Isobel Sinclair listened from between the walls behind her father’s solar. These long-forgotten secret passages had saved her on more than one occasion and taught her so much about ruling the clan. Today, however, the passage could only offer her a small space of time. The king had done what her father had so far failed to.She was wed.Having passed one and twenty she had started to hope that her father had given up and she would be left alone. Never being wed would have suited her just fine. There wasn’t a single thing in a marriage that she was wanting. Her mother had been miserable and most of the women of her clan didn’t seem to fair much better. A few seemed content enough, but it was so rare that she hadn’t wanted to try her luck. Certainly with not any of the men her father had wanted to give her to. It had never occurred to her that the king might take it upon himself to see the deed done by marrying her to a stranger.
She probably should have considered that the king would do something to ensure a smooth transition of power in case something happened to her father. Her plan had been to simply wait until he was bedridden or dead, then take what she could carry and disappear before the warriors started to battle for control. If she disappeared, whoever survived the fight could have the blasted place.
This castle hadn’t felt like home since her mother had died, and even before then she had not been actually wanting to stay, she just hadn’t known there were any other options. Only two things had kept her here this long. The first was that she felt obliged to continue helping any other lasses who wanted out. The second was so that her father would not be around to send anyone to track her down. It was easier to disappear if kin were not searching. Now she would be stuck here for life with her husband. A strange man from a clan she had only heard strange stories of.Peering into the room through the tiny crack in the masonry of the fireplace didn’t give her a clear view, but it seemed she was wed to a tall, strong man with dark hair and broad shoulders. Just the sort she tried to avoid most. She couldn’t be sure, but it looked as though he might not be much older than her. At least she wasn’t wed to a man twice her age.He seemed to be simply standing there with his arms crossed, waiting for something to happen. He seemed the quiet sort, or at least she had yet to hear him speak. She saw the maid shuffle in and curtsy before mumbling words that Izzy couldn’t quite make out.“She’s missing again!” Her father’s words were slurred by drink already, though it was not even mid-day. She saw the young maid flinch away from him and knew the lass was expecting a beating, one that would likely end in her rape. Not now, but after the guests left he would see it done. If he couldn’t do it himself he would watch someone do it for him. Everyone knew. And as usual, there was nothing the maid or anyone else could do to prevent it. Except possibly get her father drunk enough to forget about it. That was getting easier and easier as he got older.When the men started walking out of the room Izzy turned and hurried from her hiding place. If she were quick, she could have herself in the garden before her father got outside. Her father would still be furious. Would he hit her in front of one of the king’s emissaries and her new husband? Was that something he could do, or was her punishment now decided only by her husband? Following the dictate of two men might be the end of her.She paused at the edge of the hidden entrance and peered around to see if anyone was about. Running her fingers nervously over her curls she collected cobwebs and wiped them off on the stone wall.Would it be better to go inside and find herself a dress? Pretend she had been stitching? No. For one thing, her father would never believe it and tell everyone so very loudly. For another, it would be best if her future husband saw what he was getting from the outset. An unruly lass who dresses in men’s trews and keeps her unruly hair just barely below her shoulders. She may have been born to the Laird and his Lady, but she had no intentions of playing that part. She wore trews, swung a sword, and had better aim with her bow than most men. That’s what he was getting.
Mayhap her husband would claim her an unsuitable wife, as all the suitors her father had tried to force on her had done. Perhaps he could get the emissary to call the whole thing off!And if not...she sighed and her shoulders sagged. If not, she would have to change. She would never be able to transform into a Lady fit to visit the palace, but she could manage a dress and longer hair. Perhaps she could learn to enjoy stitching. Tears burned her eyes as she slipped out from behind the bushes, brushing cobwebs from her clothing as she rushed to sit on the old stump where she’d left her stone. The little alcove was set back from the main trail, but since the bushes weren’t in full bloom yet she would still be visible to anyone who looked her way.
Focusing on the sound of birds singing and the soft scent of spring air, Izzy blinked back tears and tried to calm herself. She liked being outside. She enjoyed hunting with her falcons, fishing from the banks, and roaming the woods. Having to give all that up to please a man who would be doing all those things while she sat cooped up in the keep was most unfair. She swiped away a couple of tears that had made it to her lashes and settled herself down as she heard the men approaching. She rubbed the stone fast to heat it, hoping that if any thought to check it would appear she had been tucked away here sharpening her arrows all along and the maid had simply not seen her.
