Highland Solution (15 page)

Tomas occupied the room next to theirs, but Katherine did not protest. She helped Fineen move his things into the laird’s chamber for the moment, but she still worried. Everything in her screamed that Eithne was a feminine version of her Uncle Ambrose. Her instinct told her to keep Tomas away, at least until Niall came home. “Fineen, I need you to do something. Please go find Tomas, I think he is in the stables playing with Nevan. See if he can stay with Effie or Shona for a while this evening. You can tell them I will send for him later.” Fineen nodded and left.

Katherine returned to the great hall and informed Lady MacIan and Laird MacLennan their rooms had been prepared. “Well, I should hope so,” said Eithne, “and my bath is ready?”

“Nay, my lady,” Katherine said, “I was unaware you wanted one.”

“Katherine, are you so simple minded that you must be instructed in common courtesy? Doesn’t every weary traveler deserve a hot bath? It is a good thing I am here. I fear my home will become a Highland hovel under your tender care.”

Eithne stood to leave and called to Edna, “Send up a bath. Now!” Turning back to Katherine she said, “We will have our evening meal when I return to the great hall. You will be dressed in proper attire and that rag will be removed from your head, or you will not dine at my table.”

Eithne looked delighted when Katherine snapped, “My lady, I was under the impression you were a Chisholm and thus a Highlander, so you will understand why I will not remove my kertch.”

Eithne slapped her so forcefully Katherine’s head swung to the side and she tasted blood. She heard shocked gasps from everyone in the hall.

“How dare you address me in that manner?” screeched Eithne. “You will do as I say or you will not eat.” She strutted from the room, heading to the tower looking happier than she had all afternoon.

Malcolm, too, rose to leave, chiding, “Lass, Niall will be very disappointed to learn of the disrespect you have shown to his mother.”

~ * ~

After Niall chose not to retaliate for the last raid, Matheson had sent a clear message by escalating this one. Not only did he steal sixteen head of sheep, but he torched several haystacks. They searched the area west of where the raid occurred, but the trail stopped shortly after crossing onto Matheson land. “Fine,” said Niall. “If Matheson wants this feud, by God, I will give it to him. We raid tonight and I want every one of those animals replaced.”

Niall sent a rider back to Duncurra just before dark, instructing him to tell Alan the situation. “Will I deliver the same message to Lady Katherine?”

“Nay, she will worry. Just tell her we have decided to do some hunting and will return tomorrow.” Well, it was true, really, he consoled himself. He was simply hunting another man’s sheep.

~ * ~

Katherine glanced around the great hall, the servants appeared transfixed. After Laird MacLennan and Lady MacIan left, they rushed to Katherine, but she put up her hand and shook her head slightly, saying, “Please attend to the tasks you have been given.” Many of the MacLennan soldiers who rode escort were lounging in the hall. She worried they would interpret any sign of support for her from the Duncurra staff as disloyalty and report it to Lady MacIan.

At the moment she was most concerned about Tomas. Just as Uncle Ambrose had, she suspected Lady Eithne would instantly identify him as Katherine’s most profound weakness. However, she was confident Niall would sort things out as soon as he returned. That thought had barely formed when she learned he would not be home that night. Very few things kept him away from the keep overnight, but it did occur occasionally. Still, of all nights, she wished it didn’t have to be this one. She had hoped to finalize plans for the evening meal and send her regrets to Lady MacIan without defying her order, but now she had to explain Niall’s absence as well.

Katherine had to get through this evening as best she could, on her own. She needed to get Tomas back to the keep and tucked away as soon as possible. She found Edna to discuss her concerns. Edna agreed. “Don’t worry, I will see to him. I’ll send Maura for him and he can stay with us tonight.” Maura, Edna’s daughter, was a bright, responsible girl of four and ten, so Katherine nodded her assent.

“Edna, please let me know when he is safe.”

~ * ~

The evening meal was nearly ready when Maura returned with Tomas. Katherine stepped into the west tower so the MacLennans wouldn’t see her and kissed him good night, saying, “Tomas, I want you to stay with Edna tonight. Tomorrow, I want you to stay here in the west tower with Maura and Nevan until your da comes home. Do you understand?”

“Aye, Mama.”

