Highland Master (24 page)

Morag did not look convinced. But for once, she did not fall silent. Instead, she continued to talk affably with Catriona.

When everyone had finished eating, Mackintosh asked Morag to take up her lute, and Catriona excused herself, saying that she had promised to look in on the kitchen. But as she stepped off the dais, Rothesay approached her, moving with near feline grace, his long strides covering ground with deceptive haste.

When he could speak without raising his voice, he said, “Prithee, lass, say that you are not abandoning us already. I would speak with you again, for I vow, you are the most beautiful creature I have laid eyes on in a twelvemonth.”

Although she smiled with ready delight at the unexpected compliment, she saw her brother Ivor and Fin not far behind him. Both of them were frowning.

Recalling what her grandmother had said about Rothesay, she said, “I fear that you flatter me, my lord, but ’tis most kind.”

“I am never kind, lassie, and I do know beauty when I see it,” he said with what in any man, including a prince of the realm, was an impudent grin. “Prithee, do not be so cruel as to say that you will not walk with me.”

He was, nevertheless, not only a prince of the realm but also one of vast power and known to use it recklessly.

Evenly, she said, “I am never cruel, sir.”

“Then you will be generous, my lady,” he said, grinning confidently.

Glancing beyond him again, she saw that although Rothesay might call her generous, both Ivor and Fin had other words in mind.

G
od’s teeth,” Ivor swore, glowering. “Under any other circumstance, I’d soon teach my sister not to smile at such a man.”

“But this is here and now,” Fin said. “And the man flirting with her is a prince of the realm. So you’d be wise to take that fierce look off your face, my lad, before he sees it. Others are already looking this way.”

“Sakes, do you condone his behavior? No matter who he is, he has no business to be taking liberties with my sister. God rot the man! He’s married.”

“And treats his wife badly, though she is sister to one of the most powerful lords in Scotland, so he is unlikely to care about your feelings,” Fin said. “As to my condoning what Rothesay does, it is not my business to condone or condemn it.”

“Fiend seize you then. I thought you
liked
Cat.”

“Don’t be daft,” Fin retorted. “Whether I like her or not has nowt to do with Rothesay. Nor would his knowing that I like her curb his impulses. Sakes, man, I serve him. He does not let powerful
husbands
interfere with him when he flirts with their wives—aye, and does more than flirt with most of them, come to that.”

“So those tales are true, are they?” Ivor said grimly.

“He is the heir to the throne and dangerously personable,” Fin said. “Women adore his handsome face and that devilish Stewart charm. I have never known one he favors to complain about his behavior in bed. On the contrary…”

Ivor made a sound perilously near a growl.

Glancing at the Mackintosh, Fin was surprised to see the old man eyeing him speculatively. Touching Ivor’s arm, he said, “Your grandfather is watching us, and he will not thank you if you cause trouble with Rothesay. So control that temper of yours, my lad, and look elsewhere before you land us both in the briars.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time that happened,” Ivor said, his lips twitching.

The bare hint of a smile was welcome and let Fin relax.

When Morag took up her lute, James joined them. “I have news,” he said.

Ivor raised his eyebrows, and Fin said, “Would you like me to step away?”

“Nay, you should stay,” James said. “ ’Tis just that I mean to take my lady wife home to visit her family. She misses them sorely and”—he looked at Fin—“she has missed me, as well. Father agrees that my presence or the lack of it cannot influence the outcome of these talks, and my grandfather said I’d do better to indulge my lady wife for a time whilst I can.”

With a wry smile, Ivor said, “I’ll admit, I’d go with you in a twinkling.”

“Nay, you will not. Why should you?”

“Because today’s proceedings bored me nigh to lunacy.
You’d think they were playing a game, each afraid that some other might gain a point.”

“To them, it
is
something of a game,” Fin said. “But before Rothesay can summon Parliament, he wants to know that he will retain the Governorship. To do that, he desperately needs Donald’s support, Alex’s, and the votes of every other lord in Parliament who supports either of them.”

Ivor said, “I can see that Alex will play his hand as he always does, thinking only of keeping the Lordship of the North firmly in his own hands.”

“But Donald wants more than keeping
his
Lordship, aye?” James said.

“Donald is a deep one,” Fin pointed out. “However, we all know that he covets at least one vast area of the Highlands, and Rothesay has said that if Donald gets even a toe in the Highlands, he’ll seek next to rule all of Scotland.”

“You know Davy better than we do, Fin,” Ivor said. “Do you trust him?”

Quietly, knowing that Davy had already annoyed Ivor and hoping Ivor would not take further offense, Fin said, “He has given me no cause to be disloyal to him.”

“But you don’t think he is always wise, do you,” Ivor said, making it a statement rather than a question and watching him closely.

Fin did not reply.

Ivor nodded, satisfied.

To anyone else, Fin might have equivocated to protect the man he served. But he would not lie to Hawk.