Griogair looked around at the bedraggled castle as he followed after the old king’s emissary, the drunken laird, and the terrified maid. It would kill him to live like this until the Laird died or he fathered a bairn. Even if he and his wayward lady conceived this very day it would be well into winter before he took charge and next spring before he could get this clan started on the path to prosperity. At least both of his brothers had a pretty woman that they knew they favoured and were lairds of decent keeps from the day they wed. This place was a disaster, and he hadn’t even known Sinclair clan had a marriageable lass as heir. He still didn’t know what she looked like! There was not a single portrait of her in the keep as far as he had seen. On top of that, he’d have to wait to rule here until her father died, passed the title voluntarily, or the next blood heir was birthed. That had seemed fine at first. It would give him time to get used to the idea of being a Laird and taking o
His wife led the way up the stairs, her head high, her back straight. She would have looked confident and proud if it weren’t for the nervous way her hands gripped her tunic. Though most women had the option of hiding their hands in their skirts so likely many wives felt as she did now. His brothers had both known the women they were wed to and even coupled them before when the women had been willing and glad to join with them. This moment was not a happy or solid beginning to their lives. As she opened the door to her chamber Gair decided this was not going to go the way the emissary expected. The man would be in the room, as required, but he would not be getting the show that he had no doubt had while ensuring Paddy and Eliana were wed. Izzy stepped into the room ahead of him and Gair stopped, bracing his arm across the door and preventing the Emissary from entering. The man’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth, but before he could speak Gair told him the way things were going to h
Isobel watched her husband as he walked to the door. He took his shirt off and tossed it onto the edge of her bed. The muscles rippled across his tanned back like waves on the ocean and her breath caught in her throat. He was every bit as large and powerful as she’d imagined. There was no way he could couple with her and not hurt her. Besides, how could he couple without entering her? What he promised was impossible. Why would he make a promise he could never keep?This wasn't his fault, Izzy tried to reason with herself as she swallowed around the hard lump in her throat and fought the tears that burned her eyes. She knew what he had to do. It was the king's command, it had to be so. She had survived this many times before, and now she was fully grown so she would surely survive today as well. Perhaps the pain would be less since she was fully grown now.Scooting under the counterpane she pulled it quickly to her chin. She closed her eyes and took a deep, shuttering breath before tell
Griogair stomped up the steps to the castle in a very bad mood. He had spent the day talking to some of the men in the village, introducing himself and learning what he could about his new home. He was not impressed. At all. The ramparts and shops weren’t in any better shape than the castle. The crofters' homes were in shambles. The people feared their laird but wished to only grow enough to pay their rent and survive until spring. There was not a single happy, motivated soul among them. If the crofters in his clan lived in these conditions they would likely leave, but these people didn’t even have the motivation to walk away and look for something better. Most annoyingly, the men had all snickered at the news that their lady was wed! The women looked him up and down, a couple even flirting with him! Not one person that he had met had offered a single word of congratulations or well wishes. The sound of drunken laughter further soured Griogair’s mood and pulled him towards the gre
Once the door was firmly closed, Gair turned to look at his wife. His eyes were drawn first to her chest. Where and how had she hidden those under her tunic? Even if she had a padded corset on that was way more than just a handful of flesh spilling over the top of the low neckline. He felt his mouth water as his tarse rose. Bloody hell. Why could he not keep his body under control around this woman? He knew his wife would not be a willing partner yet. Probably not any time soon either. He cleared his throat and drug his eyes up to hers.“Mo bhean bhoidheach...” he couldn’t stop his eyes from travelling over her from head to toe and back up again. Her curls were pulled tightly back from her face and pinned up in a way that almost hid the shortness of it. It accented the lines of her face and made her look older, perhaps very near his own age. The skirt was green on top and grey on the bottom, the top green with silver laces and grey sleeves. The neckline was lower than some that he h
Isobel’s mind was flickering around more than the flame of the candle she was staring at. She tried to blink back the tears that burned her eyes when she realized that her mother’s old wool shawl wasn’t bringing her the comfort and warmth that it normally did. Instead, it scratched at the top of her breasts, making her feel foolish, half-naked, and scared. Why had she trusted the advice of a woman who did everything in her power to draw a man’s attention? Of course, the emissary's whore would give her a promiscuous dress! Now the womanly part of her that she kept most hidden was on full display, beyond even what a decent lady would show, tempting a man who had every right to do whatever he wished to her. Would he be angry that she was dressed this way but not eager to couple?Her husband had certainly gotten angry with Dairmaid quickly enough. Would he react as violently when she angered him? No doubt he would. He would likely be more difficult to get away from than the men of her cl
Gair was not impressed with the disaster the maid had sent him into. The expression on her face when he asked for a different room to sleep in should have been a good indication that there was nothing suitable. The bed stank so badly he could smell it from the hall! The stones under the window were growing moss and the dust over everything looked like a thin coat of snow with footprints around the rim to each wall torch and to the bed where the linens had been dropped. She hadn’t even made the bed up. He stood in the doorway, staring at the space and not at all sure what to do. He should have checked out the sleeping arrangements this afternoon rather than going to meet the clansmen. Now there was no time to fill himself a new mattress, no time to order the room scrubbed clean, no time to prepare a pallet in the hall, and no time to make himself a camp in the bush. He had searched the keep but found no staff except the cook who had just sneered at him and insisted there were no w
It hadn’t taken nearly as long as she’d expected to get her father’s friends down and locked side by side in the pillory. Their feet were locked in tight and their hands shackled behind them. She and her husband had been grinning and trying not to laugh out loud the whole time! It was more fun than she’d had in years. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be too quick to retire to his bed. As she took the stairs quickly behind him her breath caught and she stumbled a step. She stopped on the stair, staring at the ground in front of her.Did she actually want to spend time with a man?“Izzy?” She looked up to see him a few steps ahead, he had stopped and turned when she stumbled. She smiled shyly and started back up the stairs.“Stubbed me toe,” she said softly. They stopped again in the hall outside her door. He looked in, then looked down the hall to the room that had been shown to him.“Do they clean yer room?” She winced. “Nay. I clean it. None of the maids here goes in a bedroom if she can help