Feeling slightly relieved now, she went to the kitchen, where she found Bridie livid. “Lass, that witch cannae treat ye like this. She has no right to lay a hand on ye. The laird won’t stand for it, I tell ye.”

“Bridie, please, don’t give her a reason to target you, I couldn’t bear it. Let’s just keep her ire focused on me until the laird returns tomorrow.”

“Target me? Lass, what are ye talking about?”

“Bridie, Lady MacIan is like my uncle. I can protect myself, but if she thinks anyone here will stand up to her for me, she will retaliate against them to strike at me. Please ignore anything she says to me. I’m going to take some bread and cheese to my chamber and try to avoid her this evening.”

Bridie continued to steam, but said no more.

When Katherine returned to the great hall, Lady Eithne and Laird MacLennan were already seated at the laird’s table, with Eithne in Niall’s place. Katherine approached the table and Eithne spat, “I told you to dress appropriately and to remove that rag from your head. Do you defy me? You may wear a proper veil if you feel the need, but you won’t sit at my table looking like a common born Highlander.”

“Eithne,” Malcolm said in a disapproving tone.

Common?
There was only one common born Highlander in this conversation and it wasn’t her. Katherine knew better than to react and take the bait. She had slipped earlier but she would not do it again. She took a deep breath and replied calmly, “I beg your pardon, Lady MacIan. It is not a question of defying you. I do not have more appropriate clothes than these. I only wish to inform you and Laird MacLennan that my husband has been detained and will not return to Duncurra until tomorrow. I do not wish to offend you any longer with my presence, so please excuse me.”

“Well, dear,” said Eithne, rising from the table, “if it is only a matter of you not having other clothes, I will be happy to loan you something. Come with me,” Eithne commanded, reaching forward and snatching the kertch off Katherine’s head, taking with it the last of Katherine’s self-control.

Katherine grabbed the kertch out of Eithne’s hand and said, “I am sorry, perhaps you misunderstood me. It isn’t that I don’t have other clothes. I consider these to be my most appropriate garments. Good night, my lady, Laird,” she said, giving a nod to each of them before turning to leave.

“Stop!” commanded Eithne. “What is that you have in your hand?”

Katherine looked down to see the bread and cheese crushed in her left hand and turned back to her saying, “It is bread and cheese, my lady.”

Eithne smirked, “I am sorry, perhaps you misunderstood me. When I said if you didn’t dress properly you would not eat, I didn’t mean just at this table.”

“As you wish, my lady,” Katherine said, shrugging. Resisting the urge to throw it at her, she put the food down on the nearest trestle table and, with supreme control, walked toward the east tower.

“Perhaps hunger will make you more agreeable in the morning,” Eithne called.

“I doubt it, my lady,” Katherine answered and ducked out the door.

~ * ~

Niall and his men had a successful raid. They stole a score of sheep. Niall decided to take a few extras rather than burning anything. When his men had secured the sheep well clear of the area, Niall pounded on the door of a farmer’s cottage. The old farmer looked terrified by the furious warrior, but Niall did not intend to harm him. He said, “I am Laird MacIan and I want ye to give your laird a message from me.”

“A—A—aye, Laird,” the old man stammered.

“Tell him to stay the hell off my land!” Niall roared.

Fourteen

“Stay off his land? What in the hell is he talking about?” Tadhg Matheson demanded furiously. He had barely finished breaking his fast when Hamish, one of his commanders, reported to him about the raid and MacIan’s message. “Was anyone harmed?” he asked.

“He scared the wits out of old Angus, but nothing else, Laird.”

“Hamish, I consider myself to be a reasonable man, wouldn’t ye agree?”

Hamish chuckled. “As reasonable as they come, Laird.”

“Last winter was a hard one, and ye know as well as I do Alastair MacIan had huge debts in Edinburgh, so when a few of my sheep walked away, did I grumble?”

“Now, Laird, would ye be asking me to lie?”

“Fine, I grumbled, but I didn’t retaliate. I wasn’t going to be the reason his clan starved.”

“Exceedingly generous, Laird.”

“Let’s not go straight to ‘generous,’ at least not where the MacIans are concerned. I’ll stick with ‘reasonable’,” Tadhg said dryly.

“Exceedingly reasonable, Laird.” Hamish laughed.