As if to break the brief tension that had enveloped them, Ivor looked at James and said, “Do you and Morag leave straightway?”

“Granddad said that that would be rude, since everyone just got here. So I expect we’ll wait a day or two. But my lass is eager to see her family, and I confess that I am just as eager to have her to myself. Granddad said that we should spend a night at Castle Moigh on our way.”

They continued to chat until Ivor, who had been looking periodically around the chamber, suddenly swore under his breath.

Catriona was well aware of Ivor’s black looks. At one time she had feared that Fin might be unable to restrain him, especially since Fin himself had looked rather peeved. Then James had joined them, and all three men immersed themselves in conversation. Only Ivor kept glancing her way.

She had ignored him, certain that he would cause no disturbance as long as the Mackintosh and her father were present. They, too, were talking, but neither one had heeded her for some time.

The other ladies chatted together, too. Morag seemed still cheerful, a fact that spurred Catriona to look at James again.

“Tell me, lass, do you often ignore your admirers, or is my tale boring you?”

Sure that she must be flushing to the roots of her hair, she looked hastily at Rothesay, smiled, and said, “I heard you plainly, sir. But you should be ashamed of yourself for telling me such a bawdy tale. I am, after all, a maiden whose ears have seldom been sullied so.”

His eyebrows flew upward. “Seldom?”

Chuckling, she said, “I do have brothers, sir, and very sharp ears.”

He laughed then, and she felt relief so strong that she wondered at it. Did she fear his displeasure so much that she welcomed his smiles?

He put a hand on her shoulder and bent near enough to whisper in her ear, “Your ears may be sharp, lass, but they are likewise beautiful—shell-like, soft, and pink. I would tickle them with my tongue and then kiss them thoroughly.”

She’d stiffened immediately at his touch, but he pretended not to notice. Would he dare do as he’d said? She feared that he would if she did not stop him.

Glancing at Fin, she saw that he and Ivor were both looking her way, the latter with as black a look as she had ever seen on him.

Fin put a restraining hand on Ivor’s arm, but Catriona could see that she would be wise to act before they did.

Accordingly, she said evenly, “Unless you want my father to send me to my chamber as he did yestereve, sir, you will take your hand from my shoulder. I do also suggest that you refrain from whispering such things into my ear… or any other things, come to that. My brother is already watching us, and his temper—”

Giving her shoulder a squeeze, he said, “I have heard of Sir Ivor’s temper. It will not trouble me.”

“Mayhap it will not, but he would be wroth with me. And my grandfather would flay me, my lord, if I should cause strife between you and anyone else in my family. If you look, you will see my good-sister coming even now to collect me.”

Withdrawing his hand from her shoulder, he turned with his entrancing smile to Morag, but Morag was oblivious to it or trying to pretend that she was.

In any event, Catriona also noted that Shaw had joined Fin and Ivor.

Greeting Morag, she said to Rothesay, “I am sure you do remember my good-sister, Lady James Mackintosh, sir.”

“Forgive me for intruding, my lord,” Morag said as she curtsied, keeping her eyes downcast until she arose and looked at Catriona. “Your father did say that I should tell you it is time for us to retire from the hall, Catriona. Your mother and grandmother have gone to the solar. We are to join them there.”

Relieved, Catriona curtsied and politely bade Rothesay goodnight.

As she arose, he leaned toward her with a merry smile and said, “I’ll excuse you for now, lass. But I will look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.”

Knowing that she was blushing furiously, and taking care not to look toward the men again lest she see her father’s angry frown as well as Ivor’s, Catriona linked arms with Morag and urged her to some speed.

“What were you thinking to let him flirt with you so?” Morag demanded as they headed for the main stairway.

“Sakes, one does not
let
the heir to Scotland’s throne flirt with one, Morag. How would you suggest that I might have stopped him?”

“Why, by walking away when he takes liberties, of course, as one would with any impertinent young man.”

“Is that what you would do?” Catriona asked her.

Morag opened her mouth as if to insist that she would. Then an arrested look told Catriona that her good-sister’s thoughts had at last caught up with her tongue.

“You would not be so rude to any member of the royal family,” she said.

“But James would say—”

“I ken fine what James would say and what Ivor
will
say as soon as he finds opportunity. But if they are so concerned about our safety, they ought to stay closer to us when we are in the hall. Rothesay is a prince of the realm, after all.”

“Aye, he is, and I think the plain truth is that you were just flattered by his attentions. He is the sort who expects all females to swoon when he enters a room, and I have no patience with such. Thank heaven James is not like him.”

“That is certainly undeniable,” Catriona replied. Glancing over her shoulder as they reached the archway into the stairwell, she saw that while her father was talking with Ivor and James, Fin was looking at her.

He did not look angry, but nor did he smile. He looked stunned.

As Fin dwelt on a clear image of himself wringing Davy’s neck, it abruptly dawned on him that he cared much more about Catriona than he had let himself believe. That he had no right to care so strongly struck him even harder.