisman around his neck and imagined adding Rory’s ear to it. His plans for his nephew’s downfall were already in motion.

“At least ye don’t have to worry about Rory’s sister telling tales.” Duncan leaned back and picked his teeth with the point of his dirk. “Whatever Brian brought her is burned.”

“Ye went too far,” Hector said. “That lass was valuable to me.”

Duncan was a useful weapon, but he could be hard to control. Sending him on an errand like that was like unleashing a dog that has developed a taste for killing sheep and expecting the lambs to be safe. When Catriona disappeared, Duncan did not just burn Killin to the ground. He returned every night until he saw candlelight in the upstairs window, and then he burned it.

“Any other news from Castle Leod?” Hector asked.

“Your nephew has got himself a bride,” Duncan said. “Getting married tomorrow.”

“Curse him!” What a clever move to gain another ally quickly. “What clan is she?”

Hector hoped the lass was not a Campbell or a Munro—and for God’s sake, not a Gordon. He should have forced Rory to wed an inconsequential lass from a weak clan years ago.

“He’s wedding a Lowlander,” Duncan said.

“A Lowlander?” That caught Hector by surprise. “Who is she?”

“A Douglas, I hear.”

“A Douglas?” Hector laughed so hard he choked on his whisky. “I thought Rory was brighter than that. Ach, I’ll crush him in no time. How in God’s name did he come to wed a Douglas?”

“’Tis a mystery,” the Axe said. “But they say she’s a rare beauty and that Rory has lost his heart to her.”

“He must have, for the lass is useless, with no clan alliance, no property, and no connections.” Finally some good news. “He’s like his father, losing all sense over a woman.”

And it would be the end of him.

“As the poor lass comes with nothing, I’ll send her a wedding surprise.”

Hector threw his head back and laughed again. He just wished he could be there to see it.

CHAPTER 26

Time had run out for her. The wedding was
today
.

Sybil twisted her braid, a bad habit from childhood, as she paced the floor of the bedchamber. All night long, she had debated with herself over what to do.

If she refused to go through with the marriage ceremony, after Rory had made it his first decision as chieftain, she would make him look an utter fool before his clan. Hurting his pride would be the least of it. Humiliating him when he was just establishing himself as chieftain and fending off his uncle could do irrevocable damage.

On the other hand, once she said her vows, she would be good and truly wed. The false contract would be irrelevant. These Highland chieftains may tell themselves they could disregard both the church and the king’s law regarding marriage, but she had no such illusions. There could be no escape from marriage for her but death. For the rest of her life, she would live here on MacKenzie lands.

Miles of rugged mountains and wilderness separated her from her former life. Though she had already suffered the loss of her brothers and friends when they deserted her in her time of need, the prospect of that great physical divide permanently separating her from the rest of her family was painful.

Oh, what a mess she was in! The only way to avoid the marriage was to tell Rory about the false contract. He would hate her for not telling him earlier. She clenched her fists and squeezed her eyes shut. Why had she not told him sooner?

She thought she would have more time to explain about the false contract, if his advisors did not persuade him to change his mind about the marriage first. She never expected Rory to outmaneuver his advisors by making an immediate announcement of their marriage celebration. She would have admired the cleverness of his move, except that he had outmaneuvered her as well.

Sybil dropped onto the wooden chest at the foot of the bed. What should she do? Her hand went to the pendant her mother gave her, as it often did in times of stress. As she rubbed her thumb over the smooth, shiny surface, she imagined what her mother would say to her. She could almost hear her mother’s voice…

You’re making this far too difficult, when the question is a simple one. Do ye want this Highlander for your husband or not?

“Mother, ye know I never wanted to marry and give a man that much control over me,” Sybil said. “I’m tired of serving as a pawn in the games of men.”

But darling, how is your Highlander using you? What does he hope to gain?

The bare truth was that Rory had nothing to gain from the marriage now. But eight years ago it would have been advantageous to him—in truth, her wealth and position was high above what he could have expected in a wife.

“And he won me and such bright prospects in a damn card game!” It was insulting, really.

But he did not come to claim you until after you lost your wealth and position.

That was true. Rory was marrying her with no ulterior motive that she could discern. He could have deserted her when her fortunes fell, as everyone else had. When she was in trouble, he did not run. He came for her. When times were hard, he held fast.

Has this man changed your mind about marriage?

Sybil stamped her foot, as she often did when she was a willful child. “I don’t know!”

When it’s safe to return home to Tantallon Castle, will ye want to leave him?

Tears stung her eyes at the thought of never seeing Rory again. “Nay, I couldn’t leave him.”

Then you have your answer.
Her mother laughed
. If he’s a good man, this is not a bad thing.

“Good heavens, I
want
to marry him,” Sybil admitted for the first time. That frightened her more than anything. It gave Rory the power over her happiness, the power to disappoint her, the power to cause her untold pain.

Sybil squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to hold on to the comfort of her mother’s presence. Her mother had seemed so real, but she was slipping away like a wisp of wind. Was it her mother’s spirit, or was her memory of her mother so vivid that her mind could conjure up exactly what her mother would say?

If ye marry him, there ought to be honesty between ye. Before ye say those vows, tell him what you’ve been keeping from him.

Sybil did not know whether the voice was her mother speaking to her from the grave or her own conscience, but she understood the message well enough.

Sybil jumped at the sound of a knock on her door. This was no ghost. She tucked her pendant back inside her bodice and smoothed her gown while she gathered herself.

“Come in,” she called.

Her heart skipped a beat when the door opened and Rory filled the doorway.

“How are ye settling in? Have the servants provided ye with everything ye need?”

“They’ve been most attentive, thank you,” she said, her voice coming out unusually high.

He hovered at the door, as if torn between staying and leaving.

“We’ve had no time to speak alone since we arrived,” she said.