“So, Alastair died, the MacIan debt was more profound than anyone imagined, and I ignored it when a few more head of sheep and cattle wandered across my border. Then Niall MacIan managed to marry one of the wealthiest heiresses in Scotland.”

“As I hear tell, much to everyone’s surprise, she is one of the bonniest as well.”

“Rich and bonny, a lass after my own heart,” sighed Tadhg. “So now MacIan has recovered financially and has a bonny wife to warm his bed. Why is he still raiding Matheson land and at the same time threatening me to stay off his? Hamish, I have grown tired of being reasonable. This time, we will retaliate.”

“Tonight?” asked Hamish eagerly.

“Nay. Let’s let Laird MacIan enjoy his success and feed my sheep for a couple of weeks before fetching them home.”

~ * ~

Bone weary when he rode with his men to Duncurra late that morning, Niall wanted nothing more than his sweet wife and his warm bed. He knew something was wrong when Alan rode out to meet him. “What has happened? Is it Katherine? Tomas?”

“Laird, it’s nothing like that. Malcolm MacLennan has arrived with Lady Eithne.”

Niall gave a huge sigh of relief. “Is that all? Did ye think ye needed to meet me with that news? My mother, while unexpected, is only a minor irritation.”

“I beg your pardon, Laird, but I’m thinking she may be more than a minor irritation. I understand your mother has claimed her right as Lady MacIan, taken over Duncurra, and sent your wife to bed last night without supper.”

Niall swore and kicked his horse into a gallop, not stopping until he reached the keep. Giving his horse over to a stable hand, he strode into the keep in a black fury. Eithne sat chatting with Malcom at his table in his chair, but he didn’t see any sign of Katherine.

“Mother, this is a surprise,” said Niall, trying to tamp down his rage.

“Well, darling, I don’t see why it would be. You didn’t give me nearly enough money to live on in Edinburgh, so there is nowhere else I can go. Malcolm was visiting the royal court and agreed to escort me home.”

“Home?” Niall snorted in disgust. “Mother, I gave ye a larger stipend than ye deserved, considering how close ye came to ruining us. Ye had more than enough for a comfortable life. Where is my wife?”

Eithne pouted and tears welled up in her eyes, “You are being deliberately cruel, your father would be so ashamed of the way you treat me.”

“I see to the welfare of my father’s clan, which is significantly more than ye did. Where is my wife?” he ground out through gritted teeth.

“As I warned you, son, that girl is totally unacceptable. She is unskilled, willful, and rude. You really must do something about her. She boldly defied me last night, in front of my clan. I told her perhaps going to bed hungry would sweeten her mood, and she stomped off. I have never been so embarrassed, so humiliated. Not that I care as long as I don’t have to suffer her distasteful company, but I believe you will find her in your chamber.”

Niall headed for the tower stairs, taking them two at a time. Reaching his chamber, Niall threw the door open and demanded, “What did ye do?”

~ * ~

Katherine, who sat by a cold hearth sewing, responded with disbelief, “What did I do?”

“Ye know what I mean,” said Niall crossly. “What happened?”

Katherine told herself to stay calm. She shook her head slightly and said, “Niall, please don’t be angry until you have heard the whole story.”

“Katherine, my mother is a mean-spirited, bitter woman. I know this—everyone does. But by all that’s holy, were ye unable to keep the peace for one day?”

Katherine’s heart sank. Without knowing any of the facts, he was blaming her. In spite of assuring her he would make an effort not to assume the worst, he had done exactly that. She remembered the day in the glen when he said, “I am a very flawed man, and set in my ways. It may take a few tries before I get the knack of it.” Still, she believed once he heard the story he would understand.

“Damn it, Katherine, answer me!”

“Where shall I start?” asked Katherine, looking down.

“Start with why my mother says ye defied her in front of clansmen,” Niall answered. “You remember the definition, don’t you? Willful disobedience?”

Katherine remembered Malcolm’s words, “Niall will be very disappointed to learn of the disrespect ye have shown to his mother.”

Katherine sighed, “Your mother was retiring to her chamber for a bath. She said she wanted the evening meal ready when she returned and I should be dressed properly without—without my kertch on, or I would not dine at her table. I told her I understood she was a Chisholm and, as a Highlander herself, I hoped she would appreciate why I couldn’t do that. Then she—she